Hydrodynamic Performance of Air-Filled Wave Attenuator for Wave Control:Experimental Study

Numerous types of floating breakwaters have been proposed,tested and commercialized in the past decades.The majority of these breakwaters are made of solid bodies;hence,they are relatively bulky and are not readily to be rapidly installed at the targeted sites when immediate wave protection of the coastal and offshore facilities is needed.Furthermore,the application of these hard floating structures at the recreational beaches is rather unlikely due to potential deadly marine traffic collision.To overcome these problems,a flexible air-filled wave attenuator(AFWA)has been developed in the present study.This floating breakwater is made of flexible waterproof membrane materials.The main body consists of a rectangular air-filled prism and is ballasted by sandbags located around the floating module.The objective of this study is to evaluate the wave transmission,wave reflection,energy dissipation,motion responses and mooring forces of the AFWA under the random wave actions using physical modelling.The test model located in a 20 m long wave flume was subjected to a range of wave heights and periods.The wave profiles in the vicinity of the test model were measured using wave probes for determination of wave transmission,reflection and energy loss coefficients.The motion responses in terms of heave,surge and pitch,and wave forces acting on the mooring lines were measured using a motion tracking system and load cells,respectively.The experimental results reveal that the AFWA is effective in attenuating up to 95%in the incoming wave height and has low-wave-reflection properties,which is commendable for floating breakwaters.

Temperature Sensitivity of Soil Respiration Probed by Numerical Analysis of Field-Observed Data Sets

Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration is essential to predict possible changes in terrestrial carbon budget on various scenarios about atmospheric and soil climates. Although it is often evaluated by using respiratory quotient “Q10”, Q10 values of soil respiration seem to vary depending on methods or scales of evaluation. Aiming at probing how Q10 values of soil respiration are evaluated differently for a field, this study used a model of soil respiration rate, and numerically evaluated soil respiration rates along depth by fitting the model to depth distributions of CO2 concentration measured in a field. And temperature sensitivity of soil respiration rate was evaluated by comparing the determined soil respiration rates with atmospheric and soil temperatures measured in the field. The results showed that the relation between surface CO2 emission rates and atmospheric temperatures was represented by lower Q10 values than that between soil respiration rates and soil temperatures, presumably because the top soil layers had acclimatized in more extent to the existing thermal regime than the underlying deeper layers. Thus, for evaluating effects of long-term rise in atmospheric temperature on soil respiration, it is necessary to precisely predict the long-term change in depth distribution of soil temperature as well as to quantify temperature sensitivity of soil respiration along depth. The evaluated sensitivity of surface CO2 emission rate to atmospheric temperature showed hysteresis, implying the needs for more knowledge about temperature sensitivity of soil respiration evaluated in both warming and cooling processes for better understandings and predictions about terrestrial carbon cycling.

Soil Aeration Variability as Affected by Reoxidation

The interplay between soil physical parameters during the recovery from anoxic stresses （reoxidation） is largely unrecognized. This study was conducted to chaxacterise the soil aeration status and derive correlations between variable aeration factors during reoxidation. Surface layers （0-30 cm） of three soil types, Haplic Phaeozem, Mollic Gleysol, and Eutric Cambisol （FAO soil group）, were selected for analysis. The moisture content was determined for a range of pF values （0, 1.5, 2.2, 2.7, and 3.2）, corresponding to the available water for microorganisms and plant roots. The variability of a number of soil aeration parameters, such as water potential （pF）, air-filled porosity （Eg）, oxygen diffusion rate （ODR）, and redox potential （Eh）, were investigated. These parameters were found to be interrelated in most cases. There were significant （P 〈 0.001） negative correlations of pF, Eg, and ODR with Eh. A decrease in water content as a consequence of soil reoxidation was manifested by an increase in the values of aeration factors in the soil environment. These results contributed to understanding of soil redox processes during recovery from flooding and might be useful for development of agricultural techniques aiming at soil reoxidation and soil fertility optimisation.

Diffusivity Models and Greenhouse Gases Fluxes from a Forest,Pasture,Grassland and Corn Field in Northern Hokkaido,Japan

Information on the most influential factors determining gas flux from soils is needed in predictive models for greenhouse gases emissions. We conducted an intensive soil and air sampling along a 2 000 m transect extending from a forest, pasture, grassland and corn field in Shizunai, Hokkaido （Japan）, measured CO2, CH4, N20 and NO fluxes and calculated soil bulk density （Pb）, air-filled porosity （fa） and total porosity （Ф）. Using diffusivity models based on either fa alone or on a combination of fa and 4, we predicted two pore space indices： the relative gas diffusion coefficient （Ds/Do） and the pore tortuosity factor （T）. The relationships between pore space indices （Ds/Do and T） and C02, CH4, N2O and NO fluxes were also studied. Results showed that the grassland had the highest Pb while fa and Ф were the highest in the forest. CO2, CH4, N20 and NO fluxes were the highest in the grassland while N20 dominated in the corn field. Few correlations existed between fa, Ф, Pb and gases fluxes while all models predicted that Ds/Do and T significantly correlated with CO2 and CH4 with correlation coefficient （r） ranging from 0.20 to 0.80. Overall, diffusivity models based on fa alone gave higher Ds/Do, lower τ, and higher R2 and better explained the relationship between pore space indices （Ds/Do and τ） and gases fluxes. Inclusion of Ds/Do and τ in predictive models will improve our understanding of the dynamics of greenhouse gas fluxes from soils. Ds/Do and τ can be easily obtained by measurements of soil air and water and existing diffusivity models.