Hydrological trends and the evolution of catchment research in the Alptal valley,central Switzerland

When the observation of small headwater catchments in the pre-Alpine Alptal valley (central Switzerland) started in the late 1960s, the researchers were mainly interested in questions related to floods and forest management. Investigations of geomorphological processes in the steep torrent channels followed in the 1980s, along with detailed observations of biogeochemical and ecohydrological processes in individual forest stands. More recently, research in the Alptal has addressed the impacts of climate change on water supply and runoff generation. In this article, we describe, for the first time, the evolution of catchment research at Alptal, and present new analyses of long-term trends and short-term hydrologic behaviour. Hydrometeorological time series from the past 50 years show substantial interannual variability, but only minimal long-term trends, except for the ~2°C increase in mean annual air temperature over the 50-year period, and a corresponding shift towards earlier snowmelt. Similar to previous studies in larger Alpine catchments, the decadal variations in mean annual runoff in Alptal's small research catchments reflect the long-term variability in annual precipitation. In the Alptal valley, the most evident hydrological trends were observed in late spring and are related to the substantial change in the duration of the snow cover. Streamflow and water quality are highly variable within and between hydrological events, suggesting rapid shifts in flow pathways and mixing, as well as changing connectivity of runoff-generating areas. This overview illustrates how catchment research in the Alptal has evolved in response to changing societal concerns and emerging scientific questions.     

Effects of changes in canopy interception on stream runoff response and recovery following clear-cutting of a Japanese coniferous forest in Fukuroyamasawa Experimental Watershed in Japan

Understanding changes in evapotranspiration during forest regrowth is essential to predict changes of stream runoff and recovery after forest cutting. Canopy interception (Ic) is an important component of evapotranspiration, however Ic changes and the impact on stream runoff during regrowth after cutting remains unclear due to limited observations. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of Ic changes on long-term stream runoff in a regrowth Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress forest following clear-cutting. This study was conducted in two 1-ha paired headwater catchments at Fukuroyamasawa Experimental Watershed in Japan. The catchments were 100% covered by Japanese coniferous plantation forest, one of which was 100% clear-cut in 1999 when the forest was 70 years old. In the treated catchment, annual runoff increased by 301 mm/year (14% of precipitation) the year following clear-cutting, and remained 185 mm/year (7.9% of precipitation) higher in the young regrowth forest for 12–14 years compared to the estimated runoff assuming no clear-cutting. The Ic change was −358 mm/year (17% of precipitation) after cutting and was −168 mm/year (6.7% of precipitation) in the 12–14 years old regrowth forest compared to the observed Ic during the pre-cutting period. Stream runoff increased in all seasons, and the Ic change was the main fraction of evapotranspiration change in all seasons throughout the observation period. These results suggest that the change in Ic accounted for most of the runoff response following forest cutting and the subsequent runoff recovery in this coniferous forest.     

High-frequency monitoring of hydrological and biogeochemical fluxes in forested catchments of southern Chile

The variability of rainfall-dependent streamflow at catchment scale modulates many ecosystem processes in wet temperate forests. Runoff in small mountain catchments is characterized by a quick response to rainfall pulses which affects biogeochemical fluxes to all downstream systems. In wet-temperate climates, water erosion is the most important natural factor driving downstream soil and nutrient losses from upland ecosystems. Most hydrochemical studies have focused on water flux measurements at hourly scales, along with weekly or monthly samples for water chemistry. Here, we assessed how water and element flows from broad-leaved, evergreen forested catchments in southwestern South America, are influenced by different successional stages, quantifying runoff, sediment transport and nutrient fluxes during hourly rainfall events of different intensities. Hydrograph comparisons among different successional stages indicated that forested catchments differed in their responses to high intensity rainfall, with greater runoff in areas covered by secondary forests (SF), compared to old-growth forest cover (OG) and dense scrub vegetation (CH). Further, throughfall water was greatly nutrient enriched for all forest types. Suspended sediment loads varied between successional stages. SF catchments exported 455 kg of sediments per ha, followed by OG with 91 kg/ha and CH with 14 kg/ha, corresponding to 11 rainfall events measured from December 2013 to April 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations in stream water also varied with rainfall intensity. In seven rainfall events sampled during the study period, CH catchments exported less nutrients (46 kg/ha TN and 7 kg/ha TP) than SF catchments (718 kg/ha TN and 107 kg/ha TP), while OG catchments exported intermediate sediment loads (201 kg/ha TN and 23 kg/ha TP). Further, we found significant effects of successional stage attributes (vegetation structure and soil physical properties) and catchment morphometry on runoff and sediment concentrations, and greater nutrients retention in OG and CH catchments. We conclude that in these southern hemisphere, broad-leaved evergreen temperate forests, hydrological processes are driven by multiple interacting phenomena, including climate, vegetation, soils, topography, and disturbance history.     

Wetlands and low-gradient topography are associated with longer hydrologic transit times in Precambrian Shield headwater catchments

The estimation of hydrologic transit times in a catchment provides insights into the integrated effects of water storage, mixing dynamics, and runoff generation processes. There has been limited effort to estimate transit times in southern boreal Precambrian Shield landscapes, which are characteristically heterogeneous with surface cover including till, thin soils, bedrock outcrops, and depressional wetland features that play contrasting hydrologic roles. This study presents approximately 3.5 years of precipitation and streamflow water isotope data and estimates mean transit times (MTTs) and the young water fraction (p_y) across six small catchments in the Muskoka-Haliburton region of south-central Ontario. The main objectives were to define a typical range of MTTs for headwater catchments in this region and to identify landscape variables that best explain differences in MTTs/p_y using airborne light detection and ranging and digital terrain analysis. Of the transit time distributions, the two parallel linear reservoir and gamma distributions best describe the hydrology of these catchments, particularly because of their ability to capture more extreme changes related to events such as snowmelt. The estimated MTTs, regardless of the modelling approach or distribution used, are positively associated with the percent wetland area and negatively with mean slope in the catchments. In this landscape, low-gradient features such as wetlands increase catchment scale water storage when antecedent conditions are dryer and decrease transit times when there is a moisture surplus, which plausibly explains the increases in MTTs and mean annual runoff from catchments with significant coverage of these landscape features.     

Isotope hydrological study of mean transit time in the granitic Strengbach catchment (Vosges massif,France): application of the FlowPC model with modified input function

Measurements of ¹⁸O concentrations in precipitation, soil solution, spring and runoff are used to determine water transit time in the small granitic Strengbach catchment (0·8 km²; 883–1146 m above sea level) located in the Vosges Mountains of northeastern France. Water transit times were calculated by applying the exponential, exponential piston and dispersion models of the FlowPC program to isotopic input (rainfall) and output (spring and stream water) data sets during the period 1989–95. The input function of the model was modified compared with the former version of the model and estimated by a deterministic approach based on a simplified hydrological balance. The fit between observed and calculated output data showed marked improvements compared with results obtained using the initial version of the model. An exponential piston version of the model applied to spring water indicates a 38·5 month mean transit time, which suggests that the volume in the aquifer, expressed in water depth, is 2·4 m. A considerable thickness (>45 m) of fractured bedrock may be involved for such a volume of water to be stored in the aquifer. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GEOGRAPHY ON THE PLANETS: GIFT OF REMOTE SENSING*

Extraterrestrial geography has become a reality, as we move from Earth's moon to the planets. A broad-scale regional physiography is being established on twenty planets and satellites through remote sensing techniques. Spacecraft images yield most of the information on Solar System landscapes. Topographic measurements are extracted by monoscopic image-processing, stereophotogrammetry, and radar analysis. Invisible parts of the spectrum furnish non-topographic data.     

RTK技术在杭州湾跨海大桥桥位地形测绘中的应用

介绍了RTK技术在杭州湾跨海大桥桥位地形测绘中的应用,并对其定位结果进行了精度比较与分析,结果表明:RTK定位测量的点位精度可达厘米级,各点位之间不存在误差积累,与全站仪等测量手段取得的结果符合得较好,可以用来代替二三级导线控制测量和等外水准等测量方法;流动站与基准站的距离在10km范围以内时,应用RTK技术对近岸水下地形进行测量具有方便、快捷、精度高等特点,但当此距离超过10km时,其精度则难以保证。杭州湾跨海大桥施工时应用RTK技术进行定位、高程测量,可提高工作效率和成果的质量。     

Barotropic Response of the Sea of Okhotsk to Wind Forcing

We have examined wind-induced circulation in the Sea of Okhotsk using a barotropic model that contains realistic topography with a resolution of 9.25 km. The monthly wind stress field calculated from daily European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) Re-Analysis data is used as the forcing, and the integration is carried out for 20 days until the circulation attains an almost steady state. In the case of November (a representative for the winter season from October to March), southward currents of velocity 0.1–0.3 m s⁻¹ occur along the bottom contours off the east of Sakhalin Island. The currents are mostly confined to the shelf (shallower than 200 m) and extend as far south as the Hokkaido coast. In the July case (a representative for the summer season from April to September), significant currents do not occur, even in the shallow shelves. The simulated southward current over the east Sakhalin shelf appears to correspond to the near-shore branch of the East Sakhalin Current (ESC), which was observed with the surface drifters. These seasonal variations simulated in our experiments are consistent with the observations of the ESC. Dynamically, the simulated ESC is interpreted as the arrested topographic wave (ATW), which is the coastally trapped flow driven by steady alongshore wind stress. The volume transport of the simulated ESC over the shelf reaches about 1.0 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³s⁻¹) in the winter season, which is determined by the integrated onshore Ekman transport in the direction from which shelf waves propagate. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Topographic Effect of Izu Ridge on the Distribution of the North Pacific Intermediate Water South of Japan

The topographic effect of the Izu Ridge on the horizontal distribution of the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) south of Japan has been studied using observational data obtained by the Seisui-Maru of Mie University (Mie Univ. data) and those compiled by Japan Oceanographic Data Center (JODC data). Both data sets show that water of salinity less than 34.1 psu on potential density () surface of 26.8 is confined to the eastern side of the Izu Ridge, while water of salinity less than 34.2 psu is confined to the southern area over the Izu Ridge at a depth greater than 2000 m and to the southeastern area in the Shikoku Basin. It is also shown by T-S analysis of Mie Univ. data over the Izu Ridge that water of salinity less than 34.2 psu dominates south of 30°N, where the depth of the Izu Ridge is deeper than 2000 m and NPIW can intrude westward over the Izu Ridge. JODC data reveal that relatively large standard deviations of the salinity on surface of 26.7, 26.8 and 26.9 are detected along the mean current path of the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio Extension. Almost all of the standard deviations are less than 0.05 psu in other area with the NPIW, which shows that the time variation in the salinity can be neglected. This observational evidence shows that the topographic effect of the Izu Ridge on the horizontal distribution of the NPIW, which is formed east of 145°E by the mixing of the Kuroshio water and the Oyashio water, is prominent north of 30°N with a depth shallower than 2000 m.     

东海海底地形分区特征和成因研究

东海一直以其特殊的大地构造地位受到国内外地学界的关注,但作为主要受构造控制的东海海底地形的研究,以往简单趋势性描述居多,专门深入系统的研究尚不多见。不久前完成的高精度、全覆盖多波束海底地形勘测覆盖了东海部分外陆架、大陆坡全部、冲绳海槽和东部岛坡的一部分,取得了海量的测深数据。据此编绘的勘测多波束水深图和结合测区外的传统资料编绘的海底地形图使我们有机会可以重新审视和系统研究东海的海底地形特征。在定量确定了陆架坡折线、陆坡坡脚线和东部槽坡坡脚线的基础上划分出了大陆架、大陆坡、冲绳海槽平原和东部岛坡4大地形区,继之对各区的海底地形特征进行了研究和描述,并在区内选取了有代表性的5条剖面进行了剖析。另外,从地球内营力和外营力两方面分析了影响东海海底地形发育的因素。调查分析表明:整个东海地形分带明显,地形类型多样:大陆架十分宽阔,总体北宽南窄,从大陆向海平缓倾斜,发育了广泛的NW-SE向沙脊群,自大陆向东南呈扇形发散;大陆坡呈NE-SW向条带展布,海底地形陡峻,呈阶梯状下掉,总体北缓南陡,其上峡谷密布,上穿切外陆架,下直达海槽,同时坡麓上海台沟谷伴生发育;冲绳海槽北浅南深,其内在平坦的背景上发育了众多的海山和海丘,其中心又有槽中槽地形;东槽坡地形复杂,发育了