Landscape changes as a factor affecting the course and consequences of extreme floods in the Otava river basin, Czech Republic

The paper presents the analysis of anthropogenical modifications of the landscape in relation to the course and consequences of floods. The research was conducted in the Otava river basin which represents the core zone of the extreme flood in August 2002 in Central Europe. The analysis was focused on the key indicators of landscape modification potentially affecting the runoff process - the long-term changes of land-use, changes of land cover structure, land drainage, historical shortening of the river network and the modifications of streams and floodplains. The information on intensity and spatial distribution of modifications was derived from different data sources - historical maps, available GIS data, remote sensing and field mapping. The results revealed a high level of spatial diversity of anthropogenical modifications in different parts of the river basin. The intensive modifications in most of indicators were concentrated in the lowland region of the river basin due to its agricultural use; however important changes were also recorded in the headwater region of the basin. The high spatial diversity of the modifications may result in their varying effect on the course and consequences of floods in different parts of the river basin. This effect is demonstrated by the cluster analysis based on the matrix of indicators of stream and floodplain modification, physiogeographical characteristics and geomorphological evidences of the flood in August 2002, derived from the individual thematic layers using GIS.     

Empirical Estimation of Virtual Point Source Height Over a Bank of Coke Ovens

This paper addresses an empirical method of assessment of the height of a virtual point source. In order to achieve such assessment, three planes defining the location of a virtual point source in a space are created and formulas describing the geometry of observer’s sight and plume orientation are used. Data for calculations are obtained on a basis of plume photographs. The final position of a virtual emission point is described by a set of its coordinates in the Cartesian coordinate system. Presented method may be applied as a means to verify and validate the existing formulas describing the rise of plume above the stack exit or as a tool enabling acquisition of information for the sake of creating new formulas of this type. The calculation of the location of a virtual point source ascribed to the point emission from the roof of the bank of coke oven is presented and illustrated with photographs which reveal position of plume, adequate planes, axes and characteristic objects.     

One century of hydrological monitoring in two small catchments with different forest coverage

Long-term data on precipitation and runoff are essential to draw firm conclusions about the behavior and trends of hydrological catchments that may be influenced by land use and climate change. Here the longest continuous runoff records from small catchments (<1 km(2)) in Switzerland (and possibly worldwide) are reported. The history of the hydrological monitoring in the Sperbel- and Rappengraben (Emmental) is summarized, and inherent uncertainties in the data arising from the operation of the gauges are described. The runoff stations operated safely for more than 90% of the summer months when most of the major flood events occurred. Nevertheless, the absolute values of peak runoff during the largest flood events are subject to considerable uncertainty. The observed differences in average, base, and peak runoff can only partly be attributed to the substantial differences in forest coverage. This treasure trove of data can be used in various ways, exemplified here with an analysis of the generalized extreme value distributions of the two catchments. These distributions, and hence flood return periods, have varied greatly in the course of one century, influenced by the occurrence of single extreme events. The data will be made publicly available for the further analysis of the mechanisms governing the runoff behavior of small catchments, as well as for testing stochastic and deterministic models.     

Assessment of big floods in the Eastern Black Sea Basin of Turkey

In this study, general knowledge and some details of the floods in Eastern Black Sea Basin of Turkey are presented. Brief hydro-meteorological analysis of selected nine floods and detailed analysis of the greatest flood are given. In the studied area, 51 big floods have taken place between 1955–2005 years, causing 258 deaths and nearly US $500,000,000 of damage. Most of the floods have occurred in June, July and August. It is concluded that especially for the rainstorms that have caused significantly damages, the return periods of the rainfall heights and resultant flood discharges have gone up to 250 and 500 years, respectively. A general agreement is observed between the return periods of rains and resultant floods. It is concluded that there has been no significant climate change to cause increases in flood harms. The most important human factors to increase the damage are determined as wrong and illegal land use, deforestation and wrong urbanization and settlement, psychological and technical factors. Some structural and non-structural measures to mitigate flood damages are also included in the paper. Structural measures include dykes and flood levees. Main non-structural measures include flood warning system, modification of land use, watershed management and improvement, flood insurance, organization of flood management studies, coordination between related institutions and education of the people and informing of the stakeholders.     

Determining the most suitable areas for artificial groundwater recharge via an integrated PROMETHEE II-AHP method in GIS environment (case study: Garabaygan Basin, Iran)

Flood spreading is a suitable strategy for controlling and benefiting from floods. Selecting suitable areas for flood spreading and directing the floodwater into permeable formations are amongst the most effective strategies in flood spreading projects. Having combined geographic information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria decision analysis approaches, the present study sought to locate the most suitable areas for flood spreading operation in the Garabaygan Basin of Iran. To this end, the data layers relating to the eight effective factors were prepared in GIS environment. This stage was followed by elimination of the exclusionary areas for flood spreading while determining the potentially suitable ones. Having closely examined the potentially suitable areas using the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) II and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methods, the land suitability map for flood spreading was produced. The PROMETHEE II and AHP were used for ranking all the alternatives and weighting the criteria involved, respectively. The results of the study showed that most suitable areas for the artificial groundwater recharge are located in Quaternary Q_g and Q^gsc geologic units and in geomorphological units of pediment and Alluvial fans with slopes not exceeding 3 %. Furthermore, significant correspondence between the produced map and the control areas, where the flood spreading projects were successfully performed, provided further evidence for the acceptable efficiency of the integrated PROMETHEE II-AHP method in locating suitable flood spreading areas.     

Dynamic Hydrologic Simulation of the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM)

Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) consists of a pair of research watersheds, East Bear Brook (EBB) and West Bear Brook (WBB). Years of research and observations have shown both watersheds have high similarity in geographic and hydrologic characteristics; a simple comparison of hydrographs from these two watersheds further substantiates this similarity. The Object Watershed Link Simulation (OWLS) model was developed and used to simulate the hydrological processes within the BBWM. The OWLS model is a 3-dimensional, vector-based, visualized, physically-based, distributed watershed hydrologic model. Simulation results not only provide a close examination of hydrologic processes within a watershed, but also dynamically visualize the processes of flow separations and Variable Source Areas (VSA). Results from flow separations suggest that surface flow from riparian area is the predominate component for the flood rising limb and that macropore flow from riparian area dominates during the falling limb. Soil matrix flow has little effect flood period but is a persistent contributor to base flow. Results from VSA visualization demonstrate 3-D dynamic changes in surface flow distribution and suggest that downstream riparian areas are the major contributing area for peak flow. As water chemistry is highly relevant to the flow paths within a watershed, simulations have provided valuable information about source of stream flow and the water migration dynamics to support the study of watershed chemistry in the BBWM. More specific linkages between the chemistry behavior and the dynamic hydrologic processes should become the next simulation effort in the watershed study. There are many questions that are critical to watershed chemistry studies like: which flow component (surface flow, macropore flow, soil matrix flow) predominates during peak flows? How do the flow components distribute during a flood event? How do flow contributions differ between these two watersheds? Which portion of the watershed contributes the most to the peak flows? These questions remain unknown from previous observations and only can be addressed with a physically-based distributed model.     

A GIS-based spatial multi-index model for flood risk assessment in the Yangtze River Basin,China

This paper developed a GIS-based spatial multi-index model for large basin-scale flood risk assessment. In terms of the risk definition proposed by the IPCC, the flood risk in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) was classified into indexes of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure. The model systematically accounts for various flood risk indicators related to the economic, social and ecological environment of the YRB. Using the robust data space analysis and processing capabilities of ArcGIS, these flood risk indicators were superimposed and analyzed to generate an integrated flood risk spatial distribution map for the YRB. The modeling results were verified reasonably well using observation data from the YRB floods in 1998, 2008, and 2016. We found that 24.90% of the study area was at very high and high risk in 1998, and the risk in these areas decreased to 15.95% and 17.61% in 2008 and 2016, respectively. We believe that the GIS-based spatial multi-index model can be applied to other areas where basin-scale flood risk assessment is desired and contribute to further scientific research on flood forecasting and mitigation.     

燃煤锅炉测试过程中运行负荷测定方法探讨

锅炉运行负荷是锅炉监测获得准确数据的重要条件,但实际监测过程中受各种条件制约,许多锅炉房不具备测试的计量条件。通过一些理论经验公式推导出一个简单的计算锅炉负荷的公式,经过验证,该公式计算值与实测值有较好的一致性。     

厂界无组织排放监测气象条件判定及布点问题对策研究

通过对现有技术要求的分析,指出大气污染物无组织排放监测主要技术依据中气象条件判定和监控布点存在监测时段选择不合理、条件设置不具代表性和不具可操作性等问题和难点。对此提出了相应对策,指出可通过滑动计算相关数值的方式将气象和监控布点设置条件扩展至监测全过程,使用气象条件和点位判定系统来解决上述问题和难点。对技术依据中未规定的多点和区域无组织排放源的有效监控区域确定提出了解决思路,探讨了监测全过程监控点位有效性的评价方式。通过实施示例对提出的对策进行了说明。     

Hydrodynamic Simulation of River Yamuna for Riverbed Assessment: A Case Study of Delhi Region

A well known river hydrodynamic model RiverCAD has been used to simulate and visualize flood scenarios for different designated flood flows under complex riverbed geometry with several man made structures like bridges and barrages. The model applied successfully for the stretch of 23 km in the Yamuna floodplain of Delhi region from Wazirabad barrage in the upstream to Okhla barrage. Flood flows for various return periods namely once in 10, 25, 50 and 100 years were estimated based on recorded flow data for the period of 1963 to 2003 using standard flood frequency analysis techniques. The simulation results were compared and the model was calibrated with water surface elevation records of the previous floods at various barrage and bridge locations. Simulation results enabled prediction of maximum water levels, submergence scenarios and land availability under different designated flood flows for riverbed assessment, development and management.     

Field assessment of flood event suspended sediment transport from ephemeral streams in the tropical semi-arid catchments

An assessment of suspended sediment transport was carried out in a number of semiarid catchments during flood events in order to quantify the degradation rates. In order to quantify these, a systematic sampling procedure of the episodic flood events was proposed for representative catchments. The procedure allows for an integration over the whole run-off episode using both the rising and falling limbs of the run-off hydrograph to compute the sediment quantities for each individual flood event. Higher sediment concentrations occurred in the rising limb than those at the recession for any stage of flow. The maximum suspended sediment concentration was observed at the peak of the flood hydrograph. An integration of the sediment concentration over its duration gave the total sediment yield from the flood event. For the ephemeral channels, only a small number of flood events were observed over a three-year experimental period each with a duration of the order of 3–6 h. It is notable that high sediment loads were associated with high flow volumes which were effectively the result of the catchment characteristics and incident rainfall causing the flood events in the respective catchments. A large percentage of the annual sediment yield from a catchment is transported by the ephemeral streams during a small number of flood events. The correct determination of the total sediment yield from any of the flood events depends entirely on the accuracy of the measurements. The understanding of run-off and sediment loss for the representative catchments aims at assisting planning, management and control of water and land resources for sustainable development in the semi-arid parts of the tropics. The sediment rates reveal the degradation of catchments which have repercussions on the crop and pasture production and this has a bearing on the soil and water conservation programmes in the delicate ecological balance of the semi-arid areas. Further, these rates will determine the lifespan of the reservoirs planned for the dry river valleys (ephemeral streams) and existing ones which serve livestock and domestic needs. These occasionally will require costly rehabilitation and scooping to increase effective storage unless conservation measures are taken, and these measures are bound to vary from place to place as per the representative catchments output.     

Composite use of numerical groundwater flow modeling and geoinformatics techniques for monitoring Indus Basin aquifer, Pakistan

The integration of the Geographic Information System (GIS) with groundwater modeling and satellite remote sensing capabilities has provided an efficient way of analyzing and monitoring groundwater behavior and its associated land conditions. A 3-dimensional finite element model (Feflow) has been used for regional groundwater flow modeling of Upper Chaj Doab in Indus Basin, Pakistan. The approach of using GIS techniques that partially fulfill the data requirements and define the parameters of existing hydrologic models was adopted. The numerical groundwater flow model is developed to configure the groundwater equipotential surface, hydraulic head gradient, and estimation of the groundwater budget of the aquifer. GIS is used for spatial database development, integration with a remote sensing, and numerical groundwater flow modeling capabilities. The thematic layers of soils, land use, hydrology, infrastructure, and climate were developed using GIS. The Arcview GIS software is used as additive tool to develop supportive data for numerical groundwater flow modeling and integration and presentation of image processing and modeling results. The groundwater flow model was calibrated to simulate future changes in piezometric heads from the period 2006 to 2020. Different scenarios were developed to study the impact of extreme climatic conditions (drought/flood) and variable groundwater abstraction on the regional groundwater system. The model results indicated a significant response in watertable due to external influential factors. The developed model provides an effective tool for evaluating better management options for monitoring future groundwater development in the study area.     

太湖湖西区河网营养盐输移规律研究

为控制湖西区入湖营养盐量,需要对太湖湖西区河网进行N、P营养盐监测与输移路径模拟.结果显示,宜溧地区营养盐输移规律基本表现为径流输移;常州、金坛地区京杭运河以南河网区虽然日输移路径较为复杂,但是洪期、年输移路径却一致;而京杭运河以北河网营养盐输移规律最为复杂,不仅表现为日输移路径的规律性差,而且洪期、年净输移路径相反....     

Using a Bayesian Network to Summarize Variability in Numerical Long-Term Simulations of a Meteorological–Marine System: Drift Climatology of Assumed Oil Spills in the North Sea

Climate-related scientific analyses of meteorological–marine systems are often based on numerical long-term simulations at high spatial and temporal detail. Such comprehensive data sets require much resources and specific evaluation tools, which sometimes hampers their use within interdisciplinary projects. In the present study, we propose the use of a Bayesian network to represent simulated transports in the North Sea depending on variable external forcing in terms of conditional probabilities. Eliciting probability tables from multi-decadal numerical simulations ensures that all realistic weather and resulting sea state conditions are covered in agreement with the frequency of their occurrence. The probabilistic representation conveniently allows for conditioning numerical simulations on either external forcing (weather conditions) or observed transports. In the latter case, the Bayesian inversion formula becomes involved to transfer information in a direction opposite to causal dependencies encoded in the underlying mechanistic model. We show that simulated travel time distributions even allow for taking into account a substance’s specific half-life, although this was not an issue in the original passive tracer simulations.     

Migration of pollutants in groundwater. III. Numerical dispersion reduction with cartesian coordinates

The partial differential equation governing the movement of a decomposing pollutant undergoing 2-dimensional flow in a saturated aquifer is examined. The analytical solution of the equation is usually not possible, and use of mesh numerical integration techniques causes excessive numerical dispersion to arise from the advection term. We apply two asymmetrical upwind formulas to approximate the advection term. These markedly reduce numerical dispersion without requiring the use of coordinate systems obtained by conformal mapping. Flow within a right angle and flow toward a sink in an otherwise uniform field are analyzed to illustrate the methods.     

Characteristics of petroleum hydrocarbons in surficial sediments from the Songhuajiang River (China): spatial and temporal trends

This paper presents the spatial and temporal characteristics of petroleum hydrocarbons (PH) in surficial sediments from the Songhuajiang River using the method of petroleum chemical fingerprinting. Twenty-four surface sediment samples were collected at 17 sites along the river from upstream to downstream in flood season (August 2005) and icebound season (December 2005) and were analyzed for PH including n-alkanes (C(16)-C(33)), isoprenoid alkanes (pristane and phytane), and unresolved complex mixture (UCM). The concentration of PH varied from 22.64 to 91.45 μg g(?-1) dry sediment. n-alkanes with a carbon number from 16 to 33 were detected in all samples, and the UCM was the dominant composition for PH. The variability of the PH concentration was mostly influenced by external conditions, such as seasonal change and industrial area position, as well as internal sediment physicochemical properties, such as organic carbon and grain size. The concentration of hydrocarbons is higher in flood season than in icebound season and is higher upstream than downstream. The diagnostic ratios of specific hydrocarbons showed that the PH pollution comes from a combination of biogenic and petrogenic sources, and petrogenic input is dominant in icebound season relative to flood season. It also indicates that there is a clear terrigenous input of n-alkanes in flood season. Principal components analysis was used to study the composition and characteristics of PH in Songhuajiang River sediments and to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of their natural and anthropogenic sources.     

Modeling Large Fire Frequency and Burned Area in Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystems with Poisson Models

Large wildland fires are major disturbances that strongly influence the carbon cycling and vegetation dynamics of Canadian boreal ecosystems. Although large wildland fires have recently received much scrutiny in scientific study, it is still a challenge for researchers to predict large fire frequency and burned area. Here, we use monthly climate and elevation data to quantify the frequency of large fires using a Poisson model, and we calculate the probability of burned area exceeding a certain size using a compound Poisson process. We find that the Poisson model simulates large fire occurrence well during the fire season (May through August) using monthly climate, and the threshold probability calculated by the compound Poisson model agrees well with historical records. Threshold probabilities are significantly different among different Canadian ecozones, with the Boreal Shield ecozone always showing the highest probability. The fire prediction model described in this study and the derived information will facilitate future quantification of fire risks and help improve fire management in the region.     

排污单位自行监测检查中发现的典型问题及改进建议

排污单位自行监测的质量管理,是环境管理部门关注的重点。针对排污单位自行监测工作中存在的质控措施不规范;监测结果公开不完整;样品交接记录、原始采样记录、样品分析原始记录不齐全;流量计未检定或过期等问题。从自行监测方案的制定、自行监测信息公开、企业手工监测、企业自动监测等4个方面提出:应实施具体的质控措施;将污染物排放方式及排放去向、未开展自行监测的原因等方面的内容全部公开;通过计量认证第三方环境监测机构制订相关的记录单;将流量计送至计量单位实验室检定或者请计量单位现场检定等建议,对今后促进排污单位提高自行监测工作水平有指导意义。     

Application of System Dynamics on Shallow Multipurpose Artificial Lakes: A Case Study of Detention Pond at Tainan,Taiwan

This study designs a multipurpose urban shallow artificial lake, including water supply, flood detention, and water environment preservation. It is expected to not only preserve a healthy water environment but to also retain water conservation and flood detention. This study adopts system dynamics (SD) to analyze the relationship between different purposes of water resources utilization. Furthermore, different operation strategies effects can be simulated by SD through a proposed urban multipurpose shallow artificial lake system. The results demonstrate the dynamic effects of strategies managers propose such as demand analysis, inflow control, and water quality improvement in this case study for Taiwan. SD aids lake system prediction and understanding temporally in sequential planning for water supply, environmental preservation, and flood detention. The SD model will hopefully serve as a reference to study different features before artificial lakes constructing.     

Historical data review and source analysis of PCBs/Arochlors in the Lower Leon Creek Watershed

PCBs have been banned since the late 1970s, but concentrations still exist in sediments and riverine fish and continue to exceed regulatory limits which can result in negative health effects. This study looks at historical records of PCB and Arochlor concentrations in surface water, sediments, and fish tissue for the Lower Leon Creek, Bexar County in Texas. Temporal analysis on the concentrations of PCBs and Arochlors was conducted for detection and exceedance of selected screening criteria. In addition, the half-lives of select PCB congeners were calculated for 2007–2012 data to ascertain differences in PCB concentrations with their hydrophobicity. Source analysis was conducted to determine the potential contributing sources of PCB contamination using source data (landfills, outfalls, etc.) and the PCB exceedance data. For sediment and fish tissue sampling results, historic data shows high concentrations of PCB/Arochlors over the course of several decades. The historical data is characterized as being widely variable for detections in Arochlors and concentrations between years, with a dramatic drop in concentrations detected starting in 2009. Overall, the sampling locations adjacent to and downstream from the former Kelly Air Force Base have the highest concentrations of PCB/Arochlors over the longest period of time. The results of this work will aid regulatory agencies in addressing impairment.