降雨冲刷下黄土堆填边坡土水参数变化规律

黄土区城市工程建设产生了大量黄土堆填边坡,因其结构松散,缺乏必要防护,水土流失严重。该研究基于野外调查,设计室内堆填边坡降雨冲刷模型试验,分析其侵蚀破坏过程中含水率和基质吸力的响应变化规律,结合水土动力学原理,分析了降雨切沟侵蚀阶段沟坡坍塌破坏机理,并揭示了坡度对侵蚀产沙量的影响。结果表明:1)随坡度增大,坡顶含水率饱和速率加快,边坡基质吸力响应速率先增后减,且在40°范围内响应速率最快,在此坡度附近需更加注重坡面防护和坡脚排水。2)切沟侵蚀阶段,沟坡坍塌破坏为水力-重力复合侵蚀过程,且坡度越大,越容易达到临界破裂角,沟坡重力侵蚀现象越普遍。3)黄土堆填边坡在极端降雨条件下,其临界坡度在41°附近。该研究成果可为黄土区工程堆积体的地质灾害防治及水土流失综合治理提供理论支持。

土水特征参数对蒸发面发展影响规律数值模拟研究

基于PDV水气热耦合模型,采用地表能量平衡的边界条件,对土体蒸发过程进行多物理场耦合数值模拟,分析土水特征参数n对蒸发面在地表浅层土体内的动态发展影响规律及原因.研究表明:n较大时蒸发面在土体内以“蒸发面窄条”形式向深处发展,窄条宽度基本不变;n较小时蒸发面上边界长时间位于地表,其下边界随时间持续向深处发展,蒸发面范围随时间持续越来越宽;蒸发面以“蒸发面窄条”形式发展时,窄条下边界含水率有“返潮”增大现象;另一种发展形式蒸发面附近土体含水率随时间单调减小;在1.2<n<1.6范围内,随蒸发率减小,蒸发面形式会从“蒸发面窄条”最终转换为另一种形式;蒸发面以“蒸发面窄条”形式发展时,其在地表浅层的发展速度随n增加而减小;蒸发面以另一种形式发展时,若蒸发面上边界位于地表,其下边界发展速度随n增加而增大.

土-水特征参数对边坡稳定性影响分析

文章利用Geostudio软件对不同非饱和参数下的边坡降雨渗透稳定性规律进行数值模拟,结果表明:降雨条件下上部监测点孔压随时间呈现在降雨时迅速增大,下部监测点孔压则呈现在降雨时刻迅速增大,而在降雨结束时刻缓慢增大的趋势,参数a越大,整体安全系数越大;当a=40kPa时整体安全系数有一个突然的陡降;参数m,n,k越大,安全系数整体越大。

不同土-水特征参数对边坡稳定性影响分析

利用Geostudio软件对不同非饱和参数下的边坡降雨渗透稳定性规律进行了数值模拟,结果表明:降雨条件下上部监测点孔压随时间呈现在降雨时迅速增大,下部监测点孔压则呈现在降雨时刻迅速增大,而在降雨结束时刻缓慢增大的趋势,参数a越大,整体安全系数越大,但是当a=40kPa时整体安全系数有一个突然的陡降;参数m,n,k越大,安全系数整体上也越大。

降雨条件下红粘土路基水分运移数值分析

依据非饱和土降雨渗流理论,结合实测红粘土土水特征参数,利用有限元分析软件,模拟红粘土路基饱和-非饱和降雨入渗下含水率和压力水头动态变化规律,分析降雨强度、土体渗透性系数变化对路基内部渗流场变化影响机理。分析结果表明:红粘土路基降雨入渗情况下路基土降雨影响饱和区深度一般为2～3 m,随着降雨历时增加,土坡饱和区扩大,对低透水性红粘土,短期降雨对路基渗流影响较小,当表面存在裂缝时,降雨入渗将造成浅部快速饱和并引发表层土体滑动,将对路基边坡稳定产生不利影响。

Key parameters controlling electrical resistivity and strength of cement treated soils

The improvement of question soils with cement shows great technical, economic and environmental advantages. And interest in introducing electrical resistivity measurement to assess the quality of cement treated soils has increased markedly recently due to its economical, non-destructive, and relatively non-invasive advantages. This work aims to quantify the effect of cement content （aw）, porosity （nt）, and curing time（T） on the electrical resistivity （p） and unconfined compression strength （UCS） of cement treated soil. A series of electrical resistivity tests and UCS tests of cement treated soil specimen after various curing periods were carried out. A modified Archie empirical law was proposed taking into account the effect of cement content and curing period on the electrical resistivity of cement treated soil. The results show that nt/（aw·T） and nt/（aw·T^1/2） ratio are appropriate parameters to assess electrical resistivity and UCS of cement treated soil, respectively. Finally, the relationship between UCS and electrical resistivity was also established.

Characterising Vertical Redistribution on Irrigated Furrows in the Tukulu Soil

Subsurface soil water redistribution on the South African Tukulu, also referred as the Cutanic Luvisols in other countries, was evaluated following single run irrigation （20, 40, 80 and 160 L/min inflow rates） in 90 m furrows. Changes in soil water content （SWC） at three horizons were monitored using neutron water meter. Measurements were made every 10 m starting 5 m from the furrow inlet for 455 h. HYDRUS-2D software was used to estimate soil hydraulic parameters through inverse optimization algorithms for redistribution at the inlet, midpoint and furrow end. Optimized model parameters compared with initial estimates recorded satisfactory agreement between measured and predicted soil water content, despite spatial variability. Effective hydraulic conductivity （Keff） for 0-600 mm and 0-850 mm profile flow domains demonstrated linearity with SWC although inconsistencies under field conditions were inevitable. The underlying layer restricted gravity and augmented redistribution with Keff assuming a steeper gradient than normal. Conversion of KCff and soil water content into a ratio assisted in quantifying rate of redistribution at 0-600 mm and 0-850 mm profile depth. Vertical redistribution was found to be limited within the upper 600 mm depth thus providing the opportunity to develop furrow irrigation with confidence that water productivity is optimized.

Possibilities of Using Dam Reservoir Sediments in Earthworks

A possibility of using bottom sediments from dam reservoir as a material for earthen embankments was considered in the paper. It was stated that sediments cannot be used for road or hydrotechnical embankments without improving their geotechnical parameters. Thanks to low values of the permeability coefficient, they can be used for sealing elements in embankments or for low levees. In order to verify usability of this material for mentioned levees, stability and filtration calculations were carried out using Finite Element Method （FEM） analysis. It was stated the levee built from bottom sediments is stable even at the height of 8.0 m, despite the boundary conditions on the upstream side.

Estimation of the van Genuchten Soil Water Retention Properties from Soil Textural Data

The van Genuchten (vG) function is often used to describe the soil water retention curve (SWRC) of unsaturated soils and fractured rock. The objective of this study was to develop a method to determine the vG model parameter m from the fractal dimension. We compared two approaches previously proposed by van Genuchten and Lenhard et al. for estimating m from the pore size distribution index of the Brooks and Corey (BC) model. In both approaches we used a relationship between the pore size distribution index of the BC model and the fractal dimension of the SWRC. A dataset containing 75 samples from the UNSODA unsaturated soil hydraulic database was used to evaluate the two approaches. The statistical parameters showed that the approach by Lenhard et al. provided better estimates of the parameter m. Another dataset containing 72 samples from the literature was used to validate Lenhard's approach in which the SWRC fractal dimension was estimated from the clay content. The estimated SWRC of the second dataset was compared with those obtained with the Rosetta model using sand, silt, and clay contents. Root mean square error values of the proposed fractal approach and Rosetta were 0.081 and 0.136, respectively, indicating that the proposed fractal approach performed better than the Rosetta model.

Estimation of Soil Hydrodynamic Parameters Related to Agricultural Practices -Case of the Tougou Experimental Site （Burkina Faso）

This study aims to estimate the hydrodynamic properties of soils under various agricultural practices in the Tougou catchment in northern Burkina Faso. The methodology adopted is based on the determination of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and capillary sorptivity close to saturation. This method relies on the measurement of the transient infiltration flux at the soil surface with imposed hydraulic head varying from -60 to -20 mm. These tests are carried out on control, stony line, half-moon and zai plots. The results show a difference in hydrodynamic parameters according to the agricultural practices. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is 33.1 cm/h, 13.1 cm/h, 20.3 cm/h and 4.0 cm/h for zai, control, stony line and half-moon plots respectively. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is 33.1 cm/h, 13.1 cm/h, 20.3 cm/h and 4.0 cm/h for zai, control, stony line and half-moon plots respectively. The pores participating to water transfer also differ. The mean size of drainable pores is 43.7, 56.2, 22.3 and 87.2 pm on control, stony line, half-moon and zai plots respectively.

Evaluation of surface textures and skid resistance of pervious concrete pavement

Surface textures had long been recognized as primary factors to provide the skid resistance on pavements; however, no measurement of skid resistance on pervious concrete pavement with various surface texture parameters had been made. Fractal geometry was introduced in the present work to accurately simulate transect contour curves of pervious concrete specimens through fractal interpolation. It is proved that its fractal dimension (D) can be adopted to measure the skid resistance on pervious concrete pavement, overcoming the shortcomings of both macrotexture depth (DT ) and British portable pendulum number (NBP). Combined with Fujikawa-Koike tire/road contact model, the optimization method of all surface textures was recommended for designing and constructing excellently skid-resistant and noise-absorptive pervious concrete pavement. In addition, evaluating of the abrasion process and attenuation of the surface textures on concrete pavement slabs was also the focus of this work based on accelerated abrasion test. Results show that the surface textures on pervious concrete pavement slabs is extremely durable, compared to those on conventional grooved or exposed aggregate concrete pavement slabs.

Numerical Investigation on the Initiation Mechanism of Debris-Flow under Rainfall

Rainfall is an important factor to trigger the debris flow.Numerical simulation on the responses of slopes and the initiation of debris flow under rainfall was processed by using the software FLAC2D based on the soil parameters in Weijia Gully,Beichuan County,Sichuan Province,China.The effects of the slope angle,rainfall intensity,soil parameters on the developments of the stress and pore pressure and deformation of the slope were studied.It indicates that large displacements of the slope are mainly located near the slope toe.With the increase of the rainfall intensity the stability of the slope decreases and so the debris-flow is easy to occur.

Analytical expressions for determining the stability of cohesionless soil slope under generalized seismic conditions

In recent major earthquakes, the researchers have found the need for consideration of vertical seismic acceleration for the stability analysis of the man-made and natural slopes. However, in most past studies, the performance of slopes has been assessed by accounting only the horizontal seismic component of the ground motion, without giving due weightage to the effect of vertical component. In the present study, analytical expressions are derived to determine the factor of safety, yield seismic coefficient and consequently the seismic displacement of cohesionless soil slope under combined horizontal and vertical components of the ground motion. The derivation uses the Newmark's sliding block approach, in which the soil slope with a planar failure surface within the framework of conventional pseudo-static analysis is assumed to follow the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The effects of vertical seismic coefficient on the stability of cohesionless slope have been studied through a set of graphical presentations for a specific range of soil parameters. It is observed that overlooking the effect of the vertical component of the ground motion on factor of safety and the displacement while designing the slope may be detrimental, resulting in the slope failure. The general expressions presented in this paper may be highly useful in the field of earthquake geotechnical engineering practice for designing the cohesionless soil slopes under combined horizontal and vertical seismic loads.

Earth Observation as a Support to Improve Water Use in Irrigated Agriculture

By the end of sixties, several satellites were launched to observe the earth; among them the Landsat missions have been important to study natural resources, especially in agriculture. Currently, Landsat 7, with some problems, and Landsat 5 are useful to evaluate crop development. A project called ＂Participatory multi-Level EO-assisted tools for Irrigation water management and Agricultural Decision-Support＂ （PLEIADES） was financed by the European Commission. This project considers eleven countries and 23 research institutions, Mexico being one of the selected countries. Landsat images are a basic tool of this project. Some of the results obtained in this study are presented in this article. By using w^getation indices obtained by the combinations of reflectances in different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, it has been possible to estimate the behavior of several biophysical parameters of crops which are used to evaluate plant development, water stress, spatial soil variation, and the effect of plagues and crop diseases. To facilitate this process, a visor was developed, named SPIDER （System of Participatory Information Decision support and Expert knowledge for River basin management） whose use in this work is explained.

A Two-parameter Exponential Recession Model for Simulating Cropland Soil Moisture Dynamics

To simulate the soil moisture variation in cropland, a two-parameter exponential recession model was derived to depict the recession process of soil moisture in the root zone. The model is based on the assumption that the recession rate of soil water is proportional to the potential evapotranspiration rate and the difference of soil water content and steady soil water content. Two parameters in this model are soil texture-dependent recession constant and steady soil water content. The model was calibrated and validated with measured soil water data at two experiment sites in North China with different soil textures and cropping systems. Coefficients of determination between measured and model simulated soil water content were all greater than 0.7, indicating that both models gave satisfactory simulation results. Results showed that values of two parameters mentioned above are both larger for finer soil than those for coarser soil. At the same potential evapotranspiration rate and soil water content, the recession rate of finer soil is usually lower than that of coarser soil. The proposed model can be used in irrigation management to predict approximate date for irrigation, as well as be embedded into watershed hydrological models to estimate the antecedent precipitation index.

Effects of spatial distribution of soil parameters on soil moisture retrieval from passive microwave remote sensing

In this paper,we studied the effect of spatial distribution of soil parameters on passive soil moisture retrieval at pixel scale.First,we evaluated the forward microwave emission model and soil moisture retrieval algorithm accuracy through the observa-tion of field experiments.Then,we used soil parameters in different spatial distribution patterns,including random,normal,and uniform distribution,to determine the different levels of heterogeneity on soil moisture retrieval,in order to seek the rela-tionship between heterogeneity and soil moisture retrieval error.Finally,we conducted a controlled heterogeneity effect ex-periment measurements using a Truck-mounted Multi-frequency Radiometer(TMMR) to validate our simulation results.This work has proved that the soil moisture retrieval algorithm had a high accuracy(RMSE=0.049 cm3 cm 3) and can satisfy the need of this research.The simulation brightness temperatures match well with observations,with RMSE=9.89 K.At passive microwave remote sensing pixel scale,soil parameters with different spatial distribution patterns could have different levels of error on soil moisture estimation.Overall,we found that soil moisture with a random distribution in a satellite pixel scale can cause the largest error,with a normal distribution being the second,and a uniform distribution the least due to the smallest het-erogeneity.

Progresses on microwave remote sensing of land surface parameters

Highly accurate observations at various scales on the land surface are urgently needed for the studies of many areas,such as hydrology,meteorology,and agriculture.With the rapid development of remote sensing techniques,remote sensing has had the capacity of monitoring many factors of the Earth's land surface.Especially,the space-borne microwave remote sensing systems have been widely used in the quantitative monitoring of global snow,soil moisture,and vegetation parameters with their all-weather,all-time observation capabilities and their sensitivities to the characteristics of land surface factors.Based on the electromagnetic theories and microwave radiative transfer equations,researchers have achieved great successes in the microwave remote sensing studies for different sensors in recent years.This article has systematically reviewed the progresses on five research areas including microwave theoretical modeling,microwave inversion on soil moisture,snow,vegetation and land surface temperatures.Through the further enrichment of remote sensing datasets and the development of remote sensing theories and inversion techniques,remote sensing including microwave remote sensing will play a more important role in the studies and applications of the Earth systems.

Simultaneous estimation of surface soil moisture and soil properties with a dual ensemble Kalman smoother

In this paper, a new state-parameter estimation approach is presented based on the dual ensemble Kalman smoother(DEn KS) and simple biosphere model(Si B2) to sequentially estimate both the soil properties and soil moisture profile by assimilating surface soil moisture observations. The Arou observation station, located in the upper reaches of the Heihe River in northwestern China, was selected to test the proposed method. Three numeric experiments were designed and performed to analyze the influence of uncertainties in model parameters, atmospheric forcing, and the model's physical mechanics on soil moisture estimates. Several assimilation schemes based on the ensemble Kalman filter(En KF), ensemble Kalman smoother(En KS), and dual En KF(DEn KF) were also compared in this study. The results demonstrate that soil moisture and soil properties can be simultaneously estimated by state-parameter estimation methods, which can provide more accurate estimation of soil moisture than traditional filter methods such as En KF and En KS. The estimation accuracy of the model parameters decreased with increasing error sources. DEn KS outperformed DEn KF in estimating soil moisture in most cases, especially where few observations were available. This study demonstrates that the DEn KS approach is a useful and practical way to improve soil moisture estimation.

Estimating Water Retention with Pedotransfer Functions Using Multi-Objective Group Method of Data Handling and ANNs

Pedotransfer functions （PTFs） have been developed to estimate soil water retention curves （SWRC） by various techniques. In this study PTFs were developed to estimate the parameters （θs, θr, α and λ） of the Brooks and Corey model from a data set of 148 samples. Particle and aggregate size distribution fractal parameters （PSDFPs and ASDFPs, respectively） were computed from three fractal models for either particle or aggregate size distribution. The most effective model in each group was determined by sensitivity analysis. Along with the other variables, the selected fractal parameters were employed to estimate SWRC using multi-objective group method of data handling （mGMDH） and different topologies of artificial neural networks （ANNs）. The architecture of ANNs for parametric PTFs was different regarding the type of ANN, output layer transfer functions and the number of hidden neurons. Each parameter was estimated using four PTFs by the hierarchical entering of input variables in the PTFs. The inclusion of PSDFPs in the list of inputs improved the accuracy and reliability of parametric PTFs with the exception of ~s- The textural fraction variables in PTF1 for the estimation of a were replaced with PSDFPs in PTF3. The use of ASDFPs as inputs significantly improved a estimates in the model. This result highlights the importance of ASDFPs in developing parametric PTFs. The mCMDH technique performed significantly better than ANNs in most PTFs.

Pedotransfer Functions for Estimating Soil Hydraulic Properties： A Review

Characterization of soil hydraulic properties is important to environment management; however, it is well recognized that it is laborious, time-consuming and expensive to directly measure soil hydraulic properties. This paper reviews the development of pedotransfer functions （PTFs） used as an alternative tool to estimate soil hydraulic properties during the last two decades. Modern soil survey techniques like satellite imagery/remote sensing has been used in developing PTFs. Compared to mechanistic approaches, empirical relationships between physical properties and hydraulic properties have received wide preference for predicting soil hydraulic properties. Many PTFs based on different parametric functions can be found in the literature. A number of researchers have pursued a universal function that can describe water retention characteristics of all types of soils, but no single function can be termed generic though van Cenuchten （VG） function has been the most widely adopted. Most of the reported parametric PTFs focus on estimation of VG parameters to obtain water retention curve （WRC）. A number of physical, morphological and chemical properties have been used as predictor variables in PTFs. Conventionally, regression algorithms/techniques （statistical/neurM regression） have been used for calibrating PTFs. However, there are reports of utilizing data mining techniques, e.g., pattern recognition and genetic algorithm. It is inferred that it is critical to refine the data used for calibration to improve the accuracy and reliability of the PTFs. Many statistical indices, including root mean square error （RMSE）, index of agreement （d）, maximum absolute error （ME）, mean absolute error （MAE）, coefficient of determination （r2） and correlation coefficient （r）, have been used by different researchers to evaluate and validate PTFs. It is argued that being location specific, research interest in PTFs will continue till generic PTFs are developed and validated. In future studies, improved methods will be required to extract information from the existing database.