A PROCEDURE FOR ASSESSING WATER RESOURCES FOR URBAN PLANNING1

A matrix has been developed to guide the assessment of urban water resources. The matrix provides a means for determining the relative importance of water-related problems, and for identifying the data needed to evaluate these problems for the purpose of urban planning. The matrix columns list nine categories of potential water-related urban problems. The rows list 51 categories of data inputs which may be needed to evaluate the potential problems. The inputs include standard types of basic hydrologic data, information based on analysis and interpretation of these data, and information on the interfacing factors of climate, land, and culture. A system is described for ranking the relative importance of the problem categories and data inputs on a numerical scale of 0 to 3. From this, an index is derived that evaluates the relative importance of each input item to an overall program for water resource assessment. From the completed matrix the hydrologist can determine the availability of data to meet the identified requirements. Judgement can then be made as to priorities on work elements to provide the planner with maximum information in minimum time. The matrix also provides a basis for the development of programs and their funding in order to overcome critical data deficiencies.     

ON THE MISMATCH BETWEEN DATA AND MODELS OF HYDROLOGIC AND WATER RESOURCE SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: Many difficulties exist in the matching of models with data. This paper identifies elements of this problem and discusses considerations involved in model evaluation. The well known multivariate linear regression model is used to illustrate the distinctions between accuracy and precision and between estimation and prediction (because the model is commonly misused.) No amount of additional data will improve the accuracy of a poor model. A high R², while indicative of a good matching between the observed data and model estimates, is a poor criterion for judging adequacy of the model to make good predictions of future events. Model evaluation also includes the problem of introducing secondary data and proxy variables into a model. Secondary data frequently enter, for example, the mass, energy and water budget equations because of difficulties in measuring the primary variables. Proxy variables arise because of a desire to collapse a vector of incomparable values, say, of water quality into a single number. Review of the above issues indicates that model evaluation is a multi-criterion problem, often imbedded in a larger framework where models are intended to meet multiple objectives. The mismatch of models and data has increasing legal and social consequences.     

DATA REQUIREMENTS OF A WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM1

ABSTRACT: Routine data collection currently consumes a large amount of the total resources devoted to water quality management. All too often data collection becomes an end in itself, with little thought given to the purpose of the data collection. The problem generally stems from a lack of proper routine surveillance system design and a failure on the part of the designers to initially identify the data needs of the management program. This study attempts, in a general way, to delineate the data needs of a water quality management program. This first required an identification of the activities involved in water quality management. The activities were then discussed in terms of the types of information needed to successfully complete their assigned tasks. Several detailed examples are given. The results of the discussion are summarized and several strategies are proposed to relate the results to surveillance system design.     

卫星云图资料同化中的质量控制及其在暴雨预报中的应用

以1996年7月3—4日发生在江淮流域的暴雨过程为例，依据统计特征分别以常规分析场、正涡度高值区、高低空急流为标准，设计了三套方案对卫星反演湿度场进行质量控制。利用中尺度MM5模式进行的数值试验表明：经质量控制后预报场得到较大改善；质量控制方案的优劣对预报效果有直接影响，选择合理的控制标准是重要的。     

多源遥感数据沙尘暴强度监测的信息可比方法

综述了利用遥感技术进行沙尘暴监测研究的国内外进展，提出了利用多源遥感数据识别和提取沙尘暴信息的新方法，利用近红外1．6μm波段特性，构建了可比沙尘强度指数。研究表明：利用卫星探测器11μm，12μm波段差值进行沙尘暴信息识别和提取，可以达到满意的效果，但不能刻画沙尘暴强度；构建的可比沙尘强度指数，能够解决多源遥感数据由于卫星平台、监测时间、监测区域等不同因素导致的监测结果不可比的问题；同时监测结果与地面气象站监测数据有较好的一致性，能够从时间、空间两方面刻画沙尘暴强弱分布，可以作为沙尘暴定量研究的参数，为利用多源遥感数据持续定量地监测沙尘暴的起源、移动、传输路径、扩散等待征奠定了基础。     

南京地震台的大地电场观测场地建设及对其初步观测资料的分析

南京基准地震台于 1998 0 6建立了大地电场观测系统 ,同年开始观测。本文介绍了场地建设概况 ,并根据其初步的观测资料分析了大地电场的一些机理特征 ,在大地电场的背景消除方面作了一些探究。     

灾害等级的综合评价

灾害等级被用来表示灾害所造成的社会损失大小。主成分分析法能够在保证原始数据信息损失最小的情况下，以少数的综合变量取代原有的多维变量，使数据结构大为简化，并且客观地确定权数，避免了主观随意性，因而是灾害等级综合评价的一种简单易行的有效方法。通过主成分分析，可以为减灾和分区和分级管理提供重要的理论依据。     

TILE RATIONALE FOR OHIO'S DETERGENT PHOSPHORUS BAN1

ABSTRACT: Ohio signed into law a detergent phosphorus ban on March 26, 1988. This law limits the elemental phosphorus content of household laundry detergents to 0.5 percent in all 35 Lake Erie counties in Ohio by 1990. Ohio's detergent phosphorus ban will help non-compliant municipal wastewater treatment plants achieve compliance with the 1 mg/L effluent phosphorus standard. By limiting the phosphorus content of household laundry detergents, Ohio will also benefit from less phosphorus entering surface waters from combined sewer overflows, communities with treatment plant bypasses, and riparian homes with septic tanks. This is important because most of the phosphorus in laundry detergents is in the bioavailable form and Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline is particularly sensitive to Cladophora problems. When viewed in conjunction with reduced chemical costs for phosphorus removal and savings in sludge disposal costs, Ohio's detergent phosphorus ban is a pragmatic component of an international phosphorus management strategy to protect the Great Lakes.     

NEW ZEALAND'S NATIONAL WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORK - DESIGN AND FIRST YEAR'S OPERATION1

ABSTRACT: The design and implementation of a national surface water quality monitoring network for New Zealand are described. Some of the lessons learned from the first year of operation are also addressed. Underpinning the design, and specified in advance, are the goal and objectives, the data quality assurance system, and the mechanism for data interpretation and reporting. Because of the difficulties associated with the use of a multitude of different agencies, only one agency is involved in field work and one laboratory undertakes the analysis. Staff training has been given a high priority. The network has been designed to give good trend detectability for regular sampling over a 5–10 year period.     

The environmental audit. I. Concepts

Extensive criticism of water quality monitoring programs has developed as costs are compared with the benefits produced by monitoring efforts. Collecting water quality data while developing understanding of the functional character of the environment will improve water quality monitoring data utility in environmental management. The environmental audit characterizes the attributes of the natural environment (that is, attribute type, intensity, and variability), providing a theoretical as well as practical foundation for data interpretation. In the view proposed here, traditional monitoring means the very narrow activity of collecting samples and perhaps analyzing them and storing the analyses. In the environmental audit, these activities are a mechanism to systematically improve environmental monitoring and assessment by improving the design and implementation of environmental programs. Major reasons why existing programs fail to meet the needs of legislators, regulators, and conservationists are identified.