Remotely sensed soil moisture integration in an ecosystem carbon flux model. The spatial implication

While remote sensing is able to provide spatially explicit datasets at regional to global scales, extensive application to date has been found only in the reporting and verification of ecosystem carbon fluxes under the Kyoto Protocol. One of the problems is that new remote sensing datasets can be used only with models or data assimilation schemes adapted to include a data input interface dedicated to the type and format of these remote sensing datasets. In this study, soil water index data (SWI), derived from the ERS scatterometer (10-daily time period with a spatial resolution of 50 km), are integrated into the ecosystem carbon balance model C-Fix to assess 10-daily Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP) patterns of Europe from the remote sensing perspective on an approximate 1-by-1 km² pixel scale using NDVI-AVHRR data. The modeling performance of NEP obtained with and without the assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture data in the carbon flux model C-Fix is evaluated with EUROFLUX data. Results show a general decrease of the RRMSE of up to 11 with an average of 3.46. C-Fix is applied at the European scale to demonstrate the potential of this ecosystem carbon flux model, based on remote sensing inputs. More specifically, the strong impact of soil moisture on the European carbon balance in the context of the Kyoto Protocol (anthropogenic carbon emissions) is indicated at the country level. Results suggest that several European countries shift from being a carbon sink (i.e., NEP > 1) to being a carbon source (i.e., NEP < 0) whether or not short-term water availability (i.e., soil moisture) is considered in C-Fix NEP estimations.     

Three-dimensional Travel-time Calculation Based on Fermat's Principle

— We present a new travel-time calculation method based on Fermat's principle. In the method, travel times are recursively calculated on horizontal planes of increasing depth. For typical configurations of exploration geophysics, the distance between the planes is on the order of 100 m. The travel times on the first plane are calculated by connecting straight ray segments from the source point to the grid points on the plane and integrating the slowness along each segment. The times on the other planes are calculated by finding the minimum of the combination of the times on the plane above plus the additional time along segments connecting grid points on the two planes. The travel-time calculation method is designed for calculating either the first arrival times, or the time of the shortest travel path arrival. The method is extended to handle vertically transverse isotropic (VTI) media by an approach which increases the computing time only slightly. The algorithm is tested against synthetic examples for isotropic and VTI wave propagation.     

Impact of wastewater discharge on the channel morphology of ephemeral streams

The impact of wastewater flow on the channel bed morphology was evaluated in four ephemeral streams in Israel and the Palestinian Territories: Nahal Og, Nahal Kidron, Nahal Qeult and Nahal Hebron. Channel changes before, during and after the halting of wastewater flow were monitored. The wastewater flow causes a shift from a dry ephemeral channel with intermittent floods to a continuous flow pattern similar to that of humid areas. Within a few months, nutrient‐rich wastewater flow leads to rapid development of vegetation along channel and bars. The colonization of part of the active channel by vegetation increases flow resistance as well as bank and bed stability, and limits sediment availability from bars and other sediment stores along the channels. In some cases the established vegetation covers the entire channel width and halts the transport of bed material along the channel. During low and medium size flood events, bars remain stable and the vegetation intact. Extreme events destroy the vegetation and activate the bars. The wastewater flow results in the development of new small bars, which are usually destroyed by flood flows. Due to the vegetation establishment, the active channel width decreases by up to 700 per cent. The deposition of fine sediment and organic material changed the sediment texture within the stable bar surface and the whole bed surface texture in Nahal Hebron. The recovery of Nahal Og after the halting of the wastewater flow was relatively fast; within two flood seasons the channel almost returned to pre‐wastewater characteristics. The results of the study could be used to indicate what would happen if wastewater flows were introduced along natural desert streams. Also, the results could be used to predict the consequences of vegetation removal as a result of human intervention within the active channel of humid streams. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Defining and measuring braiding intensity

Geomorphological studies of braided rivers still lack a consistent measurement of the complexity of the braided pattern. Several simple indices have been proposed and two (channel count and total sinuosity) are the most commonly applied. For none of these indices has there been an assessment of the sampling requirements and there has been no systematic study of the equivalence of the indices to each other and their sensitivity to river stage. Resolution of these issues is essential for progress in studies of braided morphology and dynamics at the scale of the channel network. A series of experiments was run using small‐scale physical models of braided rivers in a 3 m ∞ 20 m flume. Sampling criteria for braid indices and their comparability were assessed using constant‐discharge experiments. Sample hydrographs were run to assess the effect of flow variability. Reach lengths of at least 10 times the average wetted width are needed to measure braid indices with precision of the order of 20% of the mean. Inherent variability in channel pattern makes it difficult to achieve greater precision. Channel count indices need a minimum of 10 cross‐sections spaced no further apart than the average wetted width of the river. Several of the braid indices, including total sinuosity, give very similar numerical values but they differ substantially from channel‐count index values. Consequently, functional relationships between channel pattern and, for example, discharge, are sensitive to the choice of braid index. Braid indices are sensitive to river stage and the highest values typically occur below peak flows of a diurnal (melt‐water) hydrograph in pro‐glacial rivers. There is no general relationship with stage that would allow data from rivers at different relative stage to be compared. At present, channel count indices give the best combination of rapid measurement, precision, and range of sources from which measurements can be reliably made. They can also be related directly to bar theory for braided pattern development. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.