Methodology for local correction of the heights of global geoid models to improve the accuracy of GNSS leveling

At present,one of the methods used to determine the height of points on the Earth’s surface is Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)leveling.It is possible to determine the orthometric or normal height by this method only if there is a geoid or quasi-geoid height model available.This paper proposes the methodology for local correction of the heights of high-order global geoid models such as EGM08,EIGEN-6C4,GECO,and XGM2019e_2159.This methodology was tested in different areas of the research field,covering various relief forms.The dependence of the change in corrected height accuracy on the input data was analyzed,and the correction was also conducted for model heights in three tidal systems:"tide free","mean tide",and"zero tide".The results show that the heights of EIGEN-6C4 model can be corrected with an accuracy of up to 1 cm for flat and foothill terrains with the dimensionality of 1°×1°,2°×2°,and 3°×3°.The EGM08 model presents an almost identical result.The EIGEN-6C4 model is best suited for mountainous relief and provides an accuracy of 1.5 cm on the 1°×1°area.The height correction accuracy of GECO and XGM2019e_2159 models is slightly poor,which has fuzziness in terms of numerical fluctuation.

The Economics of Competing Water Uses under a FERC Licensing Agreement: Estimation of Property Value, Recreation, and Hydroelectric Impacts

Reservoirs provide a variety of services with economic values across multiple sectors. As demands for reservoir services continue to grow and precipitation patterns evolve, it becomes ever more important to consider the integrated suite of values and tradeoffs that attend changes in water uses and availability. Section 316 (b) of the Clean Water Act requires that owners of certain water cooled power plants evaluate technologies and operational measures that can reduce their impacts to aquatic organisms. The studies must discuss the social costs and benefits of alternative technologies including cooling towers (79 Fed. Reg. 158, 48300 - 48439). Cooling towers achieve their effect through evaporation. This manuscript estimates the property value, recreation, and hydroelectric generation impacts that could result from the evaporative water loss associated with installing cooling towers at the McGuire Nuclear Generating Station (McGuire) located on Lake Norman, North Carolina. Although this study specifically evaluates the effects of evaporative water loss from cooling towers, its methods are applicable to estimating the economic benefits and costs of a new water user or reduced water input in any complex reservoir system that supports steam electric generation, hydroelectric generation, residential properties, recreation, irrigation, and municipal water use.

Shallow sub-lakes are essential for sustaining the successful wintering of waterbirds in Poyang Lake,China

For migratory waterbirds,the quality of wintering habitat is related to spring migration and successful breeding in the next year.The availability of food resources in the habitat is critical and varies within water levels.Although the water-level fluctuations in Poyang Lake have been extremely variable interannually in recent years,the wintering waterbird populations have remained relatively stable.Hence,the mechanism of maintaining the stability is worth exploring.This study aimed to compare the distribution of vegetation and herbivorous wa-terbirds in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017,focusing on three shallow sub-lakes and one main lake are.The results showed that the emergence of tubers and the growth of Carex spp.provided a continuous food supply and habitat for wintering waterbirds with a gradual decline in the water level.Shallow sub-lakes supported almost all of the tuber-eating waterbirds(1.42-1.62×10^(5))and most geese(1.34-1.53×10^(6)).However,the main lake area,covered with Persicaria hydropiper,did not provide adequate and accessible food.This resulted in almost no distribution of tuber-eating waterbirds,with only a few geese congregating in early winter.Our results demonstrated that the shallow sub-lakes under human control provided a different environment from the main lake and are key to sustaining the successful wintering of hundreds of thousands of migratory waterbirds in Poyang Lake.Therefore,we recommend refining the anthropogenic management of the shallow sub-lakes to regulate the water level to ensure the carrying capacity of Poyang Lake.

Impacts of artificial dams on terrestrial water storage changes and the Earth's elastic load response during 1950-2016: A case study of medium and large reservoirs in Chinese mainland

The construction of dams for intercepting and storing water has altered surface water distributions, landsea water exchanges, and the load response of the solid Earth. The lack of accurate estimation of reservoir properties through the land surface and hydrological models can lead to water storage simulation and extraction errors. This impact is particularly evident in many artificial reservoirs in China. The study aims to comprehensively assess the spatiotemporal distribution and trends of water storage in medium and large reservoirs(MLRs) in Chinese mainland during 1950-2016, and to investigate the gravity,displacement, and strain effects induced by the reservoir mass concentration using the load elasticity theory. In addition, the impoundment contributions of MLRs to the relative sea level changes were assessed using a sea-level equation. The results show impoundment increases in the MLRs during1950-2016, particularly in the Yangtze River(Changjiang) and southern basins, causing significant elastic load effects in the surrounding areas of the reservoirs and increasing the relative sea level in China's offshore. However, long-term groundwater estimation trends are overestimated and underestimated in the Yangtze River and southwestern basins, respectively, due to the neglect of the MLRs impacts or the uncertainty of the hydrological model's output(e.g., soil moisture, etc.). The construction of MLRs may reduce the water mass input from land to the ocean, thus slowing global sea level rise. The results of the impact of human activities on the regional water cycle provide important references and data support for improving the integration of hydrological models, evaluating Earth's viscoelastic responses under longterm reservoir storage, enhancing in-situ and satellite geodetic measurements, and identifying the main factors driving sea level changes.

Changes of Terrestrial Water Storage in the Yellow River Basin Under Global Warming

The increasing temperature in the Yellow River Basin has led to a rapid rise in the melting level height,at a rate of 5.98 m yr^(-1)during the cold season,which further contributes to the transition from snowfall to rainfall patterns.Between 1979 and 2020,there has been a decrease in snowfall in the Yellow River Basin at a rate of-3.03 mm dec^(-1),while rainfall has been increasing at a rate of 1.00 mm dec^(-1).Consequently,the snowfall-to-rainfall ratio(SRR)has decreased.Snowfall directly replenishes terrestrial water storage(TWS)in solid form until it melts,while rainfall is rapidly lost through runoff and evaporation,in addition to infiltrating underground or remaining on the surface.Therefore,the decreasing SRR accelerates the depletion of water resources.According to the surface water balance equation,the reduction in precipitation and runoff,along with an increase in evaporation,results in a decrease in TWS during the cold season within the Yellow River Basin.In addition to climate change,human activities,considering the region's dense population and extensive agricultural land,also accelerate the decline of TWS.Notably,irrigation accounts for the largest proportion of water withdrawals in the Yellow River Basin(71.8%)and primarily occurs during the warm season(especially from June to August).The impact of human activities and climate change on the water cycle requires further in-depth research.

Deformation and failure mechanism of Yanjiao rock slope influenced by rainfall and water level fluctuation of the Xiluodu hydropower station reservoir

With the construction of the Xiluodu hydropower station on the Jinsha River,the reservoir impoundment began in 2013 and the water level fluctuates annually between 540 m and 600 m above sea level.The Yanjiao rock slope which is located on the left bank of the Jinsha River 75 km upstream of the Xiluodu dam site,began to deform in 2014.The potential failure of the slope not only threatens Yanjiao town but also affects the safe operation of the Xiluodu reservoir.This paper is to find the factors influencing the Yanjiao slope deformation through field investigation,geotechnical reconnaissance,and monitoring.Results show that the Yanjiao slope can be divided into a bank collapse area(BCA)and a strong deformation area(SDA)based on the crack distribution characteristics of the slope.The rear area of the slope has been experiencing persistent deformation with a maximum cumulative displacement(GPS monitoring point G4)of 505 mm and 399 mm in the horizontal and vertical directions,respectively.The potential failure surface of the slope is formed 36 m below the surface based on the borehole inclinometer.The bank collapses of the Yanjiao slope are directly caused by the reservoir impoundment while the deformation area of the slope is affected by the combination of the rainfall and reservoir water level fluctuation.Based on mechanism of the Yanjiao slope,prestressed anchor combined with the surface drainage and slope unloading are recommended to prevent potential deformation.

Determining safe yield and mapping water level zoning in groundwater resources of the Neishabour Plain

Groundwater is a crucial sources of water supply,especially in arid and semi-arid areas around the world.With uncontrolled withdrawals and limited availability of these resources,it is essential to determine the safe yield of these valuable resources.The Hill method approach was used in this study to determine the safe yield the Neishabour aquifer in Khorasan Razvi province in Iran.The results showed that the safe yield in the Neishabour aquifer is 60%lower than the current pumping amounts during the study period,indicating that further overdrafts could result in the destruction of this aquifer.This highlights the importance of using the Hill method to estimate the permitted exploitation from other aquifers,thus preventing problems caused by over-extraction and maintaining stability of global groundwater levels.

Failure mechanism of a large-scale composite deposits caused by the water level increases

The failure of slope caused by variations in water levels on both banks of reservoirs is common.Reservoir landslides greatly threaten the safety of reservoir area.Taking large-scale composite deposits located on the Lancang River in Southwest China as a study case,the origin of the deposits was analyzed based on the field investigation and a multi-material model was established in the physical model test.Combined with numerical simulation,the failure mechanism of the composite deposits during reservoir water level variations was studied.The results indicate that the deformation of the large-scale composite deposits is a staged sliding mode during the impoundment process.The first slip deformation is greatly affected by the buoyancy weight-reducing effect,and the permeability of soil and variation in the water level are the factors controlling slope deformation initiation.The high water sensitivity and low permeability of fine grained soil play an important role in the re-deformation of deposits slope.During the impoundment process,the deformation trend of the deposit slope is decreasing,and vertical consolidation of soil and increasing hydrostatic pressure on the slope surface are the main reasons for deformation attenuation.It is considered that the probability of large-scale sliding of the deposits during the impoundment period is low.But the damage caused by local bank collapse of the deposit slope still needs attention.The results of this paper will further improve our understanding of the failure mechanism of composite deposits caused by water level increases and provide guidance for the construction of hydropower stations.

Evolutive Trend of Water Level in the Ebrie Lagoon by Reconstitution of the Tide Gauge Time Series in Front of the Abidjan Coastline (Côte d’Ivoire)

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report shows that sea-level rise, which has been accelerated since the 19th century resulting to the global warming, threatens coastal areas with high population growth. A Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) assessment highlighted the lack of data in Africa, and in Côte d’Ivoire in particular. In order to estimate the evolutionary trend of sea level along the Ivorian coast, and to draw up preventive plans to protect properties and populations, we digitized 65 years of historical tidegrams recorded in the Ebrie Lagoon, using the “Surfer” and “Nunieau” software, then processed them using “T-Tide” and “U-Tide” software. The average levels were calculated using the Demerliac filter from complete daily (day and night) recordings for providing a usable database of 31 years of hourly lagoon data from 1979 to 2015. Our results show that a mean water level in lagoon is 1.04 m. The evolutionary trend in sea level, estimated in the lagoon via the Vridi canal, during the rainy season is the most significant at 2.93 mm/year. This is followed by the dry season, with a trend of 2.89 mm/year. The flood season trend is 2.78 mm/year. This suggests that marine water inflows dominate continental inflows. Our results highlight the vulnerability of Côte d’Ivoire’s coasts to the risk of marine submersion.

A Water Level Forecast of Pattani River in the Southern of Thailand by Deep Learning

Nowadays, the deep learning methods are widely applied to analyze and predict the trend of various disaster events and offer the alternatives to make the appropriate decisions. These support the water resource management and the short-term planning. In this paper, the water levels of the Pattani River in the Southern of Thailand have been predicted every hour of 7 days forecast. Time Series Transformer and Linear Regression were applied in this work. The results of both were the water levels forecast that had the high accuracy. Moreover, the water levels forecasting dashboard was developed for using to monitor the water levels at the Pattani River as well.

Influence of Seasonal Ground Water Level Fluctuations on the Stability of the Rohingya Refugee Camp Hills of Ukhiya, Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—A Threat for Sustainable Development

Bangladesh is a south Asian Monsoonal Country and the recent precipitation pattern in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh is changing and increasing the number of monsoonal slope failures and landslide hazards in the Kutubpalong & Balukhali Rohingya camp area. An attempt has been made to see the influence of seasonal variation of ground water level (G.W.L.) fluctuations on the stability of the eco hills and forests of Ukhiya Teknaf region. Ukhiya hills are in great danger because of cutting trees from the hill slopes and it is well established that due to recent change of climate, short term rainfall for few consecutive days during monsoon might show an influence on the factor of safety (Fs) values of the camp hill slopes. A clear G.W.L. variation between dry and wet seasons has an influence on the stability (Fs) values indicating that climate has a strong influence on the stability and threatening sustainable development. A stable or marginally stable slope might be unstable during raining and show a variation of ground water level (G.W.L.). The generation of pore water pressure (P.W.P.) is also influenced by seasonal variation of ground water level. During wet season negative P.W.P. called suction plays an important role to occur slope failures in the Ukhiya hills. Based on all calculated factor of safety values (Fs) at different locations, four (4) susceptible landslide risk zones are identified. They are very high risk (Fs = 0.18 to 0.46), high risk (Fs = 0.56 to 0.75), medium risk (Fs = 0.76 to 1.0) and marginally stable areas (Fs ≈ 1). Proper geo-engineering measures must be taken by the concerned authorizes to reduce P.W.P. during monsoon by installing rain water harvesting system, allowing sufficient drainage & other geotechnical measures to reduce the risk of slope failures in the Ukhiya hills. Based on the stability factor (Fs) at different slope locations of the camp hills, a risk map of the investigated area has been produced for the local community for their safety and to build up awareness & to motivate them to evacuate the site during monsoonal slope failures. The established “Risk Maps” can be used for future geological engineering works as well as for sustainable planning, design and construction purposes relating to adaptation and mitigation of landslide risks in the investigated area.

The Relationship between Water Resources Use Efficiency and Scientific and Technological Innovation Level: Case Study of Yangtze River Basin in China

The Yangtze River Basin’s water resource utilization efficiency(WUE)and scientific and technological innovation level(STI)are closely connected,and the comprehension of these relationships will help to improve WUE and promote local economic growth and conservation of water.This study uses 19 provinces and regions along the Yangtze River’s mainstream from 2009 to 2019 as its research objects and uses a Vector Auto Regression(VAR)model to quantitatively evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of the coupling coordination degree(CCD)between the two subsystems of WUE and STI.The findings show that:(1)Both the WUE and STI in the Yangtze River Basin showed an upward trend during the study period,but the STI effectively lagged behind the WUE;(2)The CCD of the two subsystems generally showed an upward trend,and the CCD of each province was improved to varying degrees,but the majority of regions did not develop a high-quality coordination stage;(3)The CCD of the two systems displayed apparent positive spatial autocorrelation in the spatial correlation pattern,and there were only two types:high-high(H-H)urbanization areas and low-low(L-L)urbanization areas;(4)The STI showed no obvious response to the impact of the WUE,while the WUE responded greatly to the STI,and both of them were highly dependent on themselves.Optimizing their interaction mechanisms should be the primary focus of high-quality development in the basin of the Yangtze River in the future.These results give the government an empirical basis to enhance the WUE and promote regional sustainable development.

Characteristics of coseismic water level changes at Tangshan well for the Wenchuan MS_8.0 earthquake and its larger aftershocks

Coseismic water level changes which may have been induced by the Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake and its 15 larger aftershocks （Ms〉5.4） have been observed at Tangshan well. We analyze the correlation between coseismic parameters （maximum amplitude, duration, coseismic step and the time when the coseismic reach its maximum amplitude） and earthquake parameters （magnitude, well-epicenter distance and depth）, and then compare the time when the coseismic oscillation reaches its maximum amplitude with the seismogram from Douhe seismic station which is about 16.3 km away from Tangshan well. The analysis indicates that magnitude is the main factor influencing the induced coseismic water level changes, and that the well-epicenter distance and depth have less influence. Ms magnitude has the strongest correlation with the coseismic water level changes comparing to Mw and ML magnitudes. There exists strong correlation between the maximum amplitude, step size and the oscillation duration. The water level oscillation and step are both caused by dynamic strain sourcing from seismic waves. Most of the times when the oscillations reach their maximum amplitudes are between S and Rayleigh waves. The coseismic water level changes are due to the co-effect of seismic waves and hydro-geological environments.

A discussion on the records of water level “precursors” in Well Shuozhou, Shanxi Province

A lot of slow fluctuations of water level have been observed in the original recording maps of subsurface fluid in Well Shuozhou, Shanxi Province. Some typical recording maps of the 'precursors' are introduced in the paper and the features of the 'precursors' recorded by the well are analyzed. The results show that 38% strong earthquakes possess this kind of record, which has a fluctuation period arranging from several to tens of minutes and appear mostly two days before the earthquakes. Moreover, the mechanism, transmission and responding conditions of well water level are discussed, as well as the scientific meaning and practical value of the 'precursor' of the well water level in earthquake predictions.

Dynamic analysis of water level in the Wanquan Well and the precursory anomalies of earthquakes

According to the characteristics of frequent water level step-variation in the Wanquan Well, the step-variation frequency change on the time axis can be regarded as a sequence of step-variation. A study of the relationship between the process of development and evolution of the sequential step-variation and the regional seismicity indicated that the sequential step-variation anomalies are rather better in coincidence with the time, magnitude and frequency of regional seismic activities, which may predict the seismicity trend in months. Furthermore, on this basis, if the water level changes in a characteristic manner, the seismic regime during the time period from several days to 20 days or more may be evaluated. By using the method presented in this paper we had a prediction about the Baotou ML=6.6 earthquake on May 3, 1996. This event occurred within the predicted time span but with a less magnitude and a little location deviation.

Co-seismic Water Level and Temperature Responses of Some Wells to Far-Field Strong Earthquakes and Their Mechanisms

The observation of water temperature in deep wells has been carried out for more than 20 years in China.However,study on the mechanism of water temperature response to earthquakes is inadequate.During the study of the co-seismic response characteristics of water level and temperature in 121 wells within the China subsurface fluid monitoring network at the time of the December 26,2004,M-S8.7 Indonesia earthquake,we found regular response characteristics,that is,when the water level in a deep well oscillates,the water temperature in the same well will mostly experience a cycle from dropping to restoration at the same time.The process will continue for dozens of minutes to several hours.In order to confirm the observed phenomenon,we collected the digital water level and temperature observation data for 39 far-field strong earthquakes from the Tangshan well in Hebei Province(with the data set beginning in 2001).The same response characteristics were observed.Based on the analysis of the influencing factors that may cause the water temperature drop,the authors suggest the gas escape mechanism for co-seismic water temperature drop and posit two main factors that influence the water temperature drop during the process of gas escape.Finally,the authors provide a rational explanation of some observed phenomena based on the mechanism.

A Discussion on the Generality of Precursor Waves on Well Water Level Records

Taking five underground water level observation wells with high earthquake response capability and located in Shanxi,Hebei and Inner Mongolia as study objects,this paper studies and discusses the generality of precursor waves in well water levels before strong earthquakes. It is indicated that the precursor waves often happen before strong earthquakes,with the ratio of occurrence up to 65% ( 41 /63 ) ; the precursor waves have poor generality in different observation wells,which may be related to the different well-aquifer system of different observation wells and the different source parameters of earthquakes. Compared to the seismic water level fluctuations in a single well,the number of precursor wave times recorded in well water levels before strong earthquakes is slightly less than that of seismic water level fluctuations,with a ratio between 39. 7% and 50. 7%, respectively. The number of observation wells with precursor wave recordings before earthquakes accounts for up to 66. 7% of the total number of observation wells. The precursor wave in well water level records has a certain generality in terms of the number of times recorded and the spatial distribution,except for its manifestation characteristics.

Impact of Grouting and Loading of Building Construction on the Water Level of Tangshan Mine Well

The water level rising rate of Tangshan mine well significantly accelerated in 2010,and the ascensional range was obviously higher than that of the same period in previous years.From the view of groundwater dynamics and loading effects,and based on the water pumping( pouring) water test model and semi-infinite elastic space theory model under uniform load,the effects of grouting and loading of nearby building construction on the well water level were analyzed. Results show that grouting at a distance of 200 ~ 700 m to the well,with amount of 2500m3 per day and duration of 270 d,can cause an 8 ~ 11 m rise of well water level; and loading of large-area building construction can cause about a 4m rise of well water level. Through the analysis of these factors,we find that the water level anomalous rising of Tangshan mine well was relevant to grouting and loading of the nearby building construction. This study provides a scientific basis for anomalous rising analysis of water level of Tangshan mine well.

Analysis on the Characteristics of the Coseismic Response of Water Levels Recorded in Three Wells in Hainan,China to the Two Sumatra-Andaman Strong Earthquakes

The characteristics of seismic water level fluctuations of the two Sumatra-Andaman strong earthquakes with magnitude 8.7 and 8.5 on December 26,2004 and March 29,2005 recorded at Jiaji well,Qionghai,Hainan were analyzed,the features of the infrequent "step" changes of well water level after the two earthquakes were also analyzed and the mechanism of the "step change" of well water level was discussed.Then the high-sample-rate digital observation data of seismically-induced water level fluctuations of the Sumatra-Andaman strong earthquakes with magnitude 8.7 and 8.5 recorded at Nanbin well,Sanya and Tanniu well,Wenchang were analyzed.The results suggest that the dominant period of the seismic well water level fluctuation in all three wells was comparatively accordant,the amplitudes of seismic water level fluctuation of the same earthquake in different wells were clearly different,the time duration of seismic water level fluctuations of different earthquakes at the same well was also clearly different.

Tidal Response Characteristics of the Well Water Level in the Sichuan-Yunnan Region

In this paper,the long time series data of the well water-level data of 12 wells in the Sichuan and Yunnan area is analyzed by the Baytap-G tidal analysis software,and well water level tidal response characteristic parameters( amplitude ratio and phase change)are extracted. We analyzed the features of the shape and stage change,and characteristic parameters of the tidal response of well water level before and after the earthquakes,which can provide a new method and approach to analyzing the response relationships between well water level and earth tide and barometric pressure. The results show that Luguhu Well and 9 other wells are affected by earth tides,and their well water level amplitude ratios and phases are relatively stable; the Nanxi Well and Dayao Well water level changes are affected by the barometric pressure combined with tide force,and their well water level amplitude ratios and phases are more discrete. The water level amplitude ratios and phases of Jiangyou Well,Luguhu Well and Dongchuan Well are significant to large earthquakes,and the relationship between seismic energy density and water level amplitude ratios and phases of M_2 wave of the three wells are presented.