Simulating Nitrate Leaching Profiles in a Highly Permeable Vadose Zone

An approach is developed to simulate leaching of a dissolved chemical constituent in the vadose zone of an aquifer. Specifically, nitrate loading at the water table for different water table depths, for a range of aquifer permeability values, and for different cases of heterogeneity of the aquifer, are considered. Models from the literature are first used to derive soil–water characteristic curves (water retention and hydraulic conductivity) from a grain size distribution curve for unsaturated conditions. Given infiltration from the surface, the initial conditions for the chemical concentration, and the water content profile, leaching of the chemical in the vadose zone is simulated as a function of both time and depth. The methodology is illustrated for a permeable aquifer. Simulations are undertaken using a finite element code for saturated and unsaturated flow. Different scenarios are simulated depending on the heterogeneity of the aquifer and the depth of the water table. Modeling results show that in the example case studied, nitrate concentration loading at the water table does not depend strongly on the position of the water table, but rather on the material properties of the aquifer. The contribution of this endeavor resides in the methodology which allows a prediction of nitrate leaching using only the grain size property of the aquifer. It allows practitioners to obtain a first assessment of leaching with limited data.     

崂山风景区旅游环境容量研究

通过对历年游客流量调查，分析了崂山风景区客流时间和空间分布特征。计算了景区9条步道游线，3条索道和7个人文景观区的日容量、月容量和年容量，并分析了景区旅游环境容量的利用强度，发现2004年景区各条步道游线、各条索道和各个人文景观区的日、月、年容量利用强度均为适载，但第一、第二和第三高峰日已严重超载。最后，制定了游客流量宏观调控对策及微观调控措施。     

云南蒋家沟泥石流运动特征及其发展趋势

根据蒋家沟1965~2005年的泥石流运动观测资料与会泽气象站1965~2005年日降水资料,应用Hurst指数分析泥石流的运动要素,研究发现:泥石流年输沙量的Hurst指数为0.682时,年输沙量呈较强的正持续性,未来呈增长趋势;降雨量的Hurst指数0.605时,降雨量呈较弱的正持续性,未来呈较弱的增长趋势。同时,运用小波分析方法,发现泥石流输沙量具有多时间尺度周期的特征,主要表现为:第8、14和24年分别为其第1、2和3活动周期;结合小波方差图分析可知:在未来15 a以上,年输沙量将呈减少趋势,泥石流活跃程度弱;而15 a以内,未来将会保持较短时间的增加趋势,泥石流活跃程度强。综合以上分析可知:蒋家沟泥石流具有规模巨大,作用强烈,类型齐全等主要特征。     

泥石流灾害风险评价方法及其应用研究

探讨泥石流灾害风险评价的理论和方法;利用已有的泥石流灾害资料,建立泥石流风险评价体系和实施流程;提出风险评价的定量计算方法;结合遥感和地理信息系统技术,完成了云南省昆明市东川区泥石流灾害的定量风险评价。研究结果与泥石流实际分布和调查资料基本一致,表明所提出的泥石流灾害风险评价的理论与方法具有一定的理论价值和现实意义,可以为泥石流灾害风险评价和防灾减灾管理提供有益的科学依据。     

A method for regional-scale material flow and decoupling analysis: A demonstration case study of Aichi prefecture, Japan

We have developed a method to analyse the annual material flow in a prefecture and have calculated environmental indicators for a prefecture. Material flow analysis (MFA) is important to clarify the structure of a regional society and obtain environmental indicators for a circular society. However, MFA has not advanced in local governments because of few local statistics. We have developed a method to analyse the annual material flow in Aichi prefecture from 1980 to 2000 using an input–output (I–O) table and statistics of Aichi. We have verified the accuracy of this method by comparing its results for 2000 which calculated on the basis of official I–O table for 1995 with the I–O table data for 2000; the correlation coefficient obtained in this case is greater than 0.95. Moreover, by performing MFA, we have estimated the resource consumption and decoupling indicator of each industry in Aichi prefecture from 1980 to 2000. We could obtain more detailed and accurate environmental indicators by using our method. From these results, we could estimate the progress of Aichi prefecture towards a circular society.     

Anthropogenic metal cycles in China

The flows and stocks of seven important industrial metals were characterized for mainland China for several years in the dynamically changing decade of 1994–2004. One-year snapshot cycles are provided for chromium, nickel, and silver. For copper, zinc, lead, and iron, multiple-year cycles have been completed; they demonstrate that the flows of these metals into use in China doubled between 2000 and 2004. Although the Chinese per capita flows from production to disposal are mostly shown to be below the global average rate, they are increasing or are expected to increase dramatically. The metal resource efficiency is evaluated for several indicators of material flow analysis; these metrics for China are also below the global average values. The research quantitatively illustrates that China’s metal cycles may pose significant resource and environmental challenges in terms of their magnitudes and potential for growth.     

Effect of Snow Cover Conditions on the Hydrologic Regime: Case Study in a Pluvial‐Nival Watershed,Japan1

Abstract: Hydrologic monitoring in a small forested and mountainous headwater basin in Niigata Prefecture has been undertaken since 2000. An important characteristic of the basin is that the hydrologic regime contains pluvial elements year‐round, including rain‐on‐snow, in addition to spring snowmelt. We evaluated the effect of different snow cover conditions on the hydrologic regime by analyzing observed data in conjunction with model simulations of the snowpack. A degree‐day snow model is presented and applied to the study basin to enable estimation of the basin average snow water equivalent using air temperature at three representative elevations. Analysis of hydrological time series data and master recession curves showed that flow during the snowmelt season was generated by a combination of ground water flow having a recession constant of 0.018/day and diurnal melt water flow having a recession constant of 0.015/hour. Daily flows during the winter/snowmelt season showed greater persistence than daily flows during the warm season. The seasonal water balance indicated that the ratio of runoff to precipitation during the cold season (December to May) was about 90% every year. Seasonal snowpack plays an important role in defining the hydrologic regime, with winter precipitation and snowmelt runoff contributing about 65% of the annual runoff. The timing of the snowmelt season, indicated by the date of occurrence of the first significant snowmelt event, was correlated with the occurrence of low flow events. Model simulations showed that basin average snow water equivalent reached a peak around mid‐February to mid‐March, although further validation of the model is required at high elevation sites.     

Water‐Yield Reduction After Afforestation and Related Processes in the Semiarid Liupan Mountains,Northwest China1

Abstract: The increase of coverage of forest/vegetation is imperative to improve the environment in dry‐land areas of China, especially for protecting soil against serious erosion and sandstorms. However, inherent severe water shortages, drought stresses, and increasing water use competition greatly restrict the reforestation. Notably, the water‐yield reduction after afforestation generates intense debate about the correct approach to afforestation and forest management in dry‐land areas. However, most studies on water‐yield reduction of forests have been at catchment scales, and there are few studies of the response of total evapotranspiration (ET) and its partitioning to vegetation structure change. This motivates us to learn the linkage between hydrological processes and vegetation structure in slope ecosystems. Therefore, an ecohydrological study was carried out by measuring the individual items of water balance on sloping plots covered by different vegetation types in the semiarid Liupan Mountains of northwest China. The ratio of precipitation consumed as ET was about 60% for grassland, 93% for shrubs, and >95% for forestland. Thus, the water yield was very low, site‐specific, and sensitive to vegetation change. Conversion of grassland to forest decreased the annual water yield from slope by 50‐100 mm. In certain periods, the plantations at lower slopes even consumed the runon from upper slopes. Reducing the density of forests and shrubs by thinning was not an efficient approach to minimize water use. Leaf area index was a better indicator than plant density to relate ET to vegetation structure and to evaluate the soil water carrying capacity for vegetation (i.e., the maximum amount of vegetation that can be supported by the available soil water for an extended time). Selecting proper vegetation types and plant species, based on site soil water condition, may be more effective than the forest density regulation to minimize water‐yield reduction by vegetation coverage increase and notably by reforestation. Finally, the focuses in future research to improve the forest‐water relations in dry‐land areas are recommended as follows: vegetation growth dynamics driven by environment especially water conditions, coupling of ecological and hydrological processes, further development of distributed ecohydrological models, quantitative relation of eco‐water quota of ecosystems with vegetation structures, multi‐scaled evaluation of soil water carrying capacity for vegetation, and the development of widely applicable decision support tools.     

西部开发中的泥石流问题

西部地区的青、甘、陕、川、滇、黔、新、藏、宇、桂、内蒙和重庆等12个省区市内都有泥石流分布,已查明的泥石流沟计15500余条,受泥石流危害或威胁的县级以上政府驻地城镇逾百座,一场泥石流致死百人以上的灾害点达23个,泥石流及其灾害是西部大开发中必须面临的生态环境问题之一,城市建设、公路和铁路等交通建设、水利建设,西气和西电东送工程建设等西部大开发的重点领域,,在开发建设中都将要遇到泥石流问题,吸取以往这类建设中抗御泥石流灾害的经验与教训,对于减轻泥石流灾害和保障西部大开发顺利进行具有现实意义。     

地震液化流滑震害

通过地震液化的震害调查,从土种类、地形条件和坡度、液化土壤的赋存状况、地震能量和流滑的时间与空间分布等方面,简要总结了液化流滑的震害特征和规律,初步分析了液化引起流滑发生的条件、规模、剧烈程度、坡体运动规律以及流滑产生的破坏形式,分析了影响流滑的因素,可供进一步研究等参考。