Using equilibrium temperature to assess thermal disturbances in rivers

Flow regulation is widely known to modify the thermal regime of rivers. Here, we examine the sensitivity of an empirical approach, the Equilibrium Temperature Concept (ETC), to detect both the effects of hydraulic infrastructures on the annual thermal cycle and the recovery of the thermal equilibrium with the atmosphere. Analysis was undertaken in a Pyrenean river (the Noguera Pallaresa, Ebro basin) affected by a series of reservoirs and hydropower plants. Equilibrium temperature (T_e) is defined as the water temperature (T_w) at which the sum of all heat fluxes is zero. Based on the assumption of a linear relationship between T_e and T_w, we identified changes in the T_e–T_w regression slope, used as an indicator of a thermal alteration in river flow. We also assessed the magnitude of the alteration by examining the regression slope and its statistical significance. Variations in the regression parameters were used as indicators of the influence of factors other than atmospheric conditions on water temperature. Observed T_w showed a linear relationship with T_e at all river stations. However, the slopes of the T_e–T_w relationship appeared to be lower in the reaches downstream from hydraulic infrastructures, particularly below large dams. A seasonal analysis indicated that T_e–T_w relationships had higher slopes and lower p‐values during autumn, while no significant differences were found at other seasons. Although thermal characteristics did not strongly depend on atmospheric conditions downstream of hydraulic infrastructures, the river recovered to pre‐alteration conditions with distance downstream, indicating the natural tendency of water to attain thermal equilibrium with the atmosphere. Accepting associated uncertainties, mostly because of the quality of the data and the lack of consideration of other factors influencing the thermal regime (e.g. discharge), ETC appears to be a simple and effective method to identify thermal alterations in regulated rivers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

改进的遗传算法在堆石体参数反演中的应用

在研究堆石坝问题中,堆石体参数的合理估计非常重要,根据工程实测值反演堆石体参数不失为一种有效估计参数的新思路。在传统遗传算法操作过程中,引入模拟退火的Metropolis接受准则,并结合系统识别的基本原理改进了遗传算法。将改进的新算法应用于堆石坝主要堆石料的参数反演,结果显示其误差很小、收敛速度快、精度高的优越性,克服了传统的梯度优化方法和单纯形法所具有的搜索速度随反演参数增多呈级数减慢、容易陷入局部极值点和误差传递导致不收敛等缺点,值得在本领域参数优化中推广。     

Cryologic continuum of a steep watershed

Ice processes taking place in steep channels are sensitive to the thermal and hydrological regimes of upstream reaches and tributaries as well as to the local channel morphology. This work presents freezeup, mid‐winter, and breakup data from four channels of increasing order located in a cold temperate watershed during the winter 2010–2011. From headwater channels to the main drainage system, water temperature, ice coverage, and ice processes are reported and related to weather conditions and to channel characteristics. Headwater channels only formed ephemeral ice features, and their water temperature reached as much as 4 °C in mid‐winter. On the other hand, larger channels formed impressively large ice dams, some of them reaching 2 m in height. The development of a suspended ice cover partially insulated the channels; as a result, water temperatures remained above 0 °C even for air temperatures well below freezing. This work presents steep channels ice processes that have not been described in previous publications. The concept of a watershed cryologic continuum (WCC) is developed from the data collected at each channel order. This concept emphasizes the feedback loops that exist between morphology, hydrology, heat, and ice processes in a given watershed and can lead to a better understanding of ice processes taking place at any channel location within that watershed. The WCC can also contribute in improving our understanding of the impacts of climate change on the cryologic and thermal regimes of steep channels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高堆石坝中期度汛挡水风险率估计

在考虑高堆石坝坝体中期临时挡水度汛不允许坝面过水条件下,综合考虑坝前洪水位与防洪度汛高程的随机性,构建高堆石坝工程中期度汛挡水风险数学模型.针对堆石坝施工系统的特点,考虑各月停工天数与日平均上升速度的随机性,建立了防洪度汛高程仿真计算模型.基于Monte-Carlo方法原理,耦合水文、水力和施工随机因素对风险模型进行求解,并研究了日均控制最低上升速度这一施工可控指标对风险率的影响.通过大渡河流域某大型工程实例分析表明,风险模型与计算方法可行、有效.     

Changes of flow regimes and precipitation in Huai River Basin in the last half century

Huai River Basin, as the sixth largest river basin in China, has a high‐regulated river system and has been facing severe water problems. In this article, the changing patterns of runoff and precipitation at 10 hydrological stations from 1956 to 2000 on the highly regulated river (Shaying River) and less‐regulated river (Huai River) in the basin are evaluated at the monthly, seasonal and annual scales using the Mann–Kendall test and simple linear regression model. The results showed that: (1) No statistically significant trends of precipitation in the upper and middle Huai River Basins were detected at the annual scale, but the trend of annual runoff at Baiguishan, Zhoukou and Fuyang stations in Shaying River decreased significantly, whereas the others were not. Moreover, the decreasing trends of runoff for most months were significant in Shaying River, although the trend of monthly precipitation decreased significantly only in April in the whole research area and the number of months in the dry season having significantly decreasing trends in runoff was more than that in the wet season. (2) The rainfall–runoff relationship was significant in both highly regulated river and less‐regulated river. In regulated river, the reservoirs have larger regulation capacity than the floodgates and thus have the smaller correlation coefficient and t‐value. In Huai River, the correlation coefficients decreased from upper stream to downstream. (3) The regulation of dams and floodgates for flood control and water supply was the principal reason for the decreasing runoff in Huai River Basin, although the decreasing precipitation in April in this basin was statistically significant. The findings are useful for recognizing hydrology variation and will provide scientific foundation to integrated water resources management in Huai River Basin. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beaver dams along an agricultural stream in southern Ontario,Canada: their impact on riparian zone hydrology and nitrogen chemistry

The hydrology and nitrogen biogeochemistry of a riparian zone were compared before and after the construction of beaver dams along an agricultural stream in southern Ontario, Canada. The beaver dams increased surface flooding and raised the riparian water table by up to 1·0 m. Increased hydraulic gradients inland from the stream limited the entry of oxic nitrate‐rich subsurface water from adjacent cropland. Permeable riparian sediments overlying dense till remained saturated during the summer and autumn months, whereas before dam construction a large area of the riparian zone was unsaturated in these seasons each year. Beaver dam construction produced significant changes in riparian groundwater chemistry. Median dissolved oxygen concentrations were lower in riparian groundwater after dam construction (0·9–2·1 mg L^?1) than in the pre‐dam period (2·3–3·9 mg L^?1). Median NO₃‐N concentrations in autumn and spring were also lower in the post‐dam (0·03–0·07 mg L^?1) versus the pre‐dam period (0·1–0·3 mg L^?1). In contrast, median NH₄‐N concentrations in autumn and spring months were higher after dam construction (0·3–0·4 mg L^?1) than before construction (0·13–0·14 mg L^?1). Results suggest that beaver dams can increase stream inflow to riparian areas that limit water table declines and increase depths of saturated riparian soils which become more anaerobic. These changes in subsurface hydrology and chemistry have the potential to affect the transport and transformation of nitrate fluxes from adjacent cropland in agricultural landscapes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

裂点发育及其对堰塞坝的稳定性影响

通过野外调查及试验对堰塞坝的稳定和裂点的发育进行研究,发现堰塞坝的稳定性主要取决于泄洪道内阶梯-深潭系统的发育程度SP和坝体上游洪峰的水流能量P.堰塞坝的保存与溃决情况采用保留的坝高比进行定量描述,对于洪峰流量小于30 m3/s山区河流,保留坝高比与SP呈线性相关;洪峰流量大于30 m3/s(＜ 30000m3/s)时,河道稳定所需的最小河床结构强度SP随着单宽水流能量P的增加而增大.堰塞坝泄洪道内不发育阶梯-深潭系统或发育程度较低的坝体,SP值小于稳定河床最小的阻力强度,将会发生下切、溯源冲刷并引起溃坝.保留的堰塞坝在泥沙淤积和水流的长期作用下会形成裂点,对河床下切起到控制作用,降低再次发生滑坡的风险.大型裂点能改变河床演变和河流地貌,连续堰塞坝形成的裂点能长期保存并形成优美的自然景观,创造良好的河流生态环境.     

Nonlinear dynamic response of concrete gravity dams: cavitation effect

A finite element method for the dynamic analysis of concrete gravity dams is presented. Displacement based formulation is used for both fluid and structural domains. During severe ground motion, the impounding fluid in the reservoir may separate from the dam and cause forming of micro bubbles. As a result, the compressibility of water is reduced. This nonlinear phenomenon of the reservoir is termed cavitation. When the direction of the ground motion is changed, the micro bubble's region of fluid collapses, and an impact will occur. By using different damping ratios in the fluid and solid domains the spurious oscillations which were caused by the impact are removed. The cavitation is confined to the upper part of the reservoir, where it has an effect of paramount importance on the tensile stresses. To illustrate the cavitation effect, the response of the non-overflow monolith of the Pine Flat dam subjected to the first 6.5 s of the May 1940 El-Centro, California earthquake, is considered. In order that the cavitation phenomenon take place more widely, maximum acceleration was scaled to give an amplitude of 1 g.     

Damage identification using inverse analysis in coupled thermo‐hydro‐mechanical problems applied to masonry dams

In this paper, we propose a method to detect the damage and estimate the degree of damage by means of a multifield‐based inverse analysis. The fields being considered are displacement, temperature, and water pressure. Furthermore, the uncertainties due to the size of the damage, the errors in the measurement data, and the errors in the model parameters are also investigated. The uncertainty due to the measurements is quantified by assuming different sources of noise in the measurements. The inverse problem is solved repeatedly by a sampling process. The uncertainties in the inverse solutions can be quantified by their probability distributions. This method can be applied to identify damages in masonry dams using coupled nonlinear thermo‐hydro‐mechanical problems.     

汶川地震震损水库土坝动力反应与几何坝形的经验关系

在5·12汶川地震后的四川省水库土坝震害调查成果的基础上,选取汶川地震中受损的有完整资料的96座水库土坝为研究对象,应用等效线性模型对土坝进行了二维动力反应分析。选择3条有代表性的汶川地震实测记录,以三水准峰值加速度输入,得到土坝的动力反应（放大系数、最大动剪应力）与土坝几何形状（宽高比、上游坡比、坝高）间的经验关系。结果表明,土坝放大系数和最大动剪应力随着宽高比和上游坡比的增大而减小,随着坝高的增大而增大;输入波的频谱和峰值强度均对土坝动力反应与其几何形状的经验关系有重要影响。