Spatial Sampling Strategies for Mapping a Volcanic Ground Water Plume in Sierra Valey,California

Accurately mapping a region’s ground water quality depends upon the spatial sampling strategies employed, including where and how often field data are collected. This study compares the relative values of three field sampling strategies for mapping a known migrating plume of volcanic ground water in Sierra Valley, California. The first strategy sampled wells once each year during 1957, 1972, and 1980 (n=63, 45, and 57, respectively) and portrayed spatial–temporal changes in ground water quality more clearly on maps than did two alternative sampling strategies. One of these alternatives, Strategy 2, sampled one well per township per year during 1957, 1972, and 1980 (n=11) and did not detect the migrating plume, despite being a recommended strategy. The other alternative, Strategy 3, frequently sampled in time a small, fixed group of indicator wells (n=13) every four years for the same period, again producing maps with little correlation to the original pattern detected by Strategy 1.     

Mapping Human Terrain in the Joint Army–Navy Intelligence Study of Korea (1945)

The concept of human terrain has become a prominent element of U.S. military strategy. It is a means to capture the cultural–geographical qualities of an enemy or target population. An early effort to map human terrain is found in the Joint Army–Navy Intelligence Study (JANIS) of Korea (1945). We argue that the JANIS report on Korea was paradigmatic for the U.S. military's contemporary geographical work and offers insights into the cultural politics of human terrain mapping. This explains why the JANIS text is cited by the National Geospatial-Intelligence College (NGC) today as an historical model. This article not only offers a window into the history of geography counterinsurgent but also shows that geography has been entwined with empire.     

An Analysis of the Commuting and Jobs–Housing Patterns of Older Adult Workers

Many researchers have explored the relationships between land use and transportation via the jobs–housing balance concept. This type of research involves the disaggregation of commuter groups to understand variances in the relationship between land use and transportation outcomes. Disaggregation by commuter age has not been considered, however. To address this gap, we analyze spatially and temporally disaggregate census data for five areas in Florida. Using several jobs–housing balance metrics we compare and contrast the outcomes of different commuter age groups, across different geographies, and over time (2002–2011). Generally, commutes vary more by region than they do by any age category of commuter. Most of the differences in the commute metrics among the older age group tend to depend on where those commuters live. The results also suggest that there are more efficient and less sprawling commuting landscapes for older workers located near other older workers.     

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Ten Years o f Physicogeographic Research in Hungary

Antarctic Snow and Ice Studies     

Interactions eaux de surface–eaux souterraines: bassin versant de l'Oued Mikkes (Maroc)

Résumé

Le bassin de l'Oued Mikkès est situé au centre-nord du Maroc. Il comporte trois zones distinctes présentant des géologies assez diversifiées et abritant des nappes souterraines; une nappe phréatique et une autre captive dans le bassin du Sais et une nappe libre dans le causse Moyen Atlasique. Il correspond à un régime simple pluvial océanique soutenu par les eaux souterraines. La baisse importante du niveau des nappes du bassin de Mikkès observée depuis le début des années 1980 est probablement due à l'effet combiné de la sécheresse et de la surexploitation. Ceci a une influence sur les débits des sources et sur celui de l'oued. Pour la nappe phréatique du Sais, la corrélation positive et la proximité des courbes de fluctuations temporelles entre le débit de la rivière et le niveau piézométrique en dehors des périodes de crues suggère une relation d'alimentation–drainage entre la nappe et la rivière. La ressemblance des courbes de variations du niveau piézométrique de la nappe phréatique et du niveau de la nappe profonde laisse supposer l'existence d'une connexion hydraulique entre la nappe profonde et la rivière. Cependant, le reflet d'une très forte infiltration au sein du causse Moyen Atlasique ne permet pas de démontrer une corrélation positive entre le niveau de la rivière et celui de la nappe.

Citation Belhassan, K., Hessane, M. A. & Essahlaoui, A. (2010) Interactions eaux de surface–eaux souterraines: bassin versant de l'Oued Mikkes (Maroc). Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(8), 1371–1384.     

Salinité des ressources en eau: intrusion marine et interaction eaux–roches (Maroc occidental)

Résumé

Le flux migratoire de la population vers les grandes villes et la multiplication des activités industrielles et agricoles, lors des ces dernières années (1990–2006), ont provoqué un accroissement des besoins en eaux de la nappe du bassin du Rharb (ouest du Maroc). Cette forte sollicitation a produit une augmentation de la minéralisation et une dégradation de la qualité hydrochimique (salinité) des eaux souterraines. Cet article a pour objectif de suivre l'évolution spatiale de la qualité hydrochimique des eaux souterraines et de comprendre le processus de cette minéralisation en fonction de l'intrusion marine, le gradient hydraulique et l'interaction eaux–réservoirs. Les corrélations hydrochimiques réalisées dans la zone côtière révèlent une contamination par les eaux marines. L'intrusion marine et la caractérisation des complexes pré-Rifains ont été identifiées par les méthodes géophysiques électriques et sismiques.

Citation Zouhri, L., Toto, E. A., Carlier, E. & Debieche, T.-H. (2010) Salinité des ressources en eau: dilution marine et interaction eaux–roches (Maroc occidental). Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(8), 1337–1347.     

La méthode SHYREG débit—application sur 1605 bassins versants en France métropolitaine

Résumé

La méthode SHYREG est une approche développée pour la connaissance régionale de l’aléa pluvial (SHYREG pluie) et hydrologique (SHYREG débit) en tout point du territoire français. Elle est basée sur le couplage d’un générateur stochastique de pluie horaire et d’un modèle hydrologique. Cet article présente les résultats de la mise en ?uvre de la méthode sur 1605 bassins versants répartis sur la France métropolitaine. Sur les fréquences courantes (c.à.d. périodes de retour inférieures à 10 ans), la méthode restitue correctement les quantiles de débit de crue ajustés à une loi statistique sur les observations (loi GEV, selon le critère de Nash-Sutcliffe). Plusieurs critères sont utilisés pour valider l’extrapolation des débits à des fréquences extrêmes: (a) en la confrontant à de longues chroniques de débits observés, (b) en analysant dans le modèle hydrologique la saturation du réservoir de production synonyme de comportement asymptotique avec les pluies, et (c) en étudiant la stabilité de la méthode à travers les critères statistiques.

Editeur Z.W. Kundzewicz; Editeur associé G. Mahé

Citation Aubert, Y., Arnaud, P., Ribstein, P., et Fine, J.-A., 2014. La méthode SHYREG débit, application sur 1605 bassins versants en France Métropolitaine. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (5), 993–1005.     

Hydrologic and geomorphic flow thresholds in the Lower Brazos River,Texas, USA

Abstract

River science and management often require a design or reference discharge. The common (and sometimes unavoidable) use of such discharges may, however, obscure the fact that the magnitude and frequency of critical flows can differ due to various hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological criteria. Threshold stages and discharges were identified for six lower Brazos River, Texas gaging stations corresponding to thalweg connectivity, bed inundation, high sub-banktop flows, channel–floodplain connectivity (CFC), and overbank flooding. Critical flows were also identified for estimated thresholds for sandy bedform and medium gravel mobility, critical specific stream power for potential channel modifications, and cohesive-bank channel erosion. These thresholds have variable relationships to mean, median, and maximum flows. For four of the six stations, daily recurrence probabilities for all but flood flows are at least 1%, and as high as 11%. All stations achieve channel–floodplain connectivity at stages less than banktop. Estimated threshold flows for sediment mobility and channel erosion occur relatively frequently, with daily probabilities of 2–77%. Critical flows for bank erosion occur least often, and for sandy bedform and gravel mobility most often. Thalweg connectivity is always maintained at all sites, while bed inundation flows have a daily probability of about 80% or more. Overall, results suggest that no single flow level is dominant in hydrological or geomorphic dynamics, and that the frequency of a given threshold varies considerably even along a single river. The results support the idea that multiple flow levels and ranges are necessary to create and maintain the hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological characteristics of rivers, and that no single flow level is a reliable determinant of fluvial state.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor Q. Zhang     

Quasi-geostrophic shallow-water vortex–patch equilibria and their stability

We examine the equilibrium form, properties, stability and nonlinear evolution of steadily-rotating simply-connected vortex patches in the single-layer quasi-geostrophic model of geophysical fluid dynamics. This model, valid for rotating shallow-water flow in the limit of small Rossby and Froude numbers, has an intrinsic length scale L _D called the “Rossby deformation length” relating the strength of the stratification to that of the background rotation. Here, we generate steadily-rotating vortex equilibria for a wide range of γ?=?L/L _D , where L is the typical horizontal length scale of the vortex. We vary both γ (over the range 0.02?≤?γ?≤?10) and the vortex aspect ratio λ (over the range 0?<?λ?<?1). We find two modes of instability arising at sufficiently small aspect ratio λ?<?λ _c (γ): an asymmetric (dominantly wave 3) mode at small γ (or large L _D ) and a symmetric (dominantly wave 4) mode at large γ (or small L _D ). At marginal stability, the asymmetric mode dominates for γ???3, while the symmetric mode dominates for γ???3. The nonlinear evolution of weakly-perturbed unstable equilibria results in major structural changes, in most cases producing two dominant vortex patches and thin, quasi-passive filaments. Overall, the nonlinear evolution can be classified into three principal types: (1) vacillations for a limited range of aspect ratios λ when 5?≤?γ?≤?6, (2) filamentation and a single-dominant vortex for γ???1, and (3) vortex splitting – asymmetric for 1???γ???4 and symmetric for γ???4.