Climatic and Environmental Changes in the Source Areas of Dust Storms in Xinjiang, China, during the Last 50 Years

The desert environmental changes in the source areas of dust storms occurring in Xinjiang are discussed based on the climate changes and the impacts of human activities in Xinjiang during the past 50 years. The results show that the climate in Xinjiang is changing from a warm-dry type to a warm-wet one. The warm-wet climate has been obvious since the mid-1970's, and especially the sensitivity of the regional climate change in this arid area is obviously revealed by many factors, such as the characteristics of the local climate change in south Xinjiang and north Xinjiang, the difference of climate change in the alpine zones and the basins, and the change of areas of the waters bodies. Furthermore, these factors also reveal the difference in the regional climate change between Xinjiang and central and eastern areas of China. The occurrence and development of dust storms are directly affected by the precipitation, air humidity, status of underlying surface, etc. in the arid areas. The frequency and intensity of dust storms are closely related to the natural conditions, changes of climate and desert environment, as well as the dynamic conditions (i.e., weather systems) in the source areas of dust storms. Therefore, global warming is one of the main causes resulting in the degradation of the ecological environment and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, especially the disasters of sand drift and dust storms in the arid areas since the late-1980's, which reveals that the inland arid areas are sensitive regions to climate changes.     

Duststorms and Mesoscale Cloud Systems over The East Asian Deserts in Spring

Meteorological characteristics and morphology of duststorms and other dust weather phenomena in the arid regions of East Asia were described in order to investigate a possible role of mesoscale cloud disturbances that develop in synoptic-scale mid-latitude cyclones in intensifying dust weather. This study is a statistical examination of conventional surface observational data as well as satellite data obtained during April 2000–2003. In the deserts of Mongolia and northern China (e.g., the Gobi Desert) duststorms and other weaker dust weather (i.e., dust whirls, blowing dust) frequently occur under a strong influence of synoptic-scale cyclones; on the other hand in the Taklamakan Desert (northwestern China), dust weather phenomena occur in a less organized fashion and may be driven mainly by local meteorological and geographical effects. A significant signal was identified, revealing of the intensification of dust weather by the presence of convective cloud disturbances. Meteorological changes such as pressure rise and temperature drop, typically found during the passage of cold fronts, were frequently observed in the cases of duststorms occurring in the analysis region. However, no definite tendency was found for moisture change and wind speed in relation to cloud activity, probably because rainfall amount is generally too low to moisten the boundary-layer air.     

溜砂坡遥感解译标志与方法——以川藏公路然乌-中坝段为例

溜砂坡是一种特殊的坡面堆积形式,主要发生在较为干旱的花岗岩山区,因其稳定性差,溜砂坡活动较为频繁,成为山区公路的重要灾害之一。以川藏公路然乌—中坝段为研究区,对溜砂坡的地貌形态和植被特征及其遥感影象特征进行了初步分析,确定了溜砂坡的遥感解译标志,并分析了溜砂坡和滑坡在遥感图像上的区别。将溜砂坡的遥感解译方法应用到川藏公路然乌—中坝段,查清了该路段的溜砂坡分布及其危害。     

DUAL URBAN AND RURAL HYDROGRAPH SIGNALS IN THREE SMALL WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: Many studies can be found in the literature pertaining to the effects of urbanization on surface runoff in small watersheds and the hydrologic response of undeveloped watersheds. However, an extensive literature review yielded few published studies that illustrate differing hydrologic responses from multiple source areas within a watershed. The concepts discussed here are not new, but the methods used provide a unique, basic procedure for investigating stormwater hydrology in topographically diverse basins. Six storm hydrographs from three small central Pennsylvania watersheds were analyzed for this paper; five are presented. Two important conclusions are deduced from this investigation. First, in all cases we found two distinct peaks in stream discharge, each representing different contributing areas to direct discharge with greatly differing curve numbers and lags representative of urban and rural source regions. Second, the direct discharge represents only a small fraction of the total drainage area with the urban peak becoming increasingly important with respect to the rural peak with the amount of urbanization and as the magnitude of the rain event decreases.     

EVALUATION OF HYDROLOGIC BENEFITS OF INFILTRATION BASED URBAN STORM WATER MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: As watersheds are urbanized, their surfaces are made less pervious and more channelized, which reduces infiltration and speeds up the removal of excess runoff. Traditional storm water management seeks to remove runoff as quickly as possible, gathering excess runoff in detention basins for peak reduction where necessary. In contrast, more recently developed “low impact” alternatives manage rainfall where it falls, through a combination of enhancing infiltration properties of pervious areas and rerouting impervious runoff across pervious areas to allow an opportunity for infiltration. In this paper, we investigate the potential for reducing the hydrologic impacts of urbanization by using infiltration based, low impact storm water management. We describe a group of preliminary experiments using relatively simple engineering tools to compare three basic scenarios of development: an undeveloped landscape; a fully developed landscape using traditional, high impact storm water management; and a fully developed landscape using infiltration based, low impact design. Based on these experiments, it appears that by manipulating the layout of urbanized landscapes, it is possible to reduce impacts on hydrology relative to traditional, fully connected storm water systems. However, the amount of reduction in impact is sensitive to both rainfall event size and soil texture, with greatest reductions being possible for small, relatively frequent rainfall events and more pervious soil textures. Thus, low impact techniques appear to provide a valuable tool for reducing runoff for the events that see the greatest relative increases from urbanization: those generated by the small, relatively frequent rainfall events that are small enough to produce little or no runoff from pervious surfaces, but produce runoff from impervious areas. However, it is clear that there still needs to be measures in place for flood management for larger, more intense, and relatively rarer storm events, which are capable of producing significant runoff even for undeveloped basins.     

MODELING FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGING COPPER RUNOFF IN URBAN WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: A modeling framework was developed for managing copper runoff in urban watersheds that incorporates water quality characterization, watershed land use areas, hydrologic data, a statistical simulator, a biotic ligand binding model to characterize acute toxicity, and a statistical method for setting a watershed specific copper loading. The modeling framework is driven by export coefficients derived from water quality parameters and hydrologic inputs measured in an urban watershed's storm water system. This framework was applied to a watershed containing a copper roof built in 1992. A series of simulations was run to predict the change in receiving stream water chemistry caused by roof aging and to determine the maximum copper loading (at the 99 percent confidence level) a watershed could accept without causing acute toxicity in the receiving stream. Forecasting the amount of copper flux responsible for exceeding the assimilation capacity of a watershed can be directly related to maximum copper loadings responsible for causing toxicity in the receiving streams. The framework developed in this study can be used to evaluate copper utilization in urban watersheds.     

长江中游砂山的磁组构特征及古气候环境意义

为了建立长江中游风成砂的磁组构识别标志,讨论磁组构参数与古气候、古环境之间的关系,对新近发现的江西九江新港砂山剖面进行了野外考察和磁化率定向样品的采集和测试,结果表明：①新港风成砂剖面中砂层和古土壤化的亚黏土层的磁组构参数值具有较大的不同,亚黏土层的磁化率（〖WTBX〗κ〖WTBZ〗）在剖面中表现为峰值（均值143.27（10-6SI））,各向异性度（〖WTBX〗P〖WTBZ〗）值却表现为曲线的较低值段。砂层却与亚黏土层相反,〖WTBX〗κ〖WTBZ〗值为谷值（均值为2181（10-6SI））,〖WTBX〗P〖WTBZ〗值总体为高值段,但波动较大。②在新港风成砂剖面中大多数亚黏土层样品的磁面理度（〖WTBX〗F〖WTBZ〗）值大于磁线理度（〖WTBX〗L〖WTBZ〗）,而砂层中只有部分样品的〖WTBX〗F值大于L〖WTBZ〗,说明亚黏土层的磁面理发育程度较砂层的要好。③相对于河流和湖泊沉积物（河流沉积物长轴的倾角一般小于10°,短轴的倾角大于80°）而言,新港剖面风成砂的磁化率量值椭球体的长轴的倾角较大（22°～24°）,短轴的倾角较小（45°～51°）。④新港剖面风成砂的磁基质颗粒度（〖WTBX〗q〖WTBZ〗）的平均值（0668 8）比长江中游河流沉积物的〖WTBX〗q〖WTBZ〗值（024）偏大,反映风成砂的分选较河流沉积物的要差。上述特点可作为长江中游水成和风成沉积物的磁组构识别标志。⑤在325～262 m的地层剖面中共有9层发育程度不同的古土壤化的亚黏土层,说明在这一期间气候不仅有9次由干冷向暖湿的转变,且每次变化的强度也有所不同。〖     

不同紫云英基因型对难溶性磷吸收利用的影响

通过石英砂培养试验,研究了不同基因型对紫云英（Astragalus sinicus）吸收和利用难溶性磷酸盐（Al-P和Fe-P）的影响。结果表明,紫云英在不同磷源中的生长性状、生物量以及植株不同部位的吸磷量有很大差异。从株高、茎粗、分枝数性状方面来看,均表现为K-P〉Al-P〉Fe-P〉CK,且两种难溶性磷处理之间差异达到显著或极显著水平。对大多数紫云英基因型来说Al-P的地上部、地下部及总干物质量都显著大于Fe-P,说明紫云英更容易活化和吸收Al-P。闽紫6号和闽紫1号在利用难溶性磷时都显著高于余江大叶和弋江籽。不同紫云英基因型在不同磷源中,地上部、地下部吸磷量及总吸磷量也均表现为K-P〉Al-P〉Fe-P〉CK,即对不同磷源的吸收能力均以K-P最高,Al-P大于Fe-P。闽紫6号和闽紫1号对难溶性磷的吸收量均高于其它3个品种,表明闽紫6号和闽紫1号对难溶性磷具有较强的溶解吸收能力。从植株吸磷量与生物量关系可以看出,紫云英植株地上部、地下部干物质量及总干物质量、鲜质量增加时,植株吸收磷的养分质量分数也随着增加,呈显著正相关。CK和Al-P处理总干物质量与总吸磷量拟合回归关系显著,但对水溶性K-P和Fe-P处理相关回归关系效果不明显,说明紫云英对难溶性磷吸收利用时,对Al-P吸收富集优于Fe-P。     

节约土地资源的沉沙淤泥新型墙体材料的研制

引黄济青工程创造了惊人的经济效益和社会效益,但大量的黄河淤泥沉积,却危害了当地生态环境,造成土地资源浪费.通过分析黄河淤泥的化学成分、颗粒组成、塑性指数,对沉淀池堆场的淤泥和黄河河床的淤泥进行比较和筛选,最后进行了成型和煅烧,试验结果表明:2号堆场的黄河淤泥完全可以替代粘土作原料生产新型墙体材料,其技术指标完全符合国家产品质量要求,每年可节约土地约13.3公顷.