The relative performance of various cup anemometers in a gusty wind

Summary Wind data collected during the Great Plains Turbulence Field Experiment of 1953 are used to study the relative performances of various types of cup anemometers subjected to air flow of known gustiness. Scatter diagrams which relate differences in the indicated mean speeds of two anemometers to gustiness are prepared. Although the instruments compared represent a wide range of moments of inertia, no relationship between gustiness and anemometer performance is noted. This result is examined in light of Schrenk's parameter which describes anemometer performance.

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Zusammenfassung Windbeobachtungen, welche während des Great Plains Turbulence Field Program im Jahre 1953 gewonnen wurden, werden zu einem Vergleich verschiedener Typen von Schalenkreuzanemometern in einem Windfeld von bekannter Böigkeit verwendet. Die Ergebnisse werden in Form von Streubildern veranschaulicht, in denen die Geschwindigkeits-unterschiede von verschiedenen Anemometern als Funktion des Böigkeitsgrades aufgetragen sind. Obgleich die verglichenen Anemometer erheblich verschiedene Trägheitsmomente besitzen, ergibt sich keine Abhängigkeit der Anzeigedifferenzen von der Böigkeit des Windes. Dieser Befund wird mit Hilfe des Schrenkschen Parameters näher beleuchtet.

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Résumé Les observations anémométriques effectuées dans le cadre du Great Plains Turbulence Field Program en 1953 sont utilisées ici dans le but de comparer différents types d'anémomètres à cupules placés dans un champ de mouvement de turbulence connue. Les résultats sont donnés sous forme d'essaims de points dans un système de référence: écarts individuels de l'indication et degré de turbulence. Bien que les instruments comparés présentent des moments d'inertie notablement différents, les écarts observés ne dépendent pas de la turbulence du vent. Ce résultat est encore examiné à l'aide du paramètre de Schrenk.

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With 4 Figures     

Lower carboniferous volcanic vents in the West of Scotland

Recent studies of Lower Carboniferous volcanic vents in the Campsie and Kilpatrick Hills and at Heads of Ayr have revealed a number of common features which are discussed. The present outcrops of both vents and plugs seldom represent the diameters of the original pipes. Late-stage subsidence occurred within ring fractures which developed around the craters and pipes. The main evidence for subsidence rests on the distortions of the marginal country rocks, and also on the presence within the vents of bedded pyroclastic rocks from the volcanic cone. In some vents, blocks of country rock occur at structural levels lower than that at which they are exposed in their nearest outcrop. The attitude of cooling joints in intrusive basalts of the vents shows many of them to be sheets rather than plugs. The distinction between sedimentary and flow-banded vent pyroclastic rocks is often difficult, and the most useful indicators of a sedimentary origin are discussed.     

Changes in Irish Sea Benthos: Possible Effects of 40 years of Dredging

From 1946 to 1951 Dr N. S. Jones sampled the benthos around the south of the Isle of Man from over 200 sites. Multivariate methods have been used here to compare subsets of this historical data with recent data from the same locations: of these locations some have been subject to heavy scallop dredging over the intervening 40 plus years and some to little dredging. Clear changes were apparent regardless of scallop dredging intensity. Some of the changes in the heavily dredged areas were those expected to result from extreme physical disturbance—an increased polychaete mollusc ratio, loss of some fragile species, and an increase in the predominance of scavenger/predator species. However, changes in the lightly dredged areas also included the loss of a number of species including some potentially fragile tube-dwellers. Reasons for these changes were not apparent.     

Pre‐drill Groundwater Geochemistry in the Karoo Basin,South Africa

Enhanced production of unconventional hydrocarbons in the United States has driven interest in natural gas development globally, but simultaneously raised concerns regarding water quantity and quality impacts associated with hydrocarbon extraction. We conducted a pre‐development assessment of groundwater geochemistry in the critically water‐restricted Karoo Basin, South Africa. Twenty‐two springs and groundwater samples were analyzed for major dissolved ions, trace elements, water stable isotopes, strontium and boron isotopes, hydrocarbons and helium composition. The data revealed three end‐members: a deep, saline groundwater with a sodium‐chloride composition, an old, deep freshwater with a sodium‐bicarbonate‐chloride composition and a shallow, calcium‐bicarbonate freshwater. In a few cases, we identified direct mixing of the deep saline water and shallow groundwater. Stable water isotopes indicate that the shallow groundwater was controlled by evaporation in arid conditions, while the saline waters were diluted by apparently fossil meteoric water originated under wetter climatic conditions. These geochemical and isotopic data, in combination with elevated helium levels, suggest that exogenous fluids are the source of the saline groundwater and originated from remnant seawater prior to dilution by old meteoric water combined with further modification by water‐rock interactions. Samples with elevated methane concentrations (>14 ccSTP/kg) were strongly associated with the sodium‐chloride water located near dolerite intrusions, which likely provide a preferential pathway for vertical migration of deeply sourced hydrocarbon‐rich saline waters to the surface. This pre‐drill evaluation indicates that the natural migration of methane‐ and salt‐rich waters provides a source of geogenic contamination to shallow aquifers prior to shale gas development in the Karoo Basin.     

Is irrigated agriculture in the Murray Darling Basin well prepared to deal with reductions in water availability?

The “Big Dry”, a prolonged dry period in Australia from 1997 to 2009, dried out much of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) and resulted in large agricultural losses and degraded river ecosystems. Climate projections are that dry conditions in the MDB are likely to be more regular and severe than ever before, and recent policy initiatives are likely to reduce consumptive water use and redirect water to ecosystem management. This paper aims to develop an understanding of the interactions between water policy and irrigation practices by deriving lessons from drought management in irrigated agriculture of the MDB during the Big Dry, and furthermore, to draw out lessons to enhance the preparedness of irrigated agriculture for a future drier climate and reduced water availability. Reviews of irrigation farmers’ practices, attitudes and capacity to manage during prolonged droughts in the MDB, and the evolution of agricultural water policy in Australia since 1990 were made. It is clear that farmers could be better prepared to deal with a drier climate if their water management practices, e.g. irrigation methods and soil moisture measuring tools are improved, if the impediments to the uncertainty of water allocation and low water availability could be overcome, and if well-targeted research and extension could assist farmers to use water more wisely. It is also clear that Australian water policy could be better prepared in terms of assisting irrigated agriculture to deal with a drier climate. Key areas are reduction of barriers and distortions to water trading, optimizing the environmental water allocation, and seeking mutual benefits between environmental water allocation and irrigated agriculture, improvement of the cost-effectiveness of investments in water supply infrastructure, facilitating carryover and capacity sharing at larger scales, and provision of accurate, accessible and useful water information at different scales. An approach to irrigation practice and water policy is proposed based on past experience and potential opportunities. The approach is a set of linked strategies for more robust agricultural production and a more sustainable environment under a drier climate and reduced water availability.