WEST AFRICA: VOLTA DISCHARGE DATA QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND USE1

ABSTRACT: Water resource management in West Africa is often a complicated process due to inadequate resources, climatic extremes, and insufficient hydrological information. Insufficient data hinder sustainable watershed management practices, one of the top priorities in the Volta River Basin. This research properly fills in missing data by modeling the hydrological distribution in the Volta River Basin. On average, discharge gages across the basin are missing 20 percent of their monthly data over 20 years. Two methods were used to supplement missing data: a statistically linear model and a conceptual hydrological model. A linear equation, developed from the regression of precipitation and runoff, was used to evaluate the quality of existing data. The hydrological model separates the system into root and groundwater zones. Measured values were used to calibrate the hydrological model and to validate the statistical model. The quality of existing data was analyzed and organized for usability. Accuracy of the hydrological model was also evaluated for its effectiveness using R² and standard error. It was found that the hydrological model was an improvement from the linear model on a monthly basis; R² values improved by as much as 0.5 and monthly error decreased. Monthly predictions of the hydrological model were used to fill gaps of measured data sets.     

STREAM TEMPERATURE ESTIMATION FROM AIR TEMPERATURE1

ABSTRACT: Air temperatures are sometimes used as substitutes for stream temperatures. To examine the errors associated with this procedure, linear relationships between stream temperatures, T, and air temperatures, T_a, recorded for 11 streams in the central U.S. (Mississippi River basin) were analyzed. Weather stations were an average 42 miles (range 0 to 144 miles) from the rivers. The general equations, T_w= 5.0 + 0.75 T_a and T_w= 2.9 + 0.86 T_a with temperatures in °C, were derived for daily and weekly water temperatures, respectively, for the 11 streams studied. The simulations had a standard deviation between measurements and predictions of 2.7°C (daily) and 2.1°C (weekly). Equations derived for each specific stream individually gave lower standard deviations, i.e., 2.1°C and 1.4°C, respectively. Small, shallow streams had smaller deviations than large, deep rivers. The measured water temperatures follow the air temperatures closely with some time lag. time lags ranged from hours to days, increasing with stream depth. Taking into account these time lags improved the daily temperature predictions slightly. Periods of ice cover were excluded from the analysis.     

Demonstrating Floodplain Uncertainty Using Flood Probability Maps1

Abstract: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood maps depict the 100‐year recurrence interval floodplain boundary as a single line. However, because of natural variability and model uncertainty, no floodplain extents can be accurately defined by a single line. This article presents a new approach to floodplain mapping that takes advantage of accepted methodologies in hydrologic and hydraulic analysis while including the effects of uncertainty. In this approach, the extents of computed floodplain boundaries are defined as a continuous map of flood probabilities, rather than as a single line. Engineers and planners can use these flood probability maps for viewing the uncertainty of a floodplain boundary at any recurrence interval. Such a flood probability map is a useful tool for visualizing the uncertainty of a floodplain boundary and represents greater honesty in engineering technologies that are used for flood mapping. While institutional barriers may prevent adoption of such definitions for use in graduated flood insurance rates (as most other insurance industries use to account for relative risks), the methods open the door technically to such a reality.     

Normality of Hydrological Data1

ABSTRACT: Assessment of normality of hydrological data has been based upon subjective judgments. This paper aims to provide an objective method for such an assessment by introducing three computationally simple statistical tests. Application to some stream flow data indicates that (1) for annual values, at least one of the three sequences- original, square root, and logarithmic - can be considered to be normally distributed; and (2) most monthly stream flows are skew and neither the square root nor the logarithmic transformation is able to render their sequences in all the 12 months normal.     

Do Polynomials Adequately Describe the Hypsometry of Monadnock Phase Watersheds?

Hypsometry has been shown to be a useful tool in geomorphic analysis of watersheds with the use of third‐degree polynomial equations to express the hypsometric curve. Despite its usefulness with watersheds in the equilibrium stage, the third‐degree polynomial has been found to be inadequate to describe the hypsometry of Monadnock phase watersheds. Three other equations — a modified third‐degree polynomial with a rational term, a sigmoidal model, and a double exponential — were used to determine hypsometric attributes of 32 Monadnock phase watersheds and compared to the third‐degree polynomial form. The three other equations were found to be better fits for Monadnock phase watersheds than the third‐degree polynomial equation, regardless of which ratio — area or elevation — was plotted as the independent variable. Due to the occasional failure of each functional form to give logical values for hypsometric attributes, the importance of using more than one form equation is discussed. After determining the best‐fit equation for each watershed, the usefulness of hypsometric attributes is discussed in relation to erosion processes within Monadnock phase watersheds.     

INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN OPTIMIZATION: MODELING ECONOMIC AND HYDROLOGIC INTERDEPENDENCE1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an integrated optimal control model that optimizes economic performance of reservoir management in watersheds in which there are significant economic and hydrologic interdependencies. The model is solved using the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). Results show that application of this model to New Mexico's Rio Chama basin can increase total system benefits over historical benefits by exploiting complementarities between hydroelectricity production, instream recreation, and downstream lake recreation.     

2007年11-12月国内环境事件

简要统计了2007年11-12月国内发生的各种环境事件47起,包括沙尘天气2起,污染事件15起,地震22起,山体滑坡和泥石流6起,以及旱灾2起.对自然灾害进行了讨论.     

推广工伤保险对我国生产事故统计的影响

我国安全生产统计工作所依托的行政手段还不能完全适应变化中的市场经济环境 ,政府安全生产管理不到位 ,监管不严 ,各类事故的少报、瞒报、不报现象相当普遍 ,极大地影响了伤亡事故统计的准确性。2 0 0 4年我国已实施新的《工伤保险条例》 ,笔者认为 ,会在一个较长的时期内对生产事故统计带来较明显的影响 ,使生产事故造成的伤亡人数统计变得更为全面和科学 ,这种影响必然会对原有统计偏差的修正 ,有利于今后加强和完善对安全生产的宏观决策和管理 ,会从根本上促进安全生产水平的提高。     

2005年1-2月国内环境事件数据

简要统计了2005年1-2月国内发生的各种环境事件55起,包括污染事件(21起)、山体滑坡和泥石流(9起)、地震(11起)以及其他自然灾害(14起).最后对海洋污染和海洋灾害进行了讨论.     

近十年我国人机工程学应用研究进展

借助维普《中文科技期刊数据库》,按照不同的学科门类、发表的年限以及人机工程学的研究内容,对1994～2003年国内近4000种主要刊物上发表的有关人机工程学应用研究方面的论文进行全面检索和统计,在此基础上分析我国人机工程应用研究的进展情况。