STEP WISE,MULTIPLE OBJECTIVE CALIBRATION OF A HYDROLOGIC MODEL FOR A SNOWMELT DOMINATED BASIN1

ABSTRACT: The ability to apply a hydrologic model to large numbers of basins for forecasting purposes requires a quick and effective calibration strategy. This paper presents a step wise, multiple objective, automated procedure for hydrologic model calibration. This procedure includes the sequential calibration of a model's simulation of solar radiation (SR), potential evapotranspiration (PET), water balance, and daily runoff. The procedure uses the Shuffled Complex Evolution global search algorithm to calibrate the U.S. Geological Survey's Precipitation Runoff Modeling System in the Yampa River basin of Colorado. This process assures that intermediate states of the model (SR and PET on a monthly mean basis), as well as the water balance and components of the daily hydrograph are simulated consistently with measured values.     

分散性污水处理技术研究进展

针对我国的实际情况,将集中污水处理与分散污水处理效果进行了对比,结果表明,分散污水处理是节省投资、降低能耗、维护生态平衡、推行可持续发展的一种先进技术,适用于农村和其他未普及管网的地区。采用分散型污水处理系统和集中污水处理系统相结合的方式是中国目前既解决环保问题又保持可持续性发展的有效途径。文中详细介绍了分散型污水处理技术的概念、优点以及主要的技术形式,预测了其发展前景,并提出了相应的发展战略。     

将环境规划纳入国民经济和社会发展规划中的方法初探

社会经济发展的最终目的是提高人民的生活质量,而环境质量是生活质量的重要组成部分,因此环境质量的优劣无疑应成为评价生活质量是否提高的标准之一.同时,保证资源具有可持续的支撑能力更是实现社会经济可持续发展的关键.因此,社会、经济发展规划中应体现出环境与资源因素的影响,这就需要开发现实可行的方法,以用于制定有利于实现可持续发展的区域规划.本文从物质平衡的角度出发,利用投入产出分析作为中介体,针对区域发展的特点提出了将环境成本和资源价值体现在区域投入产出分析中的方法,并探讨了如何将这种方法应用于区域规划研究中.     

Impacts of land use conversion on bankfull discharge and mass wasting

Mass wasting and channel incision are widespread in the Nemadji River watershed of eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. While much of this is a natural response to glacial rebound, sediment coring and tree ring data suggest that land use has also influenced these erosional processes. We characterized land use, inventoried mass wasting, surveyed stream channels and collected discharge data along segments of five streams in the Nemadji River watershed. Due to natural relief in this region, wetlands and agricultural lands are concentrated in the flatter terrain of the uplands of the Nemadji watershed, while forestland (coniferous or deciduous) is concentrated in the deeply incised (50-200% slope) stream valleys. Bankfull discharge was higher where forests had been converted from coniferous to deciduous forests and where there were fewer wetlands. Mass wasting increased exponentially with bankfull flows. While mass wasting was not correlated with forest type conversion and agricultural land use, it was negatively dependent upon wetland extent in headwater areas. Interactions between the spatial distribution of land use and terrain obfuscate any clear cause-and-effect relationships between land use, hydrology and fluvial processes.     

SOLIDS DISTRIBUTION IN LAKE CHAPALA,MEXICO1

ABSTRACT: Lake Chapala is the largest natural water body in Mexico and also one of the most important shallow lakes in Latin America. For the past several years it has suffered various environmental problems such as the upstream overuse of water, contamination, and sedimentation. For the past 10 years the lake has had less than 50 percent of its historical water level over the past century. No criteria are reported in the literature that establish a water storage volume that will guarantee water quality conditions necessary for the survival of the lake. After determining the behavior of total solids concentrations in relation to the variations in the lake's depth, we proposed a minimum water column height of 5.0 m, representing a storage volume of about 5,000 Mm³. This volume would result in the recommended water quality standards for total dissolved solids. Calculated distribution maps show that the total solids concentration in the lake has increased since the end of the 1970s. The solids are primarily concentrated in the eastern part of the lake, as a consequence of the high solids discharged from the Lerma River, its main tributary.     

TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON GREAT LAKES WATER BALANCE STUDIES1

ABSTRACT. Beginning of month water temperature profiles are estimated for each lake. These water temperature profiles along with surface water temperatures are used to determine the effects of thermal expansion and contraction of water on the net basin supply values obtained from water balance studies using end of month lake levels. It is demonstrated that net basin supply values (equivalent to precipitation on the lake minus the evaporation from the lake plus the runoff into the lake) obtained from water balance studies without accounting for the thermal expansion and contraction of water may be in error by as much as 100 percent during some months for each lake.     

DEOXYGENATION IN NATURAL STREAMS1

ABSTRACT: Deoxygenation process in which carbonaceous BOD is biochemically oxidized to reduced inorganic compounds is of great significance in the oxygen demand of stream waters. The BOD decay rate traditionally determined in a laboratory might not necessarily be the same as estimated for a natural stream. The variation in biochemical activity could occur due to differences in adsorption, dispersion, and biophysical processes taking place in the two environments. The first stage biochemical oxygen demand and benthal oxygen demand that occur simultaneously in a stream, have been considered together to calculate the gross rate of deoxygenation in polluted waters. The available data on deoxygenation measurements has been analyzed in this study to calculate the carbonaceous BOD rate constants in natural streams. The analysis indicates that the dimensionless deoxygenation parameter is a function of the ratio of the Reynolds number and Froude number of flow. The functional relationship between these two parameters essentially follows a straight line on a log-log plot. The applicability of the relationship does not depend upon the volume of the organic load, size, or location of the stream.     

中国北方草原雪灾的致灾机制探讨

北方草原雪灾是天灾 ,更是一种人祸。受拉尼娜事件影响的异常气候固然是致灾的客观原因 ,但是不合理的人类经济活动 ,如超载放牧、耕地过垦、滥挖草药、滥用水资源等社会经济压力 ,超过了草原生态阈限 ,使脆弱的草原生态平衡遭到严重破坏 ;粗放经营 ,草原基础设施落后 ,也使草原生态系统抵御灾害的能力降低 ;草原公有、牲畜私有之间的所有制相位差是激发牧民掠夺式利用草原资源的最根本原因。为了追求私人经济利益的最大化 ,放牧者往往置公共草原的承载能力于不顾 ,严重恶化的草原生态环境也许正是“公共物品悲剧”的真实写照。     

SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN WATER‐BALANCE MODEL PERFORMANCE IN THE CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES1

ABSTRACT: A monthly water‐balance (WB) model was tested in 44 river basins from diverse physiographic and climatic regions across the conterminous United States (U.S.). The WB model includes the concepts of climatic water supply and climatic water demand, seasonality in climatic water supply and demand, and soil‐moisture storage. Exhaustive search techniques were employed to determine the optimal set of precipitation and temperature stations, and the optimal set of WB model parameters to use for each basin. It was found that the WB model worked best for basins with: (1) a mean elevation less than 450 meters or greater than 2000 meters, and/or (2) monthly runoff that is greater than 5 millimeters (mm) more than 80 percent of the time. In a separate analysis, a multiple linear regression (MLR) was computed using the adjusted R‐square values obtained by comparing measured and estimated monthly runoff of the original 44 river basins as the dependent variable, and combinations of various independent variables [streamflow gauge latitude, longitude, and elevation; basin area, the long‐term mean and standard deviation of annual precipitation; temperature and runoff; and low‐flow statistics (i.e., the percentage of months with monthly runoff that is less than 5 mm)]. Results from the MLR study showed that the reliability of a WB model for application in a specific region can be estimated from mean basin elevation and the percentage of months with gauged runoff less than 5 mm. The MLR equations were subsequently used to estimate adjusted R‐square values for 1,646 gauging stations across the conterminous U.S. Results of this study indicate that WB models can be used reliably to estimate monthly runoff in the eastern U.S., mountainous areas of the western U.S., and the Pacific Northwest. Applications of monthly WB models in the central U.S. can lead to uncertain estimates of runoff.     

Composting of vinasse and cotton gin waste by using two different systems

Two composts were obtained by co-composting of a concentrated depotassified beet vinasse and cotton gin waste using two different aeration systems: static aerated pile (forced aeration provided by a blower whom operated in the positive mode) and windrow (turned pile). The composting mixtures were cotton gin trash (55%) and vinasse (45%) (dry weight). In static pile, the total amount of vinasse was added at the beginning of the process whereas, in windrow two additions of vinasse were performed. Differences in temperature changes between both composting systems were found: a faster increase of temperature in the windrow (54 °C at 7 days) than in the static pile (45 °C at 21 days) was observed. Probably in the static pile system, the compaction of the substrates made difficult the correct distribution of the air inside the pile. Moreover, after the second addition of vinasse a new thermophilic phase was started in windrow. The different aeration systems and the way of addition of vinasse could cause differences in organic matter (OM) degradation and in weight (22.6% for the static pile and 26.7% for the windrow) and gas losses during the process. Nevertheless, the composts obtained by the two systems had a high fertilizer value (25.1 g kg⁻¹ N; 3.2 g kg⁻¹ P₂O₅; 21.4 g kg⁻¹ K₂O; C/N8) for compost obtained in static pile and (16.2 g kg⁻¹ N; 3.4 g kg⁻¹ P₂O₅; 16.1 g kg⁻¹ K₂O; C/N 12) for compost obtained in the windrow). A high degree of stability was reached in the final composts. Composting of vinasse with cotton gin waste serves two objectives, disposal of wastes and recycling of waste components.