Determining the location of buried plastic water pipes from measurements of ground surface vibration

‘Mapping the Underworld’ is a UK-based project, which aims to create a multi-sensor device that combines complementary technologies for remote buried utility service detection and location. One of the technologies to be incorporated in the device is low-frequency vibro-acoustics, and techniques for detecting buried infrastructure, in particular plastic water pipes, are being investigated. One of the proposed techniques involves excitation of the pipe at some known location with concurrent vibrational mapping of the ground surface in order to infer the location of the remainder of the pipe. In this paper, measurements made on a dedicated pipe rig are reported. Frequency response measurements relating vibrational velocity on the ground to the input excitation were acquired. Contour plots of the unwrapped phase revealed the location of the pipe to within 0.1-0.2 m. Magnitude contour plots revealed the excitation point and also the location of the pipe end. By examining the unwrapped phase gradients along a line above the pipe, it was possible to identify the wave-type within the pipe responsible for the ground surface vibration. Furthermore, changes in the ground surface phase speed computed using this method enabled the location of the end of the pipe to be confirmed.     

Detailed measurements during a transient front in a small subtropical estuary

High-resolution measurements of velocity and physio-chemistry were conducted before, during and after the passage of a transient front in a small subtropical system about 2.1 km upstream of the river mouth. Detailed acoustic Doppler velocimetry measurements, conducted continuously at 25 Hz, showed the existence of transverse turbulent shear between 300 s prior to the front passage and 1300 s after. This was associated with an increased level of suspended sediment concentration fluctuations, some transverse shear next to the bed and some surface temperature anomaly.     

The thermal structure of the Dvurechenskii mud volcano and its implications for gas hydrate stability and eruption dynamics

The sediment temperature distribution at mud volcanoes provides insights into their activity and into the occurrence of gas hydrates. If ambient pressure and temperature conditions are close to the limits of the gas hydrate stability field, the sediment temperature distribution not only limits the occurrence of gas hydrates, but is itself influenced by heat production and consumption related to the formation and dissociation of gas hydrates. Located in the Sorokin Trough in the northern Black Sea, the Dvurechenskii mud volcano (DMV) was in the focus of detailed investigations during the M72/2 and M73/3a cruises of the German R/V Meteor and the ROV Quest 4000 m in February and March 2007. A large number of in-situ sediment temperature measurements were conducted from the ROV and with a sensor-equipped gravity corer. Gas hydrates were sampled in pressurized cores using a dynamic autoclave piston corer (DAPC). The thermal structure of the DMV suggests a regime of fluid flow at rates decreasing from the summit towards the edges of the mud volcano, accompanied by intermittent mud expulsion at the summit. Modeled gas hydrate dissociation temperatures reveal that the gas hydrates at the DMV are very close to the stability limits. Changes in heat flow due to variable seepage rates probably do not result in changes in sediment temperature but are compensated by gas hydrate dissociation and formation.     

Effective fetch and non-linear four-wave interactions during wave growth in slanting fetch conditions

Wave growth in slanting fetch (with wind blowing obliquely off a coast) is investigated with 7 years worth of routine wave measurements in Lake IJssel in The Netherlands and with the SWAN wave model. Two aspects are considered in particular for this case: the validity of the concept of effective fetch and the role of the non-linear four-wave interactions. For slanting and parallel fetch conditions, we found some significant deviations from the effective fetch assumption, leading to 20–35% mismatch in either the peak period T_p or the significant wave height H_m0 respectively. However, the effect of discrepancies between various widely accepted wave growth formulas turned out to be even more important. The wave directions during slanting fetch are significantly ‘steered’ by the coastline, especially in the first kilometre(s) off the coast. The role of the non-linear four-wave interactions is investigated by running the SWAN (version 40.41) wave model with three different quadruplet formulations. Exact quadruplet methods (Xnl) yielded relatively strong wave steering, despite the four-wave interactions being relatively weak. Application of Xnl did not lead to better overall agreement with measurements — improvements for the mean wave period T_m01 were offset by some deterioration for the wave height H_m0.     

Lagrangian measurements and modelling of fluid advection in the inner surf and swash zones

New laboratory and field data are presented on fluid advection into the swash zone. The data illustrate the region of the inner surf zone from which sediment can be directly advected into the swash zone during a single uprush, which is termed the advection length. Experiments were conducted by particle tracking in a Lagrangian reference frame, and were performed for monochromatic breaking waves, solitary bores, non-breaking solitary waves and field conditions. The advection length is normalised by the run-up length to give an advection ratio, A, and different advection ratios are identified on the basis of the experimental data. The data show that fluid enters the swash zone from a region of the inner surf zone that can extend a distance seaward of the bore collapse location that is approximately equal to half of the run-up length. This region is about eight times wider than the region predicted by the classical swash solution of Shen and Meyer [Shen, M.C., Meyer, R.E., 1963. Climb of a bore on a beach. Part 3. Runup. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 16, 113–125], as illustrated by Pritchard and Hogg [Pritchard, D., Hogg, A.J., 2005. On the transport of suspended sediment by a swash event on a plane beach. Coastal Engineering 52, 1–23]. Measured advection ratios for periodic waves show no significant trend with Iribarren number, consistent with self-similarity in typical swash flows. The data are compared to recent characteristic solutions of the non-linear shallow water wave (NLSW) equations and both finite difference and finite volume solutions of the NLSW equations.     

Enhanced concentrations of dissolved gaseous mercury in the surface waters of the Arctic Ocean

During an almost three months long expedition in the Arctic Ocean, the Beringia 2005, dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) was measured continuously in the surface water. The DGM concentration was measured using an equilibrium system, i.e. the DGM in the water phase equilibrated with a stream of gas and the gas was thereafter analysed with respect to its mercury content. The DGM concentrations were calculated using the following equation, DGM = Hg_eq / k_H' where Hg_eq is the equilibrated concentration of elemental mercury in the gas phase and k_H' is the dimensionless Henry's law constant at desired temperature and salinity. During the expedition several features were observed. For example, enhanced DGM concentration was measured underneath the ice which may indicate that the sea ice acted as a barrier for evasion of mercury from the Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere. Furthermore, elevated DGM concentrations were observed in water that might have originated from river discharge. The gas-exchange of mercury between the ocean and the atmosphere was calculated in the open water and both deposition and evasion were observed. The measurements showed significantly enhanced DGM concentrations, compared to more southern latitudes.     

钱塘江强潮河段江道缩窄治理研究

对钱塘江强潮河段江道缩窄治理进行研究。首先,回顾治理方案的比选,江道全线缩窄时河轴线线路和河道宽度的确定原则,以及不同河段的指数放宽率。然后,介绍了在涌潮汹涌、滩涂淤坍变化剧烈的强潮河段,实施筑堤所采取的工程措施的步序与要点。最后,分析论证了大规模江道缩窄治理后河床、潮汐、洪水位及涌潮高度等特征值的变化。可供进一步深入理论研究和工程施工参考运用。     

利用南极走航观测评估卫星遥感海表面温度

利用1989-2005年间南极走航观测的海表面温度,对目前3个主要的卫星反演的SST产品AVHRR(Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer),TMI(TRMM Microwave Imager)和AMSR-E(Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System)进行了较为系统的评估,并着重检验了它们在南大洋的准确性.结果表明,AVHRR SST比观测数据偏冷,白天的偏差为-0.12℃,夜晚的偏差为-0.04℃,而且南大洋的冷偏差更为显著.TMI SST比观测数据明显偏暖,白天的偏差为0.48℃,夜晚的偏差为0.57℃,其温差ΔT受37GHz风速影响,在强风速(>6m/s)下这种影响仍然存在.AMSR-ESST比观测数据偏暖,白天的偏差为0.34℃,夜晚的偏差为0.27℃,而且南大洋的暖偏差相对较大.AMSR-E SST温差受水汽影响,并在南大洋随着水汽的增加而增加.通过进一步比较微波(AMSR-E和TMI)和红外(AVHRR)遥感的SST在2004年北半球冬季(即南半球夏季)的差别,发现微波遥感在热带(15°S-15°N)和南大洋区域(45°S以南)比红外遥感偏暖,而且在南大洋区域的偏差相对较大,相反在北半球中纬度区域(15°~40°N)偏冷.AMSR-E与AVHRR SST的温差,从白天到夜晚有减小的趋势,而TMI与AVHRR SST的温差无明显的变化.     

一种优化模糊度搜索方法的研究

对于高精度测量和导航,GPS载波相位整周模糊度的快速求解仍然是一个难点,尤其对于单频接收机。提出一种快速求解整周模糊度的方法,其基本思想采用分步求解,首先应用最小二乘模糊去耦调节法(LAMBDA)搜索出来的模糊度作为初始值,然后应用卫星分组方法降低搜索维数,并应用极大似然准则,构造搜索函数,最后应用最优化原理,搜索出最优的模糊度参数,并从三个方面对其进行检验,即RATIO检验,OVT检验,多项式拟合残差检验。为验证该算法,我们用单频GPS接收机进行了实验,利用本文方法在11 S以内正确确定了模糊度,其基线长误差小于3MM,表明该方法不但可以改进模糊度的搜索速度,而且可以进一步提高其可靠性和成功率。该方法可广泛应用于定向及姿态测量。     

Observed and modelled tidal currents in the New Zealand region

Tidal currents derived from current meter measurements are compared with the output from a barotropic tidal model of the New Zealand region. For the semi‐diurnal constituents there was very good agreement for the M₂ tide and good agreement for the S₂ tide. For the diurnal constituents (K_l, O_l) it was found that as the amplitude of the constituents decreased so did both the model/observation agreement and the accuracy of the observed tidal ellipse parameters. Consequently it was not possible to decide whether differences arose through shortcomings in the model or in the data. However, the overall performance of the model as a prognostic tool for ocean tidal current simulation appears to be good.