The exponential decline in saturated hydraulic conductivity with depth: a novel method for exploring its effect on water flow paths and transit time distribution

The strong vertical gradient in soil and subsoil saturated hydraulic conductivity is characteristic feature of the hydrology of catchments. Despite the potential importance of these strong gradients, they have proven difficult to model using robust physically based schemes. This has hampered the testing of hypotheses about the implications of such vertical gradients for subsurface flow paths, residence times and transit time distribution. Here we present a general semi‐analytical solution for the simulation of 2D steady‐state saturated‐unsaturated flow in hillslopes with saturated hydraulic conductivity that declines exponentially with depth. The grid‐free solution satisfies mass balance exactly over the entire saturated and unsaturated zones. The new method provides continuous solutions for head, flow and velocity in both saturated and unsaturated zones without any interpolation process as is common in discrete numerical schemes. This solution efficiently generates flow pathlines and transit time distributions in hillslopes with the assumption of depth‐varying saturated hydraulic conductivity. The model outputs reveal the pronounced effect that changing the strength of the exponential decline in saturated hydraulic conductivity has on the flow pathlines, residence time and transit time distribution. This new steady‐state model may be useful to others for posing hypotheses about how different depth functions for hydraulic conductivity influence catchment hydrological response. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variability in the vertical hyporheic water exchange affected by hydraulic conductivity and river morphology at a natural confluent meander bend

River confluences and their associated tributaries are key morphodynamic nodes that play important roles in controlling hydraulic geometry and hyporheic water exchange in fluvial networks. However, the existing knowledge regarding hyporheic water exchange associated with river confluence morphology is relatively scarce. On January 14 and 15, 2016, the general hydraulic and morphological characteristics of the confluent meander bend (CMB) between the Juehe River and the Haohe River in the southern region of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, China, were investigated. The patterns and magnitudes of vertical hyporheic water exchange (VHWE) were estimated based on a one‐dimensional heat steady‐state model, whereas the sediment vertical hydraulic conductivity (K_v) was calculated via in situ permeameter tests. The results demonstrated that 6 hydrodynamic zones and their extensions were observed at the CMB during the test period. These zones were likely controlled by the obtuse junction angle and low momentum flux ratio, influencing the sediment grain size distribution of the CMB. The VHWE patterns at the test site during the test period mostly showed upwelling flow dominated by regional groundwater discharging into the river. The occurrence of longitudinal downwelling and upwelling patterns along the meander bend at the CMB was likely subjected to the comprehensive influences of the local sinuosity of the meander bend and regional groundwater discharge and finally formed regional and local flow paths. Additionally, in dominated upwelling areas, the change in VHWE magnitudes was nearly consistent with that in K_v values, and higher values of both variables generally occurred in erosional zones near the thalweg paths of the CMB, which were mostly made up of sand and gravel. This was potentially caused by the erosional and depositional processes subjected to confluence morphology. Furthermore, lower K_v values observed in downwelling areas at the CMB were attributed to sediment clogging caused by local downwelling flow. The confluence morphology and sediment K_v are thus likely the driving factors that cause local variations in the VHWE of fluvial systems.     

An original semi‐discrete approach to assess gas conductivity of concrete structures

For civil engineering structures with a tightness role, structural permeability is a key issue. In this context, this paper presents a new proposition of a numerical modelling of leakage rate through a cracked concrete structure undergoing mode I cracking. The mechanical state of the material, considered in the framework of continuum mechanics based on finite element modelling, is described by means of the stress‐based nonlocal damage model which takes into account the stress state and provides realistic local mechanical fields. A semi‐discrete method based on the strong discontinuity approach to estimate crack opening is then considered in the post‐treatment phase. Using a Poiseuille's like relation, the coupling between the mechanical state of the material and its dry gas conductivity is performed. For validation purposes, an original experimental campaign is conducted on a dry concrete disc loaded in a splitting setup. During the loading, gas conductivity and digital image correlation analysis are performed. The comparison with the 3D experimental mechanical global response highlights the performance of the mechanical model. The comparison between crack openings measured by digital image correlation and estimated by the strong discontinuity method shows a good agreement. Finally, the results of the semi‐discrete approach coupled with the gas conductivity compared with experimental data show a good estimation of the structural conductivity. Consequently, if the mechanical problem is well modelled at the global scale, then the proposed approach provides good estimation of gas conductivity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrical resistivity imaging of hydrologic flow through surface coal mine valley fills with comparison to other landforms

Surface coal mining has altered land cover, near‐surface geologic structure, and hydrologic processes of large areas in central Appalachia, USA. These alterations are associated with changes in water quality such as elevated total‐dissolved solids, which is usually measured via its surrogate, specific conductance (SC). The SC of valley fill effluent streams is a function of fill construction methods, materials, and age; yet hydrologic studies that relate these variables to water quality are sparse due to the difficulty of conducting traditional hydrologic studies in mined landscapes. We used electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) to visualize the subsurface geologic structure and hydrologic flow paths within a valley fill. ERI is a noninvasive geophysical technique that maps spatiotemporal changes in resistivity of the subsurface. We paired ERI with artificial rainfall experiments to track infiltrated water as it moved through the valley fill. Results indicate that ERI can be used to identify subsurface geologic structure and track advancing wetting fronts or preferential flow paths. Our results suggest that the upper portion of the fill contains significant fines, whereas the deeper profile is primarily large rocks and void spaces. Water tended to pond on the surface of compacted areas until it reached preferential flow paths, where it appeared to infiltrate quickly down to >15 m depth in 75 min. ERI applications can improve understanding of how fill construction techniques influence subsurface water movement, and in turn may aid in the development of valley fill construction methods to reduce water quality effects.     

PMODTRAN: a parallel implementation based on MODTRAN for massive remote sensing data processing

MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) is a commercial remote sensing (RS) software package that has been widely used to simulate radiative transfer of electromagnetic radiation through the Earth's atmosphere and the radiation observed by a remote sensor. However, when very large RS datasets must be processed in simulation applications at a global scale, it is extremely time-consuming to operate MODTRAN on a modern workstation. Under this circumstance, the use of parallel cluster computing to speed up the process becomes vital to this time-consuming task. This paper presents PMODTRAN, an implementation of a parallel task-scheduling algorithm based on MODTRAN. PMODTRAN was able to reduce the processing time of the test cases used here from over 4.4 months on a workstation to less than a week on a local computer cluster. In addition, PMODTRAN can distribute tasks with different levels of granularity and has some extra features, such as dynamic load balancing and parameter checking.     

气候变化情景下黄淮海区域热量资源及夏玉米温度适宜度

利用黄淮海区域90个站点1971—2000年逐日气象资料以及国家气候中心发布的未来气候变化情景(A1B)下区域气候模式(Reg CM3)模拟的黄淮海区域1951—2070年0.25°×0.25°格点气象资料,结合夏玉米主要生育期对温度的需求,构建了黄淮海区域的温度适宜度和变异系数模型,并对1951—2070年黄淮海区域热量资源、夏玉米主要生育期的温度适宜度及其变异系数的时空变化特征进行分析。结果表明:1)黄淮海区域≥10℃积温和80%保证率下日平均温度≥10℃的初日均呈现由北向南依次增加的趋势,且随时间推移,分别呈增加和提前趋势。2)黄淮海区域夏玉米播种—出苗期的温度适宜度随时间整体呈逐渐上升的变化趋势、其变异系数随时间呈降—升—降的变化趋势;出苗—抽雄期的温度适宜度随时间呈先降后升的变化趋势、其变异系数呈降—升—降—升的变化趋势;抽雄—成熟期的温度适宜度空间上呈现2010年前北低南高、未来情景下中部低四周高的分布趋势,时间上呈2010年前稳定、未来情景下先降后升的变化趋势,其变异系数呈相反变化趋势;3)黄淮海区域夏玉米温度适宜度及其变异系数从播种—出苗期—出苗—抽雄期—抽雄—成熟期均呈反相位的变化关系。     

Landsat 8热红外数据定标参数的变化及其对地表温度反演的影响

Landsat系列卫星上的TIRS热红外传感器数据已被大量应用,针对TIRS数据的地表温度反演也相继开发出一些算法,并有一些研究对TIRS数据的定标及其地表温度反演算法的精度进行了对比。本文主要就TIRS热红外传感器定标参数的变化,结合这些定标参数变化的时间点对有关地表温度反演算法的适用性和有效性进行分析,特别是对劈窗算法是否适合当前的TIRS数据进行了讨论,以使用户能够对Landsat 8 TIRS热红外数据的正确使用有进一步的认识。总的看来,由于视域外杂散光的影响,TIRS数据的定标精度仍达不到设计目标,TIRS第11波段的不确定性仍成倍大于TIRS 10波段。因此,在Landsat团队未彻底解决这一问题之前,同时用TIRS第10、第11这两个差距较大的波段构成的劈窗算法来反演地表温度,其精度存在较大的不确定性,US6-S团队仍在致力于改进第11波段的精度,改进后的波段可以用劈窗策法。目前应以TIRS第10单波段的方式来反演地表温度为宜。     

不同遥感影像的城市热岛空间分布特征分析

针对传统的地面观测方式很难全面掌握城市地面热岛的空间分布情况的问题,该文将HJ-1B卫星热红外图像代表的亮温图和采用HJ-1B卫星反演的温度图像正规化,利用量化等级体系对同一地区的亮温分布图和温度分布图进行划分,提出并采用间隙度指数对不同影像的高温区进行空间分布进行评价。实验结果表明:基于热红外影像的城市热岛空间分布比基于热红外影像反演的温度图的热岛空间分布更为集中,为研究不同影像之间的城市热岛空间分布提供了一种评价方法。     

武汉中心城区热岛效应模拟

针对传统的模拟热环境时空演变模型欠缺可推广性,该文提出运用CA-Markov模型研究热环境变化趋势,既能有效模拟元胞时空格局变化,又能提高元胞转化预测精度,经验证Kappa指数为73.46%,具有较高的可信度。基于CA-Markov模型模拟的武汉中心城区热环境表明:2009—2018年低温区和次低温区呈现减少趋势,中温区显著增加,热岛略有增长,总体强度增大,热岛效应愈发明显;2009—2018年热岛演变呈西南-东北方向,有向西-东方向发展的趋势,热岛重心南偏西方向移动;2009—2018年热岛区域在景观水平上破碎度较高,热环境趋于复杂化。研究结果对武汉中心城区城市规划、生态环境改善等具有一定的参考价值。