Assessing the performance of a large-scale irrigation system by estimations of actual evapotranspiration obtained by Landsat satellite images resampled with cubic convolution

Remote sensing techniques allow monitoring the Earth surface and acquiring worthwhile information that can be used efficiently in agro-hydrological systems. Satellite images associated to computational models represent reliable resources to estimate actual evapotranspiration fluxes, ET_a, based on surface energy balance. The knowledge of ET_a and its spatial distribution is crucial for a broad range of applications at different scales, from fields to large irrigation districts. In single plots and/or in irrigation districts, linking water volumes delivered to the plots with the estimations of remote sensed ET_a can have a great potential to develop new cost-effective indicators of irrigation performance, as well as to increase water use efficiency. With the aim to assess the irrigation system performance and the opportunities to save irrigation water resources at the “SAT Llano Verde” district in Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) was applied on cloud-free Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images, processed by cubic convolution resampling method, for three irrigation seasons (May to September 2006, 2007 and 2008). The model allowed quantifying instantaneous, daily, monthly and seasonal ET_a over the irrigation district. The comparison between monthly irrigation volumes distributed by each hydrant and the corresponding spatially averaged ET_a, obtained by assuming an overall efficiency of irrigation network equal to 85%, allowed the assessment of the irrigation system performance for the area served by each hydrant, as well as for the whole irrigation district. It was observed that in all the investigated years, irrigation volumes applied monthly by farmers resulted generally higher than the corresponding evapotranspiration fluxes retrieved by SEBAL, with the exception of May, in which abundant rainfall occurred. When considering the entire irrigation seasons, it was demonstrated that a considerable amount of water could have been saved in the district, respectively equal to 26.2, 28.0 and 16.4% of the total water consumption evaluated in the three years.     

The symmetry energy and incompressibility constrained by the observations of glitching pulsars

We investigate the masses of glitching pulsars in order to constrain their equation of state(EOS). The observations of glitches(sudden jumps in rotational frequency) may provide information on the interior physics of neutron stars. With the assumption that glitches are triggered by superfluid neutrons, the masses of glitching neutron stars can be estimated using observations of maximum glitches.Together with the observations of thermal emission from glitching pulsars Vela and J1709–4429, the slope of symmetry energy and incompressibility of nuclear matter at saturation density can be constrained.The slope of symmetry energy L should be larger than 67 MeV while the lower limit of incompressibility for symmetric nuclear matter K_0 is 215 MeV. We also obtain a relationship between L and K_0:6.173 MeV + 0.283 K_0≤ L ≤ 7.729 MeV + 0.291 K_0. The restricted EOSs are consistent with the observations of 2-solar-mass neutron stars and gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral.     

BDS3新试验卫星测距信号质量分析

中国的北斗卫星导航系统按照“三步走”的发展战略稳步推进,目前正处于第二代区域卫星导航系统向第三代全球卫星导航系统发展的关键时期。在郑州设置实验测站,实地采集BDS3新试验卫星的数据,分别从卫星可见数、信号频点、载噪比、伪距观测噪声值、多路径效应等方面分析BDS3试验卫星测距信号的质量。结果表明:对于相同频点,不同卫星的载噪比、伪距噪声、多路径效应变化略有不同,一般而言,倾斜同步轨道卫星(IGSO)的性能优于中轨道卫星(MEO)的性能;相同轨道类型的卫星,载噪比、伪距噪声、多路径效应水平相似,并且载噪比、伪距噪声、多路径效应在各个频点的相对大小关系基本一致。     

沟道偏转地形对滑坡碎屑流运动的影响研究

在沟谷地形中,滑坡碎屑流的运动常受到地形的影响,导致其运动方向发生改变,进而影响到滑坡运动速度和堆积特征。本文利用三维离散元素法,对四川都江堰三溪村高速远程滑坡进行模拟,研究滑坡体不同部位的块体失稳后,在沟道偏转地形主导下的滑坡碎屑流前缘的运动速度、各部位滑体的速度变化过程和堆积特征,并提出沟道偏转地形耗能模型分析了地形偏转造成的动能消耗。研究结果显示:滑坡前缘在地形偏转位置运动方向发生变化,导致运动速度突降;由于滑坡不同部位的滑块相对于地形偏转点具有不同的撞击角度,导致其撞击后产生不同的偏转角度,滑块的偏转角度越大,速度变化越大;由沟道偏转地形导致的滑坡运动速度减小反映了偏转地形对滑坡的动能产生的耗散,动能耗散率与cos2θ(θ为偏转地形在水平面上的偏转角度)成反比;不同部位滑块的堆积长度随偏转角度的增大而减小。本研究分析了沟谷地形偏转对滑坡碎屑流运动速度作用机制及不同部位岩土体堆积范围的影响,可为该类地形条件下滑坡的运动机制研究和防灾减灾工作提供参考。     

The evolution of the spatial-temporal patterns of global energy security since the 1990s

Journal of Geographical Sciences - In this study, we developed an energy security evaluation model (ESEM) from three dimensions, energy supply-transport security, safety of energy utilization, and...     

Extracting energy while reducing hydroelastic responses of VLFS using a modular raft wec-type attachment

This paper presents the use of a modular raft Wave Energy Converter (WEC)-type attachment at the fore edge of a rectangular Very Large Floating Structure (VLFS) for extracting wave energy while reducing hydroelastic responses of the VLFS under wave action. The proposed modular attachment comprises multiple independent auxiliary pontoons (i.e. modules) that are connected to the fore edge of the VLFS with hinges and linear Power Take-Off (PTO) systems. For the hydroelastic analysis, the auxiliary pontoons and the VLFS are modelled by using the Mindlin plate theory while the linear wave theory is used for modelling the fluid motion. The analysis is performed in the frequency domain using the hybrid Finite Element-Boundary Element (FE-BE) method. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effects of pontoon length, PTO damping coefficient, gap between auxiliary pontoons, and incident wave angle on the power capture factor as well as reductions in the hydroelastic responses of the VLFS with the modular attachment. It is found that in oblique waves, the modular attachment comprising multiple narrow pontoons outperforms the corresponding rigid attachment that consists of a single wide pontoon with respect to the power capture factor and the reduction in the deflection of the VLFS. In addition, it is possible to have a considerable gap between pontoons without significantly compromising the effectiveness of the modular attachment.     

Experimental investigation on a cabin-suspended catamaran in terms of motion reduction and wave energy harvesting by means of a semi-active motion control system

A novel concept catamaran equipped with a suspended cabin, named Wave Harmonizer Type 4 (WHzer-4), is proposed and evaluated. The mass-spring-mass system is constructed by mounting four sets of suspensions in-between the cabin and the twin-hull. Two sets of dual motor/generators (M/Gs) are attached on the center beam of the cabin's deck fore and aft. Each shaft-end of the dual M/Gs is connected to the twin-hull through a rack-pinion gear unit. In this way the vertical relative motion between the cabin and the twin-hull can be transferred into the rotational motion of the M/Gs, and vice versa. A semi-active motion control system, which contains a proportional-integral (PI) controller, is designed and applied to each of the dual M/Gs for the aim of absorbing wave energy under the condition of suppressing the local vertical velocity of the cabin as much as possible. A 1/5 scale model ship with a length of 1.6 m is built, and a forced-oscillation bench test is implemented to validate the performance of the control system. Then, a series of towing tank tests is carried out in regular head waves. The heave and pitch responses of the cabin, those of the twin-hull and the corresponding wave energy capture width ratio (CWR) at five control scenarios and two reference scenarios are investigated. Discussion on the results of the tank test shows that the motion reduction of the cabin and the wave energy harvesting can be achieved simultaneously at a few wave conditions. However, at other conditions, although noticeable amount of wave energy is harvested, motion reduction of the heave and pitch of the cabin could not be obtained at the same time. It is suggested that varying the gain settings of the PI controllers according to the location of the controllers may improve the effectiveness of the proposed control system.     

Wave tank and bench-top control testing of a wave energy converter

An increasing number of experiments are being conducted to study the design and performance of wave energy converters. Often in these tests, a real-time realization of prospective control algorithms is applied in order to assess and optimize energy absorption as well as other factors. This paper details the design and execution of an experiment for evaluating the capability of a model-scale WEC to execute basic control algorithms. Model-scale hardware, system, and experimental design are considered, with a focus on providing an experimental setup capable of meeting the dynamic requirements of a control system. To more efficiently execute such tests, a dry bench testing method is proposed and utilized to allow for controller tuning and to give an initial assessment of controller performance; this is followed by wave tank testing. The trends from the dry bench test and wave tank test results show good agreement with theory and confirm the ability of a relatively simple feedback controller to substantially improve energy absorption. Additionally, the dry bench testing approach is shown to be an effective and efficient means of designing and testing both controllers and actuator systems for wave energy converters.     

An efficient hybrid integral-equation method for point-absorber wave energy converters with a vertical axis of symmetry

To assist in the prototyping and controller design of point-absorber wave energy converters (WECs), an easy-to-implement hybrid integral-equation method is presented for computing the frequency-domain hydrodynamic properties of bodies with a vertical axis of symmetry in waves. The current hybrid method decomposes the flow domain into two parts: an inner domain containing the body and an outer domain extending to infinity. The solution in the inner domain is computed using the boundary-element method, and the outer-domain solution is expressed using eigenfunctions. Proper matching at the domain boundary is achieved by enforcing continuity of velocity potential and its normal derivative. Body symmetry allows efficient computation using ring sources in the inner domain. The current method is successfully applied to three different body geometries including a vertical truncated floating cylinder, the McIver toroid, and the coaxial-cylinder WEC being developed in the authors’ laboratory. In particular, the current results indicate that, by replacing the flat bottom of the coaxial-cylinder WEC with the Berkeley-Wedge (BW) shape, viscous effect can be significantly reduced with only minor negative impact on wave-exciting force, thus increasing WEC efficiency. Finally, by comparing to experimental measurements, the current method is demonstrated to accurately predict the heave added mass and wave-exciting force on the coaxial-cylinder WEC with BW geometry. If a viscous damping correction factor is used, the heave motion amplitude can also be accurately computed.