Tufa Accumulations in Ephemeral Streams: Observations from The Kimberley,north-west Australia

Four types of tufa occur along creeks draining the Oscar Range in the Kimberley region of Western Australia; stream-bed tufa, tufa dams, stream-bed tufa waterfalls, and rimstone pools. Well-developed tufa dam and waterfall formations occur at significant breaks of slope within the channel long profile. This suggests that disruption of the hydraulic flow regime and increased turbulence at these points has an important role to play in determining the location of tufa deposits. However, the best-developed stream-bed tufa deposits are located immediately upstream of dam and waterfall formations, which indicates that the evaporation of water ponded behind these flow obstructions may lead to calcium carbonate precipitation during the dry season. The presence of plant and cyanobacterial communities on, and the incorporation of organic material into, the best-developed tufa formations indicates that biological activity may have an important role to play in determining both the rate of tufa deposition and the internal structure of the resulting accumulations.     

祁连山区黑河流域季节冻土时空变化研究

季节冻土的时空变化对地—气水热交换、地表能量平衡、地表水文过程、生态系统及碳循环等有着非常重要的影响.利用黑河流域11个气象站40多年的气温数据和5 cm深度处的土壤温度数据,建立了月平均气温与土壤冻结天数之间的关系.同时应用月平均气温与冻结天数的相关关系和5 km网格化月平均气温及30 m分辨率的DEM数据,编制了黑河流域逐月季节冻土分布图,并按其空间分布特征,将逐月地表冻融状态划分为:完全冻结、不完全冻结和不冻结3种.系统研究了黑河流域2000-2009年逐月季节冻土分布及冻结概率的时空变化特征.在季节分配上,黑河流域完全冻结面积最大值出现在1月;不完全冻结面积最大值在11月;而不冻结面积最大值在6月和7月.在年际变化上,完全冻结状态的离差值在冷季变化大,暖季变化小;不完全冻结状态在一年的回暖期和降温初期,年际变化较大;不冻结状态分别在4月和10月变化较大.冻结概率在1月达到最大值,6月和7月降低到最小值.在空间分布上,黑河流域季节冻土的逐月分布与变化和冻结概率主要受海拔高度控制,纬度的影响次之.     

兰州地区季节冻土声波现场测试研究

通过对兰州地区4个不同地貌单元季节冻土的现场声波波速测试，获得了0-1.5m深度范围内冻土和融土的纵、横波波速，实测了相应的黄土的密度、含水量及地温资料，分析了波速与土的胶结状态、温度和含水量的关系，结果表明，土的胶结程度对波速度有重要影响，土质疏松，波速较小；土质密实，波速较大，温度在0℃以上时，波速随含水量的增大而减小；温度在0℃以下时，波速随温度的降低而增大。     

Seasonal changes in surface level of a salt marsh creek

Nineteen surveys were carried out over a two-year period to determine the surface height of a salt marsh creek located on the north side of the River Esk, Cumbria, England. An AGA 112 electromagnetic distance measurer mounted on a Wild TI theodolite was used in conjunction with acrylic reflectors to follow the form of the ground. The results showed that there were no significant net trends in surface level, although seasonal variations of the order of 2 cm occurred. Vegetated areas responded in similar fashion to bare surfaces. It is thought that the elevational changes were attributable to the swelling of clay particles during the winter months rather than the effects of erosion and accretion.     

Basin scale rainfall-evapotranspiration dynamics in a tropical semiarid environment during dry and wet years

In semiarid regions the occurrence of alternating long drought and heavy rainfall periods directly impacts water availability, affecting human water supply, agriculture development and the provision of ecosystem services. Because of that, research on the water input and output fluxes at the basin scale is of paramount importance. In this sense, rainfall-evapotranspiration (ET) dynamics play a critical role in water, soil and vegetation interactions, in hydrometeorological modelling and in the energy fluxes dynamics of semiarid regions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to quantify daily ET during a wet year and a dry year in a watershed located in the Brazilian Semiarid, by using remote sensing data and formulations based on the Simplified Surface Energy Balance Index (S-SEBI) and the Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEB) algorithms. Land surface temperature, albedo and NDVI data from MODIS sensor and solar radiation data from weather stations located in the basin were used. Rainfall analysis indicated 2009 and 2012 as being representatives of anomalously wet and dry years respectively, which were selected for the quantification of ET. The proposed algorithm was adjusted and verified with data from a flux tower equipped with eddy covariance system. Daily remote sensing ET estimates showed good agreement with observed values (RMSE = 0.79 mm.d⁻¹) and the annual ET relative error was of 7.7% (35.4 mm.year⁻¹). Results showed that the native vegetation can delay its dormant state for five months during wet years. During the wet year, ET differences between land cover classes were less noticeable due to soil saturation and the urgency of vegetated surfaces to meet their physiological needs. In dry year, however, differences were more evident, with bare soil presenting lower ET rates and vegetation classes showing higher ET values.     

Frost jacking characteristics of screw piles in seasonally frozen regions based on thermo-mechanical simulations

In this paper, a thermo-mechanical model is proposed to simulate the frost jacking behaviour of screw piles subjected to frost heave, and the results are further validated by laboratory tests. The calculated results show that large multi-helix piles yield the least frost jacking when the freezing depth reaches half the embedment depth of pile. Based on the modified cylindrical shear method and individual bearing method, the optimal geometric parameters of screw piles are determined by a series of numerical calculations. The numerical approach is expected to serve as a reference for designing effective and economical pile types in practice.     

冻土遥感研究进展——可见光、红外及主动微波卫星遥感方法

多年冻土和季节冻土分别占北半球裸露地表的24%和55%。近地表土壤冻融的范围、冻结起始日期、持续时间及冻融深度对寒季/寒区的植被生长、大气与土壤间能量、水分及温室气体交换都具有极其重要的影响。卫星遥感结合地面观测资料研究局地到区域尺度的季节冻土和多年冻土已取得诸多成果。综述了近几十年来卫星遥感技术在冻土研究中的应用。监测多年冻土和地表冻融循环通常需要综合利用可见光、红外、被动微波及主动微波(包括合成孔径雷达SAR和散射计)遥感数据,任何单一波段的传感器都无法满足研究需求。SAR图像能提供空间分辨率较高的寒季/寒区近地表土壤冻融状态的起始日期、持续时间和区域演变等信息,但目前在轨SAR的重访周期相对于春秋季的土壤冻融循环变化过长;星载被动微波传感器具有多通道观测且重访周期较高,但空间分辨率很低的特点;光学和热红外传感器的时空分辨率介于SAR和被动微波遥感之间,但应用于冻土研究时需要具备多年冻土分布和冻融深度与环境因子相关关系的先验信息。总体而言,微波遥感是探测无雪覆盖近地表土壤冻融循环的有效技术手段,而利用热红外传感器反演的地表温度研究土壤冻融过程具有极大潜力。应用卫星遥感反演的积雪范围、雪深、融雪、地表类型、...     

不同地表条件下冻融土壤的入渗特性分析

通过大量的入渗试验,对不同地表条件下季节性冻融土壤的入渗特性进行了对比分析,结果表明:在冻融期,不同地表条件下土壤入渗能力均经历由高到最低点,然后再增高的变化过程;有覆盖物地块最小土壤入渗能力出现的时间均滞后于裸露地.     

基于CLM4.5模式的季节冻土区土壤参数化方案的模拟研究

利用位于季节冻土区的中国科学院那曲高寒气候环境观测研究站那曲/BJ观测点的野外观测数据,通过CLM4.5的单点模拟实验,分析评估了Luo土壤热导率参数化方案、Johansen土壤热导率参数化方案、Coté土壤热导率参数化方案和虚温参数化方案对土壤温、湿度的模拟能力,为将来选取最优的参数及参数化方案来更合理的模拟青藏高原土壤冻融过程为目的的工作提供依据。结果表明:(1)三种土壤热导率参数化方案模拟结果的土壤热传导率有明显差异,其中Coté方案的土壤热传导率最高,Luo方案的土壤热传导率最低。(2)三种热传导率方案均能合理地模拟出土壤温湿度的日变化趋势,Johansen方案对土壤温度年变化趋势模拟的更好,Coté方案对土壤温度模拟的数值较观测值偏离的更小,Luo方案对土壤湿度的模拟更好。(3)加入虚拟温度方程,并引入相变效率参数后,减少了模式对土壤湿度模拟的负偏差,Y-L方案在保持土壤温度较好模拟能力的基础上,能够进一步的提升土壤湿度的模拟能力。