Climate change and groundwater resources in Thailand

The average temperature of Thailand is projected to increase by 2-3 °C, and the annual rainfall is projected to increase by 25% and up to 50% in certain areas. The climate change in future is expected to provide changes in hydrological cycle and therefore impacts the groundwater resources too. In this study, we analyzed the general climate change trends and reviewed the groundwater conditions of Thailand. The climate changes, hydrologic variability and the impact of climate change on groundwater sustainability are also discussed based on a national groundwater monitoring program. Currently, there are 864 groundwater monitoring stations and 1 524 monitoring wells installed in Thailand. Moreover, the impact of climate change on groundwater-dependent systems and sectors is also discussed according to certain case studies, such as saline water intrusion in coastal and inland areas. Managing aquifer recharge and other projects are examples of groundwater adaptation project for the future.     

冬季黑潮延伸体海表温度对阿留申低压活动的双周期响应

Based on our previous work, the winter sea surface temperature(SST) in the Kuroshio Extension(KE) region showed significant variability over the past century with periods of ~6 a between 1930 and 1950 and ~10 a between1980 and 2009. How the activity of the Aleutian Low(AL) induces this dual-period variability over the two different timespans is further investigated here. For the ~6 a periodicity during 1930–1950, negative wind stress curl(WSC)anomalies in the central subtropical Pacific associated with an intensified AL generate positive sea surface height(SSH) anomalies. When these wind-induced SSH anomalies propagate westwards to the east of Taiwan, China two years later, positive velocity anomalies appear around the Kuroshio to the east of Taiwan and then the mean advection via this current of velocity anomalies leads to a strengthened KE jet and thus an increase in the KE SST one year later. For the ~10 a periodicity during 1980–2009, a negative North Pacific Oscillation-like dipole takes2–3 a to develop into a significant positive North Pacific Oscillation-like dipole, and this process corresponds to the northward shift of the AL. Negative WSC anomalies associated with this AL activity in the central North Pacific are able to induce the positive SSH anomalies. These oceanic signals then propagate westward into the KE region after 2–3 a, favoring a northward shift of the KE jet, thus leading to the warming of the KE SST. The feedbacks of the KE SST anomaly on the AL forcing are both negative for these two periodicities. These results suggest that the dual-period KE SST variability can be generated by the two-way KE-SST-AL coupling.     

Effect of spatial variability of shear strength on reliability of infinite slopes using analytical approach

This paper develops an analytical approach for reliability analysis of infinite slope stability in presence of spatially variable shear strength parameters. The analytical approach considers spatial autocorrelation of each parameter and cross-correlations between different parameters. It is robust, computational efficient and provides insight to the importance of spatial correlation scale on slope reliability analysis. This paper also explores the difference in continuous and discrete random fields and emphasizes the importance of fine discretization in relation to correlation scale. Finally, it shows that conditioning the stability analysis with information about trends and spatial data leads to reliability assessments with less uncertainty.     

Decadal Climate Prediction: Scientific Frontier and Challenge

The prediction of climate change in the future 10~30 year is a hot research area of the international community of the climate science, which has been listed as a core content of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) and some other important international scientific projects. The forecast object of the decadal climate prediction has been extended from averaged state over the future 10~30 years to temporal evolutions in future 1~10 or 30 years. Recently, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has been preparing to issue climate states in the near future based on decadal climate prediction systems. Focusing on the cut-edging and challenging scientific questions of the decadal climate prediction, we reviewed the theoretic basis of the predictability of the decadal climate and recent progresses of the practical decadal prediction experiments by international modelling centers in the paper. Finally, we summarized the core scientific questions to be solved in the area and discuss ed possible pathways to improve the skills of the decadal climate prediction.     

Bearing capacity of spatially random rock masses obeying Hoek–Brown failure criterion

This paper presents a probabilistic analysis to compute the probability density function of the bearing capacity of a strip footing resting on a spatially varying rock mass. The rock is assumed to follow the generalised Hoek–Brown failure criterion. The uniaxial compressive strength of the intact rock (σc) was considered as a random field and the geological strength index was modelled as a random variable. The uncertainty propagation methodology employed in the analysis is the sparse polynomial chaos expansion. A global sensitivity analysis based on Sobol indices was performed. Some numerical results were presented and discussed.     

GRACE监测青藏高原及邻区陆地水储量变化结果的可变性

结合4种不同的去相关滤波和2种平滑滤波,利用5组GRACE数据反演了青藏高原及邻区陆地水储量变化趋势,研究了结果的可变性。结果表明,采用S&W（P2M8）变宽度滑动窗口去条带效果较好,其结果中的湖水、冰川信号与卫星测高观测的信号位置具有较好的一致性。高斯滤波的异常幅值与扇形滤波相差10%~30%,平滑处理后异常幅值减少,观测分辨率降低,部分湖和冰川信号甚至消失。CSR/GFZ/JPL重力场模型反演的结果相近,但CSR去条带效果最好;JPL质量模型MAS/MAS_S的结果也相近,但在高原西部有较大差异。重力场模型与质量模型的结果相差很大。在利用GRACE卫星监测本地区陆地水储量变化时,推荐使用S&W（P2M8）去条带滤波器、CSR重力场模型数据。     

库姆塔格沙漠周边地区极端降水的时空变化特征

根据中国气象局信息中心提供的库姆塔格沙漠周边地区20个气象站1960-2014年逐日降水量资料,分析了库姆塔格沙漠周边地区1960-2014年极端降水的时空变化特征。结果表明：（1）库姆塔格沙漠周边地区极端降水主要集中在夏季且存在很大的地域性差异。（2）1960-2014年库姆塔格沙漠周边地区极端降水事件、年大雨频次、年大降水事件降水量和年降水量显著增加。（3）库姆塔格沙漠周边地区西部极端降水主要由频数很少的暴雨贡献,而东部极端降水则由暴雨和大雨共同贡献。（4）库姆塔格沙漠周边地区极端降水指数在夏季和年尺度的空间分布相似,且强降水指数在年和夏季尺度的空间分布均呈“鞍型场”型。     

Influence of climate variability and human activities on stream flow variation in the past 50 years in Taoer River,Northeast China

Taoer River Basin, which is located in the west of Northeast China, is an agropastoral ecotone. In recent years, the hydrological cycle and water resources have changed significantly with the deterioration of the environment. Many water problems such as river blanking, wetland shrinking and salinization have occurred in this region. All of these phenomena were directly caused by changes in stream flow under climate variability and human activities. In light of the situation, the impact of climate variability and human activities on stream flow should be identified immediately to identify the primary driving factors of basin hydrological processes. To achieve this, statistical tests were applied to identify trends in variation and catastrophe points in mean annual stream flow from 1961 to 2011. A runoff sensitive coefficients method and a SIMHYD model were applied to assess the impacts of stream flow variation. The following conclusions were found: 1) The years 1985 and 2000 were confirmed to be catastrophe points in the stream flow series. Thus, the study period could be divided into three periods, from 1961 to 1985 (Period I), 1986 to 2000 (Period II) and 2001 to 2011 (Period III). 2) Mean annual observed stream flow was 31.54 mm in Period I, then increased to 65.60 mm in Period II and decreased to 2.92 mm in Period III. 3) Using runoff sensitive coefficients, the contribution of climate variability was 41.93% and 43.14% of the increase in stream flow during Periods II and III, suggesting that the contribution of human activities to the increase was 58.07% and 56.86%, respectively. 4) Climate variability accounted for 42.57% and 44.30% of the decrease in stream flow, while human activities accounted for 57.43% and 55.70% of the decrease, according to the SIMHYD model. 5) In comparison of these two methods, the primary driving factors of stream flow variation could be considered to be human activities, which contributed about 15% more than climate variability. It is hoped that these conclusions will benefit future regional planning and sustainable development.     

Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) δN as a bioindicator of nitrogen sources: Observations and modeling

Stable nitrogen isotopes (δ¹⁵N) in bioindicators are increasingly employed to identify nitrogen sources in many ecosystems and biological characteristics of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) make it an appropriate species for this purpose. To assess nitrogen isotopic fractionation associated with assimilation and baseline variations in oyster mantle, gill, and muscle tissue δ¹⁵N, manipulative fieldwork in Chesapeake Bay and corresponding modeling exercises were conducted. This study (1) determined that five individuals represented an optimal sample size; (2) verified that δ¹⁵N in oysters from two locations converged after shared deployment to a new location reflecting a change in nitrogen sources; (3) identified required exposure time and temporal integration (four months for muscle, two to three months for gill and mantle); and (4) demonstrated seasonal δ¹⁵N increases in seston (summer) and oysters (winter). As bioindicators, oysters can be deployed for spatial interpolation of nitrogen sources, even in areas lacking extant populations.