ESTIMATION OF LONG-TERM DISCHARGE STATISTICS BY REGIONAL ADJUSTMENT1

ABSTRACT: A regional adjustment relationship was developed to estimate long-term (30-year) monthly median discharges from short term (three-year) records. This method differs from traditional approaches in that it is based on site-specific discharge data but does not require correlation of these data with discharges from a single hydrologically similar long-term gage. The method is shown to be statistically robust, and applicable to statistics other than the median.     

iTree‐Hydro: Snow Hydrology Update For The Urban Forest Hydrology Model1

Yang, Yang, Theodore A. Endreny, and David J. Nowak, 2011. iTree‐Hydro: Snow Hydrology Update for the Urban Forest Hydrology Model. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(6):1211–1218. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00564.x Abstract: This article presents snow hydrology updates made to iTree‐Hydro, previously called the Urban Forest Effects—Hydrology model. iTree‐Hydro Version 1 was a warm climate model developed by the USDA Forest Service to provide a process‐based planning tool with robust water quantity and quality predictions given data limitations common to most urban areas. Cold climate hydrology routines presented in this update to iTree‐Hydro include: (1) snow interception to simulate the capture of snow by the vegetation canopy, (2) snow unloading to simulate the release of snow triggered by wind, (3) snowmelt to simulate the solid to liquid phase change using a heat budget, and (4) snow sublimation to simulate the solid to gas phase via evaporation. Cold climate hydrology routines were tested with research‐grade snow accumulation and weather data for the winter of 1996‐1997 at Umpqua National Forest, Oregon. The Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency for open area snow accumulation was 0.77 and the Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency for under canopy was 0.91. The USDA Forest Service offers iTree‐Hydro for urban forest hydrology simulation through http://www.iTreetools.org .     

Development of Sediment and Nutrient Export Coefficients for U.S. Ecoregions

Water quality impairment due to excessive nutrients and sediment is a major problem in the United States (U.S.). An important step in the mitigation of impairment in any given water body is determination of pollutant sources and amount. The sheer number of impaired waters and limited resources makes simplistic load estimation methods such as export coefficient (EC) methods attractive. Unfortunately ECs are typically based on small watershed monitoring data, which are very limited and/or often based on data collected from distant watersheds with drastically different conditions. In this research, we seek to improve the accuracy of these nutrient export estimation methods by developing a national database of localized EC for each ecoregion in the U.S. A stochastic sampling methodology loosely based on the Monte‐Carlo technique was used to construct a database of 45 million Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) simulations. These simulations consider a variety of climate, topography, soils, weather, land use, management, and conservation implementation conditions. SWAT model simulations were successfully validated with edge‐of‐field monitoring data. Simulated nutrient ECs compared favorably with previously published studies. These ECs may be used to rapidly estimate nutrient loading for any small catchment in the U.S. provided the location, area, and land‐use distribution are known.     

Classification of Ephemeral,Intermittent, and Perennial Stream Reaches Using a TOPMODEL‐Based Approach

Whether a waterway is temporary or permanent influences regulatory protection guidelines, however, classification can be subjective due to a combination of factors, including time of year, antecedent moisture conditions, and previous experience of the field investigator. Our objective was to develop a standardized protocol using publically available spatial information to classify ephemeral, intermittent, and perennial streams. Our hypothesis was that field observations of flow along the stream channel could be compared to results from a hydrologic model, providing an objective method of how these stream reaches can be identified. Flow‐state sensors were placed at ephemeral, intermittent, and perennial stream reaches from May to December 2011 in the Appalachian coal basin of eastern Kentucky. This observed flow record was then used to calibrate the simulated saturation deficit in each channel reach based on the topographic wetness index used by TOPMODEL. Saturation deficit values were categorized as flow or no‐flow days, and the simulated record of streamflow was compared to the observed record. The hydrologic model was more accurate for simulating flow during the spring and fall seasons. However, the model effectively identified stream reaches as intermittent and perennial in each of the two basins.     

普定水电站观测孔水文水化学特征及其潜在风险评估

在喀斯特地区建设和管理水电站难度较大,不但要考虑水库蓄水、岩溶的发育、以及大坝的安全稳定等因素,还需要考虑水文水化学对大坝和机组安全运行的影响。通过对贵州普定水电站大坝的坝底廊道和左右坝肩廊道水的监测和取样,对水温、水位、电导率、Ca2+、Mg2+和HCO-3进行了对比初步分析。得出以下认识:从水温和水位上看,其对大坝安全运行产生风险的可能性不大;根据对Ca2+、Mg2+和HCO-3的分析结果,发现三个廊道内水对大坝都具有不同程度的侵蚀作用,对帷幕灌浆的砼结构有不同程度的破坏,对冲沙闸附近的混凝土的侵蚀程度比其他位置要大;同时发现所有水的Ca2+浓度都较高,很可能对发动机安全运行造成影响,需要定期维护消除。     

Channel and Perennial Flow Initiation in Headwater Streams: Management Implications of Variability in Source-Area Size

Despite increasing attention to management of headwater streams as sources of water, sediment, and wood to downstream rivers, the extent of headwater channels and perennial flow remain poorly known and inaccurately depicted on topographic maps and in digital hydrographic data. This study reports field mapping of channel head and perennial flow initiation locations in forested landscapes underlain by sandstone and basalt lithologies in Washington State, USA. Contributing source areas were delineated for each feature using a digital elevation model (DEM) as well as a Global Positioning System device in the field. Systematic source area–slope relationships described in other landscapes were not evident for channel heads in either lithology. In addition, substantial variability in DEM-derived source area sizes relative to field-delineated source areas indicates that in this area, identification of an area–slope relationship, should one even exist, would be difficult. However, channel heads and stream heads, here defined as the start of perennial flow, appear to be co-located within both of the lithologies, which together with lateral expansion and contraction of surface water around channel heads on a seasonal cycle in the basalt lithology, suggest a controlling influence of bedrock springs for that location. While management strategies for determining locations of channel heads and perennial flow initiation in comparable areas could assign standard source area sizes based on limited field data collection within that landscape, field-mapped source areas that support perennial flow are much smaller than recognized by current Washington State regulations.     

沙漠公路驾驶员心理、生理特性初探

针对沙漠公路交通安全现状,采用动体视力、速度估计、复杂(选择)反应、处置判断、血压脉搏检测仪等驾驶适宜性检测仪器,就长期从事沙漠公路运输活动的驾驶员群体进行了包括视觉、速度估计、反应、判断等在内的心理、生理特性的实地测试。检测结果初步表明,沙漠公路特殊的线形布设和修筑技术特征以及沿线的自然环境条件,使得驾驶员表现出有别于一般绿洲公路的驾驶心理和行为特性,其主要表现在在沙漠环境中,驾驶员的动体视力要较静体视力受到更大的影响;急躁心理影响,沙漠公路驾驶员的速度估计和复杂反应时间相应指标值均小于全国平均水平;沙漠公路驾驶员复杂反应错误次数和处置判断错误次数均高于绿洲公路。     

HYDROLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING AND SOCIETAL ACTION1

ABSTRACT: Hydrology is both an applied practical science and a pure geophysical science. The goal of hydrology, as a geophysical science, is to achieve theories capable of explaining with satisfactory accuracy the phenomena of interest. Through the rapidly accelerating power and versatility of digital computing technology, theory development and application are immensely facilitated via increasingly sophisticated predictive modeling schemes, which are now the principal operating tools both for applied management hydrology and for basic geophysical hydrology. While this approach treats phenomena as classes or generalizations, social and behavioral scientists have long argued that human beings base their actions on percepts, i.e., on the concrete specifics of their experience. Thus, the commonly held ideal of basing policy, decisions, and public actions on the best possible science encounters a conflict in belief systems. A possible resolution of this dilemma lies in the use of observational components, which in concept-centered science serve as data to test or calibrate models. These components also serve as a great repository of natural experience that is closely attuned to the perceptual reality that propels societal action. Landscapes and sediments provide indices of real processes, whose occurrence can be expected by continuity to extend to present and future activity. More attention to research on such indices is warranted as a means of triggering perception-based action by responsible decision-makers. Grounded in reality, and tempered by their intrinsic fallibility, the scientifically powerful conceptual schemes (models) will then serve as guides to further action. The full societal benefit of hydrological science requires a balanced approach in which subdisciplines focused on environmental indices are afforded equal attention to those focused on conceptual idealization.     

CENTRIFUGE MODELING OF ONE-DIMENSIONAL SUBSURFACE CONTAMINATION1

ABSTRACT: One-dimensional contaminant transport through a saturated soil is modeled using a 1.2-m radius geotechnical centrifuge. Small-scale physical modeling in the centrifuge is achieved in relatively short time, at stress distributions that are similar to those experienced in the prototype (actual site). A 0.05 mol/l of sodium chloride solution is used as a contaminant and conductivity cells measure the concentration of the contaminant throughout the porous medium. Scaling analysis for centrifuge modeling and 1-g modeling are briefly discussed and it is concluded that centrifuge modeling simulates the effect of molecular diffusion; however, scaling of the effect of mechanical dispersion may be violated in the centrifuge if the interstitial fluid velocity is high. Centrifuge test results show good agreement with the predicted relationship between the coefficient of hydrodynamic dispersion and the Peclet number using column tests. Centrifuge modeling can be used as a complement of numerical modeling although the effect of mechanical dispersion may be overestimated in the former.     

RUNOFF AND SEDIMENT YIELD UNDER GRAZING IN FOOTHILLS FESCUE GRASSLANDS OF ALBERTA1

ABSTRACT: Grazing can have a profound impact on infiltration and thus runoff and erosion. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effects of select grazing systems on rainfall and snowmelt induced runoff and sediment yield from sloped areas of the foothills fescue grasslands of Alberta, Canada. The effects of two grazing intensities (heavy and very heavy) for two durations (short duration and continuous throughout the growing season) were compared to an ungrazed control between June 1988 and April 1991. Runoff was measured using 1-rn² runoff frames and collection bucket systems. Sediment yields were then determined on samples from the collected runoff. Snowmelt was the dominant source of runoff. Snowmelt runoff was higher from the heavily grazed areas than from the very heavily grazed areas, due to the higher standing vegetation which accumulated snow in the former areas. Sediment yields as a result of snowmelt were generally low in all areas. Only a few summer storms caused runoff. Runoff volumes and sediment yields from summer rainstorms were low, due to low rainfall and to generally dry antecedent soil moisture conditions. The greatest risk of summer runoff, and thus sediment yield, appears to occur in August.