Temperature dependence of large-scale water-retention curves: a case study

A local-scale model for temperature-dependence of water-retention curves may be applicable to large scales. Consideration of this temperature dependence is important for modeling unsaturated flow and transport in the subsurface in numerous cases. Although significant progress has been made in understanding and modeling this temperature effect, almost all the previous studies have been limited to small scales (on the order of several centimeters). Numerical experiments were used to investigate the possibility of extending a local-scale model for the temperature-dependence of water retention curves to large scales (on the order of meters). Temperature effects on large-scale hydraulic properties are of interest in many practical applications. Numerical experiment results indicate that the local-scale model can indeed be applicable to large-scale problems for special porous media with high air entry values. A typical porous medium of this kind is the porous tuff matrix in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed geologic disposal site for national high-level nuclear wastes. Whether this finding can approximately hold for general cases needs to be investigated in future studies.     

Effects of detailed soil spatial information on watershed modeling across different model scales

Hydro-ecological modelers often use spatial variation of soil information derived from conventional soil surveys in simulation of hydro-ecological processes over watersheds at mesoscale (10–100 km²). Conventional soil surveys are not designed to provide the same level of spatial detail as terrain and vegetation inputs derived from digital terrain analysis and remote sensing techniques. Soil property layers derived from conventional soil surveys are often incompatible with detailed terrain and remotely sensed data due to their difference in scales. The objective of this research is to examine the effect of scale incompatibility between soil information and the detailed digital terrain data and remotely sensed information by comparing simulations of watershed processes based on the conventional soil map and those simulations based on detailed soil information across different simulation scales. The detailed soil spatial information was derived using a GIS (geographical information system), expert knowledge, and fuzzy logic based predictive mapping approach (Soil Land Inference Model, SoLIM). The Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) is used to simulate two watershed processes: net photosynthesis and stream flow. The difference between simulation based on the conventional soil map and that based on the detailed predictive soil map at a given simulation scale is perceived to be the effect of scale incompatibility between conventional soil data and the rest of the (more detailed) data layers at that scale. Two modeling approaches were taken in this study: the lumped parameter approach and the distributed parameter approach. The results over two small watersheds indicate that the effect does not necessarily always increase or decrease as the simulation scale becomes finer or coarser. For a given watershed there seems to be a fixed scale at which the effect is consistently low for the simulated processes with both the lumped parameter approach and the distributed parameter approach.     

The role of diapycnal mixing for the equilibrium response of thermohaline circulation

Using a zonally averaged, one-hemispheric numerical model of the thermohaline circulation, the dependence of the overturning strength on the surface equator-to-pole density difference is investigated. It is found that the qualitative behavior of the thermohaline circulation depends crucially on the nature of the small-scale vertical mixing in the interior of the ocean. Two different representations of this process are considered: constant vertical diffusivity and the case where the rate of mixing energy supply is taken to be a fixed quantity, implying that the vertical diffusivity decreases with increasing stability of the water column. When the stability-dependent diffusivity parameterization is applied, a weaker density difference is associated with a stronger circulation, contrary to the results for a fixed diffusivity. A counterintuitive consequence of the stability-dependent mixing is that the poleward atmospheric freshwater flux, which acts to reduce the thermally imposed density contrast, strengthens the thermally dominated circulation and its attendant poleward heat transport. However, for a critical value of the freshwater forcing, the thermally dominated branch of steady states becomes unstable, and is succeeded by strongly time-dependent states that oscillate between phases of forward and partly reversed circulation. When a constant vertical diffusivity is employed, on the other hand, the thermally dominated circulation is replaced by a steady salinity-dominated state with reversed flow. Thus in this model, the features of the vertical mixing are essential for the steady-state response to freshwater forcing as well as for the character of flow that is attained when the thermally dominated circulation becomes unstable.Responsible Editor: Jin-Song von Storch     

中国区域年代地层研究取得重要进展

近10余年来,特别是2000年召开第三届地层会议后,中国年代地层研究得到很快发展。首先,在全国地层委员会主持下,经各断代工作组专家们的共同努力,编制完成了《中国区域年代地层（地质年代）表》,系统建立了从震旦系至第四系中共102个阶（其中包括52个陆相地层区的阶）和新建3个系级单位。从2001年开始,在中国地质调查局的大力支持下,由全国地层委员会主持,组织全国知名地质科研院所、高校和部分地质调查院的专家,围绕中国区域年代地层表,开展了系统的建阶研究。5年来,共涉及45个阶,9个界线层型和2个新建系及2个统级单位的研究,取得重要进展。先后已有4个全球界线层型（GSSPs）被国际地质科学联合会批准建立在中国,还有3～4个全球界线层型正待国际地质学科学联合会批准建立在中国,另有3～4个界线层型剖面有望争取成为全球的界线层型。其他研究所涉及到的阶、系、统等单位,也有明显进展,成熟度明显提高,为《中国区域年代地层（地质年代）表》的广泛应用奠定了重要基础。     

近百年中国、北半球和南半球气温内在结构比较（I）

气温气候资料是一个含有月、年、十年、百年等时间尺度的分形客体．大尺度上是冷暖之分,而每个冷（或暖）又分为较小尺度上的冷暖,形成层次结构．利用它的子波变换的尺度α－时间位置ｔ０表述,可以构造出分段线性一维映射动力系统,这个映射表征气候的层次结构,反映气候变化的突变点时间位置的规律和标度不变性．文中讨论了构造一维动力映射的基本原理,并以中国气温为例进行了验证．     

大气污染物SOx输送方程的尺度分析

文中用量纲分析方法分析了控制大气污染物输送方程的动力学特性。提出了 6种反映大气污染物输送过程中各种动力、物理和化学过程相对重要性的动力学参数。并以硫氧化物为例进行了各参数量级大小分析 ,尤其对 3种起汇作用 (去除机理 )的机理 (化学转化、干沉降和湿清除 )在不同尺度大气污染过程中的作用进行了详细分析。结果表明 :在一般情况下 ,SO2 的气相化学作用小于干沉降和湿清除的作用 ;干沉降作用很依赖于模式最底层厚度的选取 ;在有降雨时湿清除作用一般较大。文中还对大气污染物SOx 输送方程各项特征量的量级作了分析对比 ,得出了控制不同尺度大气污染物输送过程的零级近似方程和一级近似方程 ,并指出了这些方程的基本特征     

基于尺度因素的地下水随机分析

针对小尺度的各态历经假设的失效,研究了小尺度上多孔介质特性参数统计特征。利用基于K-L(Karhunen-Loeve)展开和混沌展开的谱模型,分析了尺度大小对地下水流动的影响。结果表明,尺度大小导致了特征值系列和特征函数系列的变化,尺度的变化对水头、含水量、流速影响程度不同;水头和流速方差与尺度相关,尺度越大,水头和流速方差越大;研究尺度的变化对水头、含水量、流速均值产生的影响较小。     

中国土地利用/土地覆盖的多尺度空间分布特征分析

研究了我国土地利用影响因素及其空间规模相关性,采用数理统计与ＧＩＳ手段从多个规模尺度上探讨了我国土地利用的空间分布特征。其结果对全国以及各级政府进行土地利用规划、制定相应的土地开发与利用政策等具有一定的参考意义。     

A study of Coriolis effects on long waves propagating in an unbounded ocean, channel and basin

The effects of Coriolis force on long waves have been discussed based on gravity waves propagating in an unbounded ocean, channel and basin. In case of ocean, results show that the Coriolis effect will be significant and negligible, when the wave period is comparable to 2π/f and much shorter, respectively. Results also show in a channel, the wave amplitude and water particle velocity decrease exponentially in the positive y direction in the northern hemisphere (where f is positive). Moreover, in a basin, the Cotidal lines have been found as curves and rotate counterclockwise around the origin.     

空间因子分析与沉积地球化学旋回元素组合的确定

１９９５年５月,引用地矿部“七五”东北太平洋ＣＣＡ１２１柱状沉积物的８个元素地球化学分析数据,利用空间因子分析方法确定两种周期度（Ｄ１＝６５ｃｍ,Ｄ２＝１０５ｃｍ）内的沉积地球化学旋回元素组合,并据此探讨多金属结核成矿与物源环境的关系,研究表明,与小尺度周期（Ｄ１＝６５ｃｍ）对应的元素组合：Ｕｄ１（Ｍｎ,Ｃｏ,Ｃｕ,Ａｌ２Ｏ３,ＳｉＯ２和Ｕｄ２（Ｆｅ,Ｃａ,Ｃｏ,Ｃｕ）与大尺度周期对应的元素组合为