Effects of spatially structured vegetation patterns on hillslope erosion in a semiarid Mediterranean environment: a simulation study

A general trend of decreasing soil loss rates with increasing vegetation cover fraction is widely accepted. Field observations and experimental work, however, show that the form of the cover‐erosion function can vary considerably, in particular for low cover conditions that prevail on arid and semiarid hillslopes. In this paper the structured spatial distribution of the vegetation cover and associated soil attributes is proposed as one of the possible causes of variation in cover–erosion relationships, in particular in dryland environments where patchy vegetation covers are common. A simulation approach was used to test the hypothesis that hillslope discharge and soil loss could be affected by variation in the spatial correlation structure of coupled vegetation cover and soil patterns alone. The Limburg Soil Erosion Model (LISEM) was parameterized and verified for a small catchment with discontinuous vegetation cover at Rambla Honda, SE Spain. Using the same parameter sets LISEM was subsequently used to simulate water and sediment fluxes on 1 ha hypothetical hillslopes with simulated spatial distributions of vegetation and soil parameters. Storms of constant rainfall intensity in the range of 30–70 mm h^?1 and 10–30 min duration were applied. To quantify the effect of the spatial correlation structure of the vegetation and soil patterns, predicted discharge and soil loss rates from hillslopes with spatially structured distributions of vegetation and soil parameters were compared with those from hillslopes with spatially uniform distributions. The results showed that the spatial organization of bare and vegetated surfaces alone can have a substantial impact on predicted storm discharge and erosion. In general, water and sediment yields from hillslopes with spatially structured distributions of vegetation and soil parameters were greater than from identical hillslopes with spatially uniform distributions. Within a storm the effect of spatially structured vegetation and soil patterns was observed to be highly dynamic, and to depend on rainfall intensity and slope gradient. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studies on wind environment around high buildings in urban areas

High buildings or architectural complex in urban areas remarkably distort the urban surface wind fields. As the air flow approaches,local strong wind may appear around the buildings. The strong wind makes the pedestrians on sidewalks, entrances and terrace very uncomfortable and causes the pedestrian level wind environment problem. In this studies, hot-wire wind measurement, wind scouring in wind tunnel and numerical computation were carried out to evaluate the wind environment of tall buildings in the prevailing flow conditions in Beijing areas. The results obtained by three techniques were compared and mutually verified. The conclusions drawn from three approaches agree with each other. Also the advantages and limitations of each method were analyzed. It is suggested that the combination of different techniques may produce better assessment of wind environment around high buildings.     

Stochastic Modelling of the Impact of Flood Protection Measures Along the River Waal in the Netherlands

River flooding is a problem of international interest. In the past few years many countries suffered from severe floods. A large part of the Netherlands is below sea level and river levels. The Dutch flood defences along the river Rhine are designed for water levels with a probability of exceedance of 1/1250 per year. These water levels are computed with a hydrodynamic model using a deterministic bed level and a deterministic design discharge. Traditionally, the safety against flooding in the Netherlands is obtained by building and reinforcing dikes. Recently, a new policy was proposed to cope with increasing design discharges in the Rhine and Meuse rivers. This policy is known as the Room for the River (RfR) policy, in which a reduction of flood levels is achieved by measures creating space for the river, such as dike replacement, side channels and floodplain lowering. As compared with dike reinforcement, these measures may have a stronger impact on flow and sediment transport fields, probably leading to stronger morphological effects. As a result of the latter the flood conveyance capacity may decrease over time. An a priori judgement of safety against flooding on the basis of an increased conveyance capacity of the river can be quite misleading. Therefore, the determination of design water levels using a fixed-bed hydrodynamic model may not be justified and the use of a mobile-bed approach may be more appropriate. This problem is addressed in this paper, using a case study of the river Waal (one of the Rhine branches in the Netherlands). The morphological response of the river Waal to a flood protection measure (floodplain lowering in combination with summer levee removal) is analysed. The effect of this measure is subject to various sources of uncertainty. Monte Carlo simulations are applied to calculate the impact of uncertainties in the river discharge on the bed levels. The impact of the “uncertain” morphological response on design flood level predictions is analysed for three phenomena, viz. the impact of the spatial morphological variation over years, the impact of the seasonal morphological variation and the impact of the morphological variability around bifurcation points. The impact of seasonal morphological variations turns out to be negligible, but the other two phenomena appear to have each an appreciable impact (order of magnitude 0.05–0.1 m) on the computed design water levels. We have to note however, that other sources of uncertainty (e.g. uncertainty in hydraulic roughness predictor), which may be of influence, are not taken into consideration. In fact, the present investigation is limited to the sensitivity of the design water levels to uncertainties in the predicted bed level.     

太原盆地地下水资源模拟研究

山西省太原盆地由于地下水长期超采,引发了地下水降落漏斗、地面沉降等环境地质问题。通过GMS建立地下水水流三维数值模型,基于模型预测了现状开采条件下地下水水位的变化趋势,并提出合理利用地下水资源的措施,为地下水资源的优化管理提供科学依据。     

1960年以来新疆地区蒸发皿蒸发与实际蒸发之间的关系

利用中国新疆地区1960-2005 年109 个设有蒸发皿蒸发观测的常规气象站资料, 并结 合不同驱动场和不同陆面模式的模拟结果, 对蒸发皿蒸发及模拟的实际蒸发的年、各个季节 的变化及其它们的相互联系进行了详细的分析和讨论。结果发现, 在过去的46 年里, 年蒸发 皿蒸发总体上都表现为明显的下降趋势, 而实际蒸发在总体上显著上升, 与蒸发皿蒸发的变 化趋势相反。在80 年代中后期, 蒸发皿蒸发、实际蒸发和降水的转折点(1986 年) 一致, 进 一步说就是无论在转折点的前后, 降水增加的转折性变化与模拟的实际蒸发的转折性增加变 化一致, 而与蒸发皿蒸发减小的转折性变化相反, 这表明, 在新疆地区, 蒸发皿蒸发和实际 蒸散之间具有相反的变化关系, 这支持Brutsaert and Parlange 提出的蒸发皿蒸发和实际蒸散 之间具有互补相关关系(变化趋势相反) 的理论。分析气温、降水、湿度、云量和日照时数等 环境变量的变化趋势发现： 降水、云量等表征大气中水分特征的变量表现为明显的上升趋势, 这也间接的证明了蒸发皿蒸发和实际蒸散之间存在相反的关系, 而与各个环境变量之间相关 系数的分析则表明, 气温日较差、风速、低云量和降水是与蒸发皿蒸发和实际蒸发关系最紧 密的环境因子, 它们的变化可能是导致蒸发皿蒸发和蒸散量变化的原因。     

人工免疫系统与嵌入规划目标的城市模拟及应用

人工免疫系统(AIS) 具有强有力的计算能力, 可以通过免疫识别、克隆选择、免疫学 习、免疫记忆等功能来进行模式识别和自适应学习。AIS 所具有的自学习、自适应和记忆的能力非常适合于复杂地理过程的研究。而元胞自动机(CA) 是研究复杂系统非常方便和有效的工具。将人工免疫系统和元胞自动机相结合, 建立了城市演变的模拟和规划模型。该模型通过改变抗体的进化变异机制, 把规划目标嵌入到AIS 算法中, 抗体将会逐渐朝着规划目标“进化”, 从而模拟出基于不同规划情景的城市发展空间格局, 为城市和土地利用规划提供决 策支持。设计了6 种不同的城市发展方案, 利用该模型模拟了不同规划方案下珠江三角洲城市的发展情景(1988-2002 年)。并比较了不同模拟情景结果城市的紧凑性: “城市中心” 和 “城市中心-高速公路”发展模式的城市形态更为紧凑, 破碎度较低; 而“镇中心” 和“道路”发展模式形成的城市形态则比较凌乱和分散。模拟结果和分析表明: “城市中心-高速 公路”是珠江三角洲最适合的城市发展模式。     

基于GIS的日照市气温分布式模拟

地表气温分布受多种因素的影响,尤以海拔高度和地形最为显著。以山东省日照市为例,利用1?5万DEM数据,借助研究区及周边6个气象站点1971-2000年的气温资料,运用ARC/INFO软件对气温数据进行样条函数法内插后,通过气温直减率法和辐射差值与温度的相关关系对内插结果进行海拔高度和地形的订正,得到研究区实际地表温度空间分布图,为日照市农业实践活动提供气温空间分布资料。     

Developing an intermediate-complexity projection model for China's fisheries: A case study of small yellow croaker(Larimichthys polyactis) in the Haizhou Bay,China

Projection models are commonly used to evaluate the impacts of fishing. However, previously developed projection tools were not suitable for China's fisheries as they are either overly complex and data-demanding or too simple to reflect the realistic management measures. Herein, an intermediate-complexity projection model was developed that could adequately describe fish population dynamics and account for management measures including mesh size limits, summer closure, and spatial closure. A two-patch operating model was outlined for the projection model and applied to the heavily depleted but commercially important small yellow croaker(Larimichthys polyactis) fishery in the Haizhou Bay, China, as a case study. The model was calibrated to realistically capture the fisheries dynamics with hindcasting. Three simulation scenarios featuring different fishing intensities based on status quo and maximum sustainable yield(MSY) were proposed and evaluated with projections. Stochastic projections were additionally performed to investigate the influence of uncertainty associated with recruitment strengths and the implementation of control targets. It was found that fishing at FMSY level could effectively rebuild the depleted stock biomass, while the stock collapsed rapidly in the status quo scenario. Uncertainty in recruitment and implementation could result in variabilities in management effects; but they did not much alter the management effects of the FMSY scenario. These results indicate that the lack of science-based control targets in fishing mortality or catch limits has hindered the achievement of sustainable fisheries in China. Overall, the presented work highlights that the developed projection model can promote the understanding of the possible consequences of fishing under uncertainty and is applicable to other fisheries in China.     

人工鱼礁工程的风险评估

对台风暴潮影响下的嵊泗海域人工鱼礁工程做了风险评估,考虑了台风暴潮中出现的大浪和风暴潮减水对鱼礁联合作用的危害。风险评估分为危险灾害识别、失效概率计算、失效后果评估、风险准则评定和风险管理决策几个主要的步骤。在失效概率的计算中采用基于应用设计点的重点抽样法随机模拟的技术,这一随机模拟技术可以广泛的应用与海洋工程结构的风险评估当中。