Quantifying large‐scale historical formation of accommodation in the Mississippi Delta

Large volumes of new accommodation have formed within the Mississippi Delta plain since the mid‐1950s in association with rapid conversion of coastal wetlands to open water. The three‐dimensional aspects and processes responsible for accommodation formation were quantified by comparing surface elevations, water depths, and vertical displacements of stratigraphic contacts that were correlated between short sediment cores. Integration of data from remotely sensed images, sediment cores, and water‐depth surveys at 10 geologically diverse areas in the delta plain provided a basis for estimating the total volume of accommodation formed by interior‐wetland subsidence and subsequent erosion. Results indicate that at most of the study areas subsidence was a greater contributor than erosion to the formation of accommodation associated with wetland loss. Tens of millions of cubic meters of accommodation formed rapidly at each of the large open‐water bodies that were formerly continuous interior delta‐plain marsh. Together the individual study areas account for more than 440 × 10⁶ × m³ of new accommodation that formed as holes in the Mississippi River delta‐plain fabric between 1956 and 2004. This large volume provides an estimate of the new sediment that would be needed just at the study areas to restore the delta‐plain wetlands to their pre‐1956 areal extent and elevations. Published 2010. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

The mechanism of energy loss and transition in a flow with submerged vegetation

The mechanism of energy balance in an open-channel flow with submerged vegetation was investigated. The energy borrowed from the local flow, energy spending caused by vegetation drag and flow resistance, and energy transition along the water depth were calculated on the basis of the computational results of velocity and Reynolds stress. Further analysis showed that the energy spending in a cross-section was a maximum around the top of the vegetation, and its value decreased progressively until reaching zero at the flume bed or water surface. The energy borrowed from the local flow in the vegetated region could not provide for spending; therefore, surplus borrowed energy in the non-vegetated region was transmitted to the vegetated region. In addition, the total energy transition in the cross-section was zero; therefore, the total energy borrowed from the flow balanced the energy loss in the whole cross-section. At the same time, we found that there were three effects of vegetation on the flow: turbulence restriction due to vegetation, turbulence source due to vegetation and energy transference due to vegetation, where the second effect was the strongest one.     

Effects of Caragana Korshinskii Kom. Cover on runoff,sediment yield and nitrogen loss

Soil erosion is serious in the Loess Plateau of China. Deposition of the eroded sediment in lakes or rivers may lead to eutrophication, because the sediment carries a lot of nutrients. Field experiments were conducted to study soil erosion and loss of nitrogen (N) from a 15o hillslope with 30% (low) or 80% (high) coverage of the shrub Caragana korshinskii Kom. A bare soil plot was used for the comparison. The results showed that Caragana korshinskii cover significantly reduced runoff and soil erosion. In comparison to the bare soil plot, the vegetation covered plots had about 20% less runoff and 65% less sediment. In general, the concentration of N in both runoff water and the eroded sediment decreased with time and approached a steady value. However, the species of nitrate nitrogen (NO3) was exceptional which increased with time slightly. The soil erosion caused an N loss of about 250 mg/m2 for the bare soil plot, the low coverage of Caragana korshinskii reduced the N loss by 20% and the high coverage of Caragana korshinskii reduced the N loss by 40%. Moreover, the amount of total N in eroded sediment was 2 to 3 times higher than the value in runoff water. In the total N loss, the organic N was about 75-80%. Nevertheless, inorganic N in runoff water was 5 to 10 times higher than the value in eroded sediment. The species of NO3 was obviously higher than the species of ammonium nitrogen (NH4). NO3 was the main species of inorganic N loss and was about two thirds of total. The organic N was the main species of N in the eroded sediment.     

城市供水管网健康监测与诊断：Ⅲ．既有局部漏损识别方法之二

城市供水管网是城市最重要的生命线工程,相对于地上结构,地下供水管网具有更高的易损性。由于供水管网多埋于地下,管道的早期破坏难以及时发现。本文提出了既有供水管网局部漏损识别的第2个方法：假设在管网的不同位置存在不同程度的局部漏损,计算监测管段的流量,以监测管段流量的计算值和监测值之间的误差最小为目标来识别出局部漏损的位置和程度。通过算例分析对本文方法的有效性进行了验证,并与既有供水管网局部漏损识别的第1个方法进行了比较。结果表明,本文方法在准确率和分辨率两个方面均优于第1个方法。本文解决了供水管网健康监测和诊断中的一个基本问题。     

东北黑土区主要黑土土种的容许土壤流失量

容许土壤流失量(T 值) 是进行水土流失治理的定量标准,目前以专家经验确定为主,缺乏定量研究。本文以我国重要的粮食生产基地东北黑土区为研究区,实地调查区内21 个黑土土种典型剖面的厚度,采集分层土壤样品测定理化性质后,利用修订的生产力指数模型计算了21 个土种的T值,并分析其影响因素。结果显示：21 个土种的T值变化于68~358 t/km²×a,平均141 t/km²×a。按亚类T 值为白浆化黑土(漂白滞水湿润均腐土) 106 t/km²×a,黑土(简育湿润均腐土)129 t/km²×a,草甸黑土(斑纹简育湿润均腐土) 为184 t/km²×a。土壤厚度和土壤侵蚀脆弱性指数是影响T值的主要因素,它们与T值的相关系数分别为0.750 和0.605。草甸黑土厚度明显高于其它两个土壤亚类,脆弱性指数与黑土接近,其T值较黑土T值大42.6%。白浆化黑土厚度较黑土厚度大22.1%,但T值却比黑土T值小21.7%,因为白浆化黑土有明显的障碍层存在。因此确定不同土种或亚类的T值,更能反映土壤剖面特性,对于指导水土流失治理更具实际意义。     

基于Android的城市建筑物信息外业采集系统研究

建筑物信息的完善是震前风险评估和震后损失评估的重要基础,决定着评估结果的精度。为了实现城市建筑物信息的快速采集,笔者对系统需求分析、架构设计、功能设计、数据库设计及核心功能实现等几个方面进行了研究,开发了基于Android的城市建筑物信息外业采集系统,并利用该系统对示范区进行了现场采集测试。实践证明,与传统采集方式相比,该系统人机交互简便,有利于现场非专业技术人员的操作,可以更好地应用于建筑物信息的外业采集,极大地提高了建筑物信息采集的效率,为地震灾害评估过程中建筑物信息数据采集提供技术支持。     

吉林省重大暴雨过程灾害损失风险预评估

利用吉林省50县市1951-2013年逐日降水资料、暴雨灾情损失数据,1：5万DEM数据、水系、TM遥感卫星影像资料以及GDP、人口等数据,探讨了吉林省重大暴雨过程灾害损失风险的主要影响因素,确立了各因素的权重系数,构建了吉林省重大暴雨过程灾害损失风险评估模型.利用过程预报降雨量对2013年8月14-17日的重大暴雨过程灾害损失风险进行了预评估.结果表明：重大暴雨过程灾害损失综合风险的高值区分布在四平、辽源大部以及长春、吉林、通化城区附近,风险偏高区位于中南部,西部地区和东北部地区为中低风险区.灾害损失风险评估模型预评估效果良好,可在实际的暴雨过程灾害损失风险预评估业务中使用,由于通过该模型的评估结果可迅速圈定各级洪涝风险区,对提高重大暴雨过程应对能力、减少灾害损失以及防灾减灾意义重大.     

Probabilistic economic seismic loss estimation in steel buildings using post‐tensioned moment‐resisting frames and viscous dampers

The potential of post‐tensioned self‐centering moment‐resisting frames (SC‐MRFs) and viscous dampers to reduce the economic seismic losses in steel buildings is evaluated. The evaluation is based on a prototype steel building designed using four different seismic‐resistant frames: (i) conventional moment resisting frames (MRFs); (ii) MRFs with viscous dampers; (iii) SC‐MRFs; or (iv) SC‐MRFs with viscous dampers. All frames are designed according to Eurocode 8 and have the same column/beam cross sections and similar periods of vibration. Viscous dampers are designed to reduce the peak story drift under the design basis earthquake (DBE) from 1.8% to 1.2%. Losses are estimated by developing vulnerability functions according to the FEMA P‐58 methodology, which considers uncertainties in earthquake ground motion, structural response, and repair costs. Both the probability of collapse and the probability of demolition because of excessive residual story drifts are taken into account. Incremental dynamic analyses are conducted using models capable to simulate all limit states up to collapse. A parametric study on the effect of the residual story drift threshold beyond which is less expensive to rebuild a structure than to repair is also conducted. It is shown that viscous dampers are more effective than post‐tensioning for seismic intensities equal or lower than the maximum considered earthquake (MCE). Post‐tensioning is effective in reducing repair costs only for seismic intensities higher than the DBE. The paper also highlights the effectiveness of combining post‐tensioning and supplemental viscous damping by showing that the SC‐MRF with viscous dampers achieves significant repair cost reductions compared to the conventional MRF. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ASSESSING THE SEISMIC RISK OF CITIES AT FINE-SCALE: A CASE STUDY OF HAIDIAN DISTRICT IN BEIJING,CHINA

In order to provide practical and useful information for the disaster prevention and relief actions, it is necessary to take into account spatial differences and temporal changes of seismic risk in evaluating seismic risk at a proper temporal and spatial scale. From the perspectives of identifying spatial difference of seismic risk within the city and performing disaster relief operations, the evaluation of urban seismic risk is done in this paper at the spatial scale of 500m*500m grids for day time and night time separately. For this purpose, this paper proposes the methods for the assessment of seismic risk, establishing the correspondence relations between the population and land use, and between the floor area of buildings destroyed and casualties at more reasonable spatial and temporal scales. Taking a case study of Haidian District in Beijing using these methods, we estimate the floor area and the value of buildings destroyed and the casualties at daytime and nighttime separately at the 500m grid scale. Results show that:a total of 185, 000m² of areas is expected to be destroyed annually in Haidian District, and the total loss of the houses is 325 million Yuan(excluding properties within the houses). During the day(night)time, 3, 159(2, 037)victims are expected to be killed and 12, 071(7, 790) injured. Destruction of buildings and loss of houses is spatially concentrated in the downtowns in the south and the industrial parks in the east. The casualties inflicted during the day and night descend from southeast to northwest, i.e. from urban core areas, urban fringes, urban outskirts, to village. Several regions suffer heavy casualties during the day, but nighttime casualties are scattered across different regions. The conclusions in this paper efficiently identify the spatial distribution of areas at the level of high and the very high seismic risk, which provides reliable decision support for identifying priority areas for pre-disaster prevention and mitigation, emergency rescue and the distribution of various relief supplies.     

黄土中水分迁移规律现场试验研究

黄土地区降雨诱发滑坡是不争的事实,但黄土地区地下水位很深,降雨入渗地面后如何运移,与地下水有无直接联系,目前还不是很清楚。为此设计了人工滴水试验模拟天然降雨条件,通过在一深度为10 m的探井井壁上埋设土壤水分计,观测人工滴水入渗过程中不同深度土体含水率随时间的变化情况,以确定其入渗影响深度。监测结果显示：降雨量为3.82 mm/d (小雨)时,0.5 m内土体含水率变化明显,0.5 m以下土层含水率几乎没有变化;降雨量为10.31 mm/d(中雨)时,1 m内土体含水率有所增加;降雨量达25.21 mm/d(大雨)时,1 m内土体含水率增长明显,1.0～1.6 m范围内有微弱增长;随着深度增加,土体含水率变化逐渐滞后,增幅逐渐减小。这说明在干旱的黄土地区,若无明显入水通道,短期内降雨的入渗深度有限,很难到达地下水位;但深部古土壤层的观测结果表明,即使在其上部黄土中含水率变化极其微弱的情况下,古土壤中的含水率上升明显,表明黄土中非饱和渗流或水汽迁移是存在的。通过试验还表明,陇东黄土高原地区土壤中水分循环主要发生在浅层0.7 m以内的蒸发带。降雨入渗到蒸发带以内,若无后续降雨补给,则向上蒸发排泄;若入渗至蒸发带以下,则不受蒸发影响,得以继续向下迁移;当遇到不透水面时,会在层面附近富集,有限元模拟也较好地反映了这一规律。