On the Variability of Charleston South Carolina Winds, Atmospheric Temperatures, Water Levels, Waves and Precipitation

Atmospheric winds, air temperatures, water levels, precipitation and oceanic waves in the Charleston South Carolina (SC) coastal zone are evaluated for their intrinsic, internal variability over temporal scales ranging from hours to multi-decades. The purpose of this study was to bring together a plethora of atmospheric and coastal ocean state variable data in a specific locale, to assess temporal variabilities and possible relationships between variables. The questions addressed relate to the concepts of weather and climate. Data comprise the basis of this study. The overall distributions of atmospheric and coastal oceanic state variable variability, including wind speed, direction and kinematic distributions and state variable amplitudes over a variety of time scales are assessed. Annual variability is shown to be highly variable from year to year, making arithmetic means mathematically tractable but physically meaningless. Employing empirical and statistical methodologies, data analyses indicate the same number of intrinsic, internal modes of temporal variability in atmospheric temperatures, coastal wind and coastal water level time series, ranging from hours to days to weeks to seasons, sub-seasons, annual, multi-year, decades, and centennial time scales. This finding demonstrates that the atmosphere and coastal ocean in a southeastern U.S. coastal city are characterized by a set of similar frequency and amplitude modulated phenomena. Kinematic hodograph descriptors of atmospheric winds reveal coherent rotating and rectilinear particle motions. A mathematical statistics-based wind to wave-to-wave algorithm is developed and applied to offshore marine buoy data to create an hour-by-hour forecast capability from 1 to 24 hours;with confidence levels put forward. This affects a different approach to the conventional deterministic model forecasting of waves.

A Discussion on the Abnormal Tidal Phase Relationship between Water Level and Water Temperature in Qixian Well

Tidal phase of water temperature in Qixian well,Shanxi Province is ahead of water level,which is different from the normal tidal relationship between water temperature and water level. Observation curves of this phenomenon are introduced in this paper,and co-seismic response data of water temperature and water level are used to check the thermometer time system,confirming that this phenomenon is true. Using the harmonic analysis method,variations of time difference between water temperature and water level for the M2 wave are worked out,which indicates that this phenomenon exists during the whole observation. According to the variations of phase lags for water temperature and water level,and the survey of observation conditions, it is considered that the abnormal phenomenon may be related to inadequate passage of water caused by a well blockage at the depth where the water temperature probe was set.

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 general multi-objective programming model for minimum ecological flow or water level of inland water bodies

Assessment of ecological flow or water level for water bodies is important for the protection of de- graded or degrading ecosystems caused by water shortage in arid regions, and it has become a key issue in water resources planning. In the past several decades, many methods have been proposed to assess ecological flow for rivers and ecological water level for lakes or wetlands. To balance water uses by human and ecosystems, we proposed a general multi-objective programming model to determine minimum ecological flow or water level for inland water bodies, where two objectives are water index for human and habitat index for ecosystems, respectively Using the weighted sum method for multi-objective optimization, minimum ecological flow or water level can be determined from the breakpoint in the water index-habitat index curve, which is similar to the slope method to de- termine minimum ecological flow from wetted perimeter-discharge curve. However, the general multi-objective programming model is superior to the slope method in its physical meaning and calculation method. This model provides a general analysis method for ecological water uses of different inland water bodies, and can be used to define minimum ecological flow or water level by choosing appropriate water and habitat indices. Several com- monly used flow or water level assessment methods were found to be special cases of the general model, including the wetted perimeter method and the multi-objective physical habitat simulation method for ecological river flow, the inundated forest width method for regeneration flow of floodplain forest and the lake surface area method for eco- logical lake level. These methods were applied to determine minimum ecological flow or water level for two repre- sentative rivers and a lake in northern Xinjiang of China, including minimum ecological flow for the Ertix River, minimum regeneration flow for floodplain forest along the midstream of Kaxgar River, and minimum ecological lake level for the Ebinur Lake. The results illustrated the versatility of the general model, and can provide references for water resources planning and ecosystem protection for these rivers and lake.

Evaluation of regional water resources carrying capacity based on binary index method and reduction index method

Based on the regional water resources carrying capacity(WRCC)evaluation principles and evaluation index system in the National Technical Outline of Water Resources Carrying Capacity Monitoring and Early Warning(hereafter referred to as the Technical Outline),this paper elaborates on the collection and sorting of the basic data of water resources conditions,water resources development and utilization status,social and economic development in basins,analysis and examination of integrity,consistency,normativeness,and rationality of the basic data,and the necessity of WRCC evaluation.This paper also describes the technique of evaluating the WRCC in prefecture-level cities and city-level administrative divisions in the District of the Taihu Lake Basin,which is composed of the Taihu Lake Basin and the Southeastern River Basin.The evaluation process combines the binary index evaluation method and reduction index evaluation method.The former,recommended by the Technical Outline,uses the total water use and the amount of exploited groundwater as evaluation indices,showing stronger operability,while the latter is developed by simplifying and optimizing the comprehensive index system with greater systematicness and completeness.The mutual validation and adjustment of the results of the above-mentioned two evaluation methods indicate that the WRCC of the District of the Taihu Lake Basin is overloaded in general because some prefecture-level cities and city-level administrative divisions in the Taihu Lake Basin and the Southeastern River Basin are in a severely overloaded state.In order to explain this conclusion,this paper analyzes the causes of WRCC overloading from the aspects of basin water environment,water resources development and utilization,water resources regulation and control ability,water resources utilization efficiency,and water resources management.

Mechanism of Photothermal Energy on the Growth and Yield of Rice under Water Level Regulation

The flooding caused by heavy rainfall in rice irrigation area and the drought caused by the drop of groundwater level are the research focus in the field of irrigation and drainage.Based on the comparative experiment and farmland water level control technology,this paper studied the average soil temperature under different soil layers(TM),the daily temperature change(TDC),the photosynthetic accumulation of single leaf and canopy in rice,and response of photothermal energy to rice root characteristics and growth factors in the paddy field under drought conditions.The results showed that the peak soil temperature under drought treatment was basically synchronous with the conventional irrigation,and the it was delayed by 2–6 h under flooding treatment compared to the drought treatment.Under different water gradients,the temperature decreased according to T_(L)>T_(CK)>T_(H)(L,H and CK represented water flooding,drought and control treatments),and the TDC was opposite.In addition to milky stage,the daily photosynthetic(Pn)accumulation of single leaf and canopy in the flooding and drought treated paddy fields were lower than conventional irrigation,and had a negative impact on leaf area index(LAI)and yield(YR),but did not form fatal damage.The root characteristic factors,RL(root length),RW(root weight),R-CR(root-canopy ratio)were promoted with drought,and YR under light drought was slightly higher than that under heavy drought.There was a strong positive correlation between TM and R-CR in all rice growth stages,while TDC-5 was negatively correlated with effective panicle number,TDC and R-CR in 20 cm soil layer were positively correlated.The correlation between daily Pn accumulation and YR was low,and the correlation between Pn and YR factors was negative or weak positive or negative.The total Pn was positively correlated with yield factors,and the correlation coefficient was higher than that of daily Pn.

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.

Impacts of climate change and human activities on water resources in the Ebinur Lake Basin, Northwest China

Changing climatic conditions and extensive human activities have influenced the global water cycle.In recent years,significant changes in climate and land use have degraded the watershed ecosystem of the Ebinur Lake Basin in Xinjiang,Northwest China.In this paper,variations of runoff,temperature,precipitation,reference evapotranspiration,lake area,socio-economic water usage,groundwater level and water quality in the Ebinur Lake Basin from 1961 to 2015 were systematically analyzed by the Mann-Kendall test methods(M-K)mutation test,the cumulative levelling method,the climate-sensitive method and land-use change index.In addition,we evaluated the effects of human activities on land use change and water quality.The results reveal that there was a significant increase in temperature and precipitation from 1961 to 2015,despite a decrease in reference evapotranspiration.The Wenquan station was not significantly affected by human activities as it is situated at a higher altitude.Runoff at this station increased significantly with climate warming.In contrast,runoff at the Jinghe station was severely affected by numerous human activities.Runoff decreased without obvious fluctuations.The contributions of climate change to runoff variation at the Jinghe and Wenquan stations were 46.87%and 58.94%,respectively;and the contributions of human activities were 53.13%and 41.06%,respectively.Land-use patterns in the basin have changed significantly between 1990 and 2015:urban and rural constructed lands,saline-alkali land,bare land,cultivated land,and forest land have expanded,while areas under grassland,lake,ice/snow and river/channel have declined.Human activities have dramatically intensified land degradation and desertification.From 1961 to 2015,both the inflow into the Ebinur Lake and the area of the lake have declined year by year;groundwater levels have dropped significantly,and the water quality has deteriorated during the study period.In the oasis irrigation area below the runoff pass,human activities mainly influenced the utilization mode and quantity of water resources.Changes in the hydrology and quantity of water resources were driven primarily by the continuous expansion of cultivated land and oasis,as well as the growth of population and the construction of hydraulic engineering projects.After 2015,the effects of some ecological protection projects were observed.However,there was no obvious sign of ecological improvement in the basin,and some environmental problems continue to persist.On this basis,this study recommends that the expansion of oasis should be limited according to the carrying capacity of the local water bodies.Moreover,in order to ensure the ecological security of the basin,it is necessary to determine the optimal oasis area for sustainable development and improve the efficiency of water resources exploitation and utilization.

The Impact of Water Level Decline on Water Quality in the Epilimnion of Lake Kinneret (Israel): Perennial Perspectives

Long term record (1933-2014) of Water Level (WL), nutrient concentrations, plankton densities, and temperatures in the epilimnion of Lake Kinneret was analyzed. The aim is to identify if water quality is deteriorated when the WL is low. It was found that water temperature increased and the composition and biomass of plankton communities were modified. Nitrogen and TDP decreased but TP slightly increased in the epilimnion during low WL conditions. The quality of epilimnetic water was not deteriorated and followed by a slight oligotrophism trend.

Water Quality Assessment, Trophic Classification and Water Resources Management

Quantification of water quality (WQ) is an integral part of scientifically based water resources management. The main objective of this study was comparative analysis of two approaches applied for quantitative assessment of WQ: the trophic level index (TLI) and the Delphi method (DM). We analyzed the following features of these conceptually different approaches: A. similarity of estimates of lake WQ;B. sensitivity to indicating disturbances in the aquatic ecosystem structure and functioning;C. capacity to reflect the impact of major management measures on the quality of water resources. We compared the DM and TLI based on results from a series of lakes covering varying productivity levels, mixing regimes and climatic zones. We assumed that the conservation of aquatic ecosystem in some predefined, “reference”, state is a major objective of sustainable water resources management in the study lakes. The comparison between the two approaches was quantified as a relationship between the DM ranks and respective TLI values. We show that being a classification system, the TLI does not account for specific characteristics of aquatic ecosystems and the array of different potential uses of the water resource. It indirectly assumes that oligotrophication is identical to WQ improvement, and reduction of economic activity within the lake catchment area is the most effective way to improve WQ. WQ assessed with the TLI is more suitable for needs of natural water resources management if eutrophication is a major threat. The DM allows accounting for several water resource uses and therefore it may serve as a more robust and comprehensive tool for WQ quantification and thus for sustainable water resources management.

Finite element simulation of three-dimensional temperature field in underwater welding

Mathematical models of three-dimensional temperature fields in underwater welding with moving heat sources are built. Double ellipsoid Gauss model is proposed as heat sources models. Several factors which affect the temperature fields of underwater welding are analyzed. Water has little influence on thermal efftciency. Water convection coefftcient varies with the temperature difference between the water and the workpiece , and water convection makes molten pool freeze quickly. With the increase of water depth, the dimensions of heat sources model should be reduced as arc shrinks. Finite element technology is used to solve mathematical models. ANSYS software is used as finite element tool, and ANSYS Parametric Design Language is used to develop subprograms for loading the moving heat sources and the various convection coefftcients. Experiment results show that computational results by using double ellipsoid Gauss heat sources model accord well with the experimental results.

Simulation of the water level influence on the difference within the water-tube tiltmeter in Shuangyang Lake

This article analyzes the relationship between the water level and the water-tube tilting in Shuangyang lake,based on the differential deformation features reflected by the NS and EW components of the water-tube tiltmeter.The results show a good spatiotemporal consistency between the variation of water level and the NS tilt component,which is considered to be affected by the magnitude and duration of the water level variation in Shuangyang Lake.The article uses Landsat remote sensing image data to extract the water boundary of Shuan-gyang Lake,and takes advantage of the finite element numerical simulation method to build three-dimensional models for different geological structural conditions of the Shuangyang seismostation.The simulation results show that when the underground medium is granite,the effect of water level variation on the vertical displacement of the surface is non-directional.With a 50-m soil layer in Model 2,the simulated NS tilt variation is equivalent to the actual observed water-tube tiltmeter NS component when the water level variation is 0.44 m and 0.8m.When the variation of water level reaches 2.0m,the simulation result of the NS component is 79.6 ms,which is slightly larger than the observed result of 60.32 ms.However,the simulation results show that the variation of the EW component is significantly smaller than that of the NS one.Due to the fact that the Shuan-gyang lake is long in the NS direction and short in the EW direction,the existence of the soil layer tends to generate ground deformation along the NS direction in the vicinity of the lake after the increase of water level,thereby resulting in the difference of the ground deformation in the two directions.

Study on the Lowest Navigable Water Level

The design lowest navigable water level is a primary index to the channel grade division.But differ- ent method can get different calculated result,and that even brings contradiction to decide the navigation grade.In this paper the differences between guaranteed rate method and guaranteed rate-frequency method on the fundamental concept of guaranteed rate and the calculated result are carried out.According to the theoreti- cal expression forms of the two methods,the reason leading to the difference is an...

Characteristics and Mechanisms of Co-seismic Groundwater Responses in Tayuan Well

Co-seismic responses of the groundwater level and temperature in the Tayuan well of 68 earthquakes （Ms ≥ 7.0） from January 2004 to September 2007 were analyzed. Results show that the Tayuan well has a strong ability to record large earthquakes worldwide, and the coseismic response shows a pattern of water level oscillation →temperature decrease→ oscillation stop → temperature resumption. Further analyses indicate that the amplitude of the water level and temperature change is not ouly concerned with the epicenter distance and magnitude, but is also related to the temporal state of aquifer while the seismic wave arrives. Mechanisms of water level oscillation, temperature decrease, water level oscillation stop and temperature resumption are discussed, with the results from previous research on the co-seismic response mechanisms analyzed. These include gas escape, heat diffusion and cold water seepage. Results show that a single mechanism could not explain the co-seismic response of the Tayuan well water level to multiple earthquakes; the results were garnered from a variety of jointly acting mechanisms.

Tele-seismic coseismic well temperature changes and their interpretation

Coseismic water level oscillation and correlated deep water temperature changes have been observed in a water well at Tangshan City by high sensitivity measurement. Amount of water temperature changes depend on amplitude of water level oscillation. Coseismic water temperatures always decrease as water level oscillates, drop of temperature ranges from 0.001℃ to 0.01℃ corresponding to amplitude of water level oscillation from several centimeters to about one meter. Temperatures usually recover one to several hours after the oscillation. We suggest that the temperature drop is produced by dispersive transfer of heat as the water oscillates, and follow-up thermal conduction makes temperature recovery. Our finite element calculations support quantitatively the idea. High accuracy measurements of water temperature at different depths in the future may test our interpretation.

Various admixtures to mitigate the long-term strength retrogression of Portland cement cured under high pressure and high temperature conditions

In order to investigate the problem of long-term strength retrogression in oil well cement systems exposed to high pressure and high temperature(HPHT)curing conditions,various influencing factors,including cement sources,particle sizes of silica flour,and additions of silica fume,alumina,colloidal iron oxide and nano-graphene,were investigated.To simulate the environment of cementing geothermal wells and deep wells,cement slurries were directly cured at 50 MPa and 200?C.Mineral compositions(as determined by X-ray diffraction Rietveld refinement),water permeability,compressive strength and Young’s modulus were used to evaluate the qualities of the set cement.Short-term curing(2e30 d)test results indicated that the adoption of 6 m m ultrafine crystalline silica played the most important role in stabilizing the mechanical properties of oil well cement systems,while the addition of silica fume had a detrimental effect on strength stability.Long-term curing(2e180 d)test results indicated that nano-graphene could stabilize the Young’s modulus of oil well cement systems.However,none of the ad-mixtures studied here can completely prevent the strength retrogression phenomenon due to their inability to stop the conversion of amorphous to crystalline phases.

Temperature Effects on Unsaturated Hydraulic Property of Bentonite-Sand Buffer Backfilling Mixtures

The influence of temperature on the engineered properties of bentonite-sand mixtures （B/S） is of major concern in the design of engineered barriers in underground repositories for high-level radioactive waste disposal. We experimentally studied the influence of temperature on soil unsaturated hydraulic properties related to water holding capacity and permeability of GMZ B/S in China. The vapor equilibrium method and water infiltration apparatus were used to measure the soil water characteristic curve （SWCC） and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity （k）. The results show that the SWCC under different temperatures from 20℃ to 60 ℃ tends to be the same. Temperature influence on unsaturated permeability is more relevant at low suctions, no clear effect is detected below a degree of saturation of 74%, and experimental data show that temperature dependence on unsaturated permeability is small.

APPLICATION OF STOCHASTIC FINITE ELEMENT METHOD TO STRENGTH AND STABILITY ANALYSIS OF EARTH DAMS

This paper applies the stochastic finite element method to analyse the statistics of stresses in earth dams and assess the safety and reliability of the dams. Formulations of the stochastic finite element method are briefly reviewed and the procedure for assessing dam's strength and stability is described. As an example, a detailed analysis for an actual dam Nululin dam is performed. A practical method for studying built-dams based on the prototype observation data is described.

Impact of Accumulated Temperature on Wetland Vegetation Area in Poyang Lake

Accumulated temperature,which is now widely used in agronomy,is an important ecological factor to the growth of plants,but few relative studies have been found on the vegetation area of floodplain grasslands in Poyang Lake.This research used the classification and regression tree(CART)to classify normalized vegetation area index derived from MODIS LAI(Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Leaf Area Index)images from 2008 to 2014,according to different climate indexes,such as mean daily air temperature(n),accumulated temperature(jw),daily maximum temperature(g),daily minimum temperature(d),accumulative precipitation(j),water level(s)and average water level for 20 days preceding(a).The results showed that:(1)The accumulated temperature and the 20-day average WL(water level)were found to have the greatest impact on variation in wetland vegetation area,and they both dominated the classification process twice;(2)Two classification thresholds of accumulated temperature were 790°C and 1784°C,approximately corresponding to the beginning of April and midMay;(3)790°C could also be used as a threshold to select remote sensing images to analysis the annual variability of vegetation,i.e.while accumulated temperature is lower than 790°C,remote sensing images of similar accumulated temperature rather than similar date should be selected from different years for comparison.We also found that,effects of different hydrological factors on area of floodplain grasslands showed stage characteristics:(1)From January to March,water level changes slowly with less rainfall,as a result,the 20-day average WL which can interpret the hydrologic characteristics smoothly showed significant importance in this stage;(2)While entering April,intense rainfall make accumulative precipitation to be the dominating factor of classification;(3)From late April to mid-May,in condition of accumulative precipitation higher than 405 mm,daily water level is of most importance,because to the flood recession process as well as rapid water level fluctuations.

A coupled cryogenic thermo-hydro-mechanical model for frozen medium:Theory and implementation in FDEM

This paper presents the development of a coupled modeling approach to simulate cryogenic thermo-hydro-mechanical(THM)processes associated with a freezing medium,which is then implemented in the combined finite-discrete element method code(FDEM)for multi-physics simulation.The governing equations are deduced based on energy and mass conservation,and static equilibrium equations,considering water/ice phase change,where the strong couplings between multi-fields are supplemented by critical coupling parameters(e.g.unfrozen water content,permeability,and thermal conductivity).The proposed model is validated against laboratory and field experiments.Results show that the cryogenic THM model can well predict the evolution of strongly coupled processes observed in frozen media(e.g.heat transfer,water migration,and frost heave deformation),while also capturing,as emergent properties of the model,important phenomena(e.g.latent heat,cryogenic suction,ice expansion and distinct three-zone distribution)caused by water/ice phase change at laboratory and field scales,which are difficult to be all revealed by existing THM models.The novel modeling framework presents a gateway to further understanding and predicting the multi-physical coupling behavior of frozen media in cold regions.