Measuring spatial accessibility to primary care in rural areas: Improving the effectiveness of the two-step floating catchment area method

Quantifying spatial accessibility in relation to the provision of rural health services has proven difficult. This article critically appraises the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, a recent solution for measuring primary care service accessibility across rural areas of Victoria, Australia. The 2SFCA method is demonstrated to have two fundamental shortcomings – specifically the use of only one catchment size for all populations, and secondly the assumption that proximity is undifferentiated within a catchment (especially problematic when the catchment is large). Despite its advantages over simple population-to-provider ratios, the 2SFCA method needs to be used with caution.     

Physical explanations of variations in river meander migration rates from model comparison

In meandering rivers, the local channel migration rate increases with increasing bend sharpness until it reaches a maximum at a certain critical value of the bend sharpness. Beyond this critical value, the migration rate decreases if bend sharpness increases. Similarly, reach‐averaged migration rates attain a maximum at a certain river sinuosity. This work investigates the physics of these phenomena by comparing the results of two physics‐based models of different complexity, in which the migration rates are proportional to the near‐bank flow velocity excess. In the computational tests the river was allowed to meander progressively, starting from an almost straight planimetry. Both models reproduced the observed peak in the curve describing the local migration rate as a function of the ratio radius of curvature‐channel width (R/B), with a rising limb at lower R/B values and a falling limb at higher R/B values. The rising limb can be explained by the decrease in relative lag distance between near‐bank flow velocity and forcing curvature as R/B increases. The falling limb results from the decrease in local channel curvature and near‐bank flow velocity excess. Since the models do not include flow separation, the results indicate that this phenomenon is not needed to explain the decrease of channel migration rates in sharp bends. The models reproduced also the peak in the curve describing the reach‐averaged migration rates as a function of river sinuosity The increase and then decrease of reach‐averaged migration rates as sinuosity increases appears to be mainly caused by the variation of the reach‐averaged value of the ratio R/B. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of the wave climate for the southern Brazilian shelf

The main objective of this study is the characterization of the wave climate in the Southern Brazilian Shelf (SBS) based on a thorough review of existing field data and on numerical modeling experiments. A quantitative knowledge about the wave climate of this area is important to understand the mechanisms driving episodic mud bank attachments to the sandy shore, and the interaction of these banks with the flow and waves. The statistical analysis of existent data on the wave climate throughout the SBS indicates that the predominant wave directions are 100° and 160° (E–SE), with wave heights varying between 1 and 1.50 m. The wave period varies between 6 and 14 s, with predominance of mean wave period of 8 s (sea conditions) and 12 s (swell conditions). The spectral wave model SWAN version 40.41 [Booij, N., Haagsma, I.J.G., Holthuijsen, L.H., Kieftenburg, A.T.M.M., Ris, R.C., van der Westhuysen, A.J., Zijlema, M., 2004. SWAN Cycle III Version 40.41 Users Manual, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, p. 118, http://fluidmechanics.tudelft.nl/swan/index.htm] is used to simulate the wave climate for the region. Special attention is given to Cassino Beach, describing the wave climate observed during the Cassino Experiment, carried out in 2005. The verification of the standard SWAN model was carried out based on the comparison between numerical modeling results and available data of significant wave height, peak period, mean wave direction and energy density for the period relative to February of 1998. Results showed satisfactory model predictions of significant wave height and reasonably accurate predictions of peak spectral wave period and direction. The model performance is also considered satisfactory in the representation of the wave climate of the region when the wave spectrum has only one spectral peak, but presents limitations for bimodal wave spectrum. When two spectral peaks are observed, the SWAN model agrees with the spectral level observed in the low frequency, but underestimates the spectral level in the high-frequency band. When considering the presence of mud deposits in the area, model results predict that although the presence of mud attenuates most of the wave energy on the low frequency peak, it has a smaller effect in attenuating the wave energy on the high frequency peak.     

Coordinate mapping of analytical contaminant transport solutions to non-uniform flow fields

Existing analytical solutions to 2D and 3D contaminant transport problems are limited by the mathematically convenient assumption of uniform flow. An approximate method is developed herein for coordinate mapping of 2D (vertically-averaged) transport solutions to non-uniform steady-state irrotational and divergence-free flow fields in single-layer aquifers. The method enables existing analytical transport solutions to be applied to aquifer systems with wells, non-uniform saturated thickness, surface water features, and (to a limited degree) heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity and recharge. This mass-conservative coordinate mapping approach is inexact in its approximation of the dispersion process but is still sufficiently accurate for many simple flow systems. The degree of model error is directly proportional to the variation of velocity magnitude within the domain. These mapped analytical solutions are compared to numerical simulation results and the coordinate mapping errors are investigated. The methods described herein may be used in the traditional capacity of analytical transport models, i.e., screening and preliminary site assessment, without sacrificing accuracy by assuming locally uniform flow conditions or applying an ad-hoc coordinate transformation. The solutions benefit from the traditional advantages of analytical methods, particularly the removal of artifacts due to spatial and temporal discretization: no time-stepping or numerical discretization is required.     

Preliminary sensitivity study of eruption source parameters for operational volcanic ash cloud transport and dispersion models — A case study of the August 1992 eruption of the Crater Peak vent, Mount Spurr, Alaska

Ash clouds are one of the major hazards that result from volcanic eruptions. Once an eruption is reported, volcanic ash transport and dispersion (VATD) models are used to forecast the location of the ash cloud. These models require source parameters to describe the ash column for initialization. These parameters include: eruption cloud height and vertical distribution, particle size distribution, and start and end time of the eruption. Further, if downwind concentrations are needed, the eruption mass rate and/or volume of ash need to be known. Upon notification of an eruption, few constraints are typically available on many of these source parameters. Recently, scientists have defined classes of eruption types, each with a set of pre-defined eruption source parameters (ESP). We analyze the August 18, 1992 eruption of the Crater Peak vent at Mount Spurr, Alaska, which is the example case for the Medium Silicic eruption type. We have evaluated the sensitivity of two of the ESP – the grain size distribution (GSD) and the vertical distribution of ash – on the modeled ash cloud. HYSPLIT and Puff VATD models are used to simulate the ash clouds from the different sets of source parameters. We use satellite data, processed through the reverse absorption method, as reference for computing statistics that describe the modeled-to-observed comparison. With the grain size distribution, the three options chosen, (1) an estimated distribution based on past eruption studies, (2) a distribution with finer particles and (3) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration HYSPLIT GSD, have little effect on the modeled ash cloud. For the initial vertical distribution, both linear (uniform concentration throughout the vertical column) and umbrella shapes were chosen. For HYSPLIT, the defined umbrella distribution (no ash below the umbrella), apparently underestimates the lower altitude portions of the ash cloud and as a result has a worse agreement with the satellite detected ash cloud compared to that with the linear vertical distribution for this particular eruption. The Puff model, with a Poisson function to represent the umbrella cloud, gave similar results as for a linear distribution, both having reasonable agreement with the satellite detected cloud. Further sensitivity studies of this eruption, as well as studies using the other source parameters, are needed.     

Multi-physics modeling of flow and transport in porous media using a downscaling approach

Multi-phase flow and transport processes generally occur on different spatial and temporal scales. Very often also, within a physical system, they vary in space meaning that different kinds of processes might take place in different parts of the system. In order to account for the variety of processes and to take their scale-dependence into account, the development of multi-scale multi-physics techniques can be envisaged.     

Modeling bio-geomorphological influences for offshore sandwaves

The coastal environment shows a wide range of bed patterns, for which sandwaves and sandbanks are among the most common. Less known in this context is the high benthic diversity in the coastal environment, which gives rise to the question to what extend the benthos interacts with the shape of the seabed. This paper reviews field and flume experiments on bio-geomorphological influences between benthos and sediment and tests the hypothesis that both the occurrence and the dimensions of sandwaves are dependent on the benthic diversity in the North Sea. Mathematical inclusions to account for biological activity in idealized models reveal that biota is able to influence the wavelength of sandwaves significantly, compared to the default case. More importantly, the models indicate that biota is able to induce bed patterns under conditions when the physical parameters suggest a stable flat bed and vice versa. Present model explorations indicate that future research should focus on the parameterization of subtidal biological activity on sediment dynamics and thereby on seabed patterns. Such knowledge will enable process-based modeling of the spatial and temporal variation in biological activity on seabed morphodynamics and validate the proposed modeling approach with field measurements.     

A sensitivity analysis of Hortonian flow

We present a sensitivity analysis for infiltration excess (Hortonian) overland flow based on a classic laboratory experiment by Smith and Woolhiser [Smith RE, Woolhiser DA. Overland flow on an infiltrating surface. Water Resour Res 1971;7(4):899–913]. The model components of the compartment approach are comprised of a diffusive wave approximation to the Saint–Venant equations for overland flow, a Richards model for flow in the variably saturated zone, and an interface coupling concept that combines the two components. In the coupling scheme a hydraulic interface is introduced to allow the definition of an exchange flux between the surface and the unsaturated zone. The effects of friction processes, soil capillarity, hydraulic interface, and vertical soil discretization on both infiltration and runoff prediction are investigated in detail. The corresponding sensitivity analysis is conducted using a small-perturbation method. As a result the importance of the hydraulic processes and related parameters are evaluated for the coupled hydrosystem.     

A parallel mesh-free contaminant transport model based on the Analytic Element and Streamline Methods

This paper introduces a new method for simulating large-scale subsurface contaminant transport that combines an Analytic Element Method (AEM) groundwater flow solution with a split-operator Streamline Method for modeling reactive transport. The key feature of the method is the manner in which the vertically integrated AEM flow solution is used to construct three-dimensional particle tracks that define the geometry of the Streamline Method. The inherently parallel nature of the algorithm supports the development of reactive transport models for spatial domains much larger than current grid-based methods. The applicability of the new approach is verified for cases with negligible transverse dispersion through comparisons to analytic solutions and existing numerical solutions, and parallel performance is demonstrated through a realistic test problem based on the regional-scale transport of agricultural contaminants from spatially distributed sources.     

On the role of buoyancy force in the ore genesis of SEDEX deposits: Example from Northern Australia

Finite element modeling on a highly conceptualized 2-D model of fluid flow and heat transport is un-dertaken to simulate the paleo-hydrological system as if the Mount Isa deposits were being formed in the Mount Isa basin, Northern Australia, and to evaluate the potential of buoyancy force in driving ba-sin-scale fluid flow for the formation of sedimentary-exhalative (SEDEX) deposits. Our numerical case studies indicate that buoyancy-driven fluid flow is controlled mainly by the fault penetration depth and i...