Abstract: The Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) is physically based with multivariate concepts, but requires complicated calibration and cannot easily be used for multiscale comparison. Standardized drought indices (SDIs), such as the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), are multiscalar and convenient for spatiotemporal comparison, but they are still challenged by their lack of physical basis. In this study, a hybrid multiscalar indicator, the standardized Palmer drought index (SPDI), was used to examine drought properties of two meteorological stations (the Beijing and Guangzhou stations) in China, which have completely different drought climatologies. The results of our case study show that the SPDI is correlated with the well-established drought indices (SPI, SPEI, and PDSI) and presents generally consistent drought/wetness conditions against multiple indicators and literature records. Relative to the PDSI, the SPDI demonstrates invariable statistical characteristics and better comparable drought/wetness frequencies over time and space. Moreover, characteristics of major drought events (drought class, and onset and end times) indicated by the SPDI are generally comparable to those detected by the PDSI. As a physically-based standardized multiscalar drought indicator, the SPDI can be regarded as an effective development of the Palmer drought indices, providing additional choices and tools for practical drought monitoring and assessment.
Abstract: The curve number and phi (φ)-index models each provide a simple one-parameter relationship between storm-event rainfall and runoff. It is shown that the curve number and φ-index models can both be used to segregate the rainfall hyetograph into initial abstraction, retention, and runoff amounts. However, the principal advantages of the φ-index model are that both rainfall distribution and duration can be explicitly taken into account in calculating runoff, and the φ index is more physically based than the curve number. The quantitative relationship between the curve number and the φ index is presented and validated with field measurements. Knowing the relationship between the curve number and the φ index is useful in that it facilitates using the extensive database of curve numbers in the more realistic φ-index model in calculating a runoff hydrograph from a given rainfall hyetograph. It is demonstrated that conventional adjustments to curve numbers can be largely explained by variations in storm duration, which suggests that variable rainfall duration can possibly be an essential factor in accounting for deviations from the median curve number of a catchment.
Abstract: An observation operator is a bridge linking the system state vector and observations in a data assimilation system. Despite its importance, the degree to which an observation operator influences the performance of data assimilation methods is still poorly understood. This study aimed to analyze the influences of linear and nonlinear observation operators on the sequential data assimilation through soil temperature simulation using the unscented particle filter (UPF) and the common land model. The linear observation operator between unprocessed simulations and observations was first established. To improve the correlation between simulations and observations, both were processed based on a series of equations. This processing essentially resulted in a nonlinear observation operator. The linear and nonlinear observation operators were then used along with the UPF in three assimilation experiments: an hourly in situ soil surface temperature assimilation, a daily in situ soil surface temperature assimilation, and a moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) assimilation. The results show that the filter improved the soil temperature simulations significantly with the linear and nonlinear observation operators. The nonlinear observation operator improved the UPF’s performance more significantly for the hourly and daily in situ observation assimilations than the linear observation operator did, while the situation was opposite for the MODIS LST assimilation. Because of the high assimilation frequency and data quality, the simulation accuracy was significantly improved in all soil layers for hourly in situ soil surface temperature assimilation, while the significant improvements of the simulation accuracy were limited to the lower soil layers for the assimilation experiments with low assimilation frequency or low data quality.
Abstract: Common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) have been installed and are in operation at numerous industrial clusters throughout India. They serve to reduce effluent treatment cost, provide better collective treatment, and reduce land cost for small-scale industrial facilities that cannot afford individual treatment plants. Optimum working conditions for treatment of effluent to be at par with discharge standards is a major mandate for any CETP. In this study, the reliability and removal efficiencies (REs) of a CETP in the industrial area of Maharashtra State in India were examined. An established methodology was adopted to determine the effectiveness of the CETP in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and oil and grease (O&G) concentrations. The CETP’s compliance with respect to design standards and its operation were studied in detail. This paper highlights the results of RE and the coefficient of determination (R2) values obtained from the CETP data, estimates the pollutants removed at the highest and lowest rates over a period of time, and highlights the reasons for problem areas along with remedial measures. It was observed that, except O&G, all the parameters (BOD, COD, and TSS) showed fluctuations in removal efficiencies and their reliabilities. This situation can be improved by releasing effluent containing hydraulic and organic loading to the CETP as per standards and optimizing treatment processes, especially primary clari-flocculators and aeration tanks, both of which are important units of any CETP.
Abstract: Due to the strict regulations and reuse policies that govern wastewater’s use as an irrigation water resource for agricultural purposes, especially in dry climates, optimization of the disinfection process is of the utmost importance. The effects of solar radiation along with Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles applied to optimization of the photolysis and photocatalysis processes for inactivating heterotrophic bacteria were investigated. Temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen fluctuations in the dairy wastewater effluent treated by activated sludge were examined. In addition, different dosages of TiO2 were tested in the solar photocatalysis (ph-C S) and concentrated solar photocatalysis (ph-C CS) processes. The results show that the disinfection efficiencies of the solar photolysis (ph-L S) and concentrated solar photolysis (ph-L CS) processes after 30 minutes were about 10.5% and 68.9%, respectively, and that the ph-C S and ph-C CS processes inactivated 41% and 97% of the heterotrophic bacteria after 30 minutes, respectively. The pH variation in these processes was negligible. Using the ph-L CS and ph-C CS processes, the synergistic effect between the optical and thermal inactivation caused complete disinfection after three hours. However, disinfection was faster in the ph-C CS process than in the ph-L CS process. Significant correlations were found between the disinfection efficiency and the variation of the dissolved oxygen concentration in the ph-C S and ph-C CS processes, while the correlations between the disinfection efficiency and temperature variation were not significant in the ph-L S and ph-C S processes. Moreover, the oxygen consumption rate was greatest (3.2 mg?L-1) in the ph-C CS process. Hence, it could be concluded that ph-C CS is an efficient photocatalysis process for disinfection of dairy wastewater effluent.
Abstract: Dynamic tidal power is a new way of capturing tidal energy by building a water head using a dike perpendicular to the coast. This study explored the hydrodynamic mechanism of the water head across an intended dynamic tidal power dike system using the Delft3D-FLOW software module. The propagating wave was simulated in a rectangular domain with a horizontal sea bottom at a 30-m depth. A significant water head was created across the dike by blocking the water. The water head increased with increasing dike length and increasing undisturbed tidal current acceleration. The maximum water head for the dike with a length of 50 km, located 900 km from the western boundary, was 2.15 m, which exceeded the undisturbed tidal range. The time series of the water head behaved in a manner identical to the undisturbed tidal current acceleration. The distribution of the water head over the dike assumed an elliptical shape. A parasitic wave was generated at the attachment and scattered outward. The phase lag across the dike did not behave as a linear function of the detour distance.
Abstract: The simulating waves nearshore (SWAN) model has typically been designed for wave simulations in near-shore regions. In this study, the model’s applicability to the simulation of typhoon waves in the South China Sea (SCS) was evaluated. A blended wind field, consisting of an interior domain based on Fujita’s model and an exterior domain based on Takahashi’s model, was used as the driving wind field. The waves driven by Typhoon Kai-tak over the SCS that occurred in 2012 were selected for the numerical simulation research. Sensitivity analyses of time step, grid resolution, and angle resolution were performed in order to obtain optimal model settings. Through sensitivity analyses, it can be found that the time step has a large influence on the results, while grid resolution and angle resolution have a little effect on the results.
Abstract: A modified multi-component solute diffusion equation described with diffusion flux was derived in detail based on the classical Maxwell-Stefan diffusion theory. The friction between the solute species and the soil skeleton wall, which is proportional to the relative velocity between the solute species and the soil skeleton, is introduced. The chemical potential gradient is considered the driving force. A one-dimensional model for transport of multi-component solute in saturated soil was developed based on the modified diffusion equation and the modified competitive Langmuir adsorption equation. Numerical calculation of a case of two heavy metal ion species, which was chosen as an example, was carried out using the finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics. A comparative analysis was performed between the multi-component solute transport model developed in this study and the convection-diffusion transport model of single-component solute based on Fick’s law. Simulation results show that the transport behavior of each species in a multi-component solute system is different from that in a single-component system, and the friction characteristics considered in the developed model contribute to obstructing the movement of each solute component. At the same time, the influence of modified competitive Langmuir adsorption on solute transport was investigated. These research results can provide strong theoretical support for the design of antifouling barriers in landfills and the maintenance of operation stability.
Abstract: Quantitative description of turbulence using simple physical/mathematical models remains a challenge in classical physics and hydrologic dynamics. This study monitored the turbulence velocity field at the surface and bottom of Taihu Lake, in China, a large shallow lake with a heterogeneous complex system, and conducted a statistical analysis of the data for the local turbulent structure. Results show that the measured turbulent flows with finite Reynolds numbers exhibit properties of non-Gaussian distribution. Compared with the normal distribution, the Lévy distribution with meaningful parameters can better characterize the tailing behavior of the measured turbulence. Exit-distance statistics and multiscaling extended self-similarity (ESS) were used to interpret turbulence dynamics with different scale structures. Results show that the probability density function of the reverse structure distance and the multiscaling ESS can effectively capture the turbulent flow dynamics varying with water depth. These results provide an approach for quantitatively analyzing multiscale turbulence in large natural lakes.
Abstract: This research focused on the three-dimensional (3D) seepage field simulation of a high concrete-faced rockfill dam (CFRD) under complex hydraulic conditions. A generalized equivalent continuum model of fractured rock mass was used for equivalent continuous seepage field analysis based on the improved node virtual flow method. Using a high CFRD as an example, the generalized equivalent continuum range was determined, and a finite element model was established based on the terrain and geological conditions, as well as structural face characteristics of the dam area. The equivalent seepage coefficients of different material zones or positions in the dam foundation were calculated with the Snow model or inverse analysis. Then, the 3D seepage field in the dam area was calculated under the normal water storage conditions, and the corresponding water head distribution, seepage flow, seepage gradient, and seepage characteristics in the dam area were analyzed. The results show that the generalized equivalent continuum model can effectively simulate overall seepage patterns of the CFRD under complex hydraulic conditions and provide a reference for seepage analysis of similar CFRDs.
Abstract: This study focused on hydraulic characteristics around a gear-shaped weir in a straight channel. Systematic experiments were carried out for gears with two different heights and eight groups of geometrical parameters. The impacts of various geometrical parameters of gear-shaped weirs on the discharge capacity were investigated. The following conclusions are drawn from the experimental study: (1) The discharge coefficient () was influenced by the size of the gear: at a constant discharge, the weir with larger values of ( is the width of the gear, and is the width between the two neighboring gears) and (c is the height of the gear) had a smaller value of . The discharge capacity of the gear-shaped weir was influenced by the water depth in the weir. (2) For type C1 with a gear height of 0.01 m, when the discharge was less than 60 m3/h and < 1.0 ( is the water depth at the low weir crest), significantly increased with the discharge and ; with further increases of the discharge and , showed insignificant decreases and fluctuated within small ranges. For type C2 with a the gear height of 0.02 m, when the discharge was less than 60 m3/h and < 1.0, significantly increased with the discharge and ; when the discharge was larger than 60 m3/h and > 1.0, slowly decreased with the increases of the discharge and for ≤ 1.0 and ≤ 1.0, and slowly increased with the discharge and for > 1.0 and > 1.0. (3) A formula of for gear-shaped weirs was established based on the principle of weir flow, with consideration of the water depth in the weir, the weir height and width, and the height of the gear.
