A simple field-portable rainfall simulator for difficult terrain

A small portable rainfall simulator is described which is inexpensive to construct and use and which requires relatively little water. Although drops are produced by drop-formers a satisfactory drop-size distribution is obtained by allowing the drops to break-up by falling onto a 3 mm wire mesh. The kinetic energy of the simulated rain is lower than that of natural rainfall because of the low fall height. Characteristics of the simulated rain are described and the use of the simulator briefly illustrated by results obtained from forested areas in Luxembourg.     

Variation of stress during the rupture process of the 1995 M_L=4.1 Shacheng, Hebei, China, earthquake sequence

Introduction An earthquake could be caused by the failure of focal material or fast slip on the pre-existed faults under the tectonic stress based on the understanding of the occurrence process of earth-quakes in which the stress change could play a key role. Therefore to examine the stress change is beneficial to understanding the physic process actually occurring in the source region deeply. The apparent stress is defined as the product of seismic efficiency and the average stress on the foc…     

Empirical relationships between aftershock area dimensions and magnitude for earthquakes in the Mediterranean Sea region

Fault dimension estimates derived from the aftershock area extent of 36 shallow depth (≤ 31 km) earthquakes that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea region have been used in order to establish empirical relationships between length, width, area and surface-wave/moment magnitude. This dataset consists of events whose aftershock sequence was recorded by a dense local or regional network and the reported location errors did not exceed on average 3–5 km. Surface-wave magnitudes for these events were obtained from the NEIC database and/or published reports, while moment magnitudes as well as focal mechanisms were available from the Harvard/USGS catalogues. Contrary to the results of some previously published studies we found no evidence in our dataset that faulting type may have an effect on the fault dimension estimates and therefore we derived relationships for the whole of the dataset. Comparisons, by means of statistical F-tests, of our relationships with other previously published regional and global relationships were performed in order to check possible similarities or differences. Most such comparisons showed relatively low significance levels (< 95%), since the differences in source dimension estimates were large mainly for magnitudes lower than 6.5, becoming smaller with increasing magnitude. Some degree of similarity, however, could be observed between our fault length relationship and the one derived from aftershock area lengths of events in Greece, while a difference was found between our regional and global fault length relationships. A calculation of the ratio defined as the fault length, derived from our relationships, to the length estimated from regional empirical relationships involving surface ruptures showed that it can take a maximum value of about 7 for small magnitudes while it approaches unity at Ms 7.2. When calculating the same ratio using instead global empirical relationships we see the maximum value not exceeding 1.8, while unity is reached at Mw 7.8, indicating the existence of a strong regional variation in the fault lengths of earthquakes occurring in the Mediterranean Sea region. Also, a relationship between the logarithms of the rupture area and seismic moment is established and it is inferred that there is some variation of stress drop as a function of seismic moment. In particular, it is observed that for magnitudes lower than 6.6 the stress drop fluctuates around 10 bar, while for larger magnitudes the stress drop reaches a value as high as 60 bar.     

Mesh area vis-à-vis blast performance in a limestonequarry of the Philippines

The present research paper is a case study in a limestone quarry in the Philippines where major problems in terms of improper fragmentation (large boulder count and poor pay-loader performance), poor wall control, and poor heave characteristics of the muck pile were witnessed. The paper highlights the role of modifying the firing pattern and, also, the application of stemming plug without incorporating any change in the stemming column length due to which incremental expansion in the mesh area could be implemented to determine the optimum mesh area. The optimum mesh area, due to the said changes in the blast design, was considerably larger in comparison to the pre-existing mesh area. The study has also highlighted the importance of indirect methods for characterizing and precisely adjudging the blast performance.     

Assessing burn severity and comparing soil water repellency,Hayman Fire,Colorado

An important element of evaluating a large wildfire is to assess its effects on the soil in order to predict the potential watershed response. After the 55 000 ha Hayman Fire on the Colorado Front Range, 24 soil and vegetation variables were measured to determine the key variables that could be used for a rapid field assessment of burn severity. The percentage of exposed mineral soil and litter cover proved to be the best predictors of burn severity in this environment. Two burn severity classifications, one from a statistical classification tree and the other a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) burn severity map, were compared with measured ‘ground truth’ burn severity at 183 plots and were 56% and 69% accurate, respectively. This study also compared water repellency measurements made with the water drop penetration time (WDPT) test and a mini‐disk infiltrometer (MDI) test. At the soil surface, the moderate and highly burned sites had the strongest water repellency, yet were not significantly different from each other. Areas burned at moderate severity had 1·5 times more plots that were strongly water repellent at the surface than the areas burned at high severity. However, the high severity plots most likely had a deeper water repellent layer that was not detected with our surface tests. The WDPT and MDI values had an overall correlation of r = ?0·64(p < 0·0001) and appeared to be compatible methods for assessing soil water repellency in the field. Both tests represent point measurements of a soil characteristic that has large spatial variability; hence, results from both tests reflect that variability, accounting for much of the remaining variance. The MDI is easier to use, takes about 1 min to assess a strongly water repellent soil and provides two indicators of water repellency: the time to start of infiltration and a relative infiltration rate. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

丽江7.0级地震的余震震源参数研究

本从ＰＤＲ－２数字化近源（６．２ｋｍ≤△≤４２ｋｍ）台网记录的丽江余震中初选了７４个地震，初定了震中位置，震中方位角。用相应的台网数据处理技术，研究了丽江地震序列的体波谱。对震级２．５≤Ｍ≤５．７、地震矩２１．４０≤ｌｏｎｇＭ０≤２３．２８的地震，得出了丽江地区地震系列的震源参数；以及Ｐ波、Ｓ波的ｌｏｇＭ０与Ｍｄ的关系式分别为：ｌｏｇＭ０＾ｐ＝０．６２Ｍｄ＋１９．９３；ｌｏｇＭ０＾ｓ＝０．５９Ｍ     

北部湾6.1,6.2级地震的震源参数和Qp值特征

利用中国数字地震台网（ＣＤＳＮ）琼中台短周期垂直向Ｐ波数字地震资料，研究了１９９４年１２月北部湾６．１、６．２级地震的震源特征，并对震情趋势作出估计。研究表明，北部湾地震的余震应力降和介质ＱＰ值分别为３．６５×１０５Ｐａ和２８５，在震区附近发生更大地震的可能性不大；在东方小震群区，测定的应力降和介质ＱＰ值分别为１．６５×１０５Ｐａ和２６６，符合小震群震源特征；在琼东北地区，应力降不高，ＱＰ值为１９０；海南岛东南的陵水及其海域应力降也不高，ＱＰ值为４８０。这两个地区均存在着孕育较大地震的介质条件，特别是琼东北地区。     

水滴冻结实验测量降水物中的冻结核含量

文中介绍了一套新研制的均匀水滴冻结实验装置 ,实验水滴与周围环境同步冷却 ,其温度梯度很小 ,可控制降温速率 ,并能自动记录冻结事件 ,从而提高了实验的精度。用此装置对北京地区 1995年底至 1998年出现的各类降水样品进行了实验 ,由水滴冻结温度谱推算了降水的冻结核浓度 温度谱 ,并对结果进行了分析和讨论     

基于经验参考场地的广义线性反演方法

为了克服广义线性反演方法（GIT）中理想的参考场地难以找到的局限性,本文将四分之一波长法计算的平均场地放大系数和谱衰减法计算的高频衰减参数作为GIT方法的经验参考场地（ERS）。以2008年5月至8月间28个强震动台站记录的95个汶川8.0级地震余震的615组强震动记录为例,通过与其他方法的比较,验证了ERS-GIT的合理性,并讨论了各类方法之间差异的原因。结果显示,ERS-GIT方法、传统GIT方法和非参数化GIT方法计算得到的平均应力降依次为1.15 MPa,0.78 MPa和0.52 MPa;ERS-GIT方法和传统GIT方法得到的品质因子分别为Q（f）=75.02f^1.27和Q（f）=65.56f^1.22。以场地的卓越频率为分界,ERS-GIT方法得到的局部场地响应在长周期和高频部分分别与H/V谱比法和传统GIT方法更为接近。     

川滇活动块体中-北部主要活动断裂带现今应力状态的分区特征

恢复2009年1月1日-2015年12月31日间川滇活动块体中-北部1012次2.0≤M_L≤5.0地震的震源谱,计算标量地震矩M_o、震源尺度r和应力降△_σ等震源参数并拟合各参数间的定标关系,基于区域地震构造背景、活动断裂展布以及地震活动的成丛分布将研究区划分成四个统计单元,分别讨论各构造单元的应力分布特征、地震应力降随地点位置的变化以及应力-应变加载作用与区域变形的动力学过程的关联.结果显示:中小地震释放的应力降△_σ在0.1~10 MPa;标量地震矩M_o与近震震级M_L呈现较好线性关系(lgM_0=0.92M_L+10.46);应力降与地震大小的关系与Nuttli的增加应力降(ISD)模型比较吻合(1g△_σ=0.31 1gM_0-3.92).震源应力降结果显示:①金沙江断裂端部为低应力区,断裂单元整体滑动速率较高、强震活动极少,不具备强震发生的应力高度集中条件;在3条次级断裂构成的条带断裂结构中,理塘断裂上的应力-应变加载作用自北西向南东逐渐减弱,相对闭锁的北西段较其他部位更易积累应变.②鲜水河断裂带的地震应力降以康定为界南低北高,南段(康定-石棉)短期内难以积累较高应变,北段(甘孜-康定)应力水平较高,已发生的中强地震尚未能填充地震矩释放的亏空区,段落局部仍有较高的应力积累.③安宁河-则木河断裂上高应力降地震事件集中,该单元的应变积累强、应力水平最高,地震危险性大.④丽江—小金河断裂上不同震级地震的应力降特征并不相同,推测与当地复杂的构造背景有关,具体原因尚需深入探讨;木里地区应力背景较低,可能受当地构造环境的影响.研究表明,地震应力降随地点位置而系统变化,高应力降地震事件多发生在断裂与断裂的交汇部位,而断裂无闭锁条件、断裂以蠕滑为主且断面松弛、断裂端部为高温或破碎塑性变形带时,多以低应力降地震事件为主;与通常所认为的"走滑断裂不易积累应力"相反的是,鲜水河断裂带、安宁河—则木河断裂带均表现出较高的应力水平,其原因一方面可能是因为已发生的中强地震无论数量还是强度都尚不足以释放已经积累的能量,另一方面也许是在区域变形的复杂动力学过程中,当构造单元间阻碍断层运动和协助积累应力的作用占主导时,相同震级的地震会释放更多的应力.