Determination of Area-Averaged Sensible Heat Fluxes with a Large Aperture Scintillometer over a Heterogeneous Surface – Flevoland Field Experiment

To test the applicability of the scintillation method over a heterogeneous area an experiment was carried out in the summer of 1998 in Flevoland (The Netherlands). In the patchy area only four crops were grown namely sugar beet, potatoes, wheat and onions. From eddy covariance measurements it was found that the heterogeneity was mainly caused by differences in thermal properties. No variations in the aerodynamics roughness length were observed. Two large aperture scintillometers were installed at a height of 11.6 and 20.4 m. A good resemblance was found between the sensible heat fluxes derived from both LAS instruments and the area-averaged fluxes obtained from the in-situ eddy covariance measurements. The slight underestimation of the lower LAS could be assessed using a blending height model and an analytical footprint model. The results also indicated that when scintillometer measurements are made below the blending height the violation to Monin–Obukhov Similarity Theory is small and that reasonable fluxes can be obtained from path-averaged structure parameters.     

Numerical simulation of fluid–structure interaction using a combined volume of fluid and immersed boundary method

In this work, a combined immersed boundary (IB) and volume of fluid (VOF) methodology is developed to simulate the interactions of free-surface waves and submerged solid bodies. The IB method is used to account for the no-slip boundary condition at solid interfaces and the VOF method, utilizing a piecewise linear interface calculation, is employed to track free surfaces. The combined model is applied in several case studies, including the propagation of small-amplitude progressive waves over a submerged trapezoidal dike, a solitary wave traveling over a submerged rectangular object, and wave generation induced by a moving bed. Numerical results depicting the free-surface evolutions and velocity fields are in good agreement with either experimental data or numerical results obtained by other researchers. In addition, the simplification of the initial free-surface deformation used in most tsunami earthquake source study is justified by the present model application. The methodology presented in the paper serves as a good tool for solving many practical problems involving free surfaces and complex boundaries.     

Role of Meso-Scale Eddies on Circulation in the South Eastern Arabian Sea in 2009

Spatial current data were collected from South eastern Arabian Sea during July 2009 (summer monsoon) and December 2009 (winter monsoon) using the vessel mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). During July 2009, observed ADCP currents were flowing southward along 75°E longitude with a complex pattern near the coast. During winter (December 2009), an anti-clockwise rotation of currents was observed in the study region, with its eastern arm along the southwest coast of India. The circulation pattern observed during the two seasons from ADCP measured data does not seem to follow any pattern described in climatology. To investigate this aspect, the geostrophic currents were computed utilizing the multi-mission altimeter sea surface height anomaly data for the corresponding months. The analysis of geostrophic currents indicates the presence of multiple eddies embedded in the Laccadive Low (LL) /Laccadive High (LH). Our present study shows that the meso-scale eddies embedded in the LL and LH play a significant role in deviating the observed circulation from climatology in this region. In addition, generating mechanisms of these eddies are addressed to substantiate our findings. The formation of these eddies is attributed to the local wind force during July 2009 and the enhanced baroclinic instability during December 2009.     

Wave interaction with T-type breakwaters

The wave transmission, reflection and energy dissipation characteristics of partially submerged ‘T'-type breakwaters (Fig. 1) were studied using physical models. Regular and random waves, with wide ranges of wave heights and periods and a constant water depth were used. Five different depths of immersions of the ‘T'-type breakwater were selected. The coefficient of transmission, K_t, coefficient reflection, K_r, were obtained from the measurements and the coefficient of energy loss, K_l is calculated using the law of conservation of energy. It is found that the coefficient of transmission generally reduces with increased wave steepness and increased relative water depth, d/L. This breakwater is found to be effective closer to deep-water conditions. K_t values less than 0.35 is obtained for both normal and high input wave energy levels, when the horizontal barrier of the T type breakwater is immersed to about 7% of the water depth. This breakwater is also found to be very efficient in dissipating the incident wave energy to an extent of about 65% (i.e. K_l>0.8), especially for high input wave energy levels. The wave climate in front of the breakwater is also measured and studied.

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Fig. 1. Schematic view of the T-type breakwater.     

Evolution of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the isotope hydrology of a montane river basin

Abstract

Precipitation and streamwater were analysed weekly for δ¹⁸O in seven tributaries and five main stem sites of a 2100 km² catchment; >60% of it is upland in character. Precipitation δ¹⁸O followed seasonal patterns ranging from –20‰ in winter to –4‰ in summer. Seasonality was also evident in stream waters, though much more damped. Mean transit times (MTTs) were estimated using δ¹⁸O input–output relationships in a convolution integral with a gamma distribution. The MTTs were relatively similar (528–830 days): tributaries exhibited a greater range, being shorter in catchments with montane topography and hydrologically responsive soils, and longer where catchments have significant water storage. Along the main stem, MTTs increased modestly from 621 to 741 days. This indicates that montane headwaters are the dominant sources of runoff along the main stem of the river system. Models suggest that around 10% of runoff has transit times of less than two weeks during higher flows whilst older (>10-year old) water sustains low flows contributing around 5% of runoff.

Citation Speed, M., Tetzlaff, D., Hrachowitz, M. & Soulsby, C. (2011) Evolution of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the isotope hydrology of a montane river basin. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(3), 426–442     

Height matters: position above the substratum influences the growth of two demosponge species

In benthic communities sponges commonly outcompete other organisms in the race for suitable space. Superior competitive ability allows them to grow and overgrow other sessile organisms, some of these being octocorals. Acquiring substratum space, a resource often more limiting than food, is the obvious benefit of these competitive interactions. However, sponges that overgrow larger structures such as branching octocorals also change their position in the water column, and potentially their access to food and exposure to grazers. This study explored the potential benefit of sponge–octocoral associations by examining the effect of height off the bottom on growth of two species of ropelike demosponges under natural conditions. The growths of Amphimedon compressa and Iotrochota birotulata were monitored over 12 months at Cross Harbour, Great Abaco, The Bahamas, using small (5‐cm) sponge fragments that were established at three heights above the bottom (0–5, 30, 60 cm). Growth rates differed among the two species and among different heights. Over 12 months, the mean volumetric growth for A. compressa was 17.7 cm³ ± 1.4 compared with 8.9 cm³ ± 1.4 for I. birotulata. Both species had a higher growth rate at the 60‐cm level. These results suggest that these ropelike sponges benefit from their association and growth on octocorals, not only by using the octocoral skeletal axis as support, but also by acquiring exposure to higher water flow.     

SeisModTM波动方程正演模拟软件在圈闭识别中的应用

准噶尔盆地石西凸起侏罗系八道湾组具很大勘探潜力,现有地震资料对低幅度构造背斜圈闭不能进行有效识别.为满足圈闭识别需要,在不同解释方案基础上,利用SeisModTM波动方程正演模拟软件构建3种地质模型,正演模拟出不同地层构造模式下地震响应特征.通过对正演模拟结果对比分析,为背斜圈闭解释方案提供理论依据,对该区侏罗系八道湾...     

Numerical analysis of seismic wave amplification in Nice (France) and comparisons with experiments

The analysis of site effects is very important since the amplification of seismic motion in some specific areas can be very strong. In this paper, the site considered is located in the centre of Nice on the French Riviera. Site effects are investigated considering a numerical approach (Boundary Element Method) and are compared with experimental results. The experimental results are obtained thanks to real earthquakes (weak motion) and microtremor measurements. The investigation of seismic site effects through numerical approaches is interesting because it shows the dependency of the amplification level on such parameters as wave velocity in surface soil layers, velocity contrast with deep layers, seismic wave type, incidence and damping.In this specific area of Nice, experimental measurements obtained for weak motion lead to strong site effects. A one-dimensional (1D) analytical analysis of amplification does not give a satisfactory estimation of the maximum reached levels. A boundary element model is then proposed considering different wave types (SH, P, SV) as the seismic loading. The alluvial basin is successively assumed as an isotropic linear elastic medium and an isotropic linear viscoelastic solid with Zener type behaviour (standard solid). The influence of frequency and incidence is analysed. The thickness of the surface layer, its mechanical properties, its general shape as well as the seismic wave type involved have a great influence on the maximum amplification and the frequency for which it occurs. For real earthquakes, the numerical results are in very good agreement with experimental measurements for each motion component. The boundary element method leads to amplification values very close to the actual ones and much larger than those obtained in the 1D case. Two-dimensional basin effects are then very strong and are well reproduced numerically.     

基于数字地形模型的山区太阳辐射的时空分布模拟

在数字地形模型(DTM)的基础上,利用地理信息系统软件ArcGIS确定阴影、提供的地图代数语言功能,模拟了甘肃定西安家沟小流域任意时段内天文辐射的空间分布。该模型借助于ArcGIS的地形分析功能,解决了常规方法不能解决的地形遮蔽对天文辐射的影响。该模型是一个物理模型,对天文辐射能的时空分布可做出较精确描述,提供在常规条件下的重要参数。时空分布分析表明:地形对天文辐射的影响很大,尤其是坡向的影响;天文辐射随着季节变化很大,从3月底开始直到6月上旬一直处于上升阶段,然后下降;地形对天文辐射的影响程度随着季节不同有所不同,但是没有表现出明显的规律。