Urban stormwater thermal gene expression models for protection of sensitive receiving streams

Thermal impact of typical high‐density residential, industrial, and commercial land uses is a major concern for the health of aquatic life in urban watersheds, especially in smaller, cold, and cool‐water streams. This is the first study of its kind that provides simple easy‐to‐use equations, developed using gene expression programming (GEP) that can guide the assessment and the design of urban stormwater management systems to protect thermally sensitive receiving streams. We developed 3 GEP models using data collected during 3 years (2009–2011) from 4 urban catchments; the first GEP model predicts event mean temperature at the inlet of the pond; the second model predicts the stormwater temperature at the outlet of the pond; and the third model predicts the temperature of the stormwater after flowing through a cooling trench and before discharging to the receiving stream. The new models have high correlation coefficients of 0.90–0.94 and low prediction uncertainty of less than 4% of the median value of the predicted runoff temperatures. Sensitivity analysis shows that climatic factors have the highest influence on the thermal enrichment followed by the catchment characteristics and the key design variables of the stormwater pond and the cooling trench. The general method presented here is easily transferable to other regions of the world (but not necessarily the exact equations developed here); also through sensitivity and parametric analysis, we gained insight on the key factors and their relative importance in modelling thermal enrichment of urban stromwater runoff.     

A hydropedological approach to simulate streamflow and soil water contents with SWAT+

Reflecting internal catchment hydrological processes in hydrological models is important for accurate predictions of the impact of climate and land-use change on water resources. Characterizing these processes is however difficult and expensive due to their dynamic nature and spatio-temporal variability. Hydropedology is a relatively new discipline focusing on the synergistic integration of hydrology, soil physics and pedology. Hydropedological interpretations of soils and soil distribution can be used to characterize key hydrological processes, especially in areas with no or limited hydrometric measurements. Here we applied a hydropedological approach to reflect flowpaths through detailed routing in SWAT+ for a 157 ha catchment (Weatherley) in South Africa. We compared the hydropedological approach and a standard (no routing) approach against measured streamflow (two weirs) and soil water contents (13 locations). The catchment was treated as ‘ungauged’ and the model was not calibrated against hydrometric measurements in order to determine the direct contribution of hydropedology on modelling efficiency. Streamflow was predicted well without calibration (NSE > 0.8; R² > 0.82) for both approaches at both weirs. The standard approach yielded slightly better streamflow predictions. The hydropedological approach resulted in considerable improvements in the simulation of soil water contents (R² increased from 0.40 to 0.49 and PBIAS decreased from 40% to 20%). The routing capacity of SWAT+ as employed in the hydropedological approach reduced the underestimation of wetland water regimes drastically and resulted in a more accurate representation of the dominant hydrological processes in this catchment. We concluded that hydropedology can be a valuable source of ‘soft data’ to reflect internal catchment structure and processes and, potentially, for realistic calibrations in other studies, especially those conducted in areas with limited hydrometric measurements.     

Rainfall partitioning through a mixed cedar swamp and associated C and N fluxes in Southern Ontario,Canada

Partitioning of rainfall through a forest canopy into throughfall, stemflow, and canopy interception is a critical process in the water cycle, and the contact of precipitation with vegetated surfaces leads to increased delivery of solutes to the forest floor. This study investigates the rainfall partitioning over a growing season through a temperate, riparian, mixed coniferous‐deciduous cedar swamp, an ecosystem not well studied with respect to this process. Seasonal throughfall, stemflow, and interception were 69.2%, 1.5%, and 29.3% of recorded above‐canopy precipitation, respectively. Event throughfall ranged from a low of 31.5 ± 6.8% for a small 0.8‐mm event to a high of 82.9 ± 2.4% for a large 42.7‐mm event. Rain fluxes of at least 8 mm were needed to generate stemflow from all instrumented trees. Most trees had funnelling ratios <1.0, with an exponential decrease in funnelling ratio with increasing tree size. Despite this, stand‐scale funnelling ratios averaged 2.81 ± 1.73, indicating equivalent depth of water delivered across the swamp floor by stemflow was greater than incident precipitation. Throughfall dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) averaged 26.60 ± 2.96 and 2.02 ± 0.16 mg L^?1, respectively, which were ~11 and three times above‐canopy rain levels. Stemflow DOC averaged 73.33 ± 7.43 mg L^?1, 35 times higher than precipitation, and TDN was 4.45 ± 0.56 mg L^?1, 7.5 times higher than rain. Stemflow DOC concentration was highest from Populus balsamifera and TDN greatest from Thuja occidentalis trees. Although total below‐canopy flux of TDN increased with increasing event size, DOC flux was greatest for events 20–30 mm, suggesting a canopy storage threshold of DOC was readily diluted. In addition to documenting rainfall partitioning in a novel ecosystem, this study demonstrates the excess carbon and nitrogen delivered to riparian swamps, suggesting the assimilative capacity of these zones may be underestimated.     

Changes in dissolved organic matter (DOM) amount and composition along nested headwater stream locations during baseflow and stormflow

Amount and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were evaluated for multiple, nested stream locations in a forested watershed to investigate the role of hydrologic flow paths, wetlands and drainage scale. Sampling was performed over a 4‐year period (2008–2011) for five locations with drainage areas of 0.62, 3.5, 4.5, 12 and 79 ha. Hydrologic flow paths were characterized using an end‐member mixing model. DOM composition was determined using a suite of spectrofluorometric indices and a site‐specific parallel factor analysis model. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), humic‐like DOM and fluorescence index were most sensitive to changes with drainage scale, whereas dissolved organic nitrogen, specific UV absorbance, Sr and protein‐like DOM were least sensitive. DOM concentrations and humic‐like DOM constituents were highest during both baseflow and stormflow for a 3.5‐ha catchment with a wetland near the catchment outlet. Whereas storm‐event concentrations of DOC and humic DOM constituents declined, the mass exports of DOC increased with increasing catchment scale. A pronounced dilution in storm‐event DOC concentration was observed at peak stream discharge for the 12‐ha drainage location, which was not as apparent at the 79‐ha scale, suggesting key differences in supply and transport of DOM. Our observations indicate that hydrologic flow paths, especially during storms, and the location and extent of wetlands in the catchment are key determinants of DOM concentration and composition. This study furthers our understanding of changes in DOM with drainage scale and the controls on DOM in headwater, forested catchments. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling groundwater/surface water interaction in a managed riparian chalk valley wetland

Understanding hydrological processes in wetlands may be complicated by management practices and complex groundwater/surface water interactions. This is especially true for wetlands underlain by permeable geology, such as chalk. In this study, the physically based, distributed model MIKE SHE is used to simulate hydrological processes at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology River Lambourn Observatory, Boxford, Berkshire, UK. This comprises a 10‐ha lowland, chalk valley bottom, riparian wetland designated for its conservation value and scientific interest. Channel management and a compound geology exert important, but to date not completely understood, influences upon hydrological conditions. Model calibration and validation were based upon comparisons of observed and simulated groundwater heads and channel stages over an equally split 20‐month period. Model results are generally consistent with field observations and include short‐term responses to events as well as longer‐term seasonal trends. An intrinsic difficulty in representing compressible, anisotropic soils limited otherwise excellent performance in some areas. Hydrological processes in the wetland are dominated by the interaction between groundwater and surface water. Channel stage provides head boundaries for broad water levels across the wetland, whilst areas of groundwater upwelling control discrete head elevations. A relic surface drainage network confines flooding extents and routes seepage to the main channels. In‐channel macrophyte growth and its management have an acute effect on water levels and the proportional contribution of groundwater and surface water. The implications of model results for management of conservation species and their associated habitats are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于高分一号宽幅多光谱影像的鄱阳湖湿地分类研究

典型湿地类型分类对于湿地生态环境保护和生态环境建设具有重要意义。本研究以高分一号宽幅多光谱影像数据作为数据源,以鄱阳湖典型湿地作为研究对象,进行典型湿地类型分类。研究采用主成分分析、归一化植被指数、比值植被指数和归一化差异水体指数等方法对不同湿地类型进行光谱特征分析,结果表明:高分一号宽幅多光谱影像反演的归一化植被指数和归一化水体指数能够较好地区分水体、泥滩、挺水植物和湿生植物等常见湿地类型。通过归一化植被指数将湿地类型分为植被和非植被,归一化差异水体指数将植被类型进一步分为挺水植物和湿生植物,将非植被分为水体和泥滩。构建决策树对典型湿地类型进行自动分类,经过精度评价和分析验证,该方法针对高分一号宽幅数据进行典型湿地分类总体精度能够达到82.28%,Kappa系数0.7346,优于常规的监督分类和非监督分类。     

混合核特征加权SVM遥感湿地空间分类

针对湿地空间信息的复杂性和SVM的分类性能,设计一种基于混合核函数的特征加权SVM分类模型,综合利用多种特征信息,避免被弱相关特征所支配,从而提供更佳的映射性能和泛化能力。实验结果表明,该分类模型兼具良好的外推和内推能力,能够有效地融合不同信息源特征,得到更完整和准确的分类结果,在总体精度、Kappa系数等多项指标上都表现出更高的水平。     

黄河三角洲滨海湿地演化过程中的碳埋藏效率及其控制因素

2007年在黄河三角洲布设了一口浅钻ZK4,孔深28.3 m,对获取的岩心样品进行了详细的沉积学观测及含水量、有机碳、总碳和营养成分的实验室分析测试。通过ZK4孔的地层分析,将其划分为7种沉积环境,揭示了滨海湿地地质演化过程。并利用AMS14C测年方法,结合黄河改道的历史记录,运用历史地理学和沉积地质学综合分析的方法对黄河三角洲沉积环境进行了年代划分,并计算了黄河三角洲不同沉积环境沉积物的沉积速率和碳的加积速率。结果表明:总碳和有机碳与除硫和磷元素以外的各营养成分都呈良好的线性相关;碳、氮、磷的加积速率与沉积物的沉积速率呈极显著正相关关系(R0.89,p0.01),沉积物的沉积速率是碳、氮、磷的加积速率的主控因素;虽然现代黄河三角洲沉积物有机碳浓度较低(1%),但由于沉积物的高沉积速率,现代黄河三角洲沉积物有机碳的平均加积速率达到2878.23 g/(m2·a),远高于世界其他高有机碳浓度的湿地,因此是很好的碳汇地质体。     

广东孔江湿地生物多样性保护与生态恢复工程

针对广东孔江国家湿地公园出现的库周村民生产生活污染、农业面源污染、植被群落单一等问题,开展湿地生物多样性保护与生态恢复工程,为湿地公园后期建设规划提供依据。     

人为干扰对滨海湿地生态系统的影响

对滨海湿地生态系统的主要人为干扰方式进行了系统辨识,详细阐述了不同人为干扰方式对滨海湿地生态系统结构、功能及服务的影响。综合分析了人为干扰造成的滨海湿地生态系统的结构改变、功能破坏、服务减少,其中,城市化、工业化进程干扰对滨海湿地生态系统的影响最为严重,并提出了滨海湿地保护对策。