Application of ensemble H-infinity filter in aquifer characterization andcomparison to ensemble Kalman filter

Though the ensemble Kalman filter （EnKF） has been successfully applied in many areas, it requires explicit and accurate model and measurement error information, leading to difficulties in practice when only limited information on error mechanisms of observational in-struments for subsurface systems is accessible. To handle the uncertain errors, we applied a robust data assimilation algorithm, the ensemble H-infinity filter （EnHF）, to estimation of aquifer hydraulic heads and conductivities in a flow model with uncertain/correlated observational errors. The impacts of spatial and temporal correlations in measurements were analyzed, and the performance of EnHF was compared with that of the EnKF. The results show that both EnHF and EnKF are able to estimate hydraulic conductivities properly when observations are free of error; EnHF can provide robust estimates of hydraulic conductivities even when no observational error information is provided. In contrast, the estimates of EnKF seem noticeably undermined because of correlated errors and inaccurate error statistics, and filter divergence was observed. It is concluded that EnHF is an efficient assimilation algorithm when observational errors are unknown or error statistics are inaccurate.

Human impacts on runoff regime of middle and lower Yellow River

In this study, the 54-year （1950 to 2003） monthly runoff series from February, April, August, and November, as well as the annual runoff series, measured at both Huayuankou and Lijin hydrological stations were chosen as representative data, and the continuous wavelet transform （CWT） was applied to analyze the impacts of human activities on the runoff regime of the middle and lower Yellow River. A point of change in 1970 was first determined, and the observed series before 1970 were considered natural runoff while those after 1970 were restored according to linear trends. Then, the CWT was applied to both the observed and restored runoff series to reveal their variations at multi-temporal scales, including the five temporal ranges of 1-4, 6-8, 9-12, 16-22, and 22-30 years, and the trend at the temporal scale of 54 years. These analysis results are compared and discussed in detail. In conclusion, because of the impacts of human activities, there have been significant changes in the runoff regime in the middle and lower Yellow River since 1970. The decaying tendency of annual runoff has become more pronounced, and the inner-annual distribution of runoff has changed, but human activities have had little impact on the periodic characteristics of runoff.

Thermal effect of the accumulated water with different depths on permafrost subgrade in cold regions

In cold regions,the thermal effect of accumulated water on underlying permafrost and permafrost subgrade remains a significant hazard causing engineering risks.Water depth of accumulated water may be an important influence factor of permafrost thermal stability,but there is lack of qualitative and quantitative research about that.In this study,equivalent thermal conductivity theory and solid heat transfer theory have been used to establish the calculation model for simulating heat transfer in water and soil.Thereafter,the accuracy and reliability of the calculation model are checked by monitored data and subsequently used to analyze the thermal erosion of water on underlying permafrost and permafrost under the embankment.These simulation results show that shallow water can protect permafrost and deeper water disrupts the thermal stability of underlying permafrost.The thermal effect extent of water is primarily determined by its depth,and the concept of critical depth and stable depth of accumulated water has been proposed.Moreover,the temperature field of permafrost under embankment can be changed by the slope toe water.In addition,the thermal effect range of the slope toe water is limited by the thermal influence radius,which increases with the depth of standing water.These findings provide support as well as a fundamental base for environmental issues arising from the accumulated water.These observations will,thus,also be valuable to further engineering environment studies in cold regions.

Water budgets in an arid and alpine permafrost basin:Observations from the High Mountain Asia

Ground freeze-thaw processes have significant impacts on infiltration,runoff and evapotranspiration.However,there are still critical knowledge gaps in understanding of hydrological processes in permafrost regions,especially of the interactions among permafrost,ecology,and hydrology.In this study,an alpine permafrost basin on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was selected to conduct hydrological and meteorological observations.We analyzed the annual variations in runoff,precipitation,evapotranspiration,and changes in water storage,as well as the mechanisms for runoff gen-eration in the basin from May 2014 to December 2015.The annual flow curve in the basin exhibited peaks both in spring and autumn floods.The high ratio of evapotranspiration to annual precipitation(>1.O)in the investigated wetland is mainly due to the considerably underestimated‘observed'precipitation caused by the wind-induced instrumental error and the neglect of snow sublimation.The stream flow from early May to late October probably came from the lateral discharge of subsurface flow in alpine wetlands.This study can provide data support and validation for hydrological model simulation and prediction,as well as water resource assessment,in the upper Yellow River Basin,especially for the headwater area.The results also provide case support for permafrost hydrology modeling in ungauged or poorly gauged watersheds in the High Mountain Asia.

A Comparative Study on Hydrodynamics and Hydrochemistry Coupled Simulations of Drainage Pipe Crystallization Blockage in Karst Tunnels

Drainage pipe system is the requisite component of the traffic tunnels in Karst area.To reveal the dynamic process of crystallization blockage in drainage pipes,a novel hydrodynamics and hydrochemistry coupled simulation model was developed for calculating the deposition rate of CaCO_(3) fouling in pipeline surface.Sediments adhering to the pipe walls involve a deformable domain with moving geometric boundaries,and moving mesh and level set methods are proposed for simulation of for tunnel turbulence and crystallization fouling process.The simulation results are compared with the experimental results showing similar trend.The effects of temperature,flow velocity,and solution concentration on crystallization blockage were analyzed by comparative simulation studies.The simulation results show that:(1)the moving mesh method simulated nozzle shrinkage caused by crystalline deposition,without accounting for geometric topology shape changes.However,the level set method tracked the moving topology and thus can simulate the process of complete blockage;(2)the flow velocity in the longitudinal pipe generally exceeded that in the transverse pipe,and the CaCO_(3) crystal concentration in the transverse pipe eclipsed that in the longitudinal pipe,which meant crystallization blockages primarily occurred in the transverse pipe;(3)the temperature and concentration correlated positively with the crystallization rate,while the crystal precipitation value decreases with the increasing of inlet flow velocity increases.This study advances a hydrodynamics and hydrochemistry coupled crystallization blockage model to provide technical support for the early identification of crystallizationinduced pipe blockage in the drainage system in karst tunnel sites.