Uncertainty in watershed response predictions induced by spatial variability of precipitation

Negligence to consider the spatial variability of rainfall could result in serious errors in model outputs. The objective of this study was to examine the uncertainty of both runoff and pollutant transport predictions due to the input errors of rainfall. This study used synthetic data to represent the “true” rainfall pattern, instead of interpolated precipitation. It was conducted on a synthetic case area having a total area of 20 km² with ten subbasins. Each subbasin has one rainfall gauge with synthetic precipitation records. Six rainfall storms with varied spatial distribution were generated. The average rainfall was obtained from all of the ten gauges by the arithmetic average method. The input errors of rainfall were induced by the difference between the actual rainfall pattern and estimated average rainfall. The results show that spatial variability of rainfall can cause uncertainty in modeling outputs of hydrologic, which would be transport to pollutant export predictions, when uniformity of rainfall is assumed. Since rainfall is essential information for predicting watershed responses, it is important to consider the properties of rainfall, particularly spatial rainfall variability, in the application of hydrologic and water quality models.     

Effect of spatial variability of storm on the optimal placement of best management practices (BMPs)

It is significant to design best management practices (BMPs) and determine the proper BMPs placement for the purpose that can not only satisfy the water quantity and water quality standard, but also lower the total cost of BMPs. The spatial rainfall variability can have much effect on its relative runoff and non-point source pollution (NPSP). Meantime, the optimal design and placement of BMPs would be different as well. The objective of this study was to discuss the relationship between the spatial variability of rainfall and the optimal BMPs placements. Three synthetic rainfall storms with varied spatial distributions, including uniform rainfall, downstream rainfall and upstream rainfall, were designed. WinVAST model was applied to predict runoff and NPSP. Additionally, detention pond and swale were selected for being structural BMPs. Scatter search was applied to find the optimal BMPs placement. The results show that mostly the total cost of BMPs is higher in downstream rainfall than in upstream rainfall or uniform rainfall. Moreover, the cost of detention pond is much higher than swale. Thus, even though detention pond has larger efficiency for lowering peak flow and pollutant exports, it is not always the determined set in each subbasin.     

Photocatalytic degradation of phenol on different phases of TiO(2) particles in aqueous suspensions under UV irradiation

Photocatalytic degradation of phenol on different phases of TiO₂ particles was examined under 400-W UV irradiation. The effects of various operating parameters including TiO₂ dosage, solution pH (4–10), and initial phenol concentration (0.13–1.05 mM) on phenol degradation were investigated. Three forms of TiO₂ photocatalysts such as pure anatase phase, pure rutile phase, and the mixed phase were prepared by sol-gel method and followed annealing at different temperatures. The annealing temperature used were 500 °C, 700 °C and 900 °C for pure anatase phase, the mixed phase, and pure rutile phase, respectively. It was shown that pure anatase TiO₂ exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than the physical mixture of pure anatase and rutile TiO₂. Moreover, the TiO₂ particle with a specific fraction of mixed anatase and rutile phases exhibited better performance than pure anatase TiO₂. Finally, the degradation rate could be satisfactorily fitted by a pseudo-first-order kinetic model.     

Characteristics of major secondary ions in typical polluted atmospheric aerosols during autumn in central Taiwan

In autumn of 2008, the chemical characteristics of major secondary ionic aerosols at a suburban site in central Taiwan were measured during an annually occurring season of high pollution. The semicontinuous measurement system measured major soluble inorganic species, including NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-), and SO(4)(2-), in PM(10) with a 15 min resolution time. The atmospheric conditions, except for the influences of typhoons, were dominated by the local sea-land breeze with clear diurnal variations of meteorological parameters and air pollutant concentrations. To evaluate secondary aerosol formation at different ozone levels, daily ozone maximum concentration (O(3,daily max)) was used as an index of photochemical activity for dividing between the heavily polluted period (O(3,daily max) ≧80 ppb) and the lightly polluted period (O(3,daily max)<80 ppb). The concentrations of PM(10), NO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-), NH(4)(+) and total major ions during the heavily polluted period were 1.6, 1.9, 2.4, 2.7 and 2.3 times the concentrations during the lightly polluted period, respectively. Results showed that the daily maximum concentrations of PM(10) occurred around midnight and the daily maximum ozone concentration occurred during daytime. The average concentration of SO(2) was higher during daytime, which could be explained by the transportation of coastal industry emissions to the sampling site. In contrast, the high concentration of NO(2) at night was due to the land breeze flow that transport inland urban air masses toward this site. The simulations of breeze circulations and transitions were reflected in transports and distributions of these pollutants. During heavily polluted periods, NO(3)(-) and NH(4)(+) showed a clear diurnal variations with lower concentrations after midday, possibly due to the thermal volatilization of NH(4)NO(3) during daytime and transport of inland urban plume at night. The diurnal variation of PM(10) showed the similar pattern to that of NO(3)(-) and NH(4)(+) aerosols. This indicated that the formatted secondary aerosols in the inland urban area could be transported to the coastal area by the weak land breeze and deteriorated the air quality in the coastal area at night.     

Soil Carbon Sequestration Potential for “Grain for Green” Project in Loess Plateau,China

Conversion of cropland into perennial vegetation land can increase soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation, which might be an important mitigation measure to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The “Grain for Green” project, one of the most ambitious ecological programmes launched in modern China, aims at transforming the low-yield slope cropland into grassland and woodland. The Loess Plateau in China is the most important target of this project due to its serious soil erosion. The objectives of this study are to answer three questions: (1) what is the rate of the SOC accumulation for this “Grain for Green” project in Loess Plateau? (2) Is there a difference in SOC sequestration among different restoration types, including grassland, shrub and forest? (3) Is the effect of restoration types on SOC accumulation different among northern, middle and southern regions of the Loess Plateau? Based on analysis of the data collected from the literature conducted in the Loess Plateau, we found that SOC increased at a rate of 0.712 TgC/year in the top 20 cm soil layer for 60 years under this project across the entire Loess Plateau. This was a relatively reliable estimation based on current data, although there were some uncertainties. Compared to grassland, forest had a significantly greater effect on SOC accumulation in middle and southern Loess Plateau but had a weaker effect in the northern Loess Plateau. There were no differences found in SOC sequestration between shrub and grassland across the entire Loess Plateau. Grassland had a stronger effect on SOC sequestration in the northern Loess Plateau than in the middle and southern regions. In contrast, forest could increase more SOC in the middle and southern Loess Plateau than in the northern Loess Plateau, whereas shrub had a similar effect on SOC sequestration across the Loess Plateau. Our results suggest that the “Grain for Green” project can significantly increase the SOC storage in Loess Plateau, and it is recommended to expand grassland and shrub areas in the northern Loess Plateau and forest in the middle and southern Loess Plateau to enhance the SOC sequestration in this area.     

Effects of varying dilutions, pH, temperature and cations on spermatozoa motility in fish Larimichthys polyactis

The objectives of this present study were to assess the effects of varying dilutions, pH, temperature and cations on spermatozoa motile parameters (SMPs) in fish Larimichthys polyactis. Optimal SMPs were observed when emen was diluted in artificial seawater (ASW) at a ratio of 1 to 100, with temperature of 10 degreesC and pH 8.0. The spermatozoa of L. polyactis were immotile in distilled water and motile in solution containing different cations. Maximum SMPs were obtained in each solution containing 0.4 mol NaCI, 0.4 mol KCI, 0.2 mol CaCI2 and 0.2 mol MgCl2. This study provides baseline knowledge of L. polyactis spermatozoa sensitivity of pH, temperature and cationic effects.     

Applying the grey assessment to the evaluation system of ecological green space on greening projects in Taiwan

This study is designed to develop an alternative evaluation method for ecological green space. It offers criteria for identifying ecological green space on building sites. The grey decision-making method is applied to assess the greening project at the first step. The evaluation items are rebuilt by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method at the second step. The range of standard values and the weighting values are also obtained by AHP. Grey classes are identified using the whitening weight function of the grey number. The evaluation system of the ecological green space is framed by grey clusters. We considered the factors of building environment and the scale of building sites in the ecological greenery of green building sites.This study proposes a new model to solve the problems hard to be quantified. Especially for those ecological benefits are too close to decide. Architects and landscape architects can input the engineering data and the design information into the ecological greenery assessment system. The identification and assessment system of green space is fit for Taiwan area. We will obtain the best greening project by the maximum value of absolute degree of grey incidence (max{varepsilon ( ij )}) in grey-decision making. The maximum value of synthetic clustering coefficient (max{sigma ( k )}) in grey clustering assessment reflects the quality and variation of green space.     

Formation of tidal starting-jet vortices through idealized barotropic inlets with finite length

This paper presents a surface particle image velocimetry study to investigate the dynamics of shallow starting-jet dipoles formed by tidal flow through inlets and their interaction with vorticity formed at the inlet channel lateral boundaries. Vortical structure in the flow field is identified using a local swirl strength criterion evaluated from the two-dimensional flow field. The starting jet dipole vortices and vortices formed as the lateral boundary layers are expelled during flow reversal are characterized by their trajectory, size, and circulation. Using these quantities, a model is developed to predict the size and strength of the expelled lateral boundary layer vortices based on the inlet velocity, channel length, and width of the lateral boundary layer. The expelled boundary layer vortices are found to disrupt the formation of the primary tidal jet dipole through two mechanisms. First, because the boundary layer vortices themselves form a dipole with each half of the starting-jet dipole, the starting-jet vortices are pulled apart and advected away from the inlet mouth early in the tidal cycle, resulting in a reduction in the spin-up time and the amount of vorticity input during starting-jet vortex formation. Second, the advection of each dipole away from the inlet disconnects each starting-jet vortex from the starting jet; hence, the vortices are not fed by fluid in the jet or energized by shear in the jet boundary layers. These influences of the lateral boundary layer on the starting-jet vortices’ formation and propagation are found to be a function of the channel length L, maximum velocity U, and tidal period T, resulting in a predictive value to characterize their trajectory, strength, and evolution.     

围封对内蒙古中东部草原植物群落和土壤线虫群落的影响

2007年8月在中国科学院内蒙古草原生态系统定位研究站的退化样地（对照）、围封5 a样地和围封24 a样地,调查地上部植物群落、土壤性质和地下部土壤线虫群落。结果表明,围封处理能显著提高土壤水分质量分数,土壤深度和围封处理对土壤pH的交互作用显著。随着围封年限的增加,地上植物的多度、生物量和单株生物量都显著增加,而3个样地的多样性和均匀度均为围封24 a样地〉退化样地〉围封5 a年样地;随着围封年限的增加,大针茅（Stipa grandis）、苔草（Carex duriuscula）、羊草（Leymus chinensis）、锦鸡儿（Cleistogenes squarrosa）、双齿葱（Allium bidentatum）的生物量都呈现递增的趋势;围封5 a样地上冰草（Agropyron cristatum）和野韭（Allium ramosum）的生物量最大,围封24 a样地上苔草、羊草、双齿葱的生物量最大。调查样地线虫的密度平均为9.79 g-1（以干土计）,分别隶属于线虫动物门的90个属。植物寄生类线虫和食细菌类线虫分别占到总数的35%和40%,优势类群是丽突属（Acrobeles）和矮化属（Tylenchorhynchus）,二者共占总捕获个体数量的31.4%。围封24 a样地的结构指数显著高于退化样地,其它指标差异不显著。由此可知,围封有助于改善土壤理化性质;从围封角度来看,植物群落比线虫群落的反应明显得多,二者并未出现同步反应。     

不同耕作方式下土壤氮素矿化和硝化特征研究

为探讨长期定位试验田不同耕作方式下土壤氮素矿化和硝化特征,采用室内恒温通气培养法,保持土壤田间持水量在65％条件下,测定不同耕作方式下表层土壤（0～20cm）在不同温度下的NH4^＋和NO3^-含量,并计算氮素矿化量和硝化率。结果表明,随着温度的升高,土壤氮素矿化和硝化作用均增强,几种耕作方式下土壤氮素矿化和硝化作用均表现为35℃〉30℃〉25℃。保护性耕作与水旱轮作和常规平作之间的矿化量存在显著的差异,垄作免耕〉厢作免耕〉水旱轮作〉常规平作。土壤氮素最终硝化率达到了60％～80％,表现为常规平作最高,水旱轮作次之,厢作免耕最低。矿化率与土壤有机质、碱解氮和速效磷对数均成显著正相关,相关系数分别为r^2=0．99,r^2=0．97,r^2=0．96,pH是影响硝化作用的重要因素,硝化率与土壤pH成显著正相关,r^2=0．991。