Scale impacts on spatial variability in reference evapotranspiration

ABSTRACT

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most important components in the hydrological cycle, and a key variable in hydrological modelling and water resources management. However, understanding the impacts of spatial variability in ET and the appropriate scale at which ET data should be incorporated into hydrological models, particularly at the regional scale, is often overlooked. This is in contrast to dealing with the spatial variability in rainfall data where existing guidance is widely available. This paper assesses the impacts of scale on the estimation of reference ET (ETo) by comparing data from individual weather stations against values derived from three national datasets, at varying resolutions. These include the UK Climate Impacts Programme 50 km climatology (UKCP₅₀), the UK Met Office 5 km climatology (UKMO₅) and the regional values published in the Agricultural Climate of England and Wales (ACEW). The national datasets were compared against the individual weather station data and the UKMO₅ was shown to provide the best estimate of ETo at a given site. The potential impacts on catchment modelling were then considered by mapping variance in ETo to show how geographical location and catchment size can have a major impact, with small lowland catchments having much higher variance than those with much larger areas or in the uplands. Some important implications for catchment hydrological modelling are highlighted.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor L. Ruiz     

Water balance components estimation under scenarios of land cover change in the Vea catchment,West Africa

ABSTRACT

The need for a detailed investigation of the Vea catchment water balance components cannot be overemphasized due to its accelerated land-cover dynamics and the associated impacts on the hydrological processes. This study assessed the possible consequences of land-use change scenarios (i.e. business as usual, BAU, and afforestation for the year 2025) compared to the 2016 baseline on the Vea catchment’s water balance components using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The data used include daily climate and discharge, soil and land use/land cover maps. The results indicate that the mean annual water yield may increase by 9.1% under the BAU scenario but decrease by 2.7% under the afforestation scenario; actual evapotranspiration would decrease under BAU but increase under afforestation; and groundwater recharge may increase under both scenarios but would be more pronounced under the afforestation scenario. These outcomes highlight the significance of land-cover dynamics in water resource management and planning at the catchment.     

Reliability bearing capacity analysis of footings on cohesive soil slopes using RFEM

Reliability analysis of bearing capacity of a strip footing at the crest of a simple slope with cohesive soil was carried out using the random finite element method (RFEM). Analyses showed that the coefficient of variation and the spatial correlation length of soil cohesion can have a large influence on footing bearing capacity, particularly for slopes with large height to footing width ratios. The paper demonstrates cases where a footing satisfies a deterministic design factor of safety of 3 but the probability of design failure is unacceptably high. Isotropic and anisotropic spatial variability of the soil strength was also considered.     

Is there a link between deep‐sea biodiversity and ecosystem function?

Studying the diversity‐ecosystem function relationship in the deep sea is of primary importance in the face of biodiversity loss and for our understanding of how the deep sea functions. Results from the first study of diversity‐ecosystem function relationships in the deep sea (Danovaro et al. 2008; Current Biology, 18, 1–8) are unexpected and show an exponential relationship between deep‐sea nematode diversity and ecosystem function and efficiency, although this relationship appears largely restricted to relatively low diversities [ES(51) <25]. Here, we investigate the relationship between nematode diversity and several independent measures/proxies of ecosystem function (sediment community oxygen consumption, bacterial biomass, bacterial extracellular enzyme activity) and efficiency (ratio of bacterial/nematode carbon to organic C content of the sediment) on the New Zealand continental slope. Nematode diversity at our study sites was relatively high [ES(51) = 30–42], and there was no relationship between species/functional diversity and ecosystem function/efficiency after accounting for the effects of water depth and food availability. Our results are consistent with a breakdown of the exponential diversity‐function relationship at high levels of diversity, which may be due to increased competition or greater functional redundancy. Future studies need to take into account as many environmental factors and as wide a range of diversities as possible to provide further insights into the diversity‐ecosystem function relationship in the largest ecosystem on Earth.     

Under‐ice salinity and stable isotope distribution of Saroma‐ko Lagoon,Hokkaido, northern Japan

In winter, lakes and lagoons at high altitudes or high latitudes have interesting hydrological cycles that differ from those in other seasons or in other regions, because water surfaces are covered with ice. Hydrological balances of lakes and lagoons are complex dynamic systems, and to elucidate them, isotopic tracers of water have been used as effective tools along with observations of precipitation, evaporation, inflows, and outflows. Here, to understand hydrological processes during freezing periods in the brackish Saroma‐ko Lagoon, Hokkaido, northern Japan, we examined horizontal and vertical distributions of salinity and isotope compositions of lagoon water and ice in 2005 and 2006. Horizontal and vertical gradients of salinity and isotope compositions were observed from the river mouth to the sea channel, and factors determining these distributions were considered. The mixing of freshwater and seawater and a freezing effect were presumed to be factors in relationships between salinity and isotopes and in relationships between surface waters and ice just above the water. A simple box model for water balance was constructed based on these putative factors to reproduce the distributions of salinity and isotope compositions of surface waters and ice. An evaluation of the model revealed that this hydrological system is controlled primarily by horizontal advection of the epilimnion, freshwater influx, and the ice growth rate. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

我国西北地区多年降水的氢氧同位素分布特征研究

降水是干旱区水文循环研究不可缺少的水文要素,为了揭示我国西北地区大气降水的氢氧同位素时空分布特征,合理开展不同尺度水文循环研究和建立对比标准,系统搜集分析了乌鲁木齐、银川、张掖、兰州、平凉、西安和拉萨七个地区多年大气降水的氢氧同位素数据资料。分析结果表明:乌鲁木齐、银川、张掖和兰州四个地区的δ18O值夏半年明显高于冬半年,从全年尺度上来看只是受到了温度效应的影响;而位于关中盆地的西安地区则由于复杂的水汽来源,冬半年表现出受温度效应的控制,夏半年转为雨量效应控制为主。平凉地区δ18O与其它海拔相近地区(如兰州)相比5~9月份均偏负,这与平凉地区较弱的城市热岛效应有关。西北地区大气降水δD和δ18O的变化范围均在全球大气降水的变化范围之内,除平凉和拉萨外,其它几个地区大气降水线方程的斜率和截距均小于全球大气降水线,说明这些地区的降水是在干旱环境下经历较强程度的蒸发条件下进行的,且在降水过程中还可能受到了局地二次蒸发凝结等水汽循环的影响。而该区域大气降水的氘盈余(d值)表现出冬半年高、夏半年低的特点,表明冬半年和夏半年水汽来源不同或者水源地的蒸发条件不同。     

挤土类桩的挤土效应及其防治方法

挤土效应是所有挤土类桩面临的共同问题，它可能造成临近建筑物破坏，地下管线断裂，道路隆起以及工程质量事故。依据挤土类桩挤土效应的形成机理，结合工程实例，提出了减少挤土效应的措施，如预钻排水孔、开挖防挤沟、设置观测点、控制压桩速度等措施，并根据施工地区不同的环境条件提出了合理的压桩顺序。     

不同采出程度下石油组分变化特征

利用GHM烃分析仪对水驱模拟实验过程中不同阶段的采出原油进行分析,研究其原油组成的变化规律,探索原油组成与采出程度之间的内在关系。实验表明 :原油的采出程度与采出流体PV数之间具有良好的对应关系;随着采出程度逐渐提高,原油中正构烷烃的碳数范围及主峰碳数逐渐后移,原油的轻 /重比值呈现降低趋势。实验还证明,某些在空间上呈圆柱型、具有规则支链的分子比相近碳数的直链分子更容易被驱出。该项研究对于从微观角度深入探索驱油机理、提高原油采收率具有实际意义。     

基于水位波动关联度的济南西部与济南泉群地下水关系研究

济南市以"泉城"闻名,近年来城市化进程的加快及地下水开采量的增大,对济南市区泉群喷涌产生了一定程度的影响。对2014～2017年济南西部玉符河下游的杜家庙、南八里、朱家庄等地及市区泉群的趵突泉、黑虎泉的岩溶水位波动规律进行分析,在地下水位波动幅度计算的基础上,利用灰色关联分析方法,从一个新的评价指标"水位波动关联度"的角度探寻济西与济南市区泉群地下水间的联系,为济南市保泉供水提供探索依据。以15d为地下水位均值计算周期,先计算全年的水位波动关联度,再将关联度的计算结果划分为:4～7月、8～11月和12月至次年3月三个时段,分别分析济西各岩溶井水位与泉水位的波动关联度。结果表明,12月至次年3月关联度的计算结果受外界干扰最小,这一时段济西与市区泉群水位波动关联度的均值为0.854,属高关联度,两者地下水位变化规律极其相似,两个地下水系统在统计学上存在着极强的联系。     

Improving the efficiency of ant algorithms using adaptive refinement: Application to storm water network design

The ant algorithm is a new evolutionary optimization method proposed for the solution of discrete combinatorial optimization problems. Many engineering optimization problems involve decision variables of continuous nature. Application of the ant algorithm to the optimization of these continuous problems requires discretization of the continuous search space, thereby reducing the underlying continuous problem to a discrete optimization problem. The level of discretization of the continuous search space, however, could present some problems. Generally, coarse discretization of the continuous design variables could adversely affect the quality of the final solution while finer discretization would enlarge the scale of the problem leading to higher computation cost and, occasionally, to low quality solutions. An adaptive refinement procedure is introduced in this paper as a remedy for the problem just outlined. The method is based on the idea of limiting the originally wide search space to a smaller one once a locally converged solution is obtained. The smaller search space is designed to contain the locally optimum solution at its center. The resulting search space is discretized and a completely new search is conducted to find a better solution. The procedure is continued until no improvement can be made by further refinement. The method is applied to a benchmark problem in storm water network design discipline and the results are compared with those of existing methods. The method is shown to be very effective and efficient regarding the optimality of the solution, and the convergence characteristics of the resulting ant algorithm. Furthermore, the method proves itself capable of finding an optimal, or near-optimal solution, independent of the discretization level and the size of the colony used.