scholarly journals Discharge Estimation with the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Hydraulic Methods in Shallow Rivers

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 2808
Author(s):  
Sergios Lagogiannis ◽  
Elias Dimitriou

Although river discharge is essential hydrologic information, it is often absent, especially for small rivers and remote catchment areas. Practical difficulties frequently impede the installation and operation of gauging stations, while satellite-sensed data have proved to be relatively useful only for discharge estimation of large-scale rivers. In this study, we propose a new methodology based on UAV-sensed data and photogrammetry techniques combined with empirical hydraulic equations for discharge estimation. In addition, two different riverbed particle size distributions were incorporated, to study the effect of fine sediment inclusion (or exclusion) in the estimation process. Accordingly, 17 study sites were selected and six different approaches were applied in each. Results show that at 75% of sites at least one approach produced an accurate discharge estimation, while in 10 out the 17 sites (58.8%) all six approaches produced accurate estimations. A strong correlation between a threshold value for the hydraulic radius (Rh = 0.3 m) of cross-sections and high estimation errors for sites exceeding it was also observed. The fine sediment inclusion improved only the performance of certain approaches and did not have a consistently positive effect. Overall, the relatively high percentage of sites with satisfactory discharge estimates indicates that using UAV-derived data and simple hydraulic equations can be used for this purpose, with an acceptable level of accuracy.

2009 ◽  
Vol 160 (5) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Otto ◽  
Sven Wagner ◽  
Peter Brang

The competitive pressure of naturally regenerated European beech (Fagus sylvatica) saplings on planted pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) was investigated on two 1.8 ha permanent plots near Habsburg and Murten (Switzerland). The plots were established with the aim to test methods of artificial oak regeneration after large-scale windthrow. On both plots, 80 oaks exposed to varying levels of competitive pressure from at most 10 neighbouring beech trees were selected. The height of each oak as well as stem and branch diameters were measured. The competitive pressure was assessed using Schütz's competition index, which is based on relative tree height, crown overlap and distance from competing neighbours. Oak trees growing without or with only slight competition from beech were equally tall, while oaks exposed to moderate to strong competition were smaller. A threshold value for the competition index was found above which oak height decreased strongly. The stem and branch diameters of the oaks started to decrease even if the competition from beech was slight, and decreased much further with more competition. The oak stems started to become more slender even with only slight competition from beech. On the moderately acid beech sites studied here, beech grow taller faster than oak. Thus where beech is competing with oak and the aim is to maintain the oak, competitive pressure on the oak must be reduced at an early stage. The degree of the intervention should, however, take the individual competitive interaction into account, with more intervention if the competition is strong.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1122
Author(s):  
Monica Ionita ◽  
Viorica Nagavciuc

The role of the large-scale atmospheric circulation in producing heavy rainfall events and floods in the eastern part of Europe, with a special focus on the Siret and Prut catchment areas (Romania), is analyzed in this study. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the socio-economic impacts of the most extreme flood events (e.g., July 2008, June–July 2010, and June 2020) is given. Analysis of the largest flood events indicates that the flood peaks have been preceded up to 6 days in advance by intrusions of high Potential Vorticity (PV) anomalies toward the southeastern part of Europe, persistent cut-off lows over the analyzed region, and increased water vapor transport over the catchment areas of Siret and Prut Rivers. The vertically integrated water vapor transport prior to the flood peak exceeds 300 kg m−1 s−1, leading to heavy rainfall events. We also show that the implementation of the Flood Management Plan in Romania had positive results during the 2020 flood event compared with the other flood events, when the authorities took several precaution measurements that mitigated in a better way the socio-economic impact and risks of the flood event. The results presented in this study offer new insights regarding the importance of large-scale atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport as drivers of extreme flooding in the eastern part of Europe and could lead to a better flood forecast and flood risk management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1486
Author(s):  
Cuiping Kuang ◽  
Yuhua Zheng ◽  
Jie Gu ◽  
Qingping Zou ◽  
Xuejian Han

Groins are one of the popular manmade structures to modify the hydraulic flow and sediment response in river training. The spacing between groins is a critical consideration to balance the channel-depth and the cost of construction, which is generally determined by the backflow formed downstream from groins. A series of experiments were conducted using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to observe the influence of groin spacing on the backflow pattern of two bilateral groins. The spacing between groins has significant effect on the behavior of the large-scale recirculation cell behind groins. The magnitude of the wake flow induced by a groin was similar to that induced by another groin on the other side, but the flow direction is opposite. The spanwise velocity near the groin tip dictates the recirculation zone width behind the groins due to the strong links between the spanwise velocity and the contraction ratio of channel cross-sections between groins. Based on previous studies and present experimental results, quantitative empirical relationships are proposed to calculate the recirculation zone length behind groins alternately placed at different spacing along riverbanks. This study provides better understanding and a robust formula to assess the backflow extent of alternate groins and identify the optimum groins array configuration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anirban Nath ◽  
Sourav Samanta ◽  
Saon Banerjee ◽  
Anamitra Anurag Danda ◽  
Sugata Hazra

AbstractThe paper through a critical appraisal of the agricultural practices in the Indian Sundarban deltaic region explores the tripartite problems of arsenic biomagnification, salinity of arable lands and ingress of agrochemical pollutants into the freshwater resources, which endanger the health, livelihood and food security of the rural population inhabiting the delta. The threefold problem has rendered a severe blow to the agrarian economy consequently triggering large-scale outmigration of the rural population from the region. Although recent studies have addressed these issues separately, the inter-connectivity among these elements and their possible long-term impact upon sustainability in the Sundarbans are yet to be elucidated. In the current scenario, the study emphasizes that the depleting freshwater resources is at the heart of the threefold problems affecting the Sundarbans. Owing to the heavy siltation of the local river systems, freshwater resources from the local ravines have salinized beyond the point of being used for agricultural purposes. At the same time, increasing salinity levels resulting from fluctuation of pre- and post-monsoon rainfall, frequent cyclones and capillary movement of salinized groundwater (primarily during the Rabi season) have severely hampered the agricultural practices. Salinization of above groundwater reserves has forced the farmers toward utilization of groundwater, which are lifted using STWs, especially for rice and other cultivations in the Rabi season. The Holocene aquifers of the region retain toxic levels of arsenic which are lifted during the irrigation process and are deposited on to the agricultural fields, resulting in bioaccumulation of As in the food products resourced from the area. The compound effect of consuming arsenic-contaminated food and drinking water has resulted in severe health issues recorded among the local population in the delta. Furthermore, due to the sub-optimal conditions for sustaining agriculture under saline stress, farmers often opt for the cultivation of post-green revolution high-yielding varieties, which require additional inputs of nitrogen-based fertilizers, organophosphate herbicides and pesticides that are frequently washed away by runoff from the watershed into the low-lying catchment areas of the biosphere reserve. Such practices have endangered the vulnerable conditions of local flora and fauna. In the present situation, the study proposes mitigation strategies which necessitate the smart use of locally obtainable resources like water, adaptable cultivars and sustainable agronomic practices like organic farming. The study also suggests engaging of conventional plant breeding strategies such as “Evolutionary plant breeding” for obtaining cultivars adapted to the shifting ecological conditions of the delta in the long run.


Author(s):  
I. Janajreh ◽  
C. Ghenai

Large scale wind turbines and wind farms continue to evolve mounting 94.1GW of the electrical grid capacity in 2007 and expected to reach 160.0GW in 2010 according to World Wind Energy Association. They commence to play a vital role in the quest for renewable and sustainable energy. They are impressive structures of human responsiveness to, and awareness of, the depleting fossil fuel resources. Early generation wind turbines (windmills) were used as kinetic energy transformers and today generate 1/5 of the Denmark’s electricity and planned to double the current German grid capacity by reaching 12.5% by year 2010. Wind energy is plentiful (72 TW is estimated to be commercially viable) and clean while their intensive capital costs and maintenance fees still bar their widespread deployment in the developing world. Additionally, there are technological challenges in the rotor operating characteristics, fatigue load, and noise in meeting reliability and safety standards. Newer inventions, e.g., downstream wind turbines and flapping rotor blades, are sought to absorb a larger portion of the cost attributable to unrestrained lower cost yaw mechanisms, reduction in the moving parts, and noise reduction thereby reducing maintenance. In this work, numerical analysis of the downstream wind turbine blade is conducted. In particular, the interaction between the tower and the rotor passage is investigated. Circular cross sectional tower and aerofoil shapes are considered in a staggered configuration and under cross-stream motion. The resulting blade static pressure and aerodynamic forces are investigated at different incident wind angles and wind speeds. Comparison of the flow field results against the conventional upstream wind turbine is also conducted. The wind flow is considered to be transient, incompressible, viscous Navier-Stokes and turbulent. The k-ε model is utilized as the turbulence closure. The passage of the rotor blade is governed by ALE and is represented numerically as a sliding mesh against the upstream fixed tower domain. Both the blade and tower cross sections are padded with a boundary layer mesh to accurately capture the viscous forces while several levels of refinement were implemented throughout the domain to assess and avoid the mesh dependence.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaiheng Hu ◽  
Pu Li ◽  
Yong You ◽  
Fenghuan Su

Abstract. A hydrologically based model is developed for delineating hazard zones in valleys of debris flow basins. The basic assumption of this model is that the ratio of peak discharges of any two cross sections in a debris-flow basin is a power function of the ratio of their flow accumulation areas. Combining the advantages of the empirical and flow routing models of debris-flow hazard zoning, this hydrological model with minimal data requirements has the ability to produce hazard intensity values at different event magnitudes. The algorithms used in this model are designed in the framework of grid- based geographic processing and implemented completely on ArcGIS platform and a Python scripting environment. Qipan basin in the Wenchuan county of Sichuan province, southwest China where a large-scale debris-flow event occurred on July 11, 2013 was chosen as the test case for the model. The hazard zone identified by the model showed good agreement with the real inundation area of the event. The proposed method can help identify small hazard areas in upstream tributaries and the developed model is promising in terms of its application in debris-flow hazard zoning.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Meier ◽  
Andreas-David Brunner ◽  
Scarlet Koch ◽  
Heiner Koch ◽  
Markus Lubeck ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIn bottom-up proteomics, peptides are separated by liquid chromatography with elution peak widths in the range of seconds, while mass spectra are acquired in about 100 microseconds with time-of-fight (TOF) instruments. This allows adding ion mobility as a third dimension of separation. Among several formats, trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS) is attractive due to its small size, low voltage requirements and high efficiency of ion utilization. We have recently demonstrated a scan mode termed parallel accumulation – serial fragmentation (PASEF), which multiplies the sequencing speed without any loss in sensitivity (Meier et al., PMID: 26538118). Here we introduce the timsTOF Pro instrument, which optimally implements online PASEF. It features an orthogonal ion path into the ion mobility device, limiting the amount of debris entering the instrument and making it very robust in daily operation. We investigate different precursor selection schemes for shotgun proteomics to optimally allocate in excess of 100 fragmentation events per second. More than 800,000 fragmentation spectra in standard 120 min LC runs are easily achievable, which can be used for near exhaustive precursor selection in complex mixtures or re-sequencing weak precursors. MaxQuant identified more than 6,400 proteins in single run HeLa analyses without matching to a library, and with high quantitative reproducibility (R > 0.97). Online PASEF achieves a remarkable sensitivity with more than 2,900 proteins identified in 30 min runs of only 10 ng HeLa digest. We also show that highly reproducible collisional cross sections can be acquired on a large scale (R > 0.99). PASEF on the timsTOF Pro is a valuable addition to the technological toolbox in proteomics, with a number of unique operating modes that are only beginning to be explored.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengrong Xie ◽  
Yiyi Wu ◽  
Dongdong Chen ◽  
Ruipeng Liu ◽  
Xintao Han ◽  
...  

Abstract In deep underground mining, achieving stable support for roadways along with long service life is critical and the complex geological environment at such depths frequently presents a major challenge. Owing to the coupling action of multiple factors such as deep high stress, adjacent faults, cross-layer design, weak lithology, broken surrounding rock, variable cross-sections, wide sections up to 9.9 m, and clusters of nearby chambers, there was severe deformation and breakdown in the No. 10 intersection of the roadway of large-scale variable cross-section at the − 760 m level in the Nanfeng working area of the Wuyang Coal Mine. As there are insufficient examples in engineering methods pertaining to the geological environment described above, the numerical calculation model was oversimplified and support theory underdeveloped; therefore, it is imperative to develop an effective support system for the stability and sustenance of deep roadways. In this study, a quantitative analysis of the geological environment of the roadway through field observations, borehole peeking, and ground stress testing is carried out to establish the FLAC 3D variable cross-section crossing roadway model. This model is combined with the strain softening constitutive (surrounding rock) and Mohr-Coulomb constitutive (other deep rock formations) models to construct a compression arch mechanical model for deep soft rock, based on the quadratic parabolic Mohr criterion. An integrated control technology of bolting and grouting that is mainly composed of a high-strength hollow grouting cable bolt equipped with modified cement grouting materials and a high-elongation cable bolt is developed by analyzing the strengthening properties of the surrounding rock before and after bolting, based on the Heok-Brown criterion. As a result of on-site practice, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) The plastic zone of the roof of the cross roadway is approximately 6 m deep in this environment, the tectonic stress is nearly 30 MPa, and the surrounding rock is severely fractured. (2) The deformation of the roadway progressively increases from small to large cross-sections, almost doubling at the largest cross-section. The plastic zone is concentrated at the top plate and shoulder and decreases progressively from the two sides to the bottom corner. The range of stress concentration at the sides of the intersection roadway close to the passageway is wider and higher. (3) The 7 m-thick reinforced compression arch constructed under the strengthening support scheme has a bearing capacity enhanced by 1.8 to 2.3 times and increase in thickness of the bearing structure by 1.76 times as compared to the original scheme. (4) The increase in the mechanical parameters c and φ of the surrounding rock after anchoring causes a significant increase in σc and σt; the pulling force of the cable bolt beneath the new grouting material is more than twice that of ordinary cement grout, and according to the test, the supporting stress field shows that the 7.24 m surrounding rock is compacted and strengthened in addition to providing a strong foundation for the bolt (cable). On-site monitoring shows that the 60-day convergence is less than 30 mm, indicating that the stability control of the roadway is successful.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Lerot ◽  
M. Van Roozendael ◽  
J. van Geffen ◽  
J. van Gent ◽  
C. Fayt ◽  
...  

Abstract. Total O3 columns have been retrieved from six years of SCIAMACHY nadir UV radiance measurements using SDOAS, an adaptation of the GDOAS algorithm previously developed at BIRA-IASB for the GOME instrument. GDOAS and SDOAS have been implemented by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the version 4 of the GOME Data Processor (GDP) and in version 3 of the SCIAMACHY Ground Processor (SGP), respectively. The processors are being run at the DLR processing centre on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). We first focus on the description of the SDOAS algorithm with particular attention to the impact of uncertainties on the reference O3 absorption cross-sections. Second, the resulting SCIAMACHY total ozone data set is globally evaluated through large-scale comparisons with results from GOME and OMI as well as with ground-based correlative measurements. The various total ozone data sets are found to agree within 2% on average. However, a negative trend of 0.2–0.4%/year has been identified in the SCIAMACHY O3 columns; this probably originates from instrumental degradation effects that have not yet been fully characterized.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 2075-2089 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Chakraborty ◽  
R. S. Nanjundiah ◽  
J. Srinivasan

Abstract. A theory is proposed to determine the onset of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) in an Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM). The onset of ISM is delayed substantially in the absence of global orography. The impact of orography over different parts of the Earth on the onset of ISM has also been investigated using five additional perturbed simulations. The large difference in the date of onset of ISM in these simulations has been explained by a new theory based on the Surface Moist Static Energy (SMSE) and vertical velocity at the mid-troposphere. It is found that onset occurs only after SMSE crosses a threshold value and the large-scale vertical motion in the middle troposphere becomes upward. This study shows that both dynamics and thermodynamics play profound roles in the onset of the monsoon.


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