Micro-topographic change on calcarenites,grand Cayman Island,West Indies

Changes in micro-topography, as a result of varying erosion rates, have been monitored on a calcarenite ridge on Grand Cayman Island, West Indies, using a traversing model of the micro-erosion meter. Erosion takes place through the solution of a calcitic cement and ‘solutional disintegration’ results in a rapid change of micro-relief. Where a protective crust is present, surface lowering is slower and also more uniform; thus the original relative relief is maintained.     

Classification of vegetation in an open landscape using full-waveform airborne laser scanner data

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is increasingly being used for the mapping of vegetation, although the focus so far has been on woody vegetation, and ALS data have only rarely been used for the classification of grassland vegetation. In this study, we classified the vegetation of an open alkali landscape, characterized by two Natura 2000 habitat types: Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes and Pannonic loess steppic grasslands. We generated 18 variables from an ALS dataset collected in the growing (leaf-on) season. Elevation is a key factor determining the patterns of vegetation types in the landscape, and hence 3 additional variables were based on a digital terrain model (DTM) generated from an ALS dataset collected in the dormant (leaf-off) season. We classified the vegetation into 24 classes based on these 21 variables, at a pixel size of 1 m. Two groups of variables with and without the DTM-based variables were used in a Random Forest classifier, to estimate the influence of elevation, on the accuracy of the classification. The resulting classes at Level 4, based on associations, were aggregated at three levels — Level 3 (11 classes), Level 2 (8 classes) and Level 1 (5 classes) — based on species pool, site conditions and structure, and the accuracies were assessed. The classes were also aggregated based on Natura 2000 habitat types to assess the accuracy of the classification, and its usefulness for the monitoring of habitat quality. The vegetation could be classified into dry grasslands, wetlands, weeds, woody species and man-made features, at Level 1, with an accuracy of 0.79 (Cohen’s kappa coefficient, κ). The accuracies at Levels 2–4 and the classification based on the Natura 2000 habitat types were κ: 0.76, 0.61, 0.51 and 0.69, respectively. Levels 1 and 2 provide suitable information for nature conservationists and land managers, while Levels 3 and 4 are especially useful for ecologists, geologists and soil scientists as they provide high resolution data on species distribution, vegetation patterns, soil properties and on their correlations. Including the DTM-based variables increased the accuracy (κ) from 0.73 to 0.79 for Level 1. These findings show that the structural and spectral attributes of ALS echoes can be used for the classification of open landscapes, especially those where vegetation is influenced by elevation, such as coastal salt marshes, sand dunes, karst or alluvial areas; in these cases, ALS has a distinct advantage over other remotely sensed data.     

A comparative study of nutrient transfer via surface runoff from two small agricultural catchments in north China

A field study was conducted to determine the effect of landscape spatial pattern and micro-topography on nutrient transfer via runoff from two catchments into Yuqiao Reservoir in north China. The surface runoff discharge was measured during rainfall events and water samples were analyzed in 2004 and 2005. The mean annual total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) exports per unit area from Caogezhuang catchment (C catchment) were 1.048 and 0.561 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively, while the TN and TP exports from Taohuasi catchment (T catchment) were 0.158 and 0.027 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. In both catchments, village and vineyard shared the highest nutrient export ability due to the accumulated animal waste and heavy application of fertilizer and manure. In T catchment, the distance of village and vineyard was about 1,500 m away from the receiving water and in between were woodland and cropland. In the hydrological pathway, there were sink landscape structures of small stone dams, roadside swale, vegetated filter strip and dry ponds, which could detain water and nutrients. In C catchment, the distance between the village and the receiving water was about 200 m, and the hydrological pathway was compacted roads and ditches with no sink structures. It is suggested that the distance between the pollution source area and the receiving water and the micro-topographical features were the main factors to control the great difference in nutrient export rates.     

What indicators can capture runoff-relevant connectivity properties of the micro-topography at the plot scale?

Although connectivity is acknowledged as a key factor of a catchment hydrological behaviour, it still misses reference evaluation methodologies. Therefore the objective of the paper is to evaluate different quantitative indicators of hydrological connectivity, using the concepts of structural and functional connectivity commonly used in ecology. The indicators were tested on contrasted numerical fields of micro-topography that present distinct hydrological responses.     

南岭局地小地形背风坡增雾作用的分析

对南岭地区乐昌站和乳源站1968—1998年31年的雾日气候资料进行了统计分析,对比分析发现,在背风坡雾产生的日数明显较多,即南岭地区存在显著的小地形背风坡雾现象。同时,利用CSU—RAMS中尺度数值模式进一步研究局地小地形背风坡雾的作用,模拟结果表明,小地形动力作用对背风坡雾有重要影响。     

Effects of micro-topography on surface–subsurface exchange and runoff generation in a virtual riparian wetland — A modeling study

In humid upland catchments wetlands are often a prominent feature in the vicinity of streams and have potential implications for runoff generation and nutrient export. Wetland surfaces are often characterized by distinct micro-topography (hollows and hummocks). The effects of such micro-topography on surface–subsurface exchange and runoff generation for a 10 by 20 m synthetic section of a riparian wetland were investigated in a virtual modeling experiment. A reference model with a planar surface was run for comparison. The geostatistically simulated structure of the micro-topography replicates the topography of a peat-forming riparian wetland in a small mountainous catchment in South-East Germany (Lehstenbach). Flow was modeled with the fully-integrated surface–subsurface code HydroGeoSphere. Simulation results showed that the specific structure of the wetland surface resulted in distinct shifts between surface and subsurface flow dominance. Surface depressions filled and started to drain via connected channel networks in a threshold controlled process, when groundwater levels intersected the land surface. These networks expanded and shrunk in a spill and fill mechanism when the shallow water table fluctuated around the mean surface elevation under variable rainfall inputs. The micro-topography efficiently buffered rainfall inputs and produced a hydrograph that was characterized by subsurface flow during most of the year and only temporarily shifted to surface flow dominance (> 80% of total discharge) during intense rainstorms. In contrast the hydrograph in the planar reference model was much “flashier” and more controlled by surface runoff. A non-linear, hysteretic relationship between groundwater level and discharge observed at the study site was reproduced with the micro-topography model. Hysteresis was also observed in the relationship between surface water storage and discharge, but over a relatively narrow range of surface water storage values. Therefore it was concluded that surface water storage was a better predictor for the occurrence of surface runoff than groundwater levels.