Application of different clustering approaches to hydroclimatological catchment regionalization in mountainous regions,a case study in Utah State

With respect to the different hydrological responses of catchments, even the adjacent ones, in mountainous regions, there are a great number of motivations for classifying them into homogeneous clusters. These motivations include prediction in ungauged basins (PUB), model parameterization, understanding the potential impact of environmental changes, transferring information from gauged catchments to the ungauged ones. The present study investigated the similarity of catchments through the hydro-climatological pure time-series of a 14-year period from 2001 to 2015. Data sets encompass more than 13,000 month-station streamflow, rainfall, and temperature data obtained from 27 catchments in Utah State as one of the eight mountainous states of the USA. The identification, analysis, and interpretation of homogeneous catchments were investigated by applying the four approaches of clustering, K-means, Ward, and SOM (Self-Organized Map) and a newly proposed Wavelet-Entropy-based (WE-SOM) clustering method. By using two clustering evaluation criteria, 3, 5, and 6 clusters were determined as the best numbers of clusters, depending on the method employed, where each cluster represents different hydro-climatological behaviors. Despite the absence of geographic characteristics in input data matrix, the results indicated a regionalization in agreement with topographic characteristics. Considering the dependency of the hydrological behavior of catchments on the physiographic field aspects and characteristics, WE-SOM method demonstrated a more acceptable performance, compared to the other three conventional clustering methods, by providing more clusters. WE-SOM appears to be a promising approach in catchment clustering. It preserves the topological structure of data which can, as a result, be proofed in a greater number of clusters by dividing data into higher numbers of distinct clusters with similar altitudes of catchments in each cluster. The results showed the aptitude of wavelets to quantify the time-based variability of temperature, rainfall and streamflow, in the way contributing to the regionalization of diverse catchments.     

Earthquake response of concrete arch dams: a plastic–damage approach

There are several alternatives to evaluate seismic damage‐cracking behavior of concrete arch dams, among which damage theory is the most popular. A more recent option introduced for this purpose is plastic–damage (PD) approach. In this study, a special finite element program coded in 3‐D space is developed on the basis of a well‐established PD model successfully applied to gravity dams in 2‐D plane stress state. The model originally proposed by Lee and Fenves in 1998 relies on isotropic damaged elasticity in combination with isotropic tensile and compressive plasticity to capture inelastic behaviors of concrete in cyclic or dynamic loadings. The present implementation is based on the rate‐dependent version of the model, including large crack opening/closing possibilities. Moreover, with utilizing the Hilber–Hughes–Taylor time integration scheme, an incremental–iterative solution strategy is detailed for the coupled dam–reservoir equations while the damage–dependent damping stress is included. The program is initially validated, and then, it is employed for the main analyses of the Koyna gravity dam in a 3‐D modeling as well as a typical concrete arch dam. The former is a major verification for the further examination on the arch dam. The application of the PD model to an arch dam is more challenging because the governing stress condition is multiaxial, causing shear damage to become more important than uniaxial states dominated in gravity dams. In fact, the softening and strength loss in compression for the damaged regions under multiaxial cyclic loadings affect its seismic safety. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prediction of copper content in waste dump of Sarcheshmeh copper mine using visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy

The pore structure characteristics of soil are closely related to soil engineering properties. For saline soil distributed in seasonally frozen areas, existing studies have focused on the influence of freeze–thaw cycles on pore structure, while the influence of soluble salt in the soil is not well understood. This study aims to explore the influence of salt content and salt type on the pore structure of freeze-thawed soil. Soil samples with different salt contents (0–2%) and types (bicarbonate salt and sulfate salt) were subjected to 10 freeze–thaw tests, and their pore size distributions (PSDs) were obtained by mercury intrusion porosimetry tests. In addition, the PSDs were quantitatively analyzed by fractal theory. For both salts, the PSDs of the tested soil samples were bimodal after the freeze–thaw cycles, and the porosity of saline soil samples increased with increasing salt content overall. However, the contents of various types of pores in soil samples with two salt types were quite different. The variation in bicarbonate salt content mainly affected the mesopore and macropore contents in the soil samples, and their change trends were opposite to each other. For soil samples with sulfate salt, the porosity and macropore content increased significantly when the salt content exceeded 1%. In addition, the pore structures in saline soil presented fractal characteristics after the freeze–thaw cycles, and the fractal dimension was positively correlated with macropore content. This study may provide references for understanding the engineering properties of saline soil in seasonally frozen areas at the microscale.     

The transverse dynamics of flow in a tidal channel within a greater strait

Vessel-mounted ADCP measurements were conducted to describe the transverse structure of flow between the two headland tips in Khuran Channel, south of Iran (26° 45′ N), where the highest tidal velocities in spring tides were ~?1.8 m/s. Current profiles were obtained using a 614.4 kHz TRDI WorkHorse Broadband ADCP over nine repetitions of three cross-channel transects during one semidiurnal tidal cycle. The 2.2-km-long transects ran north/south across the channel. A least-square fit to semidiurnal, quarter-diurnal, and sixth diurnal harmonics was used to separate the tidal signals from the observed flow. Spatial gradients showed that the greatest lateral shears and convergences were found over the northern channel and near the northern headland tip due to very sharp bathymetric changes in this area. Contrary to the historical assumption, the across-channel momentum balance in the Khuran Channel was ageostrophic. The current study represents one of the few examples reported where the lateral friction influences the across-channel momentum balance.     

Modelling spatial variations in dissolved oxygen in fine‐grained streams under uncertainty

This paper presents a novel triple‐layer model, called VART DO‐3L, for simulation of spatial variations in dissolved oxygen (DO) in fine‐grained streams, characterized by a fluid mud (fluff or flocculent) layer (an advection‐dominated storage zone) as the interface between overlying stream water and relatively consolidated streambed sediment (a diffusion‐dominated storage zone). A global sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the sensitivity of VART DO‐3L model input parameters. Results of the sensitivity analysis indicate that the most sensitive parameter is the relative size of the advection‐dominated storage zones (A_s/A), followed by a lumped reaction term (R) for the flocculent layer, biological reaction rate (μ_o) in diffusive layer and biochemical oxygen demand concentration (L) in water column. In order to address uncertainty in model input parameters, Monte Carlo simulations are performed to sample parameter values and to produce various parameter combinations or cases. The VART DO‐3L model is applied to the Lower Amite River in Louisiana, USA, to simulate vertical and longitudinal variations in DO under the cases. In terms of longitudinal variation, the DO level decreases from 7.9 mg l at the Denham Springs station to about 2.89 mg l^?1 at the Port Vincent station. In terms of vertical variation, the DO level drops rapidly from the overlying water column to the advection‐dominated storage zone and further to the diffusive layer. The DO level (C_F) in the advective layer (flocculent layer) can reach as high as 40% of DO concentration (C) in the water column. The VART DO‐3L model may be applied to similar rivers for simulation of spatial variations in DO level. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi-region Modeling of Daily Global Solar Radiation with Artificial Intelligence Ensemble

Natural Resources Research - Solar radiation data are crucial for the design and evaluation of solar energy systems, climatic studies, water resources management, estimating crop productivity, etc....     

Laboratory study of soil-CFRP interaction using pull-out test

Soil is a material which is weak in tension; however, different materials such as geotextiles are used to address this inadequacy. In recent years more than one million square metres of geotextiles were used for reinforcing soil. Nevertheless, there are several significant problems associated with geotextiles, such as creep, low modulus of elasticity and susceptibility to aggressive environments. Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) was introduced over two decades ago to the field of structural engineering and it can also be used in geotechnical engineering. CFRP has all the benefits associated with geotextiles and it boasts a higher strength, higher modulus, no creep and reliability in aggressive environments. In this investigation, the interface properties of CFRP-sand and fine sand were investigated using the pull-out test. The pull-out test device was designed and assembled using a triaxial loading device and a direct shear device. In the pull-out test, the normal force applied by the triaxial loading and pull-out force is applied by a direct shear device. CFRP samples were prepared in the lab. Precast and cast-in-place samples were tested. The pull-out force and corresponding displacements of each of the materials were recorded and compared.