Higher and lowest order mixed finite element approximation of subsurface flow problems with solutions of low regularity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bause, Markus

2008-02-01

In this work we study mixed finite element approximations of Richards' equation for simulating variably saturated subsurface flow and simultaneous reactive solute transport. Whereas higher order schemes have proved their ability to approximate reliably reactive solute transport (cf., e.g. [Bause M, Knabner P. Numerical simulation of contaminant biodegradation by higher order methods and adaptive time stepping. Comput Visual Sci 7;2004:61-78]), the Raviart- Thomas mixed finite element method ( RT0) with a first order accurate flux approximation is popular for computing the underlying water flow field (cf. [Bause M, Knabner P. Computation of variably saturated subsurface flow by adaptive mixed hybrid finite element methods. Adv Water Resour 27;2004:565-581, Farthing MW, Kees CE, Miller CT. Mixed finite element methods and higher order temporal approximations for variably saturated groundwater flow. Adv Water Resour 26;2003:373-394, Starke G. Least-squares mixed finite element solution of variably saturated subsurface flow problems. SIAM J Sci Comput 21;2000:1869-1885, Younes A, Mosé R, Ackerer P, Chavent G. A new formulation of the mixed finite element method for solving elliptic and parabolic PDE with triangular elements. J Comp Phys 149;1999:148-167, Woodward CS, Dawson CN. Analysis of expanded mixed finite element methods for a nonlinear parabolic equation modeling flow into variably saturated porous media. SIAM J Numer Anal 37;2000:701-724]). This combination might be non-optimal. Higher order techniques could increase the accuracy of the flow field calculation and thereby improve the prediction of the solute transport. Here, we analyse the application of the Brezzi- Douglas- Marini element ( BDM1) with a second order accurate flux approximation to elliptic, parabolic and degenerate problems whose solutions lack the regularity that is assumed in optimal order error analyses. For the flow field calculation a superiority of the BDM1 approach to the RT0 one is observed, which however is less significant for the accompanying solute transport.

Documentation of the Streamflow-Routing (SFR2) Package to Include Unsaturated Flow Beneath Streams - A Modification to SFR1

USGS Publications Warehouse

Niswonger, Richard G.; Prudic, David E.

2005-01-01

Many streams in the United States, especially those in semiarid regions, have reaches that are hydraulically disconnected from underlying aquifers. Ground-water withdrawals have decreased water levels in valley aquifers beneath streams, increasing the occurrence of disconnected streams and aquifers. The U.S. Geological Survey modular ground-water model (MODFLOW-2000) can be used to model these interactions using the Streamflow-Routing (SFR1) Package. However, the approach does not consider unsaturated flow between streams and aquifers and may not give realistic results in areas with significantly deep unsaturated zones. This documentation describes a method for extending the capabilities of MODFLOW-2000 by incorporating the ability to simulate unsaturated flow beneath streams. A kinematic-wave approximation to Richards' equation was solved by the method of characteristics to simulate unsaturated flow beneath streams in SFR1. This new package, called SFR2, includes all the capabilities of SFR1 and is designed to be used with MODFLOW-2000. Unlike SFR1, seepage loss from the stream may be restricted by the hydraulic conductivity of the unsaturated zone. Unsaturated flow is simulated independently of saturated flow within each model cell corresponding to a stream reach whenever the water table (head in MODFLOW) is below the elevation of the streambed. The relation between unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and water content is defined by the Brooks-Corey function. Unsaturated flow variables specified in SFR2 include saturated and initial water contents; saturated vertical hydraulic conductivity; and the Brooks-Corey exponent. These variables are defined independently for each stream reach. Unsaturated flow in SFR2 was compared to the U.S. Geological Survey's Variably Saturated Two-Dimensional Flow and Transport (VS2DT) Model for two test simulations. For both test simulations, results of the two models were in good agreement with respect to the magnitude and downward progression of a wetting front through an unsaturated column. A third hypothetical simulation is presented that includes interaction between a stream and aquifer separated by an unsaturated zone. This simulation is included to demonstrate the utility of unsaturated flow in SFR2 with MODFLOW-2000. This report includes a description of the data input requirements for simulating unsaturated flow in SFR2.

Estimating the Response of Mid-latitude Orographic Precipitation to Global Warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Xiaoming

The possible change in orographic precipitation in response to global warming is a rising concern under climate change, which could potentially cause significant societal impact. A general circulation model was employed to simulate the climate on an aquaplanet which has idealized mountains at its mid-latitudes. It was found that orographic precipitation at northern mid-latitudes could increase by rates faster than the Clausius-Clapeyron scaling, ˜7%/K of surface warming, in doubling CO2 simulations, while at southern mid-latitudes orographic precipitation decreased. The frequency of extreme events increased at all latitudes of the idealized mountains. Through a simple diagnostic model it was revealed that the changes in the climatological means of orographic precipitation rates were mostly determined by the changes in three variables: the speed of the wind component perpendicular to a mountain, the vertical displacement of saturated parcels, and the moist adiabatic lapse rate of saturation specific humidity. The last variable had relatively uniform contribution to the total changes in orographic precipitation across different latitudes, about 4 -- 5%/K. But contributions from the changes in wind speed and saturated vertical displacement were found to have strong north-south asymmetry, which were linked to the poleward shift of storm tracks. The changes in wind speed had positive contributions in general, with larger contributions at higher mid-latitudes. While the changes in saturated vertical displacement had negative contributions at all latitudes, but larger negative contributions were located at lower mid-latitudes. Although the poleward shift of storm tracks greatly affects regional precipitation, following the poleward shift of storm tracks the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of precipitation at the latitudes of maximum precipitation in the control simulation is very similar to that in the warm climate simulation, except that precipitation intensity was positively shifted by a constant factor --- mainly due to changes in the moist adiabatic lapse rate of saturation specific humidity.

TOPMODEL simulations of streamflow and depth to water table in Fishing Brook Watershed, New York, 2007-09

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nystrom, Elizabeth A.; Burns, Douglas A.

2011-01-01

TOPMODEL uses a topographic wetness index computed from surface-elevation data to simulate streamflow and subsurface-saturation state, represented by the saturation deficit. Depth to water table was computed from simulated saturation-deficit values using computed soil properties. In the Fishing Brook Watershed, TOPMODEL was calibrated to the natural logarithm of streamflow at the study area outlet and depth to water table at Sixmile Wetland using a combined multiple-objective function. Runoff and depth to water table responded differently to some of the model parameters, and the combined multiple-objective function balanced the goodness-of-fit of the model realizations with respect to these parameters. Results show that TOPMODEL reasonably simulated runoff and depth to water table during the study period. The simulated runoff had a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.738, but the model underpredicted total runoff by 14 percent. Depth to water table computed from simulated saturation-deficit values matched observed water-table depth moderately well; the root mean squared error of absolute depth to water table was 91 millimeters (mm), compared to the mean observed depth to water table of 205 mm. The correlation coefficient for temporal depth-to-water-table fluctuations was 0.624. The variability of the TOPMODEL simulations was assessed using prediction intervals grouped using the combined multiple-objective function. The calibrated TOPMODEL results for the entire study area were applied to several subwatersheds within the study area using computed hydrogeomorphic properties of the subwatersheds.

Improved predictions of saturated and unsaturated zone drawdowns in a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer via transient hydraulic tomography: Laboratory sandbox experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berg, Steven J.; Illman, Walter A.

2012-11-01

SummaryInterpretation of pumping tests in unconfined aquifers has largely been based on analytical solutions that disregard aquifer heterogeneity. In this study, we investigate whether the prediction of drawdown responses in a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer and the unsaturated zone above it with a variably saturated groundwater flow model can be improved by including information on hydraulic conductivity (K) and specific storage (Ss) from transient hydraulic tomography (THT). We also investigate whether these predictions are affected by the use of unsaturated flow parameters estimated through laboratory hanging column experiments or calibration of in situ drainage curves. To investigate these issues, we designed and conducted laboratory sandbox experiments to characterize the saturated and unsaturated properties of a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer. Specifically, we conducted pumping tests under fully saturated conditions and interpreted the drawdown responses by treating the medium to be either homogeneous or heterogeneous. We then conducted another pumping test and allowed the water table to drop, similar to a pumping test in an unconfined aquifer. Simulations conducted using a variably saturated flow model revealed: (1) homogeneous parameters in the saturated and unsaturated zones have a difficult time predicting the responses of the heterogeneous unconfined aquifer; (2) heterogeneous saturated hydraulic parameter distributions obtained via THT yielded significantly improved drawdown predictions in the saturated zone of the unconfined aquifer; and (3) considering heterogeneity of unsaturated zone parameters produced a minor improvement in predictions in the unsaturated zone, but not the saturated zone. These results seem to support the finding by Mao et al. (2011) that spatial variability in the unsaturated zone plays a minor role in the formation of the S-shape drawdown-time curve observed during pumping in an unconfined aquifer.

Generation of dense plume fingers in saturated-unsaturated homogeneous porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cremer, Clemens J. M.; Graf, Thomas

2015-02-01

Flow under variable-density conditions is widespread, occurring in geothermal reservoirs, at waste disposal sites or due to saltwater intrusion. The migration of dense plumes typically results in the formation of vertical plume fingers which are known to be triggered by material heterogeneity or by variations in source concentration that causes the density variation. Using a numerical groundwater model, six perturbation methods are tested under saturated and unsaturated flow conditions to mimic heterogeneity and concentration variations on the pore scale in order to realistically generate dense fingers. A laboratory-scale sand tank experiment is numerically simulated, and the perturbation methods are evaluated by comparing plume fingers obtained from the laboratory experiment with numerically simulated fingers. Dense plume fingering for saturated flow can best be reproduced with a spatially random, time-constant perturbation of the solute source. For unsaturated flow, a spatially and temporally random noise of solute concentration or a random conductivity field adequately simulate plume fingering.

User's guide to the Variably Saturated Flow (VSF) process to MODFLOW

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thoms, R. Brad; Johnson, Richard L.; Healy, Richard W.

2006-01-01

A new process for simulating three-dimensional (3-D) variably saturated flow (VSF) using Richards' equation has been added to the 3-D modular finite-difference ground-water model MODFLOW. Five new packages are presented here as part of the VSF Process--the Richards' Equation Flow (REF1) Package, the Seepage Face (SPF1) Package, the Surface Ponding (PND1) Package, the Surface Evaporation (SEV1) Package, and the Root Zone Evapotranspiration (RZE1) Package. Additionally, a new Adaptive Time-Stepping (ATS1) Package is presented for use by both the Ground-Water Flow (GWF) Process and VSF. The VSF Process allows simulation of flow in unsaturated media above the ground-water zone and facilitates modeling of ground-water/surface-water interactions. Model performance is evaluated by comparison to an analytical solution for one-dimensional (1-D) constant-head infiltration (Dirichlet boundary condition), field experimental data for a 1-D constant-head infiltration, laboratory experimental data for two-dimensional (2-D) constant-flux infiltration (Neumann boundary condition), laboratory experimental data for 2-D transient drainage through a seepage face, and numerical model results (VS2DT) of a 2-D flow-path simulation using realistic surface boundary conditions. A hypothetical 3-D example case also is presented to demonstrate the new capability using periodic boundary conditions (for example, daily precipitation) and varied surface topography over a larger spatial scale (0.133 square kilometer). The new model capabilities retain the modular structure of the MODFLOW code and preserve MODFLOW's existing capabilities as well as compatibility with commercial pre-/post-processors. The overall success of the VSF Process in simulating mixed boundary conditions and variable soil types demonstrates its utility for future hydrologic investigations. This report presents a new flow package implementing the governing equations for variably saturated ground-water flow, four new boundary condition packages unique to unsaturated flow, the Adaptive Time-Stepping Package for use with both the GWF Process and the new VSF Process, detailed descriptions of the input and output files for each package, and six simulation examples verifying model performance.

Water Flow in Karst Aquifer Considering Dynamically Variable Saturation Conduit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Chaoqun; Hu, Bill X.

2017-04-01

The karst system is generally conceptualized as dual-porosity system, which is characterized by low conductivity and high storage continuum matrix and high conductivity and quick flow conduit networks. And so far, a common numerical model for simulating flow in karst aquifer is MODFLOW2005-CFP, which is released by USGS in 2008. However, the steady-state approach for conduit flow in CFP is physically impractical when simulating very dynamic hydraulics with variable saturation conduit. So, we adopt the method proposed by Reimann et al. (2011) to improve current model, in which Saint-Venant equations are used to model the flow in conduit. Considering the actual background that the conduit is very big and varies along flow path and the Dirichlet boundary varies with rainfall in our study area in Southwest China, we further investigate the influence of conduit diameter and outflow boundary on numerical model. And we also analyze the hydraulic process in multi-precipitation events. We find that the numerical model here corresponds well with CFP for saturated conduit, and it could depict the interaction between matrix and conduit during very dynamic hydraulics pretty well compare with CFP.

Simulating Salt Movement using a Coupled Salinity Transport Model in a Variably Saturated Agricultural Groundwater System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavakoli Kivi, S.; Bailey, R. T.; Gates, T. K.

2017-12-01

Salinization is one of the major concerns in irrigated agricultural fields. Increasing salinity concentrations are due principally to a high water table that results from excessive irrigation, canal seepage, and a lack of efficient drainage systems, and lead to decreasing crop yield. High groundwater salinity loading to nearby river systems also impacts downstream areas, with saline river water diverted for application on irrigated fields. To assess the different strategies for salt remediation, we present a reactive transport model (UZF-RT3D) coupled with a salinity equilibrium chemistry module for simulating the fate and transport of salt ions in a variably-saturated agricultural groundwater system. The developed model accounts not for advection, dispersion, nitrogen and sulfur cycling, oxidation-reduction, sorption, complexation, ion exchange, and precipitation/dissolution of salt minerals. The model is applied to a 500 km2 region within the Lower Arkansas River Valley (LARV) in southeastern Colorado, an area acutely affected by salinization in the past few decades. The model is tested against salt ion concentrations in the saturated zone, total dissolved solid concentrations in the unsaturated zone, and salt groundwater loading to the Arkansas River. The model now can be used to investigate salinity remediation strategies.

Coupled surface and subsurface flow modeling of natural hillslopes in the Aburrá Valley (Medellín, Colombia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blessent, Daniela; Barco, Janet; Temgoua, André Guy Tranquille; Echeverrri-Ramirez, Oscar

2017-03-01

Numerical results are presented of surface-subsurface water modeling of a natural hillslope located in the Aburrá Valley, in the city of Medellín (Antioquia, Colombia). The integrated finite-element hydrogeological simulator HydroGeoSphere is used to conduct transient variably saturated simulations. The objective is to analyze pore-water pressure and saturation variation at shallow depths, as well as volumes of water infiltrated in the porous medium. These aspects are important in the region of study, which is highly affected by soil movements, especially during the high-rain seasons that occur twice a year. The modeling exercise considers rainfall events that occurred between October and December 2014 and a hillslope that is currently monitored because of soil instability problems. Simulation results show that rainfall temporal variability, mesh resolution, coupling length, and the conceptual model chosen to represent the heterogeneous soil, have a noticeable influence on results, particularly for high rainfall intensities. Results also indicate that surface-subsurface coupled modeling is required to avoid unrealistic increase in hydraulic heads when high rainfall intensities cause top-down saturation of soil. This work is a first effort towards fostering hydrogeological modeling expertise that may support the development of monitoring systems and early landslide warning in a country where the rainy season is often the cause of hydrogeological tragedies associated with landslides, mud flow or debris flow.

Robust control for spacecraft rendezvous system with actuator unsymmetrical saturation: a gain scheduling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qian; Xue, Anke

2018-06-01

This paper has proposed a robust control for the spacecraft rendezvous system by considering the parameter uncertainties and actuator unsymmetrical saturation based on the discrete gain scheduling approach. By changing of variables, we transform the actuator unsymmetrical saturation control problem into a symmetrical one. The main advantage of the proposed method is improving the dynamic performance of the closed-loop system with a region of attraction as large as possible. By the Lyapunov approach and the scheduling technology, the existence conditions for the admissible controller are formulated in the form of linear matrix inequalities. The numerical simulation illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A Graphical-User Interface for the U. S. Geological Survey's SUTRA Code using Argus ONE (for simulation of variable-density saturated-unsaturated ground-water flow with solute or energy transport)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Voss, Clifford I.; Boldt, David; Shapiro, Allen M.

1997-01-01

This report describes a Graphical-User Interface (GUI) for SUTRA, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) model for saturated-unsaturated variable-fluid-density ground-water flow with solute or energy transport,which combines a USGS-developed code that interfaces SUTRA with Argus ONE, a commercial software product developed by Argus Interware. This product, known as Argus Open Numerical Environments (Argus ONETM), is a programmable system with geographic-information-system-like (GIS-like) functionality that includes automated gridding and meshing capabilities for linking geospatial information with finite-difference and finite-element numerical model discretizations. The GUI for SUTRA is based on a public-domain Plug-In Extension (PIE) to Argus ONE that automates the use of ArgusONE to: automatically create the appropriate geospatial information coverages (information layers) for SUTRA, provide menus and dialogs for inputting geospatial information and simulation control parameters for SUTRA, and allow visualization of SUTRA simulation results. Following simulation control data and geospatial data input bythe user through the GUI, ArgusONE creates text files in a format required for normal input to SUTRA,and SUTRA can be executed within the Argus ONE environment. Then, hydraulic head, pressure, solute concentration, temperature, saturation and velocity results from the SUTRA simulation may be visualized. Although the GUI for SUTRA discussed in this report provides all of the graphical pre- and post-processor functions required for running SUTRA, it is also possible for advanced users to apply programmable features within Argus ONE to modify the GUI to meet the unique demands of particular ground-water modeling projects.

Noninvasive spectral imaging of skin chromophores based on multiple regression analysis aided by Monte Carlo simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishidate, Izumi; Wiswadarma, Aditya; Hase, Yota; Tanaka, Noriyuki; Maeda, Takaaki; Niizeki, Kyuichi; Aizu, Yoshihisa

2011-08-01

In order to visualize melanin and blood concentrations and oxygen saturation in human skin tissue, a simple imaging technique based on multispectral diffuse reflectance images acquired at six wavelengths (500, 520, 540, 560, 580 and 600nm) was developed. The technique utilizes multiple regression analysis aided by Monte Carlo simulation for diffuse reflectance spectra. Using the absorbance spectrum as a response variable and the extinction coefficients of melanin, oxygenated hemoglobin, and deoxygenated hemoglobin as predictor variables, multiple regression analysis provides regression coefficients. Concentrations of melanin and total blood are then determined from the regression coefficients using conversion vectors that are deduced numerically in advance, while oxygen saturation is obtained directly from the regression coefficients. Experiments with a tissue-like agar gel phantom validated the method. In vivo experiments with human skin of the human hand during upper limb occlusion and of the inner forearm exposed to UV irradiation demonstrated the ability of the method to evaluate physiological reactions of human skin tissue.

Simulating the effect of climate extremes on groundwater flow through a lakebed

USGS Publications Warehouse

Virdi, Makhan L.; Lee, Terrie M.; Swancar, Amy; Niswonger, Richard G.

2012-01-01

Groundwater exchanges with lakes resulting from cyclical wet and dry climate extremes maintain lake levels in the environment in ways that are not well understood, in part because they remain difficult to simulate. To better understand the atypical groundwater interactions with lakes caused by climatic extremes, an original conceptual approach is introduced using MODFLOW-2005 and a kinematic-wave approximation to variably saturated flow that allows lake size and position in the basin to change while accurately representing the daily lake volume and three-dimensional variably saturated groundwater flow responses in the basin. Daily groundwater interactions are simulated for a calibrated lake basin in Florida over a decade that included historic wet and dry departures from the average rainfall. The divergent climate extremes subjected nearly 70% of the maximum lakebed area and 75% of the maximum shoreline perimeter to both groundwater inflow and lake leakage. About half of the lakebed area subject to flow reversals also went dry. A flow-through pattern present for 73% of the decade caused net leakage from the lake 80% of the time. Runoff from the saturated lake margin offset the groundwater deficit only about half of that time. A centripetal flow pattern present for 6% of the decade was important for maintaining the lake stage and generated 30% of all net groundwater inflow. Pumping effects superimposed on dry climate extremes induced the least frequent but most cautionary flow pattern with leakage from over 90% of the actual lakebed area.

Ice versus liquid water saturation in simulations of the indian summer monsoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glazer, Russell H.; Misra, Vasubandhu

2018-02-01

At the same temperature, below 0 °C, the saturation vapor pressure (SVP) over ice is slightly less than the SVP over liquid water. Numerical models use the Clausius-Clapeyron relation to calculate the SVP and relative humidity, but there is not a consistent method for the treatment of saturation above the freezing level where ice and mixed-phase clouds may be present. In the context of current challenges presented by cloud microphysics in climate models, we argue that a better understanding of the impact that this treatment has on saturation-related processes like cloud formation and precipitation, is needed. This study explores the importance of the SVP calculation through model simulations of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) using the regional spectral model (RSM) at 15 km grid spacing. A combination of seasonal and multiyear simulations is conducted with two saturation parameterizations. In one, the SVP over liquid water is prescribed through the entire atmospheric column (woIce), and in another the SVP over ice is used above the freezing level (wIce). When SVP over ice is prescribed, a thermodynamic drying of the middle and upper troposphere above the freezing level occurs due to increased condensation. In the wIce runs, the model responds to the slight decrease in the saturation condition by increasing, relative to the SVP over liquid water only run, grid-scale condensation of water. Increased grid-scale mean seasonal precipitation is noted across the ISM region in the simulation with SVP over ice prescribed. Modification of the middle and upper troposphere moisture results in a decrease in mean seasonal mid-level cloud amount and an increase in high cloud amount when SVP over ice is prescribed. Multiyear simulations strongly corroborate the qualitative results found in the seasonal simulations regarding the impact of ice versus liquid water SVP on the ISM's mean precipitation and moisture field. The mean seasonal rainfall difference over All India between wIce and woIce is around 10% of the observed interannual variability of seasonal All India rainfall.

Concentration and saturation effects of tethered polymer chains on adsorbing surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Descas, Radu; Sommer, Jens-Uwe; Blumen, Alexander

2006-12-01

We consider end-grafted chains at an adsorbing surface under good solvent conditions using Monte Carlo simulations and scaling arguments. Grafting of chains allows us to fix the surface concentration and to study a wide range of surface concentrations from the undersaturated state of the surface up to the brushlike regime. The average extension of single chains in the direction parallel and perpendicular to the surface is analyzed using scaling arguments for the two-dimensional semidilute surface state according to Bouchaud and Daoud [J. Phys. (Paris) 48, 1991 (1987)]. We find good agreement with the scaling predictions for the scaling in the direction parallel to the surface and for surface concentrations much below the saturation concentration (dense packing of adsorption blobs). Increasing the grafting density we study the saturation effects and the oversaturation of the adsorption layer. In order to account for the effect of excluded volume on the adsorption free energy we introduce a new scaling variable related with the saturation concentration of the adsorption layer (saturation scaling). We show that the decrease of the single chain order parameter (the fraction of adsorbed monomers on the surface) with increasing concentration, being constant in the ideal semidilute surface state, is properly described by saturation scaling only. Furthermore, the simulation results for the chains' extension from higher surface concentrations up to the oversaturated state support the new scaling approach. The oversaturated state can be understood using a geometrical model which assumes a brushlike layer on top of a saturated adsorption layer. We provide evidence that adsorbed polymer layers are very sensitive to saturation effects, which start to influence the semidilute surface scaling even much below the saturation threshold.

The Intrinsic Variability in the Water Vapor Saturation Ratio Due to Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Jesse Charles

The water vapor concentration plays an important role for many atmospheric processes. The mean concentration is key to understand water vapor's effect on the climate as a greenhouse gas. The fluctuations about the mean are important to understand heat fluxes between Earth's surface and the boundary layer. These fluctuations are linked to turbulence that is present in the boundary layer. Turbulent conditions are simulated in Michigan Tech's multiphase, turbulent reaction chamber, the pi chamber. Measurements for temperature and water vapor concentration were recorded under forced Rayleigh- Benard convection at several turbulent intensities. These were used to calculate the saturation ratio, often referred to as the relative humidity. The fluctuations in the water vapor concentration were found to be the more important than the temperature for the variability of the saturation ratio. The fluctuations in the saturation ratio result in some cloud droplets experiencing a higher supersaturation than other cloud droplets, causing those "lucky" droplets to grow at a faster rate than other droplets. This difference in growth rates could contribute to a broadening of the size distribution of cloud droplets, resulting in the enhancement of collision-coalescence. These fluctuations become more pronounced with more intense turbulence.

Effects of recharge, Upper Floridan aquifer heads, and time scale on simulated ground-water exchange with Lake Starr, a seepage lake in central Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Swancar, Amy; Lee, Terrie Mackin

2003-01-01

Lake Starr and other lakes in the mantled karst terrain of Florida's Central Lake District are surrounded by a conductive surficial aquifer system that receives highly variable recharge from rainfall. In addition, downward leakage from these lakes varies as heads in the underlying Upper Floridan aquifer change seasonally and with pumpage. A saturated three-dimensional finite-difference ground-water flow model was used to simulate the effects of recharge, Upper Floridan aquifer heads, and model time scale on ground-water exchange with Lake Starr. The lake was simulated as an active part of the model using high hydraulic conductivity cells. Simulated ground-water flow was compared to net ground-water flow estimated from a rigorously derived water budget for the 2-year period August 1996-July 1998. Calibrating saturated ground-water flow models with monthly stress periods to a monthly lake water budget will result in underpredicting gross inflow to, and leakage from, ridge lakes in Florida. Underprediction of ground-water inflow occurs because recharge stresses and ground-water flow responses during rainy periods are averaged over too long a time period using monthly stress periods. When inflow is underestimated during calibration, leakage also is underestimated because inflow and leakage are correlated if lake stage is maintained over the long term. Underpredicted leakage reduces the implied effect of ground-water withdrawals from the Upper Floridan aquifer on the lake. Calibrating the weekly simulation required accounting for transient responses in the water table near the lake that generated the greater range of net ground-water flow values seen in the weekly water budget. Calibrating to the weekly lake water budget also required increasing the value of annual recharge in the nearshore region well above the initial estimate of 35 percent of the rainfall, and increasing the hydraulic conductivity of the deposits around and beneath the lake. To simulate the total ground-water inflow to lakes, saturated-flow models of lake basins need to account for the potential effects of rapid and efficient recharge in the surficial aquifer system closest to the lake. In this part of the basin, the ability to accurately estimate recharge is crucial because the water table is shallowest and the response time between rainfall and recharge is shortest. Use of the one-dimensional LEACHM model to simulate the effects of the unsaturated zone on the timing and magnitude of recharge in the nearshore improved the simulation of peak values of ground-water inflow to Lake Starr. Results of weekly simulations suggest that weekly recharge can approach the majority of weekly rainfall on the nearshore part of the lake basin. However, even though a weekly simulation with higher recharge in the nearshore was able to reproduce the extremes of ground-water exchange with the lake more accurately, it was not consistently better at predicting net ground-water flow within the water budget error than a simulation with lower recharge. The more subtle effects of rainfall and recharge on ground-water inflow to the lake were more difficult to simulate. The use of variably saturated flow modeling, with time scales that are shorter than weekly and finer spatial discretization, is probably necessary to understand these processes. The basin-wide model of Lake Starr had difficulty simulating the full spectrum of ground-water inflows observed in the water budget because of insufficient information about recharge to ground water, and because of practical limits on spatial and temporal discretization in a model at this scale. In contrast, the saturated flow model appeared to successfully simulate the effects of heads in the Upper Floridan aquifer on water levels and ground-water exchange with the lake at both weekly and monthly stress periods. Most of the variability in lake leakage can be explained by the average vertical head difference between the lake and a re

Multiphase flow modeling of a crude-oil spill site with a bimodal permeability distribution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dillard, Leslie A.; Essaid, Hedeff I.; Herkelrath, William N.

1997-01-01

Fluid saturation, particle-size distribution, and porosity measurements were obtained from 269 core samples collected from six boreholes along a 90-m transect at a subregion of a crude-oil spill site, the north pool, near Bemidji, Minnesota. The oil saturation data, collected 11 years after the spill, showed an irregularly shaped oil body that appeared to be affected by sediment spatial variability. The particle-size distribution data were used to estimate the permeability (k) and retention curves for each sample. An additional 344 k estimates were obtained from samples previously collected at the north pool. The 613 k estimates were distributed bimodal lognormally with the two population distributions corresponding to the two predominant lithologies: a coarse glacial outwash deposit and fine-grained interbedded lenses. A two-step geostatistical approach was used to generate a conditioned realization of k representing the bimodal heterogeneity. A cross-sectional multiphase flow model was used to simulate the flow of oil and water in the presence of air along the north pool transect for an 11-year period. The inclusion of a representation of the bimodal aquifer heterogeneity was crucial for reproduction of general features of the observed oil body. If the bimodal heterogeneity was characterized, hysteresis did not have to be incorporated into the model because a hysteretic effect was produced by the sediment spatial variability. By revising the relative permeability functional relation, an improved reproduction of the observed oil saturation distribution was achieved. The inclusion of water table fluctuations in the model did not significantly affect the simulated oil saturation distribution.

Vadose zone flow convergence test suite

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Butcher, B. T.

Performance Assessment (PA) simulations for engineered disposal systems at the Savannah River Site involve highly contrasting materials and moisture conditions at and near saturation. These conditions cause severe convergence difficulties that typically result in unacceptable convergence or long simulation times or excessive analyst effort. Adequate convergence is usually achieved in a trial-anderror manner by applying under-relaxation to the Saturation or Pressure variable, in a series of everdecreasing RELAxation values. SRNL would like a more efficient scheme implemented inside PORFLOW to achieve flow convergence in a more reliable and efficient manner. To this end, a suite of test problems that illustratemore » these convergence problems is provided to facilitate diagnosis and development of an improved convergence strategy. The attached files are being transmitted to you describing the test problem and proposed resolution.« less

Unsaturated hydraulic properties of Sphagnum moss and peat reveal trimodal pore-size distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Tobias K. D.; Iden, Sascha C.; Durner, Wolfgang

2017-01-01

In ombrotrophic peatlands, the moisture content of the vadose zone (acrotelm) controls oxygen diffusion rates, redox state, and the turnover of organic matter. Whether peatlands act as sinks or sources of atmospheric carbon thus relies on variably saturated flow processes. The Richards equation is the standard model for water flow in soils, but it is not clear whether it can be applied to simulate water flow in live Sphagnum moss. Transient laboratory evaporation experiments were conducted to observe evaporative water fluxes in the acrotelm, containing living Sphagnum moss, and a deeper layer containing decomposed moss peat. The experimental data were evaluated by inverse modeling using the Richards equation as process model for variably-saturated flow. It was tested whether water fluxes and time series of measured pressure heads during evaporation could be simulated. The results showed that the measurements could be matched very well providing the hydraulic properties are represented by a suitable model. For this, a trimodal parametrization of the underlying pore-size distribution was necessary which reflects three distinct pore systems of the Sphagnum constituted by inter-, intra-, and inner-plant water. While the traditional van Genuchten-Mualem model led to great discrepancies, the physically more comprehensive Peters-Durner-Iden model which accounts for capillary and noncapillary flow, led to a more consistent description of the observations. We conclude that the Richards equation is a valid process description for variably saturated moisture fluxes over a wide pressure range in peatlands supporting the conceptualization of the live moss as part of the vadose zone.

Simulating the effect of climate extremes on groundwater flow through a lakebed.

PubMed

Virdi, Makhan L; Lee, Terrie M; Swancar, Amy; Niswonger, Richard G

2013-03-01

Groundwater exchanges with lakes resulting from cyclical wet and dry climate extremes maintain lake levels in the environment in ways that are not well understood, in part because they remain difficult to simulate. To better understand the atypical groundwater interactions with lakes caused by climatic extremes, an original conceptual approach is introduced using MODFLOW-2005 and a kinematic-wave approximation to variably saturated flow that allows lake size and position in the basin to change while accurately representing the daily lake volume and three-dimensional variably saturated groundwater flow responses in the basin. Daily groundwater interactions are simulated for a calibrated lake basin in Florida over a decade that included historic wet and dry departures from the average rainfall. The divergent climate extremes subjected nearly 70% of the maximum lakebed area and 75% of the maximum shoreline perimeter to both groundwater inflow and lake leakage. About half of the lakebed area subject to flow reversals also went dry. A flow-through pattern present for 73% of the decade caused net leakage from the lake 80% of the time. Runoff from the saturated lake margin offset the groundwater deficit only about half of that time. A centripetal flow pattern present for 6% of the decade was important for maintaining the lake stage and generated 30% of all net groundwater inflow. Pumping effects superimposed on dry climate extremes induced the least frequent but most cautionary flow pattern with leakage from over 90% of the actual lakebed area. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Modeling fecal bacteria transport and retention in agricultural and urban soils under saturated and unsaturated flow conditions.

PubMed

Balkhair, Khaled S

2017-03-01

Pathogenic bacteria, that enter surface water bodies and groundwater systems through unmanaged wastewater land application, pose a great risk to human health. In this study, six soil column experiments were conducted to simulate the vulnerability of agricultural and urban field soils for fecal bacteria transport and retention under saturated and unsaturated flow conditions. HYDRUS-1D kinetic attachment and kinetic attachment-detachment models were used to simulate the breakthrough curves of the experimental data by fitting model parameters. Results indicated significant differences in the retention and drainage of bacteria between saturated and unsaturated flow condition in the two studied soils. Flow under unsaturated condition retained more bacteria than the saturated flow case. The high bacteria retention in the urban soil compared to agricultural soil is ascribed not only to the dynamic attachment and sorption mechanisms but also to the greater surface area of fine particles and low flow rate. All models simulated experimental data satisfactorily under saturated flow conditions; however, under variably saturated flow, the peak concentrations were overestimated by the attachment-detachment model and underestimated by the attachment model with blocking. The good match between observed data and simulated concentrations by the attachment model which was supported by the Akaike information criterion (AIC) for model selection indicates that the first-order attachment coefficient was sufficient to represent the quantitative and temporal distribution of bacteria in the soil column. On the other hand, the total mass balance of the drained and retained bacteria in all transport experiments was in the range of values commonly found in the literature. Regardless of flow conditions and soil texture, most of the bacteria were retained in the top 12 cm of the soil column. The approaches and the models used in this study have proven to be a good tool for simulating fecal bacteria transport under a variety of initial and boundary flow conditions, hence providing a better understanding of the transport mechanism of bacteria as well as soil removal efficiency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling sedimentation-filtration basins for urban watersheds using Soil and Water Assessment Tool

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sedimentation-filtration (SedFil) basins are one of the storm-water best management practices (BMPs) that are intended to mitigate water quality problems in urban creeks and rivers. A new physically based model of variably saturated flows was developed for simulating flow and sediment in SedFils wi...

A Model for Wetland Hydrology: Description and Validation

Treesearch

R.S. Mansell; S.A. Bloom; Ge Sun

2000-01-01

WETLANDS, a multidimensional model describing water flow in variably saturated soil and evapotranspiration, was used to simulate successfully 3-years of local hydrology for a cypress pond located within a relatively flat Coastal Plain pine forest landscape. Assumptions included negligible net regional groundwater flow and radially symmetric local flow impinging on a...

A Bézier-Spline-based Model for the Simulation of Hysteresis in Variably Saturated Soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cremer, Clemens; Peche, Aaron; Thiele, Luisa-Bianca; Graf, Thomas; Neuweiler, Insa

2017-04-01

Most transient variably saturated flow models neglect hysteresis in the p_c-S-relationship (Beven, 2012). Such models tend to inadequately represent matrix potential and saturation distribution. Thereby, when simulating flow and transport processes, fluid and solute fluxes might be overestimated (Russo et al., 1989). In this study, we present a simple, computationally efficient and easily applicable model that enables to adequately describe hysteresis in the p_c-S-relationship for variably saturated flow. This model can be seen as an extension to the existing play-type model (Beliaev and Hassanizadeh, 2001), where scanning curves are simplified as vertical lines between main imbibition and main drainage curve. In our model, we use continuous linear and Bézier-Spline-based functions. We show the successful validation of the model by numerically reproducing a physical experiment by Gillham, Klute and Heermann (1976) describing primary drainage and imbibition in a vertical soil column. With a deviation of 3%, the simple Bézier-Spline-based model performs significantly better that the play-type approach, which deviates by 30% from the experimental results. Finally, we discuss the realization of physical experiments in order to extend the model to secondary scanning curves and in order to determine scanning curve steepness. {Literature} Beven, K.J. (2012). Rainfall-Runoff-Modelling: The Primer. John Wiley and Sons. Russo, D., Jury, W. A., & Butters, G. L. (1989). Numerical analysis of solute transport during transient irrigation: 1. The effect of hysteresis and profile heterogeneity. Water Resources Research, 25(10), 2109-2118. https://doi.org/10.1029/WR025i010p02109. Beliaev, A.Y. & Hassanizadeh, S.M. (2001). A Theoretical Model of Hysteresis and Dynamic Effects in the Capillary Relation for Two-phase Flow in Porous Media. Transport in Porous Media 43: 487. doi:10.1023/A:1010736108256. Gillham, R., Klute, A., & Heermann, D. (1976). Hydraulic properties of a porous medium: Measurement and empirical representation. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 40(2), 203-207.

The Intrinsic Variability in the Water Vapor Saturation Ratio due to Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, J. C.; Cantrell, W. H.; Chandrakar, K. K.; Kostinski, A. B.; Niedermeier, D.; Shaw, R. A.

2017-12-01

In the atmosphere, the concentration of water vapor plays an important role in Earth's weather and climate. The mean concentration of water vapor is key to its efficiency as a greenhouse gas; the fluctuations about the mean are important for heat fluxes near the surface of earth. In boundary layer clouds, fluctuations in the water vapor concentration are linked to turbulence. Conditions representative of boundary layer clouds are simulated in Michigan Tech's multiphase, turbulent reaction chamber, the ∏ chamber, where the boundary conditions are controlled and repeatable. Measurements for temperature and water vapor concentration were recorded under forced Rayleigh-Bénard convection. As expected, the distributions for temperature and water vapor concentration broaden as the turbulence becomes more vigorous. From these two measurements the saturation ratio can be calculated. The fluctuations in the water vapor concentration are more important to the variability in the saturation ratio than fluctuations in temperature. In a cloud, these fluctuations in the saturation ratio can result in some cloud droplets experiencing much higher supersaturations. Those "lucky" droplets grow by condensation at a faster rate than other cloud droplets. The difference in the droplet growth rate could contribute to a broadened droplet distribution, which leads to the onset of collision-coalescence. With more intense turbulence these effect will become more pronounced as the fluctuations about the mean saturation ratio become more pronounced.

Damping Effect of an Unsaturated-Saturated System on Tempospatial Variations of Pressure Head and Specific Flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, C.; Zhang, Y. K.; Liang, X.

2014-12-01

Damping effect of an unsaturated-saturated system on tempospatialvariations of pressurehead and specificflux was investigated. The variance and covariance of both pressure head and specific flux in such a system due to a white noise infiltration were obtained by solving the moment equations of water flow in the system and verified with Monte Carlo simulations. It was found that both the pressure head and specific flux in this case are temporally non-stationary. The variance is zero at early time due to a deterministic initial condition used, then increases with time, and approaches anasymptotic limit at late time.Both pressure head and specific flux arealso non-stationary in space since the variance decreases from source to sink. The unsaturated-saturated systembehavesasa noise filterand it damps both the pressure head and specific flux, i.e., reduces their variations and enhances their correlation. The effect is stronger in upper unsaturated zone than in lower unsaturated zone and saturated zone. As a noise filter, the unsaturated-saturated system is mainly a low pass filter, filtering out the high frequency components in the time series of hydrological variables. The damping effect is much stronger in the saturated zone than in the saturated zone.

Experimental validation of plastic constitutive hardening relationship based upon the direction of the Net Burgers Density Vector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarac, Abdulhamit; Kysar, Jeffrey W.

2018-02-01

We present a new methodology for experimental validation of single crystal plasticity constitutive relationships based upon spatially resolved measurements of the direction of the Net Burgers Density Vector, which we refer to as the β-field. The β-variable contains information about the active slip systems as well as the ratios of the Geometrically Necessary Dislocation (GND) densities on the active slip systems. We demonstrate the methodology by comparing single crystal plasticity finite element simulations of plane strain wedge indentations into face-centered cubic nickel to detailed experimental measurements of the β-field. We employ the classical Peirce-Asaro-Needleman (PAN) hardening model in this study due to the straightforward physical interpretation of its constitutive parameters that include latent hardening ratio, initial hardening modulus and the saturation stress. The saturation stress and the initial hardening modulus have relatively large influence on the β-variable compared to the latent hardening ratio. A change in the initial hardening modulus leads to a shift in the boundaries of plastic slip sectors with the plastically deforming region. As the saturation strength varies, both the magnitude of the β-variable and the boundaries of the plastic slip sectors change. We thus demonstrate that the β-variable is sensitive to changes in the constitutive parameters making the variable suitable for validation purposes. We identify a set of constitutive parameters that are consistent with the β-field obtained from the experiment.

Variable speed wind turbine control by discrete-time sliding mode approach.

PubMed

Torchani, Borhen; Sellami, Anis; Garcia, Germain

2016-05-01

The aim of this paper is to propose a new design variable speed wind turbine control by discrete-time sliding mode approach. This methodology is designed for linear saturated system. The saturation constraint is reported on inputs vector. To this end, the back stepping design procedure is followed to construct a suitable sliding manifold that guarantees the attainment of a stabilization control objective. It is well known that the mechanisms are investigated in term of the most proposed assumptions to deal with the damping, shaft stiffness and inertia effect of the gear. The objectives are to synthesize robust controllers that maximize the energy extracted from wind, while reducing mechanical loads and rotor speed tracking combined with an electromagnetic torque. Simulation results of the proposed scheme are presented. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scale-Dependent Solute Dispersion in Variably Saturated Porous Media

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rockhold, Mark L.; Zhang, Z. F.; Bott, Yi-Ju

2016-03-29

This work was performed to support performance assessment (PA) calculations for the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) at the Hanford Site. PA calculations require defensible estimates of physical, hydraulic, and transport parameters to simulate subsurface water flow and contaminant transport in both the near- and far-field environments. Dispersivity is one of the required transport parameters.

Adapting HYDRUS-1D to simulate overland flow and reactive transport during sheet flow deviations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The HYDRUS-1D code is a popular numerical model for solving the Richards equation for variably-saturated water flow and solute transport in porous media. This code was adapted to solve rather than the Richards equation for subsurface flow the diffusion wave equation for overland flow at the soil sur...

Documentation of computer program VS2D to solve the equations of fluid flow in variably saturated porous media

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lappala, E.G.; Healy, R.W.; Weeks, E.P.

1987-01-01

This report documents FORTRAN computer code for solving problems involving variably saturated single-phase flow in porous media. The flow equation is written with total hydraulic potential as the dependent variable, which allows straightforward treatment of both saturated and unsaturated conditions. The spatial derivatives in the flow equation are approximated by central differences, and time derivatives are approximated either by a fully implicit backward or by a centered-difference scheme. Nonlinear conductance and storage terms may be linearized using either an explicit method or an implicit Newton-Raphson method. Relative hydraulic conductivity is evaluated at cell boundaries by using either full upstream weighting, the arithmetic mean, or the geometric mean of values from adjacent cells. Nonlinear boundary conditions treated by the code include infiltration, evaporation, and seepage faces. Extraction by plant roots that is caused by atmospheric demand is included as a nonlinear sink term. These nonlinear boundary and sink terms are linearized implicitly. The code has been verified for several one-dimensional linear problems for which analytical solutions exist and against two nonlinear problems that have been simulated with other numerical models. A complete listing of data-entry requirements and data entry and results for three example problems are provided. (USGS)

An approach to understanding hydrologic connectivity on the hillslope and the implications for nutrient transport

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stieglitz, M.; Shaman, J.; McNamara, J.; Engel, V.; Shanley, J.; Kling, G.W.

2003-01-01

Hydrologic processes control much of the export of organic matter and nutrients from the land surface. It is the variability of these hydrologic processes that produces variable patterns of nutrient transport in both space and time. In this paper, we explore how hydrologic "connectivity" potentially affects nutrient transport. Hydrologic connectivity is defined as the condition by which disparate regions on the hillslope are linked via subsurface water flow. We present simulations that suggest that for much of the year, water draining through a catchment is spatially isolated. Only rarely, during storm and snowmelt events when antecedent soil moisture is high, do our simulations suggest that mid-slope saturation (or near saturation) occurs and that a catchment connects from ridge to valley. Observations during snowmelt at a small headwater catchment in Idaho are consistent with these model simulations. During early season discharge episodes, in which the mid-slope soil column is not saturated, the electrical conductivity in the stream remains low, reflecting a restricted, local (lower slope) source of stream water and the continued isolation of upper and mid-slope soil water and nutrients from the stream system. Increased streamflow and higher stream water electrical conductivity, presumably reflecting the release of water from the upper reaches of the catchment, are simultaneously observed when the mid-slope becomes sufficiently wet. This study provides preliminary evidence that the seasonal timing of hydrologic connectivity may affect a range of ecological processes, including downslope nutrient transport, C/N cycling, and biological productivity along the toposequence. A better elucidation of hydrologic connectivity will be necessary for understanding local processes as well as material export from land to water at regional and global scales. Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.

Do we really use rainfall observations consistent with reality in hydrological modelling?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciampalini, Rossano; Follain, Stéphane; Raclot, Damien; Crabit, Armand; Pastor, Amandine; Moussa, Roger; Le Bissonnais, Yves

2017-04-01

Spatial and temporal patterns in rainfall control how water reaches soil surface and interacts with soil properties (i.e., soil wetting, infiltration, saturation). Once a hydrological event is defined by a rainfall with its spatiotemporal variability and by some environmental parameters such as soil properties (including land use, topographic and anthropic features), the evidence shows that each parameter variation produces different, specific outputs (e.g., runoff, flooding etc.). In this study, we focus on the effect of rainfall patterns because, due to the difficulty to dispose of detailed data, their influence in modelling is frequently underestimated or neglected. A rainfall event affects a catchment non uniformly, it is spatially localized and its pattern moves in space and time. The way and the time how the water reaches the soil and saturates it respect to the geometry of the catchment deeply influences soil saturation, runoff, and then sediment delivery. This research, approaching a hypothetical, simple case, aims to stimulate the debate on the reliability of the rainfall quality used in hydrological / soil erosion modelling. We test on a small catchment of the south of France (Roujan, Languedoc Roussillon) the influence of rainfall variability with the use of a HD hybrid hydrological - soil erosion model, combining a cinematic wave with the St. Venant equation and a simplified "bucket" conceptual model for ground water, able to quantify the effect of different spatiotemporal patterns of a very-high-definition synthetic rainfall. Results indicate that rainfall spatiotemporal patterns are crucial simulating an erosive event: differences between spatially uniform rainfalls, as frequently adopted in simulations, and some hypothetical rainfall patterns here applied, reveal that the outcome of a simulated event can be highly underestimated.

On the primary variable switching technique for simulating unsaturated-saturated flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diersch, H.-J. G.; Perrochet, P.

Primary variable switching appears as a promising numerical technique for variably saturated flows. While the standard pressure-based form of the Richards equation can suffer from poor mass balance accuracy, the mixed form with its improved conservative properties can possess convergence difficulties for dry initial conditions. On the other hand, variable switching can overcome most of the stated numerical problems. The paper deals with variable switching for finite elements in two and three dimensions. The technique is incorporated in both an adaptive error-controlled predictor-corrector one-step Newton (PCOSN) iteration strategy and a target-based full Newton (TBFN) iteration scheme. Both schemes provide different behaviors with respect to accuracy and solution effort. Additionally, a simplified upstream weighting technique is used. Compared with conventional approaches the primary variable switching technique represents a fast and robust strategy for unsaturated problems with dry initial conditions. The impact of the primary variable switching technique is studied over a wide range of mostly 2D and partly difficult-to-solve problems (infiltration, drainage, perched water table, capillary barrier), where comparable results are available. It is shown that the TBFN iteration is an effective but error-prone procedure. TBFN sacrifices temporal accuracy in favor of accelerated convergence if aggressive time step sizes are chosen.

Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thomas, Matthew A.; Loague, Keith; Voss, Clifford I.

2015-01-01

This study employs a hydrogeologic simulation approach to investigate subsurface fluid pressures for a landslide-prone section of the central California, USA, coast known as Devil's Slide. Understanding the relative changes in subsurface fluid pressures is important for systems, such as Devil's Slide, where slope creep can be interrupted by episodic slip events. Surface mapping, exploratory core, tunnel excavation records, and dip meter data were leveraged to conceptualize the parameter space for three-dimensional (3D) Devil's Slide-like simulations. Field observations (i.e. seepage meter, water retention, and infiltration experiments; well records; and piezometric data) and groundwater flow simulation (i.e. one-dimensional vertical, transient, and variably saturated) were used to design the boundary conditions for 3D Devil's Slide-like problems. Twenty-four simulations of steady-state saturated subsurface flow were conducted in a concept-development mode. Recharge, heterogeneity, and anisotropy are shown to increase fluid pressures for failure-prone locations by up to 18.1, 4.5, and 1.8% respectively. Previous estimates of slope stability, driven by simple water balances, are significantly improved upon with the fluid pressures reported here. The results, for a Devil's Slide-like system, provide a foundation for future investigations

Numerical simulation of water flow and Nitrate transport through variably saturated porous media in laboratory condition using HYDRUS 2D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jahangeer, F.; Gupta, P. K.; Yadav, B. K.

2017-12-01

Due to the reducing availability of water resources and the growing competition for water between residential, industrial, and agricultural users, increasing irrigation efficiency, by several methods like drip irrigation, is a demanding concern for agricultural experts. The understanding of the water and contaminants flow through the subsurface is needed for the sustainable irrigation water management, pollution assessment, polluted site remediation and groundwater recharge. In this study, the Windows-based computer software package HYDRUS-2D, which numerically simulates water and solute movement in two-dimensional, variably-saturated porous media, was used to evaluate the distribution of water and Nitrate in the sand tank. The laboratory and simulation experiments were conducted to evaluate the role of drainage, recharge flux, and infiltration on subsurface flow condition and subsequently, on nitrate movement in the subsurface. The water flow in the unsaturated zone model by Richards' equation, which was highly nonlinear and its parameters were largely dependent on the moisture content and pressure head of the partially saturated zone. Following different cases to be considered to evaluate- a) applying drainage and recharge flux to study domains, b) transient infiltration in a vertical soil column and c) subsequently, nitrate transport in 2D sand tank setup. A single porosity model was used for the simulation of water and nitrate flow in the study domain. The results indicate the transient water table position decreases as the time increase significantly by applying drainage flux at the bottom. Similarly, the water table positions in study domains increasing in the domain by applying recharge flux. Likewise, the water flow profile shows the decreasing water table elevation with increasing water content in the vertical domain. Moreover, the nitrate movement was dominated by advective flux and highly affected by the recharge flux in the vertical direction. The findings of the study help to enhance the understanding of the sustainable soil-water resources management and agricultural practices.

Modeling unsaturated zone flow and runoff processes by integrating MODFLOW-LGR and VSF, and creating the new CFL package

USGS Publications Warehouse

Borsia, I.; Rossetto, R.; Schifani, C.; Hill, Mary C.

2013-01-01

In this paper two modifications to the MODFLOW code are presented. One concerns an extension of Local Grid Refinement (LGR) to Variable Saturated Flow process (VSF) capability. This modification allows the user to solve the 3D Richards’ equation only in selected parts of the model domain. The second modification introduces a new package, named CFL (Cascading Flow), which improves the computation of overland flow when ground surface saturation is simulated using either VSF or the Unsaturated Zone Flow (UZF) package. The modeling concepts are presented and demonstrated. Programmer documentation is included in appendices.

Effect of initial bulk density on high-solids anaerobic digestion of MSW: General mechanism.

PubMed

Caicedo, Luis M; Wang, Hongtao; Lu, Wenjing; De Clercq, Djavan; Liu, Yanjun; Xu, Sai; Ni, Zhe

2017-06-01

Initial bulk density (IBD) is an important variable in anaerobic digestion since it defines and optimizes the treatment capacity of a system. This study reveals the mechanism on how IBD might affect anaerobic digestion of waste. Four different IBD values: D 1 (500-700kgm -3 ), D 2 (900-1000kgm -3 ), D 3 (1100-1200kgm -3 ) and D 4 (1200-1400kgm -3 ) were set and tested over a period of 90days in simulated landfill reactors. The main variables affected by the IBD are the methane generation, saturation degree, extraction of organic matter, and the total population of methanogens. The study identified that IBD >1000kgm -3 may have significant effect on methane generation, either prolonging the lag time or completely inhibiting the process. This study provides a new understanding of the anaerobic digestion process in saturated high-solids systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Documentation and verification of VST2D; a model for simulating transient, Variably Saturated, coupled water-heat-solute Transport in heterogeneous, anisotropic 2-Dimensional, ground-water systems with variable fluid density

USGS Publications Warehouse

Friedel, Michael J.

2001-01-01

This report describes a model for simulating transient, Variably Saturated, coupled water-heatsolute Transport in heterogeneous, anisotropic, 2-Dimensional, ground-water systems with variable fluid density (VST2D). VST2D was developed to help understand the effects of natural and anthropogenic factors on quantity and quality of variably saturated ground-water systems. The model solves simultaneously for one or more dependent variables (pressure, temperature, and concentration) at nodes in a horizontal or vertical mesh using a quasi-linearized general minimum residual method. This approach enhances computational speed beyond the speed of a sequential approach. Heterogeneous and anisotropic conditions are implemented locally using individual element property descriptions. This implementation allows local principal directions to differ among elements and from the global solution domain coordinates. Boundary conditions can include time-varying pressure head (or moisture content), heat, and/or concentration; fluxes distributed along domain boundaries and/or at internal node points; and/or convective moisture, heat, and solute fluxes along the domain boundaries; and/or unit hydraulic gradient along domain boundaries. Other model features include temperature and concentration dependent density (liquid and vapor) and viscosity, sorption and/or decay of a solute, and capability to determine moisture content beyond residual to zero. These features are described in the documentation together with development of the governing equations, application of the finite-element formulation (using the Galerkin approach), solution procedure, mass and energy balance considerations, input requirements, and output options. The VST2D model was verified, and results included solutions for problems of water transport under isohaline and isothermal conditions, heat transport under isobaric and isohaline conditions, solute transport under isobaric and isothermal conditions, and coupled water-heat-solute transport. The first three problems considered in model verification were compared to either analytical or numerical solutions, whereas the coupled problem was compared to measured laboratory results for which no known analytic solutions or numerical models are available. The test results indicate the model is accurate and applicable for a wide range of conditions, including when water (liquid and vapor), heat (sensible and latent), and solute are coupled in ground-water systems. The cumulative residual errors for the coupled problem tested was less than 10-8 cubic centimeter per cubic centimeter, 10-5 moles per kilogram, and 102 calories per cubic meter for liquid water content, solute concentration and heat content, respectively. This model should be useful to hydrologists, engineers, and researchers interested in studying coupled processes associated with variably saturated transport in ground-water systems.

Impact of radionuclide spatial variability on groundwater quality downstream from a shallow waste burial in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, H. L.; de Fouquet, C.; Courbet, C.; Simonucci, C. A.

2016-12-01

The effects of spatial variability of hydraulic parameters and initial groundwater plume localization on the possible extent of groundwater pollution plumes have already been broadly studied. However, only a few studies, such as Kjeldsen et al. (1995), take into account the effect of source term spatial variability. We explore this question with the 90Sr migration modeling from a shallow waste burial located in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to the underlying sand aquifer. Our work is based upon groundwater sampled once or twice a year since 1995 until 2015 from about 60 piezometers and more than 3,000 137Cs soil activity measurements. These measurements were taken in 1999 from one of the trenches dug after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the so-called "T22 Trench", where radioactive waste was buried in 1987. The geostatistical analysis of 137Cs activity data in soils from Bugai et al. (2005) is first reconsidered to delimit the trench borders using georadar data as a covariable and to perform geostatistical simulations in order to evaluate the uncertainties of this inventory. 90Sr activity in soils is derived from 137Cs/154Eu and 90Sr/154Eu activity ratios in Chernobyl hot fuel particles (Bugai et al., 2003). Meanwhile, a coupled 1D non saturated/3D saturated transient transport model is constructed under the MELODIE software (IRSN, 2009). The previous 90Sr transport model developed by Bugai et al. (2012) did not take into account the effect of water table fluctuations highlighted by Van Meir et al. (2007) which may cause some discrepancies between model predictions and field observations. They are thus reproduced on a 1D vertical non saturated model. The equiprobable radionuclide localization maps produced by the geostatistical simulations are selected to illustrate different heterogeneities in the radionuclide inventory and are implemented in the 1D model. The obtained activity fluxes from all the 1D vertical models are then injected in a 3D saturated transient model to assess the extent of the radionuclide plume in the groundwater and its most likely evolution over time by taking into account uncertainties associated with the source term spatial variability.

Investigation of the performance characteristics of Doppler radar technique for aircraft collision hazard warning, phase 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

System studies, equipment simulation, hardware development and flight tests which were conducted during the development of aircraft collision hazard warning system are discussed. The system uses a cooperative, continuous wave Doppler radar principle with pseudo-random frequency modulation. The report presents a description of the system operation and deals at length with the use of pseudo-random coding techniques. In addition, the use of mathematical modeling and computer simulation to determine the alarm statistics and system saturation characteristics in terminal area traffic of variable density is discussed.

Effective teamwork and communication mitigate task saturation in simulated critical care air transport team missions.

PubMed

Davis, Bradley; Welch, Katherine; Walsh-Hart, Sharon; Hanseman, Dennis; Petro, Michael; Gerlach, Travis; Dorlac, Warren; Collins, Jocelyn; Pritts, Timothy

2014-08-01

Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs) are a critical component of the United States Air Force evacuation paradigm. This study was conducted to assess the incidence of task saturation in simulated CCATT missions and to determine if there are predictable performance domains. Sixteen CCATTs were studied over a 6-month period. Performance was scored using a tool assessing eight domains of performance. Teams were also assessed during critical events to determine the presence or absence of task saturation and its impact on patient care. Sixteen simulated missions were reviewed and 45 crisis events identified. Task saturation was present in 22/45 (49%) of crisis events. Scoring demonstrated that task saturation was associated with poor performance in teamwork (odds ratio [OR] = 1.96), communication (OR = 2.08), and mutual performance monitoring (OR = 1.9), but not maintenance of guidelines, task management, procedural skill, and equipment management. We analyzed the effect of task saturation on adverse patient outcomes during crisis events. Adverse outcomes occurred more often when teams were task saturated as compared to non-task-saturated teams (91% vs. 23%; RR 4.1, p < 0.0001). Task saturation is observed in simulated CCATT missions. Nontechnical skills correlate with task saturation. Task saturation is associated with worsening physiologic derangements in simulated patients. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Implementation of Solute Transport in the Vadose Zone into the `HYDRUS Package for MODFLOW'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simunek, J.; Beegum, S.; Szymkiewicz, A.; Sudheer, K. P.

2017-12-01

The 'HYDRUS package for MODFLOW' was developed by Seo et al. (2007) and Twarakavi et al. (2008) to simultaneously evaluate transient water flow in both unsaturated and saturated zones. The package, which is based on the HYDRUS-1D model (Šimůnek et al., 2016) simulating unsaturated water flow in the vadose zone, was incorporated into MODFLOW (Harbaugh et al., 2000) simulating saturated groundwater flow. The HYDRUS package in the coupled model can be used to represent the effects of various unsaturated zone processes, including infiltration, evaporation, root water uptake, capillary rise, and recharge in homogeneous or layered soil profiles. The coupled model is effective in addressing spatially-variable saturated-unsaturated hydrological processes at the regional scale, allowing for complex layering in the unsaturated zone, spatially and temporarily variable water fluxes at the soil surface and in the root zone, and with alternating recharge and discharge fluxes (Twarakavi et al., 2008). One of the major limitations of the coupled model was that it could not be used to simulate at the same time solute transport. However, solute transport is highly dependent on water table fluctuations due to temporal and spatial variations in groundwater recharge. This is an important concern when the coupled model is used for analyzing groundwater contamination due to transport through the unsaturated zone. The objective of this study is to integrate the solute transport model (the solute transport part of HYDRUS-1D for the unsaturated zone and MT3DMS (Zheng and Wang, 1999; Zheng, 2009) for the saturated zone) into an existing coupled water flow model. The unsaturated zone component of the coupled model can consider solute transport involving many biogeochemical processes and reactions, including first-order degradation, volatilization, linear or nonlinear sorption, one-site kinetic sorption, two-site sorption, and two-kinetic sites sorption (Šimůnek and van Genuchten, 2008). Due to complex interactions at the groundwater table, certain modifications of the pressure head (compared to the original coupling) and solute concentration profiles were incorporated into the HYDRUS package. The developed integrated model is verified using HYDRUS-2D and analyzed for its computational time requirements.

Variably Saturated Flow and Multicomponent Biogeochemical Reactive Transport Modeling of a Uranium Bioremediation Field Experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yabusaki, Steven B.; Fang, Yilin; Williams, Kenneth H.

2011-11-01

Field experiments at a former uranium mill tailings site have identified the potential for stimulating indigenous bacteria to catalyze the conversion of aqueous uranium in the +6 oxidation state to immobile solid-associated uranium in the +4 oxidation state. This effectively removes uranium from solution resulting in groundwater concentrations below actionable standards. Three-dimensional, coupled variably-saturated flow and biogeochemical reactive transport modeling of a 2008 in situ uranium bioremediation field experiment is used to better understand the interplay of transport rates and biogeochemical reaction rates that determine the location and magnitude of key reaction products. A comprehensive reaction network, developed largely throughmore » previous 1-D modeling studies, was used to simulate the impacts on uranium behavior of pulsed acetate amendment, seasonal water table variation, spatially-variable physical (hydraulic conductivity, porosity) and geochemical (reactive surface area) material properties. A principal challenge is the mechanistic representation of biologically-mediated terminal electron acceptor process (TEAP) reactions whose products significantly alter geochemical controls on uranium mobility through increases in pH, alkalinity, exchangeable cations, and highly reactive reduction products. In general, these simulations of the 2008 Big Rusty acetate biostimulation field experiment in Rifle, Colorado confirmed previously identified behaviors including (1) initial dominance by iron reducing bacteria that concomitantly reduce aqueous U(VI), (2) sulfate reducing bacteria that become dominant after {approx}30 days and outcompete iron reducers for the acetate electron donor, (3) continuing iron-reducer activity and U(VI) bioreduction during dominantly sulfate reducing conditions, and (4) lower apparent U(VI) removal from groundwater during dominantly sulfate reducing conditions. New knowledge on simultaneously active metal and sulfate reducers has been incorporated into the modeling. In this case, an initially small population of slow growing sulfate reducers is active from the initiation of biostimulation. Three-dimensional, variably saturated flow modeling was used to address impacts of a falling water table during acetate injection. These impacts included a significant reduction in aquifer saturated thickness and isolation of residual reactants and products, as well as unmitigated uranium, in the newly unsaturated vadose zone. High permeability sandy gravel structures resulted in locally high flow rates in the vicinity of injection wells that increased acetate dilution. In downgradient locations, these structures created preferential flow paths for acetate delivery that enhanced local zones of TEAP reactivity and subsidiary reactions. Conversely, smaller transport rates associated with the lower permeability lithofacies (e.g., fine) and vadose zone were shown to limit acetate access and reaction. Once accessed by acetate, however, these same zones limited subsequent acetate dilution and provided longer residence times that resulted in higher concentrations of TEAP products when terminal electron donors and acceptors were not limiting. Finally, facies-based porosity and reactive surface area variations were shown to affect aqueous uranium concentration distributions; however, the ranges were sufficiently small to preserve general trends. Large computer memory and high computational performance were required to simulate the detailed coupled process models for multiple biogeochemical components in highly resolved heterogeneous materials for the 110-day field experiment and 50 days of post-biostimulation behavior. In this case, a highly-scalable subsurface simulator operating on 128 processor cores for 12 hours was used to simulate each realization. An equivalent simulation without parallel processing would have taken 60 days, assuming sufficient memory was available.« less

The Sounds of Desaturation: A Survey of Commercial Pulse Oximeter Sonifications.

PubMed

Loeb, Robert G; Brecknell, Birgit; Sanderson, Penelope M

2016-05-01

The pulse oximeter has been a standard of care medical monitor for >25 years. Most manufacturers include a variable-pitch pulse tone in their pulse oximeters. Research has shown that the acoustic properties of variable-pitch tones are not standardized. In this study, we surveyed the properties of pulse tones from 21 pulse oximeters, consisting of 1 to 4 instruments of 11 different models and 8 brands. Our goals were to fully document the sounds over saturation values 0% to 100%, test whether tones become quieter at low saturation values, and create a public repository of pulse oximeter recordings for future use. A convenience sample of commercial pulse oximeters in use at one hospital was studied. Audiovisual recordings of each pulse oximeter's display and sounds were taken while it monitored a simulator starting at a saturation of 100% and slowly decreasing in 1% steps until the saturation reached 0%. Recorded pulse tones were analyzed for spectral frequency and total power. Audio files for each pulse oximeter containing 100 pulse tones, one at every saturation value, were created for inclusion in the repository. Recordings containing 509 to 1053 pulse tones were made from the 21 pulse oximeters. Fundamental frequencies at 100% saturation ranged from 479 to 921 Hz, and fundamental frequencies at 1% saturation ranged from 38 to 404 Hz. The pulse tones from all but one model pulse oximeter contained harmonics. Pulse tone step sizes were linear in 6 models and logarithmic in 6 models. Only 6 pulse oximeter models decreased the pulse tone pitch at every decrease in saturation; all others decreased the pitch at only select saturation thresholds. Five pulse oximeter models stopped decreasing pitch altogether once the saturation reached a certain lower threshold. Pulse tone power (perceived as loudness) changed with saturation level for all pulse oximeters, increasing above baseline as saturation decreased from 100% and decreasing to levels below baseline at low saturation values. Current pulse oximeters use different techniques to address the competing goals of (1) using pitch steps that are large enough to be readily perceived, and (2) conveying saturation values from 0 to 100 within a limited range of sound frequencies. From a clinical perspective, 2 techniques for increasing perceivability (increasing the frequency range and using ratio step sizes) have no drawback, but 2 techniques (not changing pitch at every saturation change and using a lower saturation cutoff) do have potential clinical drawbacks. On the basis of our findings, we have made suggestions for clinicians and manufacturers.

Simulation of gaseous diffusion in partially saturated porous media under variable gravity with lattice Boltzmann methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chau, Jessica Furrer; Or, Dani; Sukop, Michael C.; Steinberg, S. L. (Principal Investigator)

2005-01-01

Liquid distributions in unsaturated porous media under different gravitational accelerations and corresponding macroscopic gaseous diffusion coefficients were investigated to enhance understanding of plant growth conditions in microgravity. We used a single-component, multiphase lattice Boltzmann code to simulate liquid configurations in two-dimensional porous media at varying water contents for different gravity conditions and measured gas diffusion through the media using a multicomponent lattice Boltzmann code. The relative diffusion coefficients (D rel) for simulations with and without gravity as functions of air-filled porosity were in good agreement with measured data and established models. We found significant differences in liquid configuration in porous media, leading to reductions in D rel of up to 25% under zero gravity. The study highlights potential applications of the lattice Boltzmann method for rapid and cost-effective evaluation of alternative plant growth media designs under variable gravity.

Finite-time synchronization of stochastic coupled neural networks subject to Markovian switching and input saturation.

PubMed

Selvaraj, P; Sakthivel, R; Kwon, O M

2018-06-07

This paper addresses the problem of finite-time synchronization of stochastic coupled neural networks (SCNNs) subject to Markovian switching, mixed time delay, and actuator saturation. In addition, coupling strengths of the SCNNs are characterized by mutually independent random variables. By utilizing a simple linear transformation, the problem of stochastic finite-time synchronization of SCNNs is converted into a mean-square finite-time stabilization problem of an error system. By choosing a suitable mode dependent switched Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, a new set of sufficient conditions is derived to guarantee the finite-time stability of the error system. Subsequently, with the help of anti-windup control scheme, the actuator saturation risks could be mitigated. Moreover, the derived conditions help to optimize estimation of the domain of attraction by enlarging the contractively invariant set. Furthermore, simulations are conducted to exhibit the efficiency of proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

TOUGHREACT: a new code of the TOUGH Family for Non-Isothermal multiphase reactive geochemical transport in variably saturated geologic media

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Tianfu; Sonnenthal, Eric; Spycher, Nicolas

Coupled modeling of subsurface multiphase fluid and heat flow, solute transport and chemical reactions can be used for the assessment of acid mine drainage remediation, waste disposal sites, hydrothermal convection, contaminant transport, and groundwater quality. We have developed a comprehensive numerical simulator, TOUGHREACT, which considers non-isothermal multi-component chemical transport in both liquid and gas phases. A wide range of subsurface thermo-physical-chemical processes is considered under various thermohydrological and geochemical conditions of pressure, temperature, water saturation, and ionic strength. The code can be applied to one-, two- or three-dimensional porous and fractured media with physical and chemical heterogeneity.

Non-linear modelling and control of semi-active suspensions with variable damping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Huang; Long, Chen; Yuan, Chao-Chun; Jiang, Hao-Bin

2013-10-01

Electro-hydraulic dampers can provide variable damping force that is modulated by varying the command current; furthermore, they offer advantages such as lower power, rapid response, lower cost, and simple hardware. However, accurate characterisation of non-linear f-v properties in pre-yield and force saturation in post-yield is still required. Meanwhile, traditional linear or quarter vehicle models contain various non-linearities. The development of a multi-body dynamics model is very complex, and therefore, SIMPACK was used with suitable improvements for model development and numerical simulations. A semi-active suspension was built based on a belief-desire-intention (BDI)-agent model framework. Vehicle handling dynamics were analysed, and a co-simulation analysis was conducted in SIMPACK and MATLAB to evaluate the BDI-agent controller. The design effectively improved ride comfort, handling stability, and driving safety. A rapid control prototype was built based on dSPACE to conduct a real vehicle test. The test and simulation results were consistent, which verified the simulation.

Modeling Reactive Transport of Strontium-90 in Heterogeneous, Variably Saturated Subsurface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li Wang; Joan Q. Wu; Laurence C. Hull

2010-08-01

Sodium-bearing waste (SBW) containing high concentration of 90Sr was accidentally released to the vadose zone at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, in 1972. To investigate the transport and fate of the 90Sr through this 137-m-thick, heterogeneous, variably saturated subsurface, we conducted a two-dimensional numerical modeling using TOUGHREACT under different assumed scenarios (low permeability of an entire interbed or just its surface) for the formation of perched water whose presence reflects the unique characteristics of the geologic materials and stratification at the study site. The results showed that different mechanisms could lead tomore » different flow geometries. The assumption of low permeability for the entire interbed led to the largest saturated zone area and the longest water travel time (55 vs. 43 or 44 yr in other scenarios) from the SBW leakage to the groundwater table. Simulated water travel time from different locations on the land surface to the groundwater aquifer varied from <30 to >80 yr. The results also indicated that different mechanisms may lead to differences in the peak and travel time of a small mobile fraction of Sr. The effective distribution coefficient and retardation factor for Sr2+ would change more than an order of magnitude for the same material during the 200-yr simulation period because of large changes in the concentrations of Sr2+ and competing ions. Understanding the migration rate of the mobile Sr2+ is necessary for designing long-term monitoring programs to detect it.« less

Simple Sensitivity Analysis for Orion GNC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pressburger, Tom; Hoelscher, Brian; Martin, Rodney; Sricharan, Kumar

2013-01-01

The performance of Orion flight software, especially its GNC software, is being analyzed by running Monte Carlo simulations of Orion spacecraft flights. The simulated performance is analyzed for conformance with flight requirements, expressed as performance constraints. Flight requirements include guidance (e.g. touchdown distance from target) and control (e.g., control saturation) as well as performance (e.g., heat load constraints). The Monte Carlo simulations disperse hundreds of simulation input variables, for everything from mass properties to date of launch.We describe in this paper a sensitivity analysis tool (Critical Factors Tool or CFT) developed to find the input variables or pairs of variables which by themselves significantly influence satisfaction of requirements or significantly affect key performance metrics (e.g., touchdown distance from target). Knowing these factors can inform robustness analysis, can inform where engineering resources are most needed, and could even affect operations. The contributions of this paper include the introduction of novel sensitivity measures, such as estimating success probability, and a technique for determining whether pairs of factors are interacting dependently or independently. The tool found that input variables such as moments, mass, thrust dispersions, and date of launch were found to be significant factors for success of various requirements. Examples are shown in this paper as well as a summary and physics discussion of EFT-1 driving factors that the tool found.

Investigating local controls on temporal stability of soil water content using sensor network data and an inverse modeling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, W.; Bogena, H. R.; Huisman, J. A.; Martinez, G.; Pachepsky, Y. A.; Vereecken, H.

2013-12-01

Soil water content is a key variable in the soil, vegetation and atmosphere continuum with high spatial and temporal variability. Temporal stability of soil water content (SWC) has been observed in multiple monitoring studies and the quantification of controls on soil moisture variability and temporal stability presents substantial interest. The objective of this work was to assess the effect of soil hydraulic parameters on the temporal stability. The inverse modeling based on large observed time series SWC with in-situ sensor network was used to estimate the van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) soil hydraulic parameters in a small grassland catchment located in western Germany. For the inverse modeling, the shuffled complex evaluation (SCE) optimization algorithm was coupled with the HYDRUS 1D code. We considered two cases: without and with prior information about the correlation between VGM parameters. The temporal stability of observed SWC was well pronounced at all observation depths. Both the spatial variability of SWC and the robustness of temporal stability increased with depth. Calibrated models both with and without prior information provided reasonable correspondence between simulated and measured time series of SWC. Furthermore, we found a linear relationship between the mean relative difference (MRD) of SWC and the saturated SWC (θs). Also, the logarithm of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), the VGM parameter n and logarithm of α were strongly correlated with the MRD of saturation degree for the prior information case, but no correlation was found for the non-prior information case except at the 50cm depth. Based on these results we propose that establishing relationships between temporal stability and spatial variability of soil properties presents a promising research avenue for a better understanding of the controls on soil moisture variability. Correlation between Mean Relative Difference of soil water content (or saturation degree) and inversely estimated soil hydraulic parameters (log10(Ks), log10(α), n, and θs) at 5-cm, 20-cm and 50-cm depths. Solid circles represent parameters estimated by using prior information; open circles represent parameters estimated without using prior information.

Stochastic analysis of multiphase flow in porous media: II. Numerical simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abin, A.; Kalurachchi, J. J.; Kemblowski, M. W.; Chang, C.-M.

1996-08-01

The first paper (Chang et al., 1995b) of this two-part series described the stochastic analysis using spectral/perturbation approach to analyze steady state two-phase (water and oil) flow in a, liquid-unsaturated, three fluid-phase porous medium. In this paper, the results between the numerical simulations and closed-form expressions obtained using the perturbation approach are compared. We present the solution to the one-dimensional, steady-state oil and water flow equations. The stochastic input processes are the spatially correlated logk where k is the intrinsic permeability and the soil retention parameter, α. These solutions are subsequently used in the numerical simulations to estimate the statistical properties of the key output processes. The comparison between the results of the perturbation analysis and numerical simulations showed a good agreement between the two methods over a wide range of logk variability with three different combinations of input stochastic processes of logk and soil parameter α. The results clearly demonstrated the importance of considering the spatial variability of key subsurface properties under a variety of physical scenarios. The variability of both capillary pressure and saturation is affected by the type of input stochastic process used to represent the spatial variability. The results also demonstrated the applicability of perturbation theory in predicting the system variability and defining effective fluid properties through the ergodic assumption.

Coupled basin-scale water resource models for arid and semiarid regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winter, C.; Springer, E.; Costigan, K.; Fasel, P.; Mniewski, S.; Zyvoloski, G.

2003-04-01

Managers of semi-arid and arid water resources must allocate increasingly variable surface sources and limited groundwater resources to growing demands. This challenge is leading to a new generation of detailed computational models that link multiple interacting sources and demands. We will discuss a new computational model of arid region hydrology that we are parameterizing for the upper Rio Grande Basin of the United States. The model consists of linked components for the atmosphere (the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System, RAMS), surface hydrology (the Los Alamos Distributed Hydrologic System, LADHS), and groundwater (the Finite Element Heat and Mass code, FEHM), and the couplings between them. The model runs under the Parallel Application WorkSpace software developed at Los Alamos for applications running on large distributed memory computers. RAMS simulates regional meteorology coupled to global climate data on the one hand and land surface hydrology on the other. LADHS generates runoff by infiltration or saturation excess mechanisms, as well as interception, evapotranspiration, and snow accumulation and melt. FEHM simulates variably saturated flow and heat transport in three dimensions. A key issue is to increase the components’ spatial and temporal resolution to account for changes in topography and other rapidly changing variables that affect results such as soil moisture distribution or groundwater recharge. Thus, RAMS’ smallest grid is 5 km on a side, LADHS uses 100 m spacing, while FEHM concentrates processing on key volumes by means of an unstructured grid. Couplings within our model are based on new scaling methods that link groundwater-groundwater systems and streams to aquifers and we are developing evapotranspiration methods based on detailed calculations of latent heat and vegetative cover. Simulations of precipitation and soil moisture for the 1992-93 El Nino year will be used to demonstrate the approach and suggest further needs.

Effect of Interannual Variability on the Ocean Acidification-induced Habitat Restriction of the Humboldt Current System.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franco, A. C.; Gruber, N.; Munnich, M.

2016-02-01

The Humboldt Current System (HCS) is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. This high productivity is supported by a large input of nutrients from the subsurface layers to the surface due to year-round upwelling. However, upwelling also supplies waters with low pH and low aragonite saturation state potentially affecting many organisms, especially those that calcify. The influence, extent and source of upwelled water varies substantially on interannual timescales in association with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, accentuating productivity during La Niña events and dampening it during El Niño, altering the dynamics of the whole ecosystem. On top of this natural variability, the continuing acidification of the upper ocean in response to raising atmospheric CO2 may decrease pH further and increase the volume of water corrosive to aragonite in this region, leading to a progressively smaller suitable habitat for sensitive organisms. Here we use an eddy-resolving basin-scale ocean model that covers the whole Pacific Ocean with higher resolution near the coast off South America ( 6 km) to investigate the role of ENSO events on low aragonite saturation episodes and productivity variations. We compare 2 simulations: a hindcast simulation that spans the last 30 years and a future scenario that represents year 2090 (following IPCC's "business-as-usual" scenario). We found that in the region off Peru, the sole effect of increasing atmospheric CO2 to 840 matm shoals the annual average aragonite saturation depth to 30 m, creating a year round presence of aragonite undersaturated water in the euphotic zone. We then contrast the effect on primary productivity and the aragonite saturation state of at least eight El Niño and eight La Niña episodes that have been reported for the past 30 years, in an attempt to answer the question: does habitat availability under future ocean acidification will resemble a pervasive La Niña-like state?

Use of vertical temperature gradients for prediction of tidal flat sediment characteristics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miselis, Jennifer L.; Holland, K. Todd; Reed, Allen H.; Abelev, Andrei

2012-01-01

Sediment characteristics largely govern tidal flat morphologic evolution; however, conventional methods of investigating spatial variability in lithology on tidal flats are difficult to employ in these highly dynamic regions. In response, a series of laboratory experiments was designed to investigate the use of temperature diffusion toward sediment characterization. A vertical thermistor array was used to quantify temperature gradients in simulated tidal flat sediments of varying compositions. Thermal conductivity estimates derived from these arrays were similar to measurements from a standard heated needle probe, which substantiates the thermistor methodology. While the thermal diffusivities of dry homogeneous sediments were similar, diffusivities for saturated homogeneous sediments ranged approximately one order of magnitude. The thermal diffusivity of saturated sand was five times the thermal diffusivity of saturated kaolin and more than eight times the thermal diffusivity of saturated bentonite. This suggests that vertical temperature gradients can be used for distinguishing homogeneous saturated sands from homogeneous saturated clays and perhaps even between homogeneous saturated clay types. However, experiments with more realistic tidal flat mixtures were less discriminating. Relationships between thermal diffusivity and percent fines for saturated mixtures varied depending upon clay composition, indicating that clay hydration and/or water content controls thermal gradients. Furthermore, existing models for the bulk conductivity of sediment mixtures were improved only through the use of calibrated estimates of homogeneous end-member conductivity and water content values. Our findings suggest that remotely sensed observations of water content and thermal diffusivity could only be used to qualitatively estimate tidal flat sediment characteristics.

A Three-Dimensional Finite-Element Model for Simulating Water Flow in Variably Saturated Porous Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huyakorn, Peter S.; Springer, Everett P.; Guvanasen, Varut; Wadsworth, Terry D.

1986-12-01

A three-dimensional finite-element model for simulating water flow in variably saturated porous media is presented. The model formulation is general and capable of accommodating complex boundary conditions associated with seepage faces and infiltration or evaporation on the soil surface. Included in this formulation is an improved Picard algorithm designed to cope with severely nonlinear soil moisture relations. The algorithm is formulated for both rectangular and triangular prism elements. The element matrices are evaluated using an "influence coefficient" technique that avoids costly numerical integration. Spatial discretization of a three-dimensional region is performed using a vertical slicing approach designed to accommodate complex geometry with irregular boundaries, layering, and/or lateral discontinuities. Matrix solution is achieved using a slice successive overrelaxation scheme that permits a fairly large number of nodal unknowns (on the order of several thousand) to be handled efficiently on small minicomputers. Six examples are presented to verify and demonstrate the utility of the proposed finite-element model. The first four examples concern one- and two-dimensional flow problems used as sample problems to benchmark the code. The remaining examples concern three-dimensional problems. These problems are used to illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithm in three-dimensional situations involving seepage faces and anisotropic soil media.

Field study and simulation of diurnal temperature effects on infiltration and variably saturated flow beneath an ephemeral stream

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dudek Ronan, Anne; Prudic, David E.; Thodal, Carl E.; Constantz, Jim

1998-01-01

Two experiments were performed to investigate flow beneath an ephemeral stream and to estimate streambed infiltration rates. Discharge and stream-area measurements were used to determine infiltration rates. Stream and subsurface temperatures were used to interpret subsurface flow through variably saturated sediments beneath the stream. Spatial variations in subsurface temperatures suggest that flow beneath the streambed is dependent on the orientation of the stream in the canyon and the layering of the sediments. Streamflow and infiltration rates vary diurnally: Streamflow is lowest in late afternoon when stream temperature is greatest and highest in early morning when stream temperature is least. The lower afternoon Streamflow is attributed to increased infiltration rates; evapotranspiration is insufficient to account for the decreased Streamflow. The increased infiltration rates are attributed to viscosity effects on hydraulic conductivity from increased stream temperatures. The first set of field data was used to calibrate a two-dimensional variably saturated flow model that includes heat transport. The model was calibrated to (1) temperature fluctuations in the subsurface and (2) infiltration rates determined from measured Streamflow losses. The second set of field data was to evaluate the ability to predict infiltration rates on the basis of temperature measurements alone. Results indicate that the variably saturated subsurface flow depends on downcanyon layering of the sediments. They also support the field observations in indicating that diurnal changes in infiltration can be explained by temperature dependence of hydraulic conductivity. Over the range of temperatures and flows monitored, diurnal stream temperature changes can be used to estimate streambed infiltration rates. It is often impractical to maintain equipment for determining infiltration rates by traditional means; however, once a model is calibrated using both infiltration and temperature data, only relatively inexpensive temperature monitoring can later yield infiltration rates that are within the correct order of magnitude.

Documentation of the Unsaturated-Zone Flow (UZF1) Package for modeling Unsaturated Flow Between the Land Surface and the Water Table with MODFLOW-2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Niswonger, Richard G.; Prudic, David E.; Regan, R. Steven

2006-01-01

Percolation of precipitation through unsaturated zones is important for recharge of ground water. Rain and snowmelt at land surface are partitioned into different pathways including runoff, infiltration, evapotranspiration, unsaturated-zone storage, and recharge. A new package for MODFLOW-2005 called the Unsaturated-Zone Flow (UZF1) Package was developed to simulate water flow and storage in the unsaturated zone and to partition flow into evapotranspiration and recharge. The package also accounts for land surface runoff to streams and lakes. A kinematic wave approximation to Richards? equation is solved by the method of characteristics to simulate vertical unsaturated flow. The approach assumes that unsaturated flow occurs in response to gravity potential gradients only and ignores negative potential gradients; the approach further assumes uniform hydraulic properties in the unsaturated zone for each vertical column of model cells. The Brooks-Corey function is used to define the relation between unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and water content. Variables used by the UZF1 Package include initial and saturated water contents, saturated vertical hydraulic conductivity, and an exponent in the Brooks-Corey function. Residual water content is calculated internally by the UZF1 Package on the basis of the difference between saturated water content and specific yield. The UZF1 Package is a substitution for the Recharge and Evapotranspiration Packages of MODFLOW-2005. The UZF1 Package differs from the Recharge Package in that an infiltration rate is applied at land surface instead of a specified recharge rate directly to ground water. The applied infiltration rate is further limited by the saturated vertical hydraulic conductivity. The UZF1 Package differs from the Evapotranspiration Package in that evapotranspiration losses are first removed from the unsaturated zone above the evapotranspiration extinction depth, and if the demand is not met, water can be removed directly from ground water whenever the depth to ground water is less than the extinction depth. The UZF1 Package also differs from the Evapotranspiration Package in that water is discharged directly to land surface whenever the altitude of the water table exceeds land surface. Water that is discharged to land surface, as well as applied infiltration in excess of the saturated vertical hydraulic conductivity, may be routed directly as inflow to specified streams or lakes if these packages are active; otherwise, this water is removed from the model. The UZF1 Package was tested against the U.S. Geological Survey's Variably-Saturated Two-Dimensional Flow and Transport Model for a vertical unsaturated flow problem that includes evapotranspiration losses. This report also includes an example in which MODFLOW-2005 with the UZF1 Package was used to simulate a realistic surface-water/ground-water flow problem that includes time and space variable infiltration, evapotranspiration, runoff, and ground-water discharge to land surface and to streams. Another simpler problem is presented so that the user may use the input files as templates for new problems and to verify proper code installation.

Direct Numerical Simulations of Dynamic Drainage and Imbibition to Investigate Capillary Pressure-Saturation-Interfacial Area Relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konangi, S.; Palakurthi, N. K.; Karadimitriou, N.; Comer, K.; Ghia, U.

2017-12-01

We present results of pore-scale direct numerical simulations (DNS) of drainage and imbibition in a quasi-two-dimensional (40µm thickness) porous medium with a randomly distributed packing of cylindrical obstructions. The Navier-Stokes (NS) equations are solved in the pore space on an Eulerian mesh using the open-source finite-volume computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, OpenFOAM. The Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method is employed to track the evolution of the fluid-fluid interface; a static contact angle is used to account for wall adhesion. From the DNS data, we focus on the macroscopic capillary pressure-saturation (Pc-Sw) relation, which is known to be hysteretic, i.e., this relation is flow process (such as drainage, imbibition and scanning curves) and history dependent. In order to overcome the problem of hysteresis, extended theories of multiphase flow hypothesized that the inclusion of specific interfacial area as a state variable will result in a unique relation between capillary pressure, saturation and interfacial area (Pc-Sw-awn). We study the role of specific interfacial area on hysteresis in the macroscopic Pc-Sw relation under non-equilibrium (dynamic) conditions. Under dynamic conditions, capillary pressure depends on the rate of change of the wetting phase saturation, and the dynamic Pc-Sw relation includes the changes caused by viscous effects. Simulations of drainage and imbibition are performed for two capillary numbers by controlling the flow rate of the non-wetting (polydimenthlysiloxane oil) and wetting (water) fluids. From these simulations, the Pc-Sw curves will be estimated; the Pc-S-awn surface will be constructed to determine whether the data points from drainage and imbibition processes fall on a unique surface under transient conditions. Different macroscopic capillary pressure definitions based on phase-averaged pressures and interfacial area will be evaluated. Understanding macroscopic capillary pressure definitions and the uniqueness of the Pc-S- awn relation is step towards complete description of two-phase flow at the Darcy scale.

A Model to Couple Flow, Thermal and Reactive Chemical Transport, and Geo-mechanics in Variably Saturated Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, G. T.; Tsai, C. H.

2015-12-01

This paper presents the development of a THMC (thermal-hydrology-mechanics-chemistry) process model in variably saturated media. The governing equations for variably saturated flow and reactive chemical transport are obtained based on the mass conservation principle of species transport supplemented with Darcy's law, constraint of species concentration, equation of states, and constitutive law of K-S-P (Conductivity-Degree of Saturation-Capillary Pressure). The thermal transport equation is obtained based on the conservation of energy. The geo-mechanic displacement is obtained based on the assumption of equilibrium. Conventionally, these equations have been implicitly coupled via the calculations of secondary variables based on primary variables. The mechanisms of coupling have not been obvious. In this paper, governing equations are explicitly coupled for all primary variables. The coupling is accomplished via the storage coefficients, transporting velocities, and conduction-dispersion-diffusion coefficient tensor; one set each for every primary variable. With this new system of equations, the coupling mechanisms become clear. Physical interpretations of every term in the coupled equations will be discussed. Examples will be employed to demonstrate the intuition and superiority of these explicit coupling approaches. Keywords: Variably Saturated Flow, Thermal Transport, Geo-mechanics, Reactive Transport.

SUTRA: A model for 2D or 3D saturated-unsaturated, variable-density ground-water flow with solute or energy transport

USGS Publications Warehouse

Voss, Clifford I.; Provost, A.M.

2002-01-01

SUTRA (Saturated-Unsaturated Transport) is a computer program that simulates fluid movement and the transport of either energy or dissolved substances in a subsurface environment. This upgraded version of SUTRA adds the capability for three-dimensional simulation to the former code (Voss, 1984), which allowed only two-dimensional simulation. The code employs a two- or three-dimensional finite-element and finite-difference method to approximate the governing equations that describe the two interdependent processes that are simulated: 1) fluid density-dependent saturated or unsaturated ground-water flow; and 2) either (a) transport of a solute in the ground water, in which the solute may be subject to: equilibrium adsorption on the porous matrix, and both first-order and zero-order production or decay; or (b) transport of thermal energy in the ground water and solid matrix of the aquifer. SUTRA may also be used to simulate simpler subsets of the above processes. A flow-direction-dependent dispersion process for anisotropic media is also provided by the code and is introduced in this report. As the primary calculated result, SUTRA provides fluid pressures and either solute concentrations or temperatures, as they vary with time, everywhere in the simulated subsurface system. SUTRA flow simulation may be employed for two-dimensional (2D) areal, cross sectional and three-dimensional (3D) modeling of saturated ground-water flow systems, and for cross sectional and 3D modeling of unsaturated zone flow. Solute-transport simulation using SUTRA may be employed to model natural or man-induced chemical-species transport including processes of solute sorption, production, and decay. For example, it may be applied to analyze ground-water contaminant transport problems and aquifer restoration designs. In addition, solute-transport simulation with SUTRA may be used for modeling of variable-density leachate movement, and for cross sectional modeling of saltwater intrusion in aquifers at near-well or regional scales, with either dispersed or relatively sharp transition zones between freshwater and saltwater. SUTRA energy-transport simulation may be employed to model thermal regimes in aquifers, subsurface heat conduction, aquifer thermal-energy storage systems, geothermal reservoirs, thermal pollution of aquifers, and natural hydrogeologic convection systems. Mesh construction, which is quite flexible for arbitrary geometries, employs quadrilateral finite elements in 2D Cartesian or radial-cylindrical coordinate systems, and hexahedral finite elements in 3D systems. 3D meshes are currently restricted to be logically rectangular; in other words, they are similar to deformable finite-difference-style grids. Permeabilities may be anisotropic and may vary in both direction and magnitude throughout the system, as may most other aquifer and fluid properties. Boundary conditions, sources and sinks may be time dependent. A number of input data checks are made to verify the input data set. An option is available for storing intermediate results and restarting a simulation at the intermediate time. Output options include fluid velocities, fluid mass and solute mass or energy budgets, and time-varying observations at points in the system. Both the mathematical basis for SUTRA and the program structure are highly general, and are modularized to allow for straightforward addition of new methods or processes to the simulation. The FORTRAN-90 coding stresses clarity and modularity rather than efficiency, providing easy access for later modifications.

Numerical Simulation of nZVI at the Field Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chowdhury, A. I.; Krol, M.; Sleep, B. E.; O'Carroll, D. M.

2014-12-01

Nano-scale zero valent iron (nZVI) has been used at a number of contaminated sites over the last decade. At most of these sites, significant decreases in contaminant concentrations have resulted from the application of nZVI. However, limited work has been completed investigating nZVI mobility at the field-scale. In this study a three dimensional, three phase, finite difference numerical simulator (CompSim) was used to simulate nZVI and polymer transport in a variably saturated site. The model was able to accurately predict the field observed head data without parameter fitting. In addition, the numerical simulator estimated the amount of nZVI delivered to the saturated and unsaturated zones as well as the phase of nZVI (i.e., attached or aqueous phase). The simulation results showed that the injected slurry migrated radially outward from the injection well, and therefore nZVI transport was governed by injection velocity as well as viscosity of the injected solution. A suite of sensitivity analyses was performed to investigate the impact of different injection scenarios (e.g. different volume and injection rate) on nZVI migration. Simulation results showed that injection of a higher volume of nZVI delivered more iron particles at a given distance; however, not necessarily to a greater distance proportionate to the increase in volume. This study suggests that on-site synthesized nZVI particles are mobile in the subsurface and the numerical simulator can be a valuable tool for optimum design of nZVI applications.

Effects of dynamically variable saturation and matrix-conduit coupling of flow in karst aquifers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reimann, T.; Geyer, T.; Shoemaker, W.B.; Liedl, R.; Sauter, M.

2011-01-01

Well-developed karst aquifers consist of highly conductive conduits and a relatively low permeability fractured and/or porous rock matrix and therefore behave as a dual-hydraulic system. Groundwater flow within highly permeable strata is rapid and transient and depends on local flow conditions, i.e., pressurized or nonpressurized flow. The characterization of karst aquifers is a necessary and challenging task because information about hydraulic and spatial conduit properties is poorly defined or unknown. To investigate karst aquifers, hydraulic stresses such as large recharge events can be simulated with hybrid (coupled discrete continuum) models. Since existing hybrid models are simplifications of the system dynamics, a new karst model (ModBraC) is presented that accounts for unsteady and nonuniform discrete flow in variably saturated conduits employing the Saint-Venant equations. Model performance tests indicate that ModBraC is able to simulate (1) unsteady and nonuniform flow in variably filled conduits, (2) draining and refilling of conduits with stable transition between free-surface and pressurized flow and correct storage representation, (3) water exchange between matrix and variably filled conduits, and (4) discharge routing through branched and intermeshed conduit networks. Subsequently, ModBraC is applied to an idealized catchment to investigate the significance of free-surface flow representation. A parameter study is conducted with two different initial conditions: (1) pressurized flow and (2) free-surface flow. If free-surface flow prevails, the systems is characterized by (1) a time lag for signal transmission, (2) a typical spring discharge pattern representing the transition from pressurized to free-surface flow, and (3) a reduced conduit-matrix interaction during free-surface flow. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Assessing geotechnical centrifuge modelling in addressing variably saturated flow in soil and fractured rock.

PubMed

Jones, Brendon R; Brouwers, Luke B; Van Tonder, Warren D; Dippenaar, Matthys A

2017-05-01

The vadose zone typically comprises soil underlain by fractured rock. Often, surface water and groundwater parameters are readily available, but variably saturated flow through soil and rock are oversimplified or estimated as input for hydrological models. In this paper, a series of geotechnical centrifuge experiments are conducted to contribute to the knowledge gaps in: (i) variably saturated flow and dispersion in soil and (ii) variably saturated flow in discrete vertical and horizontal fractures. Findings from the research show that the hydraulic gradient, and not the hydraulic conductivity, is scaled for seepage flow in the geotechnical centrifuge. Furthermore, geotechnical centrifuge modelling has been proven as a viable experimental tool for the modelling of hydrodynamic dispersion as well as the replication of similar flow mechanisms for unsaturated fracture flow, as previously observed in literature. Despite the imminent challenges of modelling variable saturation in the vadose zone, the geotechnical centrifuge offers a powerful experimental tool to physically model and observe variably saturated flow. This can be used to give valuable insight into mechanisms associated with solid-fluid interaction problems under these conditions. Findings from future research can be used to validate current numerical modelling techniques and address the subsequent influence on aquifer recharge and vulnerability, contaminant transport, waste disposal, dam construction, slope stability and seepage into subsurface excavations.

Computational Modeling of Seismic Wave Propagation Velocity-Saturation Effects in Porous Rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deeks, J.; Lumley, D. E.

2011-12-01

Compressional and shear velocities of seismic waves propagating in porous rocks vary as a function of the fluid mixture and its distribution in pore space. Although it has been possible to place theoretical upper and lower bounds on the velocity variation with fluid saturation, predicting the actual velocity response of a given rock with fluid type and saturation remains an unsolved problem. In particular, we are interested in predicting the velocity-saturation response to various mixtures of fluids with pressure and temperature, as a function of the spatial distribution of the fluid mixture and the seismic wavelength. This effect is often termed "patchy saturation' in the rock physics community. The ability to accurately predict seismic velocities for various fluid mixtures and spatial distributions in the pore space of a rock is useful for fluid detection, hydrocarbon exploration and recovery, CO2 sequestration and monitoring of many subsurface fluid-flow processes. We create digital rock models with various fluid mixtures, saturations and spatial distributions. We use finite difference modeling to propagate elastic waves of varying frequency content through these digital rock and fluid models to simulate a given lab or field experiment. The resulting waveforms can be analyzed to determine seismic traveltimes, velocities, amplitudes, attenuation and other wave phenomena for variable rock models of fluid saturation and spatial fluid distribution, and variable wavefield spectral content. We show that we can reproduce most of the published effects of velocity-saturation variation, including validating the Voigt and Reuss theoretical bounds, as well as the Hill "patchy saturation" curve. We also reproduce what has been previously identified as Biot dispersion, but in fact in our models is often seen to be wave multi-pathing and broadband spectral effects. Furthermore, we find that in addition to the dominant seismic wavelength and average fluid patch size, the smoothness of the fluid patches are a critical factor in determining the velocity-saturation response; this is a result that we have not seen discussed in the literature. Most importantly, we can reproduce all of these effects using full elastic wavefield scattering, without the need to resort to more complicated squirt-flow or poroelastic models. This is important because the physical properties and parameters we need to model full elastic wave scattering, and predict a velocity-saturation curve, are often readily available for projects we undertake; this is not the case for poroelastic or squirt-flow models. We can predict this velocity saturation curve for a specific rock type, fluid mixture distribution and wavefield spectrum.

Simple Sensitivity Analysis for Orion Guidance Navigation and Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pressburger, Tom; Hoelscher, Brian; Martin, Rodney; Sricharan, Kumar

2013-01-01

The performance of Orion flight software, especially its GNC software, is being analyzed by running Monte Carlo simulations of Orion spacecraft flights. The simulated performance is analyzed for conformance with flight requirements, expressed as performance constraints. Flight requirements include guidance (e.g. touchdown distance from target) and control (e.g., control saturation) as well as performance (e.g., heat load constraints). The Monte Carlo simulations disperse hundreds of simulation input variables, for everything from mass properties to date of launch. We describe in this paper a sensitivity analysis tool ("Critical Factors Tool" or CFT) developed to find the input variables or pairs of variables which by themselves significantly influence satisfaction of requirements or significantly affect key performance metrics (e.g., touchdown distance from target). Knowing these factors can inform robustness analysis, can inform where engineering resources are most needed, and could even affect operations. The contributions of this paper include the introduction of novel sensitivity measures, such as estimating success probability, and a technique for determining whether pairs of factors are interacting dependently or independently. The tool found that input variables such as moments, mass, thrust dispersions, and date of launch were found to be significant factors for success of various requirements. Examples are shown in this paper as well as a summary and physics discussion of EFT-1 driving factors that the tool found.

Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thomas, Matthew A.; Mirus, Benjamin B.; Collins, Brian D.; Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan W.

2018-01-01

Rainfall-induced shallow landsliding is a persistent hazard to human life and property. Despite the observed connection between infiltration through the unsaturated zone and shallow landslide initiation, there is considerable uncertainty in how estimates of unsaturated soil-water retention properties affect slope stability assessment. This source of uncertainty is critical to evaluating the utility of physics-based hydrologic modeling as a tool for landslide early warning. We employ a numerical model of variably saturated groundwater flow parameterized with an ensemble of texture-, laboratory-, and field-based estimates of soil-water retention properties for an extensively monitored landslide-prone site in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA. Simulations of soil-water content, pore-water pressure, and the resultant factor of safety show considerable variability across and within these different parameter estimation techniques. In particular, we demonstrate that with the same permeability structure imposed across all simulations, the variability in soil-water retention properties strongly influences predictions of positive pore-water pressure coincident with widespread shallow landsliding. We also find that the ensemble of soil-water retention properties imposes an order-of-magnitude and nearly two-fold variability in seasonal and event-scale landslide susceptibility, respectively. Despite the reduced factor of safety uncertainty during wet conditions, parameters that control the dry end of the soil-water retention function markedly impact the ability of a hydrologic model to capture soil-water content dynamics observed in the field. These results suggest that variability in soil-water retention properties should be considered for objective physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria.

Thermal infrared imagery as a tool for analysing the variability of surface saturated areas at various temporal and spatial scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glaser, Barbara; Antonelli, Marta; Pfister, Laurent; Klaus, Julian

2017-04-01

Surface saturated areas are important for the on- and offset of hydrological connectivity within the hillslope-riparian-stream continuum. This is reflected in concepts such as variable contributing areas or critical source areas. However, we still lack a standardized method for areal mapping of surface saturation and for observing its spatiotemporal variability. Proof-of-concept studies in recent years have shown the potential of thermal infrared (TIR) imagery to record surface saturation dynamics at various temporal and spatial scales. Thermal infrared imagery is thus a promising alternative to conventional approaches, such as the squishy boot method or the mapping of vegetation. In this study we use TIR images to investigate the variability of surface saturated areas at different temporal and spatial scales in the forested Weierbach catchment (0.45 km2) in western Luxembourg. We took TIR images of the riparian zone with a hand-held FLIR infrared camera at fortnightly intervals over 18 months at nine different locations distributed over the catchment. Not all of the acquired images were suitable for a derivation of the surface saturated areas, as various factors influence the usability of the TIR images (e.g. temperature contrasts, shadows, fog). Nonetheless, we obtained a large number of usable images that provided a good insight into the dynamic behaviour of surface saturated areas at different scales. The images revealed how diverse the evolution of surface saturated areas can be throughout the hydrologic year. For some locations with similar morphology or topography we identified diverging saturation dynamics, while other locations with different morphology / topography showed more similar behaviour. Moreover, we were able to assess the variability of the dynamics of expansion / contraction of saturated areas within the single locations, which can help to better understand the mechanisms behind surface saturation development.

Evaluation of a distributed catchment scale water balance model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Troch, Peter A.; Mancini, Marco; Paniconi, Claudio; Wood, Eric F.

1993-01-01

The validity of some of the simplifying assumptions in a conceptual water balance model is investigated by comparing simulation results from the conceptual model with simulation results from a three-dimensional physically based numerical model and with field observations. We examine, in particular, assumptions and simplifications related to water table dynamics, vertical soil moisture and pressure head distributions, and subsurface flow contributions to stream discharge. The conceptual model relies on a topographic index to predict saturation excess runoff and on Philip's infiltration equation to predict infiltration excess runoff. The numerical model solves the three-dimensional Richards equation describing flow in variably saturated porous media, and handles seepage face boundaries, infiltration excess and saturation excess runoff production, and soil driven and atmosphere driven surface fluxes. The study catchments (a 7.2 sq km catchment and a 0.64 sq km subcatchment) are located in the North Appalachian ridge and valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Hydrologic data collected during the MACHYDRO 90 field experiment are used to calibrate the models and to evaluate simulation results. It is found that water table dynamics as predicted by the conceptual model are close to the observations in a shallow water well and therefore, that a linear relationship between a topographic index and the local water table depth is found to be a reasonable assumption for catchment scale modeling. However, the hydraulic equilibrium assumption is not valid for the upper 100 cm layer of the unsaturated zone and a conceptual model that incorporates a root zone is suggested. Furthermore, theoretical subsurface flow characteristics from the conceptual model are found to be different from field observations, numerical simulation results, and theoretical baseflow recession characteristics based on Boussinesq's groundwater equation.

Experimental and numerical study on thermal conductivity of partially saturated unconsolidated sands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Youngmin; Keehm, Youngseuk; Kim, Seong-Kyun; Shin, Sang Ho

2016-04-01

A class of problems in heat flow applications requires an understanding of how water saturation affects thermal conductivity in the shallow subsurface. We conducted a series of experiments using a sand box to evaluate thermal conductivity (TC) of partially saturated unconsolidated sands under varying water saturation (Sw). We first saturated sands fully with water and varied water saturation by drainage through the bottom of the sand box. Five water-content sensors were integrated vertically into the sand box to monitor water saturation changes and a needle probe was embedded to measure thermal conductivity of partially saturated sands. The experimental result showed that thermal conductivity decreases from 2.5 W/mK for fully saturated sands to 0.7 W/mK when water saturation is 5%. We found that the decreasing trend is quite non-linear: highly sensitive at very high and low water saturations. However, the boundary effects on the top and the bottom of the sand box seemed to be responsible for this high nonlinearity. We also found that the determination of water saturation is quite important: the saturation by averaging values from all five sensors and that from the sensor at the center position, showed quite different trends in the TC-Sw domain. In parallel, we conducted a pore-scale numerical modeling, which consists of the steady-state two-phase Lattice-Boltzmann simulator and FEM thermal conduction simulator on digital pore geometry of sand aggregation. The simulation results showed a monotonous decreasing trend, and are reasonably well matched with experimental data when using average water saturations. We concluded that thermal conductivity would decrease smoothly as water saturation decreases if we can exclude boundary effects. However, in dynamic conditions, i.e. imbibition or drainage, the thermal conductivity might show hysteresis, which can be investigated with pore-scale numerical modeling with unsteady-state two-phase flow simulators in our future work.

Sensitivity analyses of a colloid-facilitated contaminant transport model for unsaturated heterogeneous soil conditions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Périard, Yann; José Gumiere, Silvio; Rousseau, Alain N.; Caron, Jean

2013-04-01

Certain contaminants may travel faster through soils when they are sorbed to subsurface colloidal particles. Indeed, subsurface colloids may act as carriers of some contaminants accelerating their translocation through the soil into the water table. This phenomenon is known as colloid-facilitated contaminant transport. It plays a significant role in contaminant transport in soils and has been recognized as a source of groundwater contamination. From a mechanistic point of view, the attachment/detachment of the colloidal particles from the soil matrix or from the air-water interface and the straining process may modify the hydraulic properties of the porous media. Šimůnek et al. (2006) developed a model that can simulate the colloid-facilitated contaminant transport in variably saturated porous media. The model is based on the solution of a modified advection-dispersion equation that accounts for several processes, namely: straining, exclusion and attachement/detachement kinetics of colloids through the soil matrix. The solutions of these governing, partial differential equations are obtained using a standard Galerkin-type, linear finite element scheme, implemented in the HYDRUS-2D/3D software (Šimůnek et al., 2012). Modeling colloid transport through the soil and the interaction of colloids with the soil matrix and other contaminants is complex and requires the characterization of many model parameters. In practice, it is very difficult to assess actual transport parameter values, so they are often calibrated. However, before calibration, one needs to know which parameters have the greatest impact on output variables. This kind of information can be obtained through a sensitivity analysis of the model. The main objective of this work is to perform local and global sensitivity analyses of the colloid-facilitated contaminant transport module of HYDRUS. Sensitivity analysis was performed in two steps: (i) we applied a screening method based on Morris' elementary effects and the one-at-a-time approach (O.A.T); and (ii), we applied Sobol's global sensitivity analysis method which is based on variance decompositions. Results illustrate that ψm (maximum sorption rate of mobile colloids), kdmc (solute desorption rate from mobile colloids), and Ks (saturated hydraulic conductivity) are the most sensitive parameters with respect to the contaminant travel time. The analyses indicate that this new module is able to simulate the colloid-facilitated contaminant transport. However, validations under laboratory conditions are needed to confirm the occurrence of the colloid transport phenomenon and to understand model prediction under non-saturated soil conditions. Future work will involve monitoring of the colloidal transport phenomenon through soil column experiments. The anticipated outcome will provide valuable information on the understanding of the dominant mechanisms responsible for colloidal transports, colloid-facilitated contaminant transport and, also, the colloid detachment/deposition processes impacts on soil hydraulic properties. References: Šimůnek, J., C. He, L. Pang, & S. A. Bradford, Colloid-Facilitated Solute Transport in Variably Saturated Porous Media: Numerical Model and Experimental Verification, Vadose Zone Journal, 2006, 5, 1035-1047 Šimůnek, J., M. Šejna, & M. Th. van Genuchten, The C-Ride Module for HYDRUS (2D/3D) Simulating Two-Dimensional Colloid-Facilitated Solute Transport in Variably-Saturated Porous Media, Version 1.0, PC Progress, Prague, Czech Republic, 45 pp., 2012.

Robust fault-tolerant tracking control design for spacecraft under control input saturation.

PubMed

Bustan, Danyal; Pariz, Naser; Sani, Seyyed Kamal Hosseini

2014-07-01

In this paper, a continuous globally stable tracking control algorithm is proposed for a spacecraft in the presence of unknown actuator failure, control input saturation, uncertainty in inertial matrix and external disturbances. The design method is based on variable structure control and has the following properties: (1) fast and accurate response in the presence of bounded disturbances; (2) robust to the partial loss of actuator effectiveness; (3) explicit consideration of control input saturation; and (4) robust to uncertainty in inertial matrix. In contrast to traditional fault-tolerant control methods, the proposed controller does not require knowledge of the actuator faults and is implemented without explicit fault detection and isolation processes. In the proposed controller a single parameter is adjusted dynamically in such a way that it is possible to prove that both attitude and angular velocity errors will tend to zero asymptotically. The stability proof is based on a Lyapunov analysis and the properties of the singularity free quaternion representation of spacecraft dynamics. Results of numerical simulations state that the proposed controller is successful in achieving high attitude performance in the presence of external disturbances, actuator failures, and control input saturation. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulated effects of nitrogen saturation the global carbon budget using the IBIS model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lu, Xuehe; Jiang, Hong; Liu, Jinxun; Zhang, Xiuying; Jin, Jiaxin; Zhu, Qiuan; Zhang, Zhen; Peng, Changhui

2016-01-01

Over the past 100 years, human activity has greatly changed the rate of atmospheric N (nitrogen) deposition in terrestrial ecosystems, resulting in N saturation in some regions of the world. The contribution of N saturation to the global carbon budget remains uncertain due to the complicated nature of C-N (carbon-nitrogen) interactions and diverse geography. Although N deposition is included in most terrestrial ecosystem models, the effect of N saturation is frequently overlooked. In this study, the IBIS (Integrated BIosphere Simulator) was used to simulate the global-scale effects of N saturation during the period 1961–2009. The results of this model indicate that N saturation reduced global NPP (Net Primary Productivity) and NEP (Net Ecosystem Productivity) by 0.26 and 0.03 Pg C yr−1, respectively. The negative effects of N saturation on carbon sequestration occurred primarily in temperate forests and grasslands. In response to elevated CO2 levels, global N turnover slowed due to increased biomass growth, resulting in a decline in soil mineral N. These changes in N cycling reduced the impact of N saturation on the global carbon budget. However, elevated N deposition in certain regions may further alter N saturation and C-N coupling.

Factors influencing spatial variability in nitrogen processing in nitrogen-saturated soils

Treesearch

Frank S. Gilliam; Charles C. Somerville; Nikki L. Lyttle; Mary Beth Adams

2001-01-01

Nitrogen (N) saturation is an environmental concern for forests in the eastern U.S. Although several watersheds of the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF), West Virginia exhibit symptoms of N saturation, many watersheds display a high degree of spatial variability in soil N processing. This study examined the effects of temperature on net N mineralization and...

An Attempt To Estimate The Contribution Of Variability Of Wetland Extent On The Variability Of The Atmospheric Methane Growth Rate In The Years 1993-2000.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ringeval, B.; de Noblet-Ducoudre, N.; Prigent, C.; Bousquet, P.

2006-12-01

The atmospheric methane growth rate presents lots of seasonal and year-to-year variations. Large uncertainties still exist in the relative part of differents sources and sinks on these variations. We have considered, in this study, the main natural sources of methane and the supposed main variable source, i.e. wetlands, and tried to simulate the variations of their emissions considering the variability of the wetland extent and of the climate. For this study, we use the methane emission model of Walter et al. (2001) and the quantification of the flooded areas for the years 1993-2000 obtained with a suite of satellite observations by Prigent et al. (2001). The data necessary to the Walter's model are obtained with simulation of a dynamic global vegetation model ORCHIDEE (Krinner et al. (2005)) constrained by the NCC climate data (Ngo-Duc et al. (2005)) and after imposing a water-saturated soil to approach productivity of wetlands. We calculate global annual methane emissions from wetlands to be 400 Tg per year, that is higher than previous results obtained with fixed wetland extent. Simulations are realised to estimate the part of variability in the emissions explained by the variability of the wetland extent. It seems that the year-to-year emission variability is mainly explained by the interannual variability of wetland extent. The seasonnal variability is explained for 75% in the tropics and only for 40% in the north of 30°N by variability of wetlands extend. Finally, we compare results with a top-down approach of Bousquet et al.(2006).

Insights into the use of time-lapse GPR data as observations for inverse multiphase flow simulations of DNAPL migration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, R.H.; Poeter, E.P.

2007-01-01

Perchloroethylene (PCE) saturations determined from GPR surveys were used as observations for inversion of multiphase flow simulations of a PCE injection experiment (Borden 9??m cell), allowing for the estimation of optimal bulk intrinsic permeability values. The resulting fit statistics and analysis of residuals (observed minus simulated PCE saturations) were used to improve the conceptual model. These improvements included adjustment of the elevation of a permeability contrast, use of the van Genuchten versus Brooks-Corey capillary pressure-saturation curve, and a weighting scheme to account for greater measurement error with larger saturation values. A limitation in determining PCE saturations through one-dimensional GPR modeling is non-uniqueness when multiple GPR parameters are unknown (i.e., permittivity, depth, and gain function). Site knowledge, fixing the gain function, and multiphase flow simulations assisted in evaluating non-unique conceptual models of PCE saturation, where depth and layering were reinterpreted to provide alternate conceptual models. Remaining bias in the residuals is attributed to the violation of assumptions in the one-dimensional GPR interpretation (which assumes flat, infinite, horizontal layering) resulting from multidimensional influences that were not included in the conceptual model. While the limitations and errors in using GPR data as observations for inverse multiphase flow simulations are frustrating and difficult to quantify, simulation results indicate that the error and bias in the PCE saturation values are small enough to still provide reasonable optimal permeability values. The effort to improve model fit and reduce residual bias decreases simulation error even for an inversion based on biased observations and provides insight into alternate GPR data interpretations. Thus, this effort is warranted and provides information on bias in the observation data when this bias is otherwise difficult to assess. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamical predictors of an imminent phenotypic switch in bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Huijing; Ray, J. Christian J.

2017-08-01

Single cells can stochastically switch across thresholds imposed by regulatory networks. Such thresholds can act as a tipping point, drastically changing global phenotypic states. In ecology and economics, imminent transitions across such tipping points can be predicted using dynamical early warning indicators. A typical example is ‘flickering’ of a fast variable, predicting a longer-lasting switch from a low to a high state or vice versa. Considering the different timescales between metabolite and protein fluctuations in bacteria, we hypothesized that metabolic early warning indicators predict imminent transitions across a network threshold caused by enzyme saturation. We used stochastic simulations to determine if flickering predicts phenotypic transitions, accounting for a variety of molecular physiological parameters, including enzyme affinity, burstiness of enzyme gene expression, homeostatic feedback, and rates of metabolic precursor influx. In most cases, we found that metabolic flickering rates are robustly peaked near the enzyme saturation threshold. The degree of fluctuation was amplified by product inhibition of the enzyme. We conclude that sensitivity to flickering in fast variables may be a possible natural or synthetic strategy to prepare physiological states for an imminent transition.

New preconditioning strategy for Jacobian-free solvers for variably saturated flows with Richards’ equation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lipnikov, Konstantin; Moulton, David; Svyatskiy, Daniil

2016-04-29

We develop a new approach for solving the nonlinear Richards’ equation arising in variably saturated flow modeling. The growing complexity of geometric models for simulation of subsurface flows leads to the necessity of using unstructured meshes and advanced discretization methods. Typically, a numerical solution is obtained by first discretizing PDEs and then solving the resulting system of nonlinear discrete equations with a Newton-Raphson-type method. Efficiency and robustness of the existing solvers rely on many factors, including an empiric quality control of intermediate iterates, complexity of the employed discretization method and a customized preconditioner. We propose and analyze a new preconditioningmore » strategy that is based on a stable discretization of the continuum Jacobian. We will show with numerical experiments for challenging problems in subsurface hydrology that this new preconditioner improves convergence of the existing Jacobian-free solvers 3-20 times. Furthermore, we show that the Picard method with this preconditioner becomes a more efficient nonlinear solver than a few widely used Jacobian-free solvers.« less

Numerical modeling of coupled variably saturated fluid flow and reactive transport with fast and slow chemical reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, Gour-Tsyh (George); Siegel, Malcolm D.; Li, Ming-Hsu

2001-02-01

The couplings among chemical reaction rates, advective and diffusive transport in fractured media or soils, and changes in hydraulic properties due to precipitation and dissolution within fractures and in rock matrix are important for both nuclear waste disposal and remediation of contaminated sites. This paper describes the development and application of LEHGC2.0, a mechanistically based numerical model for simulation of coupled fluid flow and reactive chemical transport, including both fast and slow reactions in variably saturated media. Theoretical bases and numerical implementations are summarized, and two example problems are demonstrated. The first example deals with the effect of precipitation/dissolution on fluid flow and matrix diffusion in a two-dimensional fractured media. Because of the precipitation and decreased diffusion of solute from the fracture into the matrix, retardation in the fractured medium is not as large as the case wherein interactions between chemical reactions and transport are not considered. The second example focuses on a complicated but realistic advective-dispersive-reactive transport problem. This example exemplifies the need for innovative numerical algorithms to solve problems involving stiff geochemical reactions.

Simulating Water Flow in Variably Saturated Soils - Exploring the Advantage of Three-dimensional Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopp, L.; Ivanov, V. Y.

2010-12-01

There is still a debate in rainfall-runoff modeling over the advantage of using three-dimensional models based on partial differential equations describing variably saturated flow vs. models with simpler infiltration and flow routing algorithms. Fully explicit 3D models are computationally demanding but allow the representation of spatially complex domains, heterogeneous soils, conditions of ponded infiltration, and solute transport, among others. Models with simpler infiltration and flow routing algorithms provide faster run times and are likely to be more versatile in the treatment of extreme conditions such as soil drying but suffer from underlying assumptions and ad-hoc parameterizations. In this numerical study, we explore the question of whether these two model strategies are competing approaches or if they complement each other. As a 3D physics-based model we use HYDRUS-3D, a finite element model that numerically solves the Richards equation for variably-saturated water flow. As an example of a simpler model, we use tRIBS+VEGGIE that solves the 1D Richards equation for vertical flow and applies Dupuit-Forchheimer approximation for saturated lateral exchange and gravity-driven flow for unsaturated lateral exchange. The flow can be routed using either the D-8 (steepest descent) or D-infinity flow routing algorithms. We study lateral subsurface stormflow and moisture dynamics at the hillslope-scale, using a zero-order basin topography, as a function of storm size, antecedent moisture conditions and slope angle. The domain and soil characteristics are representative of a forested hillslope with conductive soils in a humid environment, where the major runoff generating process is lateral subsurface stormflow. We compare spatially integrated lateral subsurface flow at the downslope boundary as well as spatial patterns of soil moisture. We illustrate situations where both model approaches perform equally well and identify conditions under which the application of a fully-explicit 3D model may be required for a realistic description of the hydrologic response.

Meso-scale eddies and the impacts on variability of carbonate chemistry over deep coral reefs in the Florida Straits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, M.; Pan, C.; Barbero, L.; Hu, C.; Reed, J.; Salisbury, J.; Wanninkhof, R. H.

2016-02-01

Abundant and diverse cold-water corals and associated fish communities can be found in the deep waters of the Florida Straits. Preliminary evidence suggests that corals in these deep coral habitats are living under sub-optimal conditions with the ambient aragonite saturation state (Ω) being only marginally above 1. Yet little is known regarding the temporal variability of carbonate chemistry parameters and their dynamic drivers in these critical habitats. In this presentation, we addressed this issue by using a recently developed circulation model and in situ data collected during two research cruises: the second Florida Shelf Edge Exploration Expedition (FloSEE2) in September 2011 and the second Gulf of Mexico East Coast Carbon Cruise (GOMECC2) in July 2012, both supported by NOAA. A numerical simulation was carried out for 2011-2012. In particular, we focused on two contrasting habitats: Pourtalès Terrace (200-450m) and Miami Terrace (270-600m) in the Florida Straits. The results suggest that there is strong weekly to seasonal variability in the bottom water properties including temperature, salinity, total CO2 and total alkalinity on the upper slope of the Straits. In particular, the minimum saturation state over Pourtalès Terrace can be as low as 1.5 whereas even at the top of Miami Terrace, Ω can be very close to 1. Further analysis suggests that the variability of water properties in the upper slope is largely driven by the large-scale transport, and upwelling of cold and CO2-rich deep waters due to meandering of Florida Current, and/or associated meso-scale eddies. In contrast, the water properties at the bottom of the slope are very stable but with much lower aragonite saturation state. The roles of local biochemical processes including the potentially elevated productivity and export driven by meso-scale eddies are yet to be explored. We further project that the aragonite saturation state in deep waters of the Florida Straits may be further decreased to around or below 1 in 2050 under the IPCC RCP 8.5 scenario.

The effect of entrapped nonaqueous phase liquids on tracer transport in heterogeneous porous media: Laboratory experiments at the intermediate scale

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barth, Gilbert R.; Illangasekare, T.H.; Rajaram, H.

2003-01-01

This work considers the applicability of conservative tracers for detecting high-saturation nonaqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) entrapment in heterogeneous systems. For this purpose, a series of experiments and simulations was performed using a two-dimensional heterogeneous system (10??1.2 m), which represents an intermediate scale between laboratory and field scales. Tracer tests performed prior to injecting the NAPL provide the baseline response of the heterogeneous porous medium. Two NAPL spill experiments were performed and the entrapped-NAPL saturation distribution measured in detail using a gamma-ray attenuation system. Tracer tests following each of the NAPL spills produced breakthrough curves (BTCs) reflecting the impact of entrapped NAPL on conservative transport. To evaluate significance, the impact of NAPL entrapment on the conservative-tracer breakthrough curves was compared to simulated breakthrough curve variability for different realizations of the heterogeneous distribution. Analysis of the results reveals that the NAPL entrapment has a significant impact on the temporal moments of conservative-tracer breakthrough curves. ?? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Large-scale stress factors affecting coral reefs: open ocean sea surface temperature and surface seawater aragonite saturation over the next 400 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meissner, K. J.; Lippmann, T.; Sen Gupta, A.

2012-06-01

One-third of the world's coral reefs have disappeared over the last 30 years, and a further third is under threat today from various stress factors. The main global stress factors on coral reefs have been identified as changes in sea surface temperature (SST) and changes in surface seawater aragonite saturation (Ωarag). Here, we use a climate model of intermediate complexity, which includes an ocean general circulation model and a fully coupled carbon cycle, in conjunction with present-day observations of inter-annual SST variability to investigate three IPCC representative concentration pathways (RCP 3PD, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5), and their impact on the environmental stressors of coral reefs related to open ocean SST and open ocean Ωarag over the next 400 years. Our simulations show that for the RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, the threshold of 3.3 for zonal and annual mean Ωarag would be crossed in the first half of this century. By year 2030, 66-85% of the reef locations considered in this study would experience severe bleaching events at least once every 10 years. Regardless of the concentration pathway, virtually every reef considered in this study (>97%) would experience severe thermal stress by year 2050. In all our simulations, changes in surface seawater aragonite saturation lead changes in temperatures.

2D lattice model of a lipid bilayer: Microscopic derivation and thermodynamic exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hakobyan, Davit; Heuer, Andreas

2017-02-01

Based on all-atom Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of a lipid bilayer we present a systematic mapping on a 2D lattice model. Keeping the lipid type and the chain order parameter as key variables we derive a free energy functional, containing the enthalpic interaction of adjacent lipids as well as the tail entropy. The functional form of both functions is explicitly determined for saturated and polyunsaturated lipids. By studying the lattice model via Monte Carlo simulations it is possible to reproduce the temperature dependence of the distribution of order parameters of the pure lipids, including the prediction of the gel transition. Furthermore, application to a mixture of saturated and polyunsaturated lipids yields the correct phase separation behavior at lower temperatures with a simulation time reduced by approximately 7 orders of magnitude as compared to the corresponding MD simulations. Even the time-dependence of the de-mixing is reproduced on a semi-quantitative level. Due to the generality of the approach we envisage a large number of further applications, ranging from modeling larger sets of lipids, sterols, and solvent proteins to predicting nucleation barriers for the melting of lipids. Particularly, from the properties of the 2D lattice model one can directly read off the enthalpy and entropy change of the 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine gel-to-liquid transition in excellent agreement with experimental and MD results.

Observed and simulated hydrologic response for a first-order catchment during extreme rainfall 3 years after wildfire disturbance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ebel, Brian A.; Rengers, Francis K.; Tucker, Gregory E.

2016-01-01

Hydrologic response to extreme rainfall in disturbed landscapes is poorly understood because of the paucity of measurements. A unique opportunity presented itself when extreme rainfall in September 2013 fell on a headwater catchment (i.e., <1 ha) in Colorado, USA that had previously been burned by a wildfire in 2010. We compared measurements of soil-hydraulic properties, soil saturation from subsurface sensors, and estimated peak runoff during the extreme rainfall with numerical simulations of runoff generation and subsurface hydrologic response during this event. The simulations were used to explore differences in runoff generation between the wildfire-affected headwater catchment, a simulated unburned case, and for uniform versus spatially variable parameterizations of soil-hydraulic properties that affect infiltration and runoff generation in burned landscapes. Despite 3 years of elapsed time since the 2010 wildfire, observations and simulations pointed to substantial surface runoff generation in the wildfire-affected headwater catchment by the infiltration-excess mechanism while no surface runoff was generated in the unburned case. The surface runoff generation was the result of incomplete recovery of soil-hydraulic properties in the burned area, suggesting recovery takes longer than 3 years. Moreover, spatially variable soil-hydraulic property parameterizations produced longer duration but lower peak-flow infiltration-excess runoff, compared to uniform parameterization, which may have important hillslope sediment export and geomorphologic implications during long duration, extreme rainfall. The majority of the simulated surface runoff in the spatially variable cases came from connected near-channel contributing areas, which was a substantially smaller contributing area than the uniform simulations.

Engineering PFLOTRAN for Scalable Performance on Cray XT and IBM BlueGene Architectures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mills, Richard T; Sripathi, Vamsi K; Mahinthakumar, Gnanamanika

We describe PFLOTRAN - a code for simulation of coupled hydro-thermal-chemical processes in variably saturated, non-isothermal, porous media - and the approaches we have employed to obtain scalable performance on some of the largest scale supercomputers in the world. We present detailed analyses of I/O and solver performance on Jaguar, the Cray XT5 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Intrepid, the IBM BlueGene/P at Argonne National Laboratory, that have guided our choice of algorithms.

Modelling the migration of contaminants through variably saturated dual-porosity, dual-permeability chalk.

PubMed

Brouyère, Serge

2006-01-10

In the Hesbaye region in Belgium, tracer tests performed in variably saturated fissured chalk rocks presented very contrasting results in terms of transit times, according to artificially controlled water recharge conditions prevailing during the experiments. Under intense recharge conditions, tracers migrated across the partially or fully saturated fissure network, at high velocity in accordance with the high hydraulic conductivity and low effective porosity (fracture porosity). At the same time, a portion of the tracer was temporarily retarded in the almost immobile water located in the matrix. Under natural infiltration conditions, the fissure network remained inactive. Tracers migrated downward through the matrix, at low velocity in relation with the low hydraulic conductivity and the large porosity of the matrix. Based on these observations, Brouyère et al. (2004a) [Brouyère, S., Dassargues, A., Hallet, V., 2004a. Migration of contaminants through the unsaturated zone overlying the Hesbaye chalky aquifer in Belgium: a field investigation, J. Contam. Hydrol., 72 (1-4), 135-164, doi: 10.1016/j.conhyd.2003.10.009] proposed a conceptual model in order to explain the migration of solutes in variably saturated, dual-porosity, dual-permeability chalk. Here, mathematical and numerical modelling of tracer and contaminant migration in variably saturated fissured chalk is presented, considering the aforementioned conceptual model. A new mathematical formulation is proposed to represent the unsaturated properties of the fissured chalk in a more dynamic and appropriate way. At the same time, the rock water content is partitioned between mobile and immobile water phases, as a function of the water saturation of the chalk rock. The groundwater flow and contaminant transport in the variably saturated chalk is solved using the control volume finite element method. Modelling the field tracer experiments performed in the variably saturated chalk shows the adequacy and usefulness of the new conceptual, mathematical and numerical model.

Computer simulations for bioequivalence trials: Selection of analyte in BCS class II and IV drugs with first-pass metabolism, two metabolic pathways and intestinal efflux transporter.

PubMed

Mangas-Sanjuan, Victor; Navarro-Fontestad, Carmen; García-Arieta, Alfredo; Trocóniz, Iñaki F; Bermejo, Marival

2018-05-30

A semi-physiological two compartment pharmacokinetic model with two active metabolites (primary (PM) and secondary metabolites (SM)) with saturable and non-saturable pre-systemic efflux transporter, intestinal and hepatic metabolism has been developed. The aim of this work is to explore in several scenarios which analyte (parent drug or any of the metabolites) is the most sensitive to changes in drug product performance (i.e. differences in in vivo dissolution) and to make recommendations based on the simulations outcome. A total of 128 scenarios (2 Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) drug types, 2 levels of K M Pgp , in 4 metabolic scenarios at 2 dose levels in 4 quality levels of the drug product) were simulated for BCS class II and IV drugs. Monte Carlo simulations of all bioequivalence studies were performed in NONMEM 7.3. Results showed the parent drug (PD) was the most sensitive analyte for bioequivalence trials in all the studied scenarios. PM and SM revealed less or the same sensitivity to detect differences in pharmaceutical quality as the PD. Another relevant result is that mean point estimate of C max and AUC methodology from Monte Carlo simulations allows to select more accurately the most sensitive analyte compared to the criterion on the percentage of failed or successful BE studies, even for metabolites which frequently show greater variability than PD. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

User`s guide for UTCHEM-5.32m a three dimensional chemical flood simulator. Final report, September 30, 1992--December 31, 1995

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1996-07-01

UTCHEM is a three-dimensional chemical flooding simulator. The solution scheme is analogous to IMPES, where pressure is solved for implicitly, but concentrations rather than saturations are then solved for explicitly. Phase saturations and concentrations are then solved in a flash routine. An energy balance equation is solved explicitly for reservoir temperature. The energy balance equation includes heat flow between the reservoir and the over-and under-burden rocks. The major physical phenomena modeled in the simulator are: dispersion; dilution effects; adsorption; interfacial tension; relative permeability; capillary trapping; cation exchange; phase density; compositional phase viscosity; phase behavior (pseudoquaternary); aqueous reactions; partitioning of chemicalmore » species between oil and water; dissolution/precipitation; cation exchange reactions involving more than two cations; in-situ generation of surfactant from acidic crude oil; pH dependent adsorption; polymer properties: shear thinning viscosity; inaccessible pore volume; permeability reduction; adsorption; gel properties: viscosity; permeability reduction; adsorption; tracer properties: partitioning; adsorption; radioactive decay; reaction (ester hydrolization); temperature dependent properties: viscosity; tracer reaction; gel reactions The following options are available with UTCHEM: isothermal or non-isothermal conditions, a constant or variable time-step, constant pressure or constant rate well conditions, horizontal and vertical wells, and a radial or Cartesian geometry. Please refer to the dissertation {open_quotes}Field Scale Simulation of Chemical Flooding{close_quotes} by Naji Saad, August, 1989, for a more detailed discussion of the UTCHEM simulator and its formulation.« less

Changes in Ultrasonic Velocity from Fluid Substitution, Calculated with Laboratory Methods, Digital Rock Physics, and Biot Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldfarb, E. J.; Ikeda, K.; Tisato, N.

2017-12-01

Seismic and ultrasonic velocities of rocks are function of several variables including fluid saturation and type. Understanding the effect of each variable on elastic waves can be valuable when using seismic methods for subsurface modeling. Fluid type and saturation are of specific interest to volcanology, water, and hydrocarbon exploration. Laboratory testing is often employed to understand the effects of fluids on elastic waves. However, laboratory testing is expensive and time consuming. It normally requires cutting rare samples into regular shapes. Fluid injection can also destroy specimens as removing the fluid after testing can prove difficult. Another option is theoretical modeling, which can be used to predict the effect of fluids on elastic properties, but it is often inaccurate. Alternatively, digital rock physics (DRP) can be used to investigate the effect of fluid substitution. DRP has the benefit of being non invasive, as it does not require regular sample shapes or fluid injection. Here, we compare the three methods for dry and saturated Berea sandstone to test the reliability of DRP. First, ultrasonic velocities were obtained from laboratory testing. Second, for comparison, we used a purely theoretical approach - i.e., Hashin-Shtrikman and Biot theory - to estimate the wave speeds at dry and wet conditions. Third, we used DRP. The dry sample was scanned with micro Computed Tomography (µCT), and a three dimensional (3D) array was recorded. We employed a segmentation-less method to convert each 3D array value to density, porosity, elastic moduli, and wave speeds. Wave propagation was simulated numerically at similar frequency as the laboratory. To simulate fluid substitution, we numerically substituted air values for water and repeated the simulation. The results from DRP yielded similar velocities to the laboratory, and accurately predicted the velocity change from fluid substitution. Theoretical modeling could not accurately predict velocity, and under-predicted the velocity change from fluid substitution. The mathematical approach proved to be a poor comparison for the laboratory measurement. DRP proved to be effective, and could be used in future with drill cuttings, perhaps to limit the use of expensive cores. DRP could also limit the requirement for physically testing fluid substitution.

Simulated effects of nitrogen saturation on the global carbon budget using the IBIS model

PubMed Central

Lu, Xuehe; Jiang, Hong; Liu, Jinxun; Zhang, Xiuying; Jin, Jiaxin; Zhu, Qiuan; Zhang, Zhen; Peng, Changhui

2016-01-01

Over the past 100 years, human activity has greatly changed the rate of atmospheric N (nitrogen) deposition in terrestrial ecosystems, resulting in N saturation in some regions of the world. The contribution of N saturation to the global carbon budget remains uncertain due to the complicated nature of C-N (carbon-nitrogen) interactions and diverse geography. Although N deposition is included in most terrestrial ecosystem models, the effect of N saturation is frequently overlooked. In this study, the IBIS (Integrated BIosphere Simulator) was used to simulate the global-scale effects of N saturation during the period 1961–2009. The results of this model indicate that N saturation reduced global NPP (Net Primary Productivity) and NEP (Net Ecosystem Productivity) by 0.26 and 0.03 Pg C yr−1, respectively. The negative effects of N saturation on carbon sequestration occurred primarily in temperate forests and grasslands. In response to elevated CO2 levels, global N turnover slowed due to increased biomass growth, resulting in a decline in soil mineral N. These changes in N cycling reduced the impact of N saturation on the global carbon budget. However, elevated N deposition in certain regions may further alter N saturation and C-N coupling. PMID:27966643

Measurement of Fracture Aperture Fields Using Ttransmitted Light: An Evaluation of Measurement Errors and their Influence on Simulations of Flow and Transport through a Single Fracture

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Detwiler, Russell L.; Glass, Robert J.; Pringle, Scott E.

Understanding of single and multi-phase flow and transport in fractures can be greatly enhanced through experimentation in transparent systems (analogs or replicas) where light transmission techniques yield quantitative measurements of aperture, solute concentration, and phase saturation fields. Here we quanti@ aperture field measurement error and demonstrate the influence of this error on the results of flow and transport simulations (hypothesized experimental results) through saturated and partially saturated fractures. find that precision and accuracy can be balanced to greatly improve the technique and We present a measurement protocol to obtain a minimum error field. Simulation results show an increased sensitivity tomore » error as we move from flow to transport and from saturated to partially saturated conditions. Significant sensitivity under partially saturated conditions results in differences in channeling and multiple-peaked breakthrough curves. These results emphasize the critical importance of defining and minimizing error for studies of flow and transpoti in single fractures.« less

Full Coupling Between the Atmosphere, Surface, and Subsurface for Integrated Hydrologic Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davison, Jason Hamilton; Hwang, Hyoun-Tae; Sudicky, Edward A.; Mallia, Derek V.; Lin, John C.

2018-01-01

An ever increasing community of earth system modelers is incorporating new physical processes into numerical models. This trend is facilitated by advancements in computational resources, improvements in simulation skill, and the desire to build numerical simulators that represent the water cycle with greater fidelity. In this quest to develop a state-of-the-art water cycle model, we coupled HydroGeoSphere (HGS), a 3-D control-volume finite element surface and variably saturated subsurface flow model that includes evapotranspiration processes, to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, a 3-D finite difference nonhydrostatic mesoscale atmospheric model. The two-way coupled model, referred to as HGS-WRF, exchanges the actual evapotranspiration fluxes and soil saturations calculated by HGS to WRF; conversely, the potential evapotranspiration and precipitation fluxes from WRF are passed to HGS. The flexible HGS-WRF coupling method allows for unique meshes used by each model, while maintaining mass and energy conservation between the domains. Furthermore, the HGS-WRF coupling implements a subtime stepping algorithm to minimize computational expense. As a demonstration of HGS-WRF's capabilities, we applied it to the California Basin and found a strong connection between the depth to the groundwater table and the latent heat fluxes across the land surface.

Stochastical analysis of surfactant-enhanced remediation of denser-than-water nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL)-contaminated soils.

PubMed

Zhang, Renduo; Wood, A Lynn; Enfield, Carl G; Jeong, Seung-Woo

2003-01-01

Stochastical analysis was performed to assess the effect of soil spatial variability and heterogeneity on the recovery of denser-than-water nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPL) during the process of surfactant-enhanced remediation. UTCHEM, a three-dimensional, multicomponent, multiphase, compositional model, was used to simulate water flow and chemical transport processes in heterogeneous soils. Soil spatial variability and heterogeneity were accounted for by considering the soil permeability as a spatial random variable and a geostatistical method was used to generate random distributions of the permeability. The randomly generated permeability fields were incorporated into UTCHEM to simulate DNAPL transport in heterogeneous media and stochastical analysis was conducted based on the simulated results. From the analysis, an exponential relationship between average DNAPL recovery and soil heterogeneity (defined as the standard deviation of log of permeability) was established with a coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.991, which indicated that DNAPL recovery decreased exponentially with increasing soil heterogeneity. Temporal and spatial distributions of relative saturations in the water phase, DNAPL, and microemulsion in heterogeneous soils were compared with those in homogeneous soils and related to soil heterogeneity. Cleanup time and uncertainty to determine DNAPL distributions in heterogeneous soils were also quantified. The study would provide useful information to design strategies for the characterization and remediation of nonaqueous phase liquid-contaminated soils with spatial variability and heterogeneity.

Soil Moisture Flow and Nitrate Movement Simulation through Deep and Heterogeneous Vadose Zone using Dual-porosity Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yadav, B. K.; Tomar, J.; Harter, T.

2014-12-01

We investigate nitrate movement from non-point sources in deep, heterogeneous vadose zones, using multi-dimensional variably saturated flow and transport simulations. We hypothesize that porous media heterogeneity causes saturation variability that leads to preferential flow systems such that a significant portion of the vadose zone does not significantly contribute to flow. We solve Richards' equation and the advection-dispersion equation to simulate soil moisture and nitrate transport regimes in plot-scale experiments conducted in the San Joaquin Valley, California. We compare equilibrium against non-equilibrium (dual-porosity) approaches. In the equilibrium approach we consider each soil layer to have unique hydraulic properties as a whole, while in the dual-porosity approach we assume that large fractions of the porous flow domain are immobile. However we consider exchange of water and solute between mobile and immobile zone using the appropriate mass transfer terms. The results indicate that flow and transport in a nearly 16 m deep stratified vadose zone comprised of eight layers of unconsolidated alluvium experiences highly non-uniform, localized preferential flow and transport patterns leading to accelerated nitrate transfer. The equilibrium approach largely under-predicted the leaching of nitrate to groundwater while the dual-porosity approach showed higher rates of nitrate leaching, consistent with field observations. The dual-porosity approach slightly over-predicted nitrogen storage in the vadose zone, which may be the result of limited matrix flow or denitrification not accounted for in the model. Results of this study may be helpful to better predict fertilizer and pesticide retention times in deep vadose zone, prior to recharge into the groundwater flow system. Keywords: Nitrate, Preferential flow, Heterogeneous vadose zone, Dual-porosity approach

Gate voltage dependent 1/f noise variance model based on physical noise generation mechanisms in n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arai, Yukiko; Aoki, Hitoshi; Abe, Fumitaka; Todoroki, Shunichiro; Khatami, Ramin; Kazumi, Masaki; Totsuka, Takuya; Wang, Taifeng; Kobayashi, Haruo

2015-04-01

1/f noise is one of the most important characteristics for designing analog/RF circuits including operational amplifiers and oscillators. We have analyzed and developed a novel 1/f noise model in the strong inversion, saturation, and sub-threshold regions based on SPICE2 type model used in any public metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) models developed by the University of California, Berkeley. Our model contains two noise generation mechanisms that are mobility and interface trap number fluctuations. Noise variability dependent on gate voltage is also newly implemented in our model. The proposed model has been implemented in BSIM4 model of a SPICE3 compatible circuit simulator. Parameters of the proposed model are extracted with 1/f noise measurements for simulation verifications. The simulation results show excellent agreements between measurement and simulations.

High resolution modelling of soil moisture patterns with TerrSysMP: A comparison with sensor network data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gebler, S.; Hendricks Franssen, H.-J.; Kollet, S. J.; Qu, W.; Vereecken, H.

2017-04-01

The prediction of the spatial and temporal variability of land surface states and fluxes with land surface models at high spatial resolution is still a challenge. This study compares simulation results using TerrSysMP including a 3D variably saturated groundwater flow model (ParFlow) coupled to the Community Land Model (CLM) of a 38 ha managed grassland head-water catchment in the Eifel (Germany), with soil water content (SWC) measurements from a wireless sensor network, actual evapotranspiration recorded by lysimeters and eddy covariance stations and discharge observations. TerrSysMP was discretized with a 10 × 10 m lateral resolution, variable vertical resolution (0.025-0.575 m), and the following parameterization strategies of the subsurface soil hydraulic parameters: (i) completely homogeneous, (ii) homogeneous parameters for different soil horizons, (iii) different parameters for each soil unit and soil horizon and (iv) heterogeneous stochastic realizations. Hydraulic conductivity and Mualem-Van Genuchten parameters in these simulations were sampled from probability density functions, constructed from either (i) soil texture measurements and Rosetta pedotransfer functions (ROS), or (ii) estimated soil hydraulic parameters by 1D inverse modelling using shuffle complex evolution (SCE). The results indicate that the spatial variability of SWC at the scale of a small headwater catchment is dominated by topography and spatially heterogeneous soil hydraulic parameters. The spatial variability of the soil water content thereby increases as a function of heterogeneity of soil hydraulic parameters. For lower levels of complexity, spatial variability of the SWC was underrepresented in particular for the ROS-simulations. Whereas all model simulations were able to reproduce the seasonal evapotranspiration variability, the poor discharge simulations with high model bias are likely related to short-term ET dynamics and the lack of information about bedrock characteristics and an on-site drainage system in the uncalibrated model. In general, simulation performance was better for the SCE setups. The SCE-simulations had a higher inverse air entry parameter resulting in SWC dynamics in better correspondence with data than the ROS simulations during dry periods. This illustrates that small scale measurements of soil hydraulic parameters cannot be transferred to the larger scale and that interpolated 1D inverse parameter estimates result in an acceptable performance for the catchment.

Estimating biozone hydraulic conductivity in wastewater soil-infiltration systems using inverse numerical modeling.

PubMed

Bumgarner, Johnathan R; McCray, John E

2007-06-01

During operation of an onsite wastewater treatment system, a low-permeability biozone develops at the infiltrative surface (IS) during application of wastewater to soil. Inverse numerical-model simulations were used to estimate the biozone saturated hydraulic conductivity (K(biozone)) under variably saturated conditions for 29 wastewater infiltration test cells installed in a sandy loam field soil. Test cells employed two loading rates (4 and 8cm/day) and 3 IS designs: open chamber, gravel, and synthetic bundles. The ratio of K(biozone) to the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the natural soil (K(s)) was used to quantify the reductions in the IS hydraulic conductivity. A smaller value of K(biozone)/K(s,) reflects a greater reduction in hydraulic conductivity. The IS hydraulic conductivity was reduced by 1-3 orders of magnitude. The reduction in IS hydraulic conductivity was primarily influenced by wastewater loading rate and IS type and not by the K(s) of the native soil. The higher loading rate yielded greater reductions in IS hydraulic conductivity than the lower loading rate for bundle and gravel cells, but the difference was not statistically significant for chamber cells. Bundle and gravel cells exhibited a greater reduction in IS hydraulic conductivity than chamber cells at the higher loading rates, while the difference between gravel and bundle systems was not statistically significant. At the lower rate, bundle cells exhibited generally lower K(biozone)/K(s) values, but not at a statistically significant level, while gravel and chamber cells were statistically similar. Gravel cells exhibited the greatest variability in measured values, which may complicate design efforts based on K(biozone) evaluations for these systems. These results suggest that chamber systems may provide for a more robust design, particularly for high or variable wastewater infiltration rates.

High-gain EDFA using ASE suppression: numerical simulation and experimental characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woellner, Eudes F.; Fugihara, Meire C.; Vendramin, Marcio; Chitz, Edson; Kalinowski, Hypolito J.; Pontes, Maria J.

2001-08-01

A single stage, bi-directionally pumped Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier is studied, using a scheme that reduces the counter propagating ASE, avoiding self saturation due to ASE. The amplifier is numerically simulated and experimentally characterized. Gain, saturation and polarization dependence measurements are carried to compare with simulated results. Transient response is simulated to verify the amplifier performance in cable television distribution network.

A physically-based Distributed Hydrologic Model for Tropical Catchments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abebe, N. A.; Ogden, F. L.

2010-12-01

Hydrological models are mathematical formulations intended to represent observed hydrological processes in a watershed. Simulated watersheds in turn vary in their nature based on their geographic location, altitude, climatic variables and geology and soil formation. Due to these variations, available hydrologic models vary in process formulation, spatial and temporal resolution and data demand. Many tropical watersheds are characterized by extensive and persistent biological activity and a large amount of rain. The Agua Salud catchments located within the Panama Canal Watershed, Panama, are such catchments identified by steep rolling topography, deep soils derived from weathered bedrock, and limited exposed bedrock. Tropical soils are highly affected by soil cracks, decayed tree roots and earthworm burrows forming a network of preferential flow paths that drain to a perched water table, which forms at a depth where the vertical hydraulic conductivity is significantly reduced near the bottom of the bioturbation layer. We have developed a physics-based, spatially distributed, multi-layered hydrologic model to simulate the dominant processes in these tropical watersheds. The model incorporates the major flow processes including overland flow, channel flow, matrix and non-Richards film flow infiltration, lateral downslope saturated matrix and non-Darcian pipe flow in the bioturbation layer, and deep saturated groundwater flow. Emphasis is given to the modeling of subsurface unsaturated zone soil moisture dynamics and the saturated preferential lateral flow from the network of macrospores. Preliminary results indicate that the model has the capability to simulate the complex hydrological processes in the catchment and will be a useful tool in the ongoing comprehensive ecohydrological studies in tropical catchments, and help improve our understanding of the hydrological effects of deforestation and aforestation.

Two dimensional hydrological simulation in elastic swelling/shrinking peat soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camporese, M.; Ferraris, S.; Paniconi, C.; Putti, M.; Salandin, P.; Teatini, P.

2005-12-01

Peatlands respond to natural hydrologic cycles of precipitation and evapotranspiration with reversible deformations due to variations of water content in both the unsaturated and saturated zone. This phenomenon results in short-term vertical displacements of the soil surface that superimpose to the irreversible long-term subsidence naturally occurring in drained cropped peatlands because of bio-oxidation of the organic matter. The yearly sinking rates due to the irreversible process are usually comparable with the short-term deformation (swelling/shrinkage) and the latter must be evaluated to achieve a thorough understanding of the whole phenomenon. A mathematical model describing swelling/shrinkage dynamics in peat soils under unsaturated conditions has been derived from simple physical considerations, and validated by comparison with laboratory shrinkage data. The two-parameter model relates together the void and moisture ratios of the soil. This approach is implemented in a subsurface flow model describing variably saturated porous media flow (Richards' equation), by means of an appropriate modification of the general storage term. The contribution of the saturated zone to total deformation is considered by using information from the elastic storage coefficient. Simulations have been carried out for a drained cropped peatland south of the Venice Lagoon (Italy), for which a large data set of hydrological and deformation measurements has been collected since the end of 2001. The considered domain is representative of a field section bounded by ditches, subject to rainfall and evapotranspiration. The comparison between simulated and measured quantities demonstrates the capability of the model to accurately reproduce both the hydrological and deformation dynamics of peat, with values of the relevant parameters that are in good agreement with the literature.

Influence of landscape heterogeneity on water available to tropical forests in an Amazonian catchment and implications for modeling drought response: Water Available to Tropical Forest

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fang, Yilin; Leung, L. Ruby; Duan, Zhuoran

The Amazon basin experienced periodic droughts in the past, and climate models projected more intense and frequent droughts in the future. How tropical forests respond to drought may depend on water availability, which is modulated by landscape heterogeneity. Using the one-dimensional ACME Land Model (ALM) and the three-dimensional ParFlow variably saturated flow model, a series of numerical experiments were performed for the Asu catchment in central Amazon to elucidate processes that influence water available for plant use and provide insights for improving Earth system models. Results from ParFlow show that topography has a dominant influence on groundwater table and runoffmore » through lateral flow. Without any representations of lateral processes, ALM simulates very different seasonal variations in groundwater table and runoff compared to ParFlow even if it is able to reproduce the long-term spatial average groundwater table of ParFlow through simple parameter calibration. In the ParFlow simulations, the groundwater table is evidently deeper and the soil saturation is lower in the plateau compared to the valley. However, even in the plateau during the dry season in the drought year of 2005, plant transpiration is not water stressed in the ParFlow simulations as the soil saturation is still sufficient to maintain a soil matric potential for the stomata to be fully open. This finding is insensitive to uncertainty in atmospheric forcing and soil parameters, but the empirical wilting formulation used in the models is an important factor that should be addressed using observations and modeling of coupled plant hydraulics-soil hydrology processes in future studies.« less

Revisiting the horizontal redistribution of water in soils: Experiments and numerical modeling.

PubMed

Zhuang, L; Hassanizadeh, S M; Kleingeld, P J; van Genuchten, M Th

2017-09-01

A series of experiments and related numerical simulations were carried out to study one-dimensional water redistribution processes in an unsaturated soil. A long horizontal Plexiglas box was packed as homogenously as possible with sand. The sandbox was divided into two sections using a very thin metal plate, with one section initially fully saturated and the other section only partially saturated. Initial saturation in the dry section was set to 0.2, 0.4, or 0.6 in three different experiments. Redistribution between the wet and dry sections started as soon as the metal plate was removed. Changes in water saturation at various locations along the sandbox were measured as a function of time using a dual-energy gamma system. Also, air and water pressures were measured using two different kinds of tensiometers at various locations as a function of time. The saturation discontinuity was found to persist during the entire experiments, while observed water pressures were found to become continuous immediately after the experiments started. Two models, the standard Richards equation and an interfacial area model, were used to simulate the experiments. Both models showed some deviations between the simulated water pressures and the measured data at early times during redistribution. The standard model could only simulate the observed saturation distributions reasonably well for the experiment with the lowest initial water saturation in the dry section. The interfacial area model could reproduce observed saturation distributions of all three experiments, albeit by fitting one of the parameters in the surface area production term.

Using Dynamic Simulation to Evaluate Attemperator Operation in a Natural Gas Combined Cycle With Duct Burners in the Heat Recovery Steam Generator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liese, Eric; Zitney, Stephen E.

A generic training simulator of a natural gas combined cycle was modified to match operations at a real plant. The objective was to use the simulator to analyze cycling operations of the plant. Initial operation of the simulator revealed the potential for saturation conditions in the final high pressure superheater as the attemperator tried to control temperature at the superheater outlet during gas turbine loading and unloading. Subsequent plant operational data confirmed simulation results. Multiple simulations were performed during loading and unloading of the gas turbine to determine operational strategies that prevented saturation and increased the approach to saturation temperature.more » The solutions included changes to the attemperator temperature control setpoints and strategic control of the steam turbine inlet pressure control valve.« less

Measuring high spatiotemporal variability in saltation intensity using a low-cost Saltation Detection System: Wind tunnel and field experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Winter, W.; van Dam, D. B.; Delbecque, N.; Verdoodt, A.; Ruessink, B. G.; Sterk, G.

2018-04-01

The commonly observed over prediction of aeolian saltation transport on sandy beaches is, at least in part, caused by saltation intermittency. To study small-scale saltation processes, high frequency saltation sensors are required on a high spatial resolution. Therefore, we developed a low-cost Saltation Detection System (SalDecS) with the aim to measure saltation intensity at a frequency of 10 Hz and with a spatial resolution of 0.10 m in wind-normal direction. Linearity and equal sensitivity of the saltation sensors were investigated during wind tunnel and field experiments. Wind tunnel experiments with a set of 7 SalDec sensors revealed that the variability of sensor sensitivity is at maximum 9% during relatively low saltation intensities. During more intense saltation the variability of sensor sensitivity decreases. A sigmoidal fit describes the relation between mass flux and sensor output measured during 5 different wind conditions. This indicates an increasing importance of sensor saturation with increasing mass flux. We developed a theoretical model to simulate and describe the effect of grain size, grain velocity and saltation intensity on sensor saturation. Time-averaged field measurements revealed sensitivity equality for 85 out of a set of 89 horizontally deployed SalDec sensors. On these larger timescales (hours) saltation variability imposed by morphological features, such as sand strips, can be recognized. We conclude that the SalDecS can be used to measure small-scale spatiotemporal variabilities of saltation intensity to investigate saltation characteristics related to wind turbulence.

Distributed watershed modeling of design storms to identify nonpoint source loading areas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Endreny, T.A.; Wood, E.F.

1999-03-01

Watershed areas that generate nonpoint source (NPS) polluted runoff need to be identified prior to the design of basin-wide water quality projects. Current watershed-scale NPS models lack a variable source area (VSA) hydrology routine, and are therefore unable to identify spatially dynamic runoff zones. The TOPLATS model used a watertable-driven VSA hydrology routine to identify runoff zones in a 17.5 km{sup 2} agricultural watershed in central Oklahoma. Runoff areas were identified in a static modeling framework as a function of prestorm watertable depth and also in a dynamic modeling framework by simulating basin response to 2, 10, and 25 yrmore » return period 6 h design storms. Variable source area expansion occurred throughout the duration of each 6 h storm and total runoff area increased with design storm intensity. Basin-average runoff rates of 1 mm h{sup {minus}1} provided little insight into runoff extremes while the spatially distributed analysis identified saturation excess zones with runoff rates equaling effective precipitation. The intersection of agricultural landcover areas with these saturation excess runoff zones targeted the priority potential NPS runoff zones that should be validated with field visits. These intersected areas, labeled as potential NPS runoff zones, were mapped within the watershed to demonstrate spatial analysis options available in TOPLATS for managing complex distributions of watershed runoff. TOPLATS concepts in spatial saturation excess runoff modelling should be incorporated into NPS management models.« less

Uncertainty Quantification in CO 2 Sequestration Using Surrogate Models from Polynomial Chaos Expansion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Yan; Sahinidis, Nikolaos V.

2013-03-06

In this paper, surrogate models are iteratively built using polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) and detailed numerical simulations of a carbon sequestration system. Output variables from a numerical simulator are approximated as polynomial functions of uncertain parameters. Once generated, PCE representations can be used in place of the numerical simulator and often decrease simulation times by several orders of magnitude. However, PCE models are expensive to derive unless the number of terms in the expansion is moderate, which requires a relatively small number of uncertain variables and a low degree of expansion. To cope with this limitation, instead of using amore » classical full expansion at each step of an iterative PCE construction method, we introduce a mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation to identify the best subset of basis terms in the expansion. This approach makes it possible to keep the number of terms small in the expansion. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is then performed by substituting the values of the uncertain parameters into the closed-form polynomial functions. Based on the results of MC simulation, the uncertainties of injecting CO{sub 2} underground are quantified for a saline aquifer. Moreover, based on the PCE model, we formulate an optimization problem to determine the optimal CO{sub 2} injection rate so as to maximize the gas saturation (residual trapping) during injection, and thereby minimize the chance of leakage.« less

2D VARIABLY SATURATED FLOWS: PHYSICAL SCALING AND BAYESIAN ESTIMATION

EPA Science Inventory

A novel dimensionless formulation for water flow in two-dimensional variably saturated media is presented. It shows that scaling physical systems requires conservation of the ratio between capillary forces and gravity forces. A direct result of this finding is that for two phys...

Stochastic simulation of uranium migration at the Hanford 300 Area.

PubMed

Hammond, Glenn E; Lichtner, Peter C; Rockhold, Mark L

2011-03-01

This work focuses on the quantification of groundwater flow and subsequent U(VI) transport uncertainty due to heterogeneity in the sediment permeability at the Hanford 300 Area. U(VI) migration at the site is simulated with multiple realizations of stochastically-generated high resolution permeability fields and comparisons are made of cumulative water and U(VI) flux to the Columbia River. The massively parallel reactive flow and transport code PFLOTRAN is employed utilizing 40,960 processor cores on DOE's petascale Jaguar supercomputer to simultaneously execute 10 transient, variably-saturated groundwater flow and U(VI) transport simulations within 3D heterogeneous permeability fields using the code's multi-realization simulation capability. Simulation results demonstrate that the cumulative U(VI) flux to the Columbia River is less responsive to fine scale heterogeneity in permeability and more sensitive to the distribution of permeability within the river hyporheic zone and mean permeability of larger-scale geologic structures at the site. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

VS2DI: Model use, calibration, and validation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, Richard W.; Essaid, Hedeff I.

2012-01-01

VS2DI is a software package for simulating water, solute, and heat transport through soils or other porous media under conditions of variable saturation. The package contains a graphical preprocessor for constructing simulations, a postprocessor for displaying simulation results, and numerical models that solve for flow and solute transport (VS2DT) and flow and heat transport (VS2DH). Flow is described by the Richards equation, and solute and heat transport are described by advection-dispersion equations; the finite-difference method is used to solve these equations. Problems can be simulated in one, two, or three (assuming radial symmetry) dimensions. This article provides an overview of calibration techniques that have been used with VS2DI; included is a detailed description of calibration procedures used in simulating the interaction between groundwater and a stream fed by drainage from agricultural fields in central Indiana. Brief descriptions of VS2DI and the various types of problems that have been addressed with the software package are also presented.

Simulating soil-water movement through loess-veneered landscapes using nonconsilient saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williamson, Tanja N.; Lee, Brad D.; Schoeneberger, Philip J.; McCauley, W. M.; Indorante, Samuel J.; Owens, Phillip R.

2014-01-01

Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) data are available for the entire United States, so are incorporated in many regional and national models of hydrology and environmental management. However, SSURGO does not provide an understanding of spatial variability and only includes saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) values estimated from particle size analysis (PSA). This study showed model sensitivity to the substitution of SSURGO data with locally described soil properties or alternate methods of measuring Ksat. Incorporation of these different soil data sets significantly changed the results of hydrologic modeling as a consequence of the amount of space available to store soil water and how this soil water is moved downslope. Locally described soil profiles indicated a difference in Ksat when measured in the field vs. being estimated from PSA. This, in turn, caused a difference in which soil layers were incorporated in the hydrologic simulations using TOPMODEL, ultimately affecting how soil water storage was simulated. Simulations of free-flowing soil water, the amount of water traveling through pores too large to retain water against gravity, were compared with field observations of water in wells at five slope positions along a catena. Comparison of the simulated data with the observed data showed that the ability to model the range of conditions observed in the field varied as a function of three soil data sets (SSURGO and local field descriptions using PSA-derived Ksat or field-measured Ksat) and that comparison of absolute values of soil water storage are not valid if different characterizations of soil properties are used.

Effect of Parachute Jump in the Psychophysiological Response of Soldiers in Urban Combat.

PubMed

Sánchez-Molina, Joaquín; Robles-Pérez, José J; Clemente-Suárez, Vicente J

2017-06-01

The study of organic and psychological response during combat situations has been poorly reported despite its importance for soldiers training and specific instruction, so it was proposed as aim of the present investigation to analyze the effect of a tactical parachute simulated jump in psycho-physiological response of paratroopers' warfighters during an urban combat simulation. 19 male paratroopers (31.9 ± 6.2 year old; 173.6 ± 5.3 cm; 73.8 ± 8.3 Kg) of the Spanish Army were divided in two groups: parachute jump group (n:11) that conducted a simulated parachute jump and a urban combat maneuver and a non-parachute jump group (n:8) that only conducted an urban combat maneuver. We analyzed before and after the maneuver the rated perceived exertion, legs strength manifestation, blood lactate, cortical activation, heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation and pressure, skin temperature, fine motor skills, and anxiety state. A tactical parachute simulated jump prior to an urban combat maneuver produce significantly (p < 0.05) higher heart rate and decrease in specific fine motor skills in comparison with no jump situation in professional Army paratroopers. Independently of the parachute jump, an urban combat maneuver produces a significant increase in rated perceived exertion, blood lactate, heart rate, legs strength, sympathetic modulation and anxiety response as well as a significant decrease in blood oxygen saturation and parasympathetic modulation.

Effect of nonlinearity saturation on hot-image formation in cascaded saturable nonlinear medium slabs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Youwen; Dai, Zhiping; Ling, Xiaohui; Chen, Liezun; Lu, Shizhuan; You, Kaiming

2016-11-01

In high-power laser system such as Petawatt lasers, the laser beam can be intense enough to result in saturation of nonlinear refraction index of medium. Based on the standard linearization method of small-scale self-focusing and the split-step Fourier numerical calculation method, we present analytical and simulative investigations on the hot-image formation in cascaded saturable nonlinear medium slabs, to disclose the effect of nonlinearity saturation on the distribution and intensity of hot images. The analytical and simulative results are found in good agreement. It is shown that, saturable nonlinearity does not change the distribution of hot images, while may greatly affect the intensity of hot images, i.e., for a given saturation light intensity, with the intensity of the incident laser beam, the intensity of hot images firstly increases monotonously and eventually reaches a saturation; for the incident laser beam of a given intensity, with the saturation light intensity lowering, the intensity of hot images decreases rapidly, even resulting in a few hot images too weak to be visible.

Remedial Amendment Delivery near the Water Table Using Shear Thinning Fluids: Experiments and Numerical Simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oostrom, Martinus; Truex, Michael J.; Vermeul, Vincent R.

2014-08-19

The use of shear thinning fluids (STFs) containing xanthan is a potential enhancement for emplacing a solute amendment near the water table and within the capillary fringe. Most research to date related to STF behavior has involved saturated and confined conditions. A series of flow cell experiments were conducted to investigate STF emplacement in variable saturated homogeneous and layered heterogeneous systems. Besides flow visualization using dyes, amendment concentrations and pressure data were obtained at several locations. The experiments showed that injection of STFs considerably improved the subsurface distribution near the water table by mitigating preferential flow through higher permeability zonesmore » compared to no-polymer injections. The phosphate amendment migrated with the xanthan SFT without retardation. Despite the high viscosity of the STF, no excessive mounding or preferential flow were observed in the unsaturated zone. The STOMP simulator was able to predict the experimentally observed fluid displacement and amendment concentrations reasonably well. Cross flow between layers could be interpreted as the main mechanism to transport STFs into lower permeability layers based on the observed pressure gradient and concentration data in layers of differing hydraulic conductivity.« less

Percolation Pore Network Study on the Residue Gas Saturation of Dry Reservoir Rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, T.; Tang, Y. B.; Zou, G. Y.; Jiang, K.; Li, M.

2014-12-01

We tried to model the effect of pore size heterogeneity and pore connectivity on the residue gas saturation for dry gas reservoir rocks. If we consider that snap-off does not exist and only piston displacement takes place in all pores with the same size during imbibition process, in the extreme case, the residue gas saturation will be equal to zero. Thus we can suppose that the residue gas saturation of dry rocks is mainly controlled by the pore size distribution. To verify the assumption, percolation pore networks (i.e., three-dimensional simple cubic (SC) and body-center cubic (BCC)) were used in the study. The connectivity and the pore size distribution in percolation pore network could be changed randomly. The concept of water phase connectivity zw(i.e., water coordination number) and gas phase connectivity zg (i.e., gas coordination number) was introduced here. zw and zg will change during simulation and can be estimated numerically from the results of simulations through gradually saturated networks by water. The Simulation results show that when zg less than or equal to 1.5 during water quasi - static imbibition, the gas will be trapped in rock pores. Network simulation results also shows that the residue gas saturation Srg follows a power law relationship (i.e.,Srg∝σrα, where σr is normalized standard deviation of the pore radius distribution, and exponent α is a function of coordination number). This indicates that the residue gas saturation has no explicit relationship with porosity and permeability as it should have in light of previous study, pore radius distribution is the principal factor in determining the residue gas saturation of dry reservoir rocks.

Saturation behavior: a general relationship described by a simple second-order differential equation.

PubMed

Kepner, Gordon R

2010-04-13

The numerous natural phenomena that exhibit saturation behavior, e.g., ligand binding and enzyme kinetics, have been approached, to date, via empirical and particular analyses. This paper presents a mechanism-free, and assumption-free, second-order differential equation, designed only to describe a typical relationship between the variables governing these phenomena. It develops a mathematical model for this relation, based solely on the analysis of the typical experimental data plot and its saturation characteristics. Its utility complements the traditional empirical approaches. For the general saturation curve, described in terms of its independent (x) and dependent (y) variables, a second-order differential equation is obtained that applies to any saturation phenomena. It shows that the driving factor for the basic saturation behavior is the probability of the interactive site being free, which is described quantitatively. Solving the equation relates the variables in terms of the two empirical constants common to all these phenomena, the initial slope of the data plot and the limiting value at saturation. A first-order differential equation for the slope emerged that led to the concept of the effective binding rate at the active site and its dependence on the calculable probability the interactive site is free. These results are illustrated using specific cases, including ligand binding and enzyme kinetics. This leads to a revised understanding of how to interpret the empirical constants, in terms of the variables pertinent to the phenomenon under study. The second-order differential equation revealed the basic underlying relations that describe these saturation phenomena, and the basic mathematical properties of the standard experimental data plot. It was shown how to integrate this differential equation, and define the common basic properties of these phenomena. The results regarding the importance of the slope and the new perspectives on the empirical constants governing the behavior of these phenomena led to an alternative perspective on saturation behavior kinetics. Their essential commonality was revealed by this analysis, based on the second-order differential equation.

Numerical simulation and analysis of accurate blood oxygenation measurement by using optical resolution photoacoustic microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Tianhao; Li, Qian; Li, Lin; Zhou, Chuanqing

2016-10-01

Accuracy of photoacoustic signal is the crux on measurement of oxygen saturation in functional photoacoustic imaging, which is influenced by factors such as defocus of laser beam, curve shape of large vessels and nonlinear saturation effect of optical absorption in biological tissues. We apply Monte Carlo model to simulate energy deposition in tissues and obtain photoacoustic signals reaching a simulated focused surface detector to investigate corresponding influence of these factors. We also apply compensation on photoacoustic imaging of in vivo cat cerebral cortex blood vessels, in which signals from different lateral positions of vessels are corrected based on simulation results. And this process on photoacoustic images can improve the smoothness and accuracy of oxygen saturation results.

Large-scale assessment of present day and future groundwater recharge and its sensitivity to climate variability in Europe's karst regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, A. J.; Gleeson, T. P.; Wagener, T.; Wada, Y.

2016-12-01

Karst aquifers in Europe are an important source of fresh water contributing up to half of the total drinking water supply in some countries. Karstic groundwater recharge is one of the most important components of the water balance of karst systems as it feeds the karst aquifers. Presently available large-scale hydrological models do not consider karst heterogeneity adequately. Projections of current and potential future groundwater recharge of Europe's karst aquifers are therefore unclear. In this study we compare simulations of present (1991-2010) and future (2080-2099) recharge using two different models to simulate groundwater recharge processes. One model includes karst processes (subsurface heterogeneity, lateral flow and concentrated recharge), while the other is based on the conceptual understanding of common hydrological systems (homogeneous subsurface, saturation excess overland flow). Both models are driven by the bias-corrected 5 GCMs of the ISI-MIP project (RCP8.5). To further assess sensitivity of groundwater recharge to climate variability, we calculate the elasticity of recharge rates to annual precipitation, temperature and average intensity of rainfall events, which is the median change of recharge that corresponds to the median change of these climate variables within the present and future time period, respectively. Our model comparison shows that karst regions over Europe have enhanced recharge rates with greater inter-annual variability compared to those with more homogenous subsurface properties. Furthermore, the heterogeneous representation shows stronger elasticity concerning climate variability than the homogeneous subsurface representation. This difference tends to increase towards the future. Our results suggest that water management in regions with heterogeneous subsurface can expect a higher water availability than estimated by most of the current large-scale simulations, while measures should be taken to prepare for increasingly variable groundwater recharge rates.

Enhanced recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, Andreas; Gleeson, Tom; Wada, Yoshihide; Wagener, Thorsten

2017-04-01

Karst aquifers in Europe are an important source of fresh water contributing up to half of the total drinking water supply in some countries. Karstic groundwater recharge is one of the most important components of the water balance of karst systems as it feeds the karst aquifers. Presently available large-scale hydrological models do not consider karst heterogeneity adequately. Projections of current and potential future groundwater recharge of Europe's karst aquifers are therefore unclear. In this study we compare simulations of present (1991-2010) and future (2080-2099) recharge using two different models to simulate groundwater recharge processes. One model includes karst processes (subsurface heterogeneity, lateral flow and concentrated recharge), while the other is based on the conceptual understanding of common hydrological systems (homogeneous subsurface, saturation excess overland flow). Both models are driven by the bias-corrected 5 GCMs of the ISI-MIP project (RCP8.5). To further assess sensitivity of groundwater recharge to climate variability, we calculate the elasticity of recharge rates to annual precipitation, temperature and average intensity of rainfall events, which is the median change of recharge that corresponds to the median change of these climate variables within the present and future time period, respectively. Our model comparison shows that karst regions over Europe have enhanced recharge rates with greater inter-annual variability compared to those with more homogenous subsurface properties. Furthermore, the heterogeneous representation shows stronger elasticity concerning climate variability than the homogeneous subsurface representation. This difference tends to increase towards the future. Our results suggest that water management in regions with heterogeneous subsurface can expect a higher water availability than estimated by most of the current large-scale simulations, while measures should be taken to prepare for increasingly variable groundwater recharge rates.

Assessing controls on perched saturated zones beneath the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mirus, Benjamin B.; Perkins, Kim S.; Nimmo, John R.

2011-01-01

Waste byproducts associated with operations at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) have the potential to contaminate the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer. Recharge to the ESRP aquifer is controlled largely by the alternating stratigraphy of fractured volcanic rocks and sedimentary interbeds within the overlying vadose zone and by the availability of water at the surface. Beneath the INTEC facilities, localized zones of saturation perched on the sedimentary interbeds are of particular concern because they may facilitate accelerated transport of contaminants. The sources and timing of natural and anthropogenic recharge to the perched zones are poorly understood. Simple approaches for quantitative characterization of this complex, variably saturated flow system are needed to assess potential scenarios for contaminant transport under alternative remediation strategies. During 2009-2011, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, employed data analysis and numerical simulations with a recently developed model of preferential flow to evaluate the sources and quantity of recharge to the perched zones. Piezometer, tensiometer, temperature, precipitation, and stream-discharge data were analyzed, with particular focus on the possibility of contributions to the perched zones from snowmelt and flow in the neighboring Big Lost River (BLR). Analysis of the timing and magnitude of subsurface dynamics indicate that streamflow provides local recharge to the shallow, intermediate, and deep perched saturated zones within 150 m of the BLR; at greater distances from the BLR the influence of streamflow on recharge is unclear. Perched water-level dynamics in most wells analyzed are consistent with findings from previous geochemical analyses, which suggest that a combination of annual snowmelt and anthropogenic sources (for example, leaky pipes and drainage ditches) contribute to recharge of shallow and intermediate perched zones throughout much of INTEC. The source-responsive fluxes model was parameterized to simulate recharge via preferential flow associated with intermittent episodes of streamflow in the BLR. The simulations correspond reasonably well to the observed hydrologic response within the shallow perched zone. Good model performance indicates that source-responsive flow through a limited number of connected fractures contributes substantially to the perched-zone dynamics. The agreement between simulated and observed perched-zone dynamics suggest that the source-responsive fluxes model can provide a valuable tool for quantifying rapid preferential flow processes that may result from different land management scenarios.

Does the estimation of light attenuation in tissue increase the accuracy of reflectance pulse oximetry at low oxygen saturations in vivo?

PubMed

Kisch-Wedel, H; Bernreuter, P; Kemming, G; Albert, M; Zwissler, B

2009-09-01

A new technique was validated in vivo in reflectance pulse oximetry for measuring low oxygen saturations. Two pairs of light emitter/detector diodes allow for estimation of light attenuation (LA) in tissue, which is assumed to be responsible for the inaccuracy of pulse oximetry at less than 70 % arterial oxygen saturation. For validation, 17 newborn piglets were desaturated stepwise from 21 % to 1.25 % inspiratory oxygen concentration during general anesthesia, and arterial oxygen saturation was measured with the reflectance pulse oximeter adjusted for LA in tissue, with a standard transmission pulse oximeter and a hemoximeter. LA in tissue could be quantified and was different between snout and foreleg (probability level (p) < 0.05). At arterial oxygen saturations above 70 %, the bias between the methods was at 0 %-1 % and the variability 4 %-5 %. From 2 % to 100 % arterial oxygen saturation, the reflectance pulse oximeter estimated oxyhemoglobin saturation more accurately than a conventional transmission pulse oximeter (p < 0.05). At low oxygen saturations below 70 %, the bias and variability of the reflectance pulse oximeter calibration were closer to the hemoximeter measurements than the transmission pulse oximeter (p < 0.05). The variability of the reflectance pulse oximeter was slightly lower than the traditional oximeter by taking into account the LA in tissue (9 % versus 11 % -15 %, ns), and thus, the quality of the individual calibration lines improved (correlation coefficient, p < 0.05).

Air-Sea Interaction Processes in Low and High-Resolution Coupled Climate Model Simulations for the Southeast Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porto da Silveira, I.; Zuidema, P.; Kirtman, B. P.

2017-12-01

The rugged topography of the Andes Cordillera along with strong coastal upwelling, strong sea surface temperatures (SST) gradients and extensive but geometrically-thin stratocumulus decks turns the Southeast Pacific (SEP) into a challenge for numerical modeling. In this study, hindcast simulations using the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4) at two resolutions were analyzed to examine the importance of resolution alone, with the parameterizations otherwise left unchanged. The hindcasts were initialized on January 1 with the real-time oceanic and atmospheric reanalysis (CFSR) from 1982 to 2003, forming a 10-member ensemble. The two resolutions are (0.1o oceanic and 0.5o atmospheric) and (1.125o oceanic and 0.9o atmospheric). The SST error growth in the first six days of integration (fast errors) and those resulted from model drift (saturated errors) are assessed and compared towards evaluating the model processes responsible for the SST error growth. For the high-resolution simulation, SST fast errors are positive (+0.3oC) near the continental borders and negative offshore (-0.1oC). Both are associated with a decrease in cloud cover, a weakening of the prevailing southwesterly winds and a reduction of latent heat flux. The saturated errors possess a similar spatial pattern, but are larger and are more spatially concentrated. This suggests that the processes driving the errors already become established within the first week, in contrast to the low-resolution simulations. These, instead, manifest too-warm SSTs related to too-weak upwelling, driven by too-strong winds and Ekman pumping. Nevertheless, the ocean surface tends to be cooler in the low-resolution simulation than the high-resolution due to a higher cloud cover. Throughout the integration, saturated SST errors become positive and could reach values up to +4oC. These are accompanied by upwelling dumping and a decrease in cloud cover. High and low resolution models presented notable differences in how SST errors variability drove atmospheric changes, especially because the high resolution is sensitive to resurgence regions. This allows the model to resolve cloud heights and establish different radiative feedbacks.

Quasi 3D modeling of water flow and solute transport in vadose zone and groundwater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakirevich, A.; Kuznetsov, M.; Weisbrod, N.; Pachepsky, Y. A.

2013-12-01

The complexity of subsurface flow systems calls for a variety of concepts leading to the multiplicity of simplified flow models. One commonly used simplification is based on the assumption that lateral flow and transport in unsaturated zone is insignificant unless the capillary fringe is involved. In such cases the flow and transport in the unsaturated zone above groundwater level can be simulated as a 1D phenomenon, whereas through groundwater they are viewed as 2D or 3D phenomena. A new approach for a numerical scheme for 3D variably saturated flow and transport is presented. A Quasi-3D approach allows representing flow in the 'vadose zone - aquifer' system by a series of 1D Richards' equations solved in variably-saturated zone and by 3D-saturated flow equation in groundwater (modified MODFLOW code). The 1D and 3D equations are coupled at the phreatic surface in a way that aquifer replenishment is calculated using the Richards' equation, and solving for the moving water table does not require definition of the specific yield parameter. The 3D advection-dispersion equation is solved in the entire domain by the MT3D code. Using implicit finite differences approximation to couple processes in the vadose zone and groundwater provides mass conservation and increase of computational efficiency. The above model was applied to simulate the impact of irrigation on groundwater salinity in the Alto Piura aquifer (Northern Peru). Studies on changing groundwater quality in arid and semi-arid lands show that irrigation return flow is one of the major factors contributing to aquifer salinization. Existing mathematical models do not account explicitly for the solute recycling during irrigation on a daily scale. Recycling occurs throughout the unsaturated and saturated zones, as function of the solute mass extracted from pumping wells. Salt concentration in irrigation water is calculated at each time step as a function of concentration of both surface water and groundwater extracted at specific locations. Three scenarios were considered: (i) use of furrow irrigation and groundwater extraction (the present situation); (ii) increase of groundwater pumping by 50% compared to the first scenario; and (iii) transition from furrow irrigation to drip irrigation, thus decreasing irrigation volume by around 60% compared to the first scenario. Results indicate that in different irrigation areas, the simulated increase rates of total dissolved solids in groundwater vary from 3 to17 mg/L/ year, depending on hydrogeological and hydrochemical conditions, volumes of water extracted, and proportion between surface water and groundwater applied. The transition from furrow irrigation to drip irrigation can decrease the negative impact of return flow on groundwater quality; however drip irrigation causes faster simulated soil salinization compared to furrow irrigation. The quasi 3D modeling appeared to be efficient in elucidating solute recycling effects on soil and groundwater salinity.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Transport and Retention of Nanoparticle in Saturated Sand Filters

EPA Science Inventory

Experimental and computational investigation of the transport parameters of nano particles flowing through porous media has been made. The objective of this work was to develop a simulation capability applicable to the transport and retention of nanoparticles (NPs) in saturated p...

Measuring hemoglobin amount and oxygen saturation of skin with advancing age

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Shumpei; Yamamoto, Satoshi; Yamauchi, Midori; Tsumura, Norimichi; Ogawa-Ochiai, Keiko; Akiba, Tetsuo

2012-03-01

We measured the oxygen saturation of skin at various ages using our previously proposed method that can rapidly simulate skin spectral reflectance with high accuracy. Oxygen saturation is commonly measured by a pulse oximeter to evaluate oxygen delivery for monitoring the functions of heart and lungs at a specific time. On the other hand, oxygen saturation of skin is expected to assess peripheral conditions. Our previously proposed method, the optical path-length matrix method (OPLM), is based on a Monte Carlo for multi-layered media (MCML), but can simulate skin spectral reflectance 27,000 times faster than MCML. In this study, we implemented an iterative simulation of OPLM with a nonlinear optimization technique such that this method can also be used for estimating hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation from the measured skin spectral reflectance. In the experiments, the skin reflectance spectra of 72 outpatients aged between 20 and 86 years were measured by a spectrophotometer. Three points were measured for each subject: the forearm, the thenar eminence, and the intermediate phalanx. The result showed that the oxygen saturation of skin remained constant at each point as the age varied.

Variability of cirrus clouds in a convective outflow during the Hibiscus campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fierli, F.; di Donfrancesco, G.; Cairo, F.; Marécal, V.; Zampieri, M.; Orlandi, E.; Durry, G.

2008-08-01

Light-weight microlidar and water vapour measurements were taken on-board a stratospheric balloon during the HIBISCUS 2004 campaign, held in Bauru, Brazil (49° W, 22° S). Cirrus clouds were observed throughout the flight between 12 and 15 km height with a high mesoscale variability in optical and microphysical properties. It was found that the cirrus clouds were composed of different layers characterized by marked differences in height, thickness and optical properties. Simultaneous water vapour observations show that the different layers are characterized by different values of the saturation with respect to ice. A mesoscale simulation and a trajectory analysis clearly revealed that the clouds had formed in the outflow of a large and persistent convective region and that the observed variability of the optical properties and of the cloud structure is likely linked to the different residence times of the convectively-processed air in the upper troposphere.

Bathymetry and composition of Titan's Ontario Lacus derived from Monte Carlo-based waveform inversion of Cassini RADAR altimetry data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mastrogiuseppe, M.; Hayes, A. G.; Poggiali, V.; Lunine, J. I.; Lorenz, R. D.; Seu, R.; Le Gall, A.; Notarnicola, C.; Mitchell, K. L.; Malaska, M.; Birch, S. P. D.

2018-01-01

Recently, the Cassini RADAR was used to sound hydrocarbon lakes and seas on Saturn's moon Titan. Since the initial discovery of echoes from the seabed of Ligeia Mare, the second largest liquid body on Titan, a dedicated radar processing chain has been developed to retrieve liquid depth and microwave absorptivity information from RADAR altimetry of Titan's lakes and seas. Herein, we apply this processing chain to altimetry data acquired over southern Ontario Lacus during Titan fly-by T49 in December 2008. The new signal processing chain adopts super resolution techniques and dedicated taper functions to reveal the presence of reflection from Ontario's lakebed. Unfortunately, the extracted waveforms from T49 are often distorted due to signal saturation, owing to the extraordinarily strong specular reflections from the smooth lake surface. This distortion is a function of the saturation level and can introduce artifacts, such as signal precursors, which complicate data interpretation. We use a radar altimetry simulator to retrieve information from the saturated bursts and determine the liquid depth and loss tangent of Ontario Lacus. Received waveforms are represented using a two-layer model, where Cassini raw radar data are simulated in order to reproduce the effects of receiver saturation. A Monte Carlo based approach along with a simulated waveform look-up table is used to retrieve parameters that are given as inputs to a parametric model which constrains radio absorption of Ontario Lacus and retrieves information about the dielectric properties of the liquid. We retrieve a maximum depth of 50 m along the radar transect and a best-fit specific attenuation of the liquid equal to 0.2 ± 0.09 dB m-1 that, when converted into loss tangent, gives tanδ = 7 ± 3 × 10-5. When combined with laboratory measured cryogenic liquid alkane dielectric properties and the variable solubility of nitrogen in ethane-methane mixtures, the best-fit loss tangent is consistent with a ternary mixture of 51% methane, 38% ethane and 11% nitrogen by volume.

Modeling seasonal variability of carbonate system parameters at the sediment -water interface in the Baltic Sea (Gdansk Deep)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Protsenko, Elizaveta; Yakubov, Shamil; Lessin, Gennady; Yakushev, Evgeniy; Sokołowski, Adam

2017-04-01

A one-dimensional fully-coupled benthic pelagic biogeochemical model BROM (Bottom RedOx Model) was used for simulations of seasonal variability of biogeochemical parameters in the upper sediment, Bottom Boundary Layer and the water column in the Gdansk Deep of the Baltic Sea. This model represents key biogeochemical processes of transformation of C, N, P, Si, O, S, Mn, Fe and the processes of vertical transport in the water column and the sediments. The hydrophysical block of BROM was forced by the output calculated with model GETM (General Estuarine Transport Model). In this study we focused on parameters of carbonate system at Baltic Sea, and mainly on their distributions near the sea-water interface. For validating of BROM we used field data (concentrations of main nutrients at water column and porewater of upper sediment) from the Gulf of Gdansk. The model allowed us to simulate the baseline ranges of seasonal variability of pH, Alkalinity, TIC and calcite/aragonite saturation as well as vertical fluxes of carbon in a region potentially selected for the CCS storage. This work was supported by project EEA CO2MARINE and STEMM-CCS.

Influence of landscape heterogeneity on water available to tropical forests in an Amazonian catchment and implications for modeling drought response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Yilin; Leung, L. Ruby; Duan, Zhuoran; Wigmosta, Mark S.; Maxwell, Reed M.; Chambers, Jeffrey Q.; Tomasella, Javier

2017-08-01

The Amazon basin has experienced periodic droughts in the past, and intense and frequent droughts are predicted in the future. Landscape heterogeneity could play an important role in how tropical forests respond to drought by influencing water available to plants. Using the one-dimensional ACME Land Model and the three-dimensional ParFlow variably saturated flow model, numerical experiments were performed for a catchment in central Amazon to elucidate processes that influence water available for plant use and provide insights for improving Earth system models. Results from ParFlow show that topography has a dominant influence on groundwater table and runoff through lateral flow. Without any representations of lateral processes, ALM simulates very different seasonal variations in groundwater table and runoff compared to ParFlow even if it is able to reproduce the long-term spatial average groundwater table of ParFlow through simple parameter calibration. In the ParFlow simulations, even in the plateau with much deeper water table depth during the dry season in the drought year of 2005, plant transpiration is not water stressed as the soil saturation is still sufficient for the stomata to be fully open based on the empirical wilting formulation in the models. This finding is insensitive to uncertainty in atmospheric forcing and soil parameters, but the empirical wilting formulation is an important factor that should be addressed using observations and modeling of coupled plant hydraulics-soil hydrology processes in future studies. The results could be applicable to other catchments in the Amazon basin with similar seasonal variability and hydrologic regimes.

Geochemical Processes During Managed Aquifer Recharge With Desalinated Seawater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganot, Y.; Holtzman, R.; Weisbrod, N.; Russak, A.; Katz, Y.; Kurtzman, D.

2018-02-01

We study geochemical processes along the variably-saturated zone during managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with reverse-osmosis desalinated seawater (DSW). The DSW, post-treated at the desalination plant by calcite dissolution (remineralization) to meet the Israeli water quality standards, is recharged into the Israeli Coastal Aquifer through an infiltration pond. Water quality monitoring during two MAR events using suction cups and wells inside the pond indicates that cation exchange is the dominant subsurface reaction, driven by the high Ca2+ concentration in the post-treated DSW. Stable isotope analysis shows that the shallow groundwater composition is similar to the recharged DSW, except for enrichment of Mg2+, Na+, Ca2+, and HCO3-. A calibrated variably-saturated reactive transport model is used to predict the geochemical evolution during 50 years of MAR for two water quality scenarios: (i) post-treated DSW (current practice) and (ii) soft DSW (lacking the remineralization post-treatment process). The latter scenario was aimed to test soil-aquifer-treatment (SAT) as an alternative post-treatment technique. Both scenarios provide an enrichment of ˜2.5 mg L-1 in Mg2+ due to cation exchange, compared to practically zero Mg2+ currently found in the Israeli DSW. Simulations of the alternative SAT scenario provide Ca2+ and HCO3- remineralization due to calcite dissolution at levels that meet the Israeli standard for DSW. The simulated calcite content reduction in the sediments below the infiltration pond after 50 years of MAR was low (<1%). Our findings suggest that remineralization using SAT for DSW is a potentially sustainable practice at MAR sites overlying calcareous sandy aquifers.

Impact angle constrained three-dimensional integrated guidance and control for STT missile in the presence of input saturation.

PubMed

Wang, Sen; Wang, Weihong; Xiong, Shaofeng

2016-09-01

Considering a class of skid-to-turn (STT) missile with fixed target and constrained terminal impact angles, a novel three-dimensional (3D) integrated guidance and control (IGC) scheme is proposed in this paper. Based on coriolis theorem, the fully nonlinear IGC model without the assumption that the missile flies heading to the target at initial time is established in the three-dimensional space. For this strict-feedback form of multi-variable system, dynamic surface control algorithm is implemented combining with extended observer (ESO) to complete the preliminary design. Then, in order to deal with the problems of the input constraints, a hyperbolic tangent function is introduced to approximate the saturation function and auxiliary system including a Nussbaum function established to compensate for the approximation error. The stability of the closed-loop system is proven based on Lyapunov theory. Numerical simulations results show that the proposed integrated guidance and control algorithm can ensure the accuracy of target interception with initial alignment angle deviation and the input saturation is suppressed with smooth deflection curves. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Numerical Investigation of Metabolic Reductive Dechlorination in DNAPL Source Zones

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

APPENDICES ..................................................................................... 249 APPENDIX A UTCHEM VALIDATION...using UTCHEM ............................................................... 82 Table IV.2: Statistics for saturation distribution metrics in 2-D and...Saturation profiles simulated in (a) 2D using UTCHEM and (b) in the same 2D slice extracted from a 3D UTCHEM simulation

Impact of topography on groundwater salinization due to ocean surge inundation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Xuan; Yang, Jie; Graf, Thomas; Koneshloo, Mohammad; O'Neal, Michael A.; Michael, Holly A.

2016-08-01

Sea-level rise and increases in the frequency and intensity of ocean surges caused by climate change are likely to exacerbate adverse effects on low-lying coastal areas. The landward flow of water during ocean surges introduces salt to surficial coastal aquifers and threatens groundwater resources. Coastal topographic features (e.g., ponds, dunes, barrier islands, and channels) likely have a strong impact on overwash and salinization processes, but are generally highly simplified in modeling studies. To understand topographic impacts on groundwater salinization, we modeled a theoretical overwash event and variable-density groundwater flow and salt transport in 3-D using the fully coupled surface and subsurface numerical simulator, HydroGeoSphere. The model simulates the coastal aquifer as an integrated system considering overland flow, coupled surface and subsurface exchange, variably saturated flow, and variable-density groundwater flow. To represent various coastal landscape types, we simulated both synthetic fields and real-world coastal topography from Delaware, USA. The groundwater salinization assessment suggested that the topographic connectivity promoting overland flow controls the volume of aquifer that is salinized. In contrast, the amount of water that can be stored in surface depressions determines the amount of seawater that infiltrates the subsurface and the time for seawater to flush from the aquifer. Our study suggests that topography has a significant impact on groundwater salinization due to ocean surge overwash, with important implications for coastal land management and groundwater vulnerability assessment.

The water retention curve and relative permeability for gas production from hydrate-bearing sediments: pore-network model simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahabadi, Nariman; Dai, Sheng; Seol, Yongkoo; Sup Yun, Tae; Jang, Jaewon

2016-08-01

The water retention curve and relative permeability are critical to predict gas and water production from hydrate-bearing sediments. However, values for key parameters that characterize gas and water flows during hydrate dissociation have not been identified due to experimental challenges. This study utilizes the combined techniques of micro-focus X-ray computed tomography (CT) and pore-network model simulation to identify proper values for those key parameters, such as gas entry pressure, residual water saturation, and curve fitting values. Hydrates with various saturation and morphology are realized in the pore-network that was extracted from micron-resolution CT images of sediments recovered from the hydrate deposit at the Mallik site, and then the processes of gas invasion, hydrate dissociation, gas expansion, and gas and water permeability are simulated. Results show that greater hydrate saturation in sediments lead to higher gas entry pressure, higher residual water saturation, and steeper water retention curve. An increase in hydrate saturation decreases gas permeability but has marginal effects on water permeability in sediments with uniformly distributed hydrate. Hydrate morphology has more significant impacts than hydrate saturation on relative permeability. Sediments with heterogeneously distributed hydrate tend to result in lower residual water saturation and higher gas and water permeability. In this sense, the Brooks-Corey model that uses two fitting parameters individually for gas and water permeability properly capture the effect of hydrate saturation and morphology on gas and water flows in hydrate-bearing sediments.

User`s guide for UTCHEM implicit (1.0) a three dimensional chemical flood simulator. Final report, September 30, 1992--December 31, 1995

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1996-07-01

UTCHEM IMPLICIT is a three-dimensional chemical flooding simulator. The solution scheme is fully implicit. The pressure equation and the mass conservation equations are solved simultaneously for the aqueous phase pressure and the total concentrations of each component. A third-order-in-space, second-order-in-time finite-difference method and a new total-variation-diminishing (TVD) third-order flux limiter are used to reduce numerical dispersion effects. Saturations and phase concentrations are solved in a flash routine. The major physical phenomena modeled in the simulator are: dispersion, adsorption, aqueous-oleic-microemulsion phase behavior, interfacial tension, relative permeability, capillary trapping, compositional phase viscosity, capillary pressure, phase density, polymer properties: shear thinning viscosity, inaccessiblemore » pore volume, permeability reduction, and adsorption. The following options are available in the simulator: constant or variable time-step sizes, uniform or nonuniform grid, pressure or rate constrained wells, horizontal and vertical wells.« less

A model of the saturation of coupled electron and ion scale gyrokinetic turbulence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Staebler, Gary M.; Howard, Nathan T.; Candy, Jeffrey M.

A new paradigm of zonal flow mixing as the mechanism by which zonal E × B fluctuations impact the saturation of gyrokinetic turbulence has recently been deduced from the nonlinear 2D spectrum of electric potential fluctuations in gyrokinetic simulations. These state of the art simulations span the physical scales of both ion and electron turbulence. It was found that the zonal flow mixing rate, rather than zonal flow shearing rate, competes with linear growth at both electron and ion scales. A model for saturation of the turbulence by the zonal flow mixing was developed and applied to the quasilinear trappedmore » gyro-Landau fluid transport model (TGLF). The first validation tests of the new saturation model are reported in this paper with data from L-mode and high-β p regime discharges from the DIII-D tokamak. Lastly, the shortfall in the predicted L-mode edge electron energy transport is improved with the new saturation model for these discharges but additional multiscale simulations are required in order to verify the safety factor and collisionality dependencies found in the modeling.« less

A model of the saturation of coupled electron and ion scale gyrokinetic turbulence

DOE PAGES

Staebler, Gary M.; Howard, Nathan T.; Candy, Jeffrey M.; ...

2017-05-09

A new paradigm of zonal flow mixing as the mechanism by which zonal E × B fluctuations impact the saturation of gyrokinetic turbulence has recently been deduced from the nonlinear 2D spectrum of electric potential fluctuations in gyrokinetic simulations. These state of the art simulations span the physical scales of both ion and electron turbulence. It was found that the zonal flow mixing rate, rather than zonal flow shearing rate, competes with linear growth at both electron and ion scales. A model for saturation of the turbulence by the zonal flow mixing was developed and applied to the quasilinear trappedmore » gyro-Landau fluid transport model (TGLF). The first validation tests of the new saturation model are reported in this paper with data from L-mode and high-β p regime discharges from the DIII-D tokamak. Lastly, the shortfall in the predicted L-mode edge electron energy transport is improved with the new saturation model for these discharges but additional multiscale simulations are required in order to verify the safety factor and collisionality dependencies found in the modeling.« less

Multiscale Model Simulations of Temperature and Relative Humidity for the License Application of the Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buscheck, T.; Glascoe, L.; Sun, Y.; Gansemer, J.; Lee, K.

2003-12-01

For the proposed Yucca Mountain geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste, the planned method of disposal involves the emplacement of cylindrical packages containing the waste inside horizontal tunnels, called emplacement drifts, bored several hundred meters below the ground surface. The emplacement drifts reside in highly fractured, partially saturated volcanic tuff. An important phenomenological consideration for the licensing of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain is the generation of decay heat by the emplaced waste and the consequences of this decay heat. Changes in temperature will affect the hydrologic and chemical environment at Yucca Mountain. A thermohydrologic-modeling tool is necessary to support the performance assessment of the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) of the proposed repository. This modeling tool must simultaneously account for processes occurring at a scale of a few tens of centimeters around individual waste packages, for processes occurring around the emplacement drifts themselves, and for processes occurring at the multi-kilometer scale of the mountain. Additionally, many other features must be considered including non-isothermal, multiphase-flow in fractured porous rock of variable liquid-phase saturation and thermal radiation and convection in open cavities. The Multiscale Thermohydrologic Model (MSTHM) calculates the following thermohydrologic (TH) variables: temperature, relative humidity, liquid-phase saturation, evaporation rate, air-mass fraction, gas-phase pressure, capillary pressure, and liquid- and gas-phase fluxes. The TH variables are determined as a function of position along each of the emplacement drifts in the repository and as a function of waste-package (WP) type. These variables are determined at various generic locations within the emplacement drifts, including the waste package and drip-shield surfaces and in the invert; they are also determined at various generic locations in the adjoining host rock; these variables are determined every 20 m for each emplacement drift in the repository. The MSTHM accounts for 3-D drift-scale and mountain-scale heat flow and captures the influence of the key engineering-design variables and natural-system factors affecting TH conditions in the emplacement drifts and adjoining host rock. Presented is a synopsis of recent MSTHM calculations conducted to support the Total System Performance Assessment for the License Application (TSPA-LA). This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

Modeling of carbonate reservoir variable secondary pore space based on CT images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, X.; Nie, S.; Zhang, J.; Zhang, C.; Zhang, Z.

2017-12-01

Digital core technology has brought convenience to us, and X-ray CT scanning is one of the most common way to obtain 3D digital cores. However, it can only provide the original information of the only samples being scanned, and we can't modify the porosity of the scanned cores. For numerical rock physical simulations, a series of cores with variable porosities are needed to determine the relationship between the physical properties and porosity. In carbonate rocks, the secondary pore space including dissolution pores, caves and natural fractures is the key reservoir space, which makes the study of carbonate secondary porosity very important. To achieve the variation of porosities in one rock sample, based on CT scanned digital cores, according to the physical and chemical properties of carbonate rocks, several mathematical methods are chosen to simulate the variation of secondary pore space. We use the erosion and dilation operations of mathematical morphology method to simulate the pore space changes of dissolution pores and caves. We also use the Fractional Brownian Motion model to generate natural fractures with different widths and angles in digital cores to simulate fractured carbonate rocks. The morphological opening-and-closing operations in mathematical morphology method are used to simulate distribution of fluid in the pore space. The established 3D digital core models with different secondary porosities and water saturation status can be used in the study of the physical property numerical simulations of carbonate reservoir rocks.

Acoustic and mechanical response of reservoir rocks under variable saturation and effective pressure.

PubMed

Ravazzoli, C L; Santos, J E; Carcione, J M

2003-04-01

We investigate the acoustic and mechanical properties of a reservoir sandstone saturated by two immiscible hydrocarbon fluids, under different saturations and pressure conditions. The modeling of static and dynamic deformation processes in porous rocks saturated by immiscible fluids depends on many parameters such as, for instance, porosity, permeability, pore fluid, fluid saturation, fluid pressures, capillary pressure, and effective stress. We use a formulation based on an extension of Biot's theory, which allows us to compute the coefficients of the stress-strain relations and the equations of motion in terms of the properties of the single phases at the in situ conditions. The dry-rock moduli are obtained from laboratory measurements for variable confining pressures. We obtain the bulk compressibilities, the effective pressure, and the ultrasonic phase velocities and quality factors for different saturations and pore-fluid pressures ranging from normal to abnormally high values. The objective is to relate the seismic and ultrasonic velocity and attenuation to the microstructural properties and pressure conditions of the reservoir. The problem has an application in the field of seismic exploration for predicting pore-fluid pressures and saturation regimes.

Discrete particle noise in a nonlinearly saturated plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Thomas; Lee, W. W.

2006-04-01

Understanding discrete particle noise in an equilibrium plasma has been an important topic since the early days of particle-in- cell (PIC) simulation [1]. In this paper, particle noise in a nonlinearly saturated system is investigated. We investigate the usefulness of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) in a regime where drift instabilities are nonlinearly saturated. We obtain excellent agreement between the simulation results and our theoretical predictions of the noise properties. It is found that discrete particle noise always enhances the particle and thermal transport in the plasma, in agreement with the second law of thermodynamics. [1] C.K. Birdsall and A.B. Langdon, Plasma Physics via Computer Simulation, McGraw-Hill, New York (1985).

A new 3D maser code applied to flaring events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gray, M. D.; Mason, L.; Etoka, S.

2018-06-01

We set out the theory and discretization scheme for a new finite-element computer code, written specifically for the simulation of maser sources. The code was used to compute fractional inversions at each node of a 3D domain for a range of optical thicknesses. Saturation behaviour of the nodes with regard to location and optical depth was broadly as expected. We have demonstrated via formal solutions of the radiative transfer equation that the apparent size of the model maser cloud decreases as expected with optical depth as viewed by a distant observer. Simulations of rotation of the cloud allowed the construction of light curves for a number of observable quantities. Rotation of the model cloud may be a reasonable model for quasi-periodic variability, but cannot explain periodic flaring.

A numerical study of granular dam-break flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pophet, N.; Rébillout, L.; Ozeren, Y.; Altinakar, M.

2017-12-01

Accurate prediction of granular flow behavior is essential to optimize mitigation measures for hazardous natural granular flows such as landslides, debris flows and tailings-dam break flows. So far, most successful models for these types of flows focus on either pure granular flows or flows of saturated grain-fluid mixtures by employing a constant friction model or more complex rheological models. These saturated models often produce non-physical result when they are applied to simulate flows of partially saturated mixtures. Therefore, more advanced models are needed. A numerical model was developed for granular flow employing a constant friction and μ(I) rheology (Jop et al., J. Fluid Mech. 2005) coupled with a groundwater flow model for seepage flow. The granular flow is simulated by solving a mixture model using Finite Volume Method (FVM). The Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) technique is used to capture the free surface motion. The constant friction and μ(I) rheological models are incorporated in the mixture model. The seepage flow is modeled by solving Richards equation. A framework is developed to couple these two solvers in OpenFOAM. The model was validated and tested by reproducing laboratory experiments of partially and fully channelized dam-break flows of dry and initially saturated granular material. To obtain appropriate parameters for rheological models, a series of simulations with different sets of rheological parameters is performed. The simulation results obtained from constant friction and μ(I) rheological models are compared with laboratory experiments for granular free surface interface, front position and velocity field during the flows. The numerical predictions indicate that the proposed model is promising in predicting dynamics of the flow and deposition process. The proposed model may provide more reliable insight than the previous assumed saturated mixture model, when saturated and partially saturated portions of granular mixture co-exist.

Revised Planning Methodology For Signalized Intersections And Operational Analysis Of Exclusive Left-Turn Lanes, A Simulation-Based Method, Part - I: Literature Review (Final Report)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-04-01

THE STUDY INVESTIGATES THE APPLICATION OF SIMULATION ALONG WITH FIELD OBSERVATIONS FOR ESTIMATION OF EXCLUSIVE LEFT-TURN SATURATION FLOW RATE AND CAPACITY. THE ENTIRE RESEARCH HAS COVERED THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS: (1) A SATURATION FLOW MODEL ...

The use of distributed hydrological models for the Gard 2002 flash flood event: Analysis of associated hydrological processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braud, Isabelle; Roux, Hélène; Anquetin, Sandrine; Maubourguet, Marie-Madeleine; Manus, Claire; Viallet, Pierre; Dartus, Denis

2010-11-01

SummaryThis paper presents a detailed analysis of the September 8-9, 2002 flash flood event in the Gard region (southern France) using two distributed hydrological models: CVN built within the LIQUID® hydrological platform and MARINE. The models differ in terms of spatial discretization, infiltration and water redistribution representation, and river flow transfer. MARINE can also account for subsurface lateral flow. Both models are set up using the same available information, namely a DEM and a pedology map. They are forced with high resolution radar rainfall data over a set of 18 sub-catchments ranging from 2.5 to 99 km2 and are run without calibration. To begin with, models simulations are assessed against post field estimates of the time of peak and the maximum peak discharge showing a fair agreement for both models. The results are then discussed in terms of flow dynamics, runoff coefficients and soil saturation dynamics. The contribution of the subsurface lateral flow is also quantified using the MARINE model. This analysis highlights that rainfall remains the first controlling factor of flash flood dynamics. High rainfall peak intensities are very influential of the maximum peak discharge for both models, but especially for the CVN model which has a simplified overland flow transfer. The river bed roughness also influences the peak intensity and time. Soil spatial representation is shown to have a significant role on runoff coefficients and on the spatial variability of saturation dynamics. Simulated soil saturation is found to be strongly related with soil depth and initial storage deficit maps, due to a full saturation of most of the area at the end of the event. When activated, the signature of subsurface lateral flow is also visible in the spatial patterns of soil saturation with higher values concentrating along the river network. However, the data currently available do not allow the assessment of both patterns. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for enhancing field observations in order to progress in process understanding and gather a larger set of data to improve the realism of distributed models.

Analysis of gene network robustness based on saturated fixed point attractors

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The analysis of gene network robustness to noise and mutation is important for fundamental and practical reasons. Robustness refers to the stability of the equilibrium expression state of a gene network to variations of the initial expression state and network topology. Numerical simulation of these variations is commonly used for the assessment of robustness. Since there exists a great number of possible gene network topologies and initial states, even millions of simulations may be still too small to give reliable results. When the initial and equilibrium expression states are restricted to being saturated (i.e., their elements can only take values 1 or −1 corresponding to maximum activation and maximum repression of genes), an analytical gene network robustness assessment is possible. We present this analytical treatment based on determination of the saturated fixed point attractors for sigmoidal function models. The analysis can determine (a) for a given network, which and how many saturated equilibrium states exist and which and how many saturated initial states converge to each of these saturated equilibrium states and (b) for a given saturated equilibrium state or a given pair of saturated equilibrium and initial states, which and how many gene networks, referred to as viable, share this saturated equilibrium state or the pair of saturated equilibrium and initial states. We also show that the viable networks sharing a given saturated equilibrium state must follow certain patterns. These capabilities of the analytical treatment make it possible to properly define and accurately determine robustness to noise and mutation for gene networks. Previous network research conclusions drawn from performing millions of simulations follow directly from the results of our analytical treatment. Furthermore, the analytical results provide criteria for the identification of model validity and suggest modified models of gene network dynamics. The yeast cell-cycle network is used as an illustration of the practical application of this analytical treatment. PMID:24650364

Modeling Subsurface Reactive Flows Using Leadership-Class Computing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mills, Richard T; Hammond, Glenn; Lichtner, Peter

2009-01-01

We describe our experiences running PFLOTRAN - a code for simulation of coupled hydro-thermal-chemical processes in variably saturated, non-isothermal, porous media - on leadership-class supercomputers, including initial experiences running on the petaflop incarnation of Jaguar, the Cray XT5 at the National Center for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. PFLOTRAN utilizes fully implicit time-stepping and is built on top of the Portable, Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computation (PETSc). We discuss some of the hurdles to 'at scale' performance with PFLOTRAN and the progress we have made in overcoming them on leadership-class computer architectures.

The role of zonal flows in the saturation of multi-scale gyrokinetic turbulence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Staebler, G. M.; Candy, J.; Howard, N. T.

2016-06-15

The 2D spectrum of the saturated electric potential from gyrokinetic turbulence simulations that include both ion and electron scales (multi-scale) in axisymmetric tokamak geometry is analyzed. The paradigm that the turbulence is saturated when the zonal (axisymmetic) ExB flow shearing rate competes with linear growth is shown to not apply to the electron scale turbulence. Instead, it is the mixing rate by the zonal ExB velocity spectrum with the turbulent distribution function that competes with linear growth. A model of this mechanism is shown to be able to capture the suppression of electron-scale turbulence by ion-scale turbulence and the thresholdmore » for the increase in electron scale turbulence when the ion-scale turbulence is reduced. The model computes the strength of the zonal flow velocity and the saturated potential spectrum from the linear growth rate spectrum. The model for the saturated electric potential spectrum is applied to a quasilinear transport model and shown to accurately reproduce the electron and ion energy fluxes of the non-linear gyrokinetic multi-scale simulations. The zonal flow mixing saturation model is also shown to reproduce the non-linear upshift in the critical temperature gradient caused by zonal flows in ion-scale gyrokinetic simulations.« less

The role of zonal flows in the saturation of multi-scale gyrokinetic turbulence

DOE PAGES

Staebler, Gary M.; Candy, John; Howard, Nathan T.; ...

2016-06-29

The 2D spectrum of the saturated electric potential from gyrokinetic turbulence simulations that include both ion and electron scales (multi-scale) in axisymmetric tokamak geometry is analyzed. The paradigm that the turbulence is saturated when the zonal (axisymmetic) ExB flow shearing rate competes with linear growth is shown to not apply to the electron scale turbulence. Instead, it is the mixing rate by the zonal ExB velocity spectrum with the turbulent distribution function that competes with linear growth. A model of this mechanism is shown to be able to capture the suppression of electron-scale turbulence by ion-scale turbulence and the thresholdmore » for the increase in electron scale turbulence when the ion-scale turbulence is reduced. The model computes the strength of the zonal flow velocity and the saturated potential spectrum from the linear growth rate spectrum. The model for the saturated electric potential spectrum is applied to a quasilinear transport model and shown to accurately reproduce the electron and ion energy fluxes of the non-linear gyrokinetic multi-scale simulations. Finally, the zonal flow mixing saturation model is also shown to reproduce the non-linear upshift in the critical temperature gradient caused by zonal flows in ionscale gyrokinetic simulations.« less

Quantify fluid saturation in fractures by light transmission technique and its application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, S.; Zhang, Y.; Wu, J.

2016-12-01

The Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs) migration in transparent and rough fractures with variable aperture was studied experimentally using a light transmission technique. The migration of trichloroethylene (TCE) in variable-aperture fractures (20 cm wide x 32.5 cm high) showed that a TCE blob moved downward with snap-off events in four packs with apertures from 100 μm to 1000 μm, and that the pattern presented a single and tortuous cluster with many fingers in a pack with two apertures of 100 μm and 500 μm. The variable apertures in the fractures were measured by light transmission. A light intensity-saturation (LIS) model based on light transmission was used to quantify DNAPL saturation in the fracture system. Known volumes of TCE, were added to the chamber and these amounts were compared to the results obtained by LIS model. Strong correlation existed between results obtained based on LIS model and the known volumes of T CE. Sensitivity analysis showed that the aperture was more sensitive than parameter C2 of LIS model. LIS model was also used to measure dyed TCE saturation in air sparging experiment. The results showed that the distribution and amount of TCE significantly influenced the efficient of air sparging. The method developed here give a way to quantify fluid saturation in two-phase system in fractured medium, and provide a non-destructive, non-intrusive tool to investigate changes in DNAPL architecture and flow characteristics in laboratory experiments. Keywords: light transmission, fluid saturation, fracture, variable aperture AcknowledgementsFunding for this research from NSFC Project No. 41472212.

Scale-dependent coupling of hysteretic capillary pressure, trapping, and fluid mobilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doster, F.; Celia, M. A.; Nordbotten, J. M.

2012-12-01

Many applications of multiphase flow in porous media, including CO2-storage and enhanced oil recovery, require mathematical models that span a large range of length scales. In the context of numerical simulations, practical grid sizes are often on the order of tens of meters, thereby de facto defining a coarse model scale. Under particular conditions, it is possible to approximate the sub-grid-scale distribution of the fluid saturation within a grid cell; that reconstructed saturation can then be used to compute effective properties at the coarse scale. If both the density difference between the fluids and the vertical extend of the grid cell are large, and buoyant segregation within the cell on a sufficiently shorte time scale, then the phase pressure distributions are essentially hydrostatic and the saturation profile can be reconstructed from the inferred capillary pressures. However, the saturation reconstruction may not be unique because the parameters and parameter functions of classical formulations of two-phase flow in porous media - the relative permeability functions, the capillary pressure -saturation relationship, and the residual saturations - show path dependence, i.e. their values depend not only on the state variables but also on their drainage and imbibition histories. In this study we focus on capillary pressure hysteresis and trapping and show that the contribution of hysteresis to effective quantities is dependent on the vertical length scale. By studying the transition from the two extreme cases - the homogeneous saturation distribution for small vertical extents and the completely segregated distribution for large extents - we identify how hysteretic capillary pressure at the local scale induces hysteresis in all coarse-scale quantities for medium vertical extents and finally vanishes for large vertical extents. Our results allow for more accurate vertically integrated modeling while improving our understanding of the coupling of capillary pressure and relative permeabilities over larger length scales.

Sensitivity Analysis of Methane Hydrate Reservoirs: Effects of Reservoir Parameters on Gas Productivity and Economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, B. J.; Gaddipati, M.; Nyayapathi, L.

2008-12-01

This paper presents a parametric study on production rates of natural gas from gas hydrates by the method of depressurization, using CMG STARS. Seven factors/parameters were considered as perturbations from a base-case hydrate reservoir description based on Problem 7 of the International Methane Hydrate Reservoir Simulator Code Comparison Study led by the Department of Energy and the USGS. This reservoir is modeled after the inferred properties of the hydrate deposit at the Prudhoe Bay L-106 site. The included sensitivity variables were hydrate saturation, pressure (depth), temperature, bottom-hole pressure of the production well, free water saturation, intrinsic rock permeability, and porosity. A two-level (L=2) Plackett-Burman experimental design was used to study the relative effects of these factors. The measured variable was the discounted cumulative gas production. The discount rate chosen was 15%, resulting in the gas contribution to the net present value of a reservoir. Eight different designs were developed for conducting sensitivity analysis and the effects of the parameters on the real and discounted production rates will be discussed. The breakeven price in various cases and the dependence of the breakeven price on the production parameters is given in the paper. As expected, initial reservoir temperature has the strongest positive effect on the productivity of a hydrate deposit and the bottom-hole pressure in the production well has the strongest negative dependence. Also resulting in a positive correlation is the intrinsic permeability and the initial free water of the formation. Negative effects were found for initial hydrate saturation (at saturations greater than 50% of the pore space) and the reservoir porosity. These negative effects are related to the available sensible heat of the reservoir, with decreasing productivity due to decreasing available sensible heat. Finally, we conclude that for the base case reservoir, the break-even price (BEP) for natural gas is approximately 7/mcf and for warmer and deeper reservoirs the BEP can approach 5.33/mcf.

Cross-formational flow of water into coalbed methane reservoirs: controls on relative permeability curve shape and production profile

PubMed Central

Karacan, C. Özgen

2017-01-01

Coalbed methane (CBM) wells tend to produce large volumes of water, especially when there is hydraulic connectivity between coalbed and nearby formations. Cross-formational flow between producing coal and adjacent formations can have significant production and environmental implications, affecting economic viability of production from these shallow reservoirs. Such flows can also affect how much gas can be removed from a coalbed prior to mining and thus can have implications for methane control in mining as well. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of water flow from an external source into coalbed on production performance and also on reservoir variables including cleat porosity and relative permeability curves derived from production data analysis. A reservoir model is constructed to investigate the production performance of a CBM well when cross-formational flow is present between the coalbed and the overlying formation. Results show that cleat porosity calculated by analysis of production data can be more than one order of magnitude higher than actual cleat porosity. Due to hydraulic connectivity, water saturation within coalbed does not considerably change for a period of time, and hence, the peak of gas production is delayed. Upon depletion of the overlying formation, water saturation in coalbed quickly decreases. Rapid decline of water saturation in the coalbed corresponds to a sharp increase in gas production. As an important consequence, when cross-flow is present, gas and water relative permeability curves, derived from simulated production data, have distinctive features compared to the initial relative permeability curves. In the case of cross-flow, signatures of relative permeability curves are concave downward and low gas permeability for a range of water saturation, followed by rapid increase afterward for water and gas, respectively. The results and analyses presented in this work can help to assess the impact of cross-formational flow on reservoir variables derived from production data analysis and can also contribute to identifying hydraulic connectivity between coalbed and adjacent formations. PMID:28626492

Bulk hydrodynamic stability and turbulent saturation in compressing hot spots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidovits, Seth; Fisch, Nathaniel J.

2018-04-01

For hot spots compressed at constant velocity, we give a hydrodynamic stability criterion that describes the expected energy behavior of non-radial hydrodynamic motion for different classes of trajectories (in ρR — T space). For a given compression velocity, this criterion depends on ρR, T, and d T /d (ρR ) (the trajectory slope) and applies point-wise so that the expected behavior can be determined instantaneously along the trajectory. Among the classes of trajectories are those where the hydromotion is guaranteed to decrease and those where the hydromotion is bounded by a saturated value. We calculate this saturated value and find the compression velocities for which hydromotion may be a substantial fraction of hot-spot energy at burn time. The Lindl (Phys. Plasmas 2, 3933 (1995)] "attractor" trajectory is shown to experience non-radial hydrodynamic energy that grows towards this saturated state. Comparing the saturation value with the available detailed 3D simulation results, we find that the fluctuating velocities in these simulations reach substantial fractions of the saturated value.

Acoustic Velocity Log Numerical Simulation and Saturation Estimation of Gas Hydrate Reservoir in Shenhu Area, South China Sea

PubMed Central

Xiao, Kun; Zou, Changchun; Xiang, Biao; Liu, Jieqiong

2013-01-01

Gas hydrate model and free gas model are established, and two-phase theory (TPT) for numerical simulation of elastic wave velocity is adopted to investigate the unconsolidated deep-water sedimentary strata in Shenhu area, South China Sea. The relationships between compression wave (P wave) velocity and gas hydrate saturation, free gas saturation, and sediment porosity at site SH2 are studied, respectively, and gas hydrate saturation of research area is estimated by gas hydrate model. In depth of 50 to 245 m below seafloor (mbsf), as sediment porosity decreases, P wave velocity increases gradually; as gas hydrate saturation increases, P wave velocity increases gradually; as free gas saturation increases, P wave velocity decreases. This rule is almost consistent with the previous research result. In depth of 195 to 220 mbsf, the actual measurement of P wave velocity increases significantly relative to the P wave velocity of saturated water modeling, and this layer is determined to be rich in gas hydrate. The average value of gas hydrate saturation estimated from the TPT model is 23.2%, and the maximum saturation is 31.5%, which is basically in accordance with simplified three-phase equation (STPE), effective medium theory (EMT), resistivity log (Rt), and chloride anomaly method. PMID:23935407

Modeling the Hydrological Cycle in the Atmosphere of Mars: Influence of a Bimodal Size Distribution of Aerosol Nucleation Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaposhnikov, Dmitry S.; Rodin, Alexander V.; Medvedev, Alexander S.; Fedorova, Anna A.; Kuroda, Takeshi; Hartogh, Paul

2018-02-01

We present a new implementation of the hydrological cycle scheme into a general circulation model of the Martian atmosphere. The model includes a semi-Lagrangian transport scheme for water vapor and ice and accounts for microphysics of phase transitions between them. The hydrological scheme includes processes of saturation, nucleation, particle growth, sublimation, and sedimentation under the assumption of a variable size distribution. The scheme has been implemented into the Max Planck Institute Martian general circulation model and tested assuming monomodal and bimodal lognormal distributions of ice condensation nuclei. We present a comparison of the simulated annual variations, horizontal and vertical distributions of water vapor, and ice clouds with the available observations from instruments on board Mars orbiters. The accounting for bimodality of aerosol particle distribution improves the simulations of the annual hydrological cycle, including predicted ice clouds mass, opacity, number density, and particle radii. The increased number density and lower nucleation rates bring the simulated cloud opacities closer to observations. Simulations show a weak effect of the excess of small aerosol particles on the simulated water vapor distributions.

A numerical model for density-and-viscosity-dependent flows in two-dimensional variably saturated porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boufadel, Michel C.; Suidan, Makram T.; Venosa, Albert D.

1999-04-01

We present a formulation for water flow and solute transport in two-dimensional variably saturated media that accounts for the effects of the solute on water density and viscosity. The governing equations are cast in a dimensionless form that depends on six dimensionless groups of parameters. These equations are discretized in space using the Galerkin finite element formulation and integrated in time using the backward Euler scheme with mass lumping. The modified Picard method is used to linearize the water flow equation. The resulting numerical model, the MARUN model, is verified by comparison to published numerical results. It is then used to investigate beach hydraulics at seawater concentration (about 30 g l -1) in the context of nutrients delivery for bioremediation of oil spills on beaches. Numerical simulations that we conducted in a rectangular section of a hypothetical beach revealed that buoyancy in the unsaturated zone is significant in soils that are fine textured, with low anisotropy ratio, and/or exhibiting low physical dispersion. In such situations, application of dissolved nutrients to a contaminated beach in a freshwater solution is superior to their application in a seawater solution. Concentration-engendered viscosity effects were negligible with respect to concentration-engendered density effects for the cases that we considered.

Sensitivity of airborne geophysical data to sublacustrine permafrost thaw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minsley, B. J.; Wellman, T. P.; Walvoord, M. A.; Revil, A.

2014-12-01

A coupled hydrogeophysical forward and inverse modeling approach is developed to illustrate the ability of frequency-domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data to characterize subsurface physical properties associated with sublacustrine permafrost thaw during lake talik formation. Several scenarios are evaluated that consider the response to variable hydrologic forcing from different lake depths and hydrologic gradients. The model includes a physical property relationship that connects the dynamic distribution of subsurface electrical resistivity based on lithology as well as ice-saturation and temperature outputs from the SUTRA groundwater simulator with freeze/thaw physics. Electrical resistivity models are used to simulate AEM data in order to explore the sensitivity of geophysical observations to permafrost thaw. Simulations of sublacustrine talik formation over a 1000 year period modeled after conditions found in the Yukon Flats, Alaska, are evaluated. Synthetic geophysical data are analyzed with a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that provides a probabilistic assessment of geophysical model uncertainty and resolution. Major lithological and permafrost features are well resolved in the examples considered. The subtle geometry of partial ice-saturation beneath lakes during talik formation cannot be resolved using AEM data, but the gross characteristics of sub-lake resistivity models reflect bulk changes in ice content and can be used to determine the presence of a talik. A final example compares AEM and ground-based electromagnetic responses for their ability to resolve shallow permafrost and thaw features in the upper 1-2 m below ground.

Biological variability of transferrin saturation and unsaturated iron binding capacity

PubMed Central

Adams, PC; Reboussin, DM; Press, RD; Barton, JC; Acton, RT; Moses, GC; Leiendecker-Foster, C; McLaren, GD; Dawkins, FW; Gordeuk, VR; Lovato, L; Eckfeldt, JH

2007-01-01

Background Transferrin saturation is widely considered the preferred screening test for hemochromatosis. Unsaturated iron binding capacity has similar performance at lower cost. However, the within-person biological variability of both these tests may limit their ability at commonly used cut points to detect HFE C282Y homozygous patients. Methods The Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload Screening (HEIRS) Study screened 101,168 primary care participants for iron overload using tansferrin saturation, unsaturated iron binding capacity, ferritin and HFE C282Y and H63D genotyping. Transferrin saturation and unsaturated iron binding capacity were performed at initial screening and again when selected participants and controls returned for a clinical examination several months later. A missed case was defined as a C282Y homozygote who had transferrin saturation below cut point (45 % women, 50 % men) or unsaturated iron binding capacity above cut point (150 μmol/L women, 125 μmol/L men) at either the initial screening or clinical examination, or both, regardless of serum ferritin. Results There were 209 C282Y previously undiagnosed homozygotes with transferrin saturation and unsaturated iron binding capacity testing done at initial screening and clinical examination. Sixty-eight C282Y homozygotes (33%) would have been missed at these transferrin saturation cut points (19 men, 49 women, median SF 170 μg/L, first and third quartiles 50 and 474 μg/L), and 58 homozygotes (28 %) would have been missed at the unsaturated iron binding capacity cut points (20 men, 38 women, median SF 168 μg/L, quartiles 38 and 454 μg/L). There was no advantage to using fasting samples. Conclusions The within-person biological variability of transferrin saturation and unsaturated iron binding capacity limit their usefulness as an initial screening test for expressing C282Y homozygotes. PMID:17976429

Using Noble Gas Tracers to Estimate CO2 Saturation in the Field: Results from the 2014 CO2CRC Otway Repeat Residual Saturation Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaForce, T.; Ennis-King, J.; Boreham, C.; Serno, S.; Cook, P. J.; Freifeld, B. M.; Gilfillan, S.; Jarrett, A.; Johnson, G.; Myers, M.; Paterson, L.

2015-12-01

Residual trapping efficiency is a critical parameter in the design of secure subsurface CO2 storage. Residual saturation is also a key parameter in oil and gas production when a field is under consideration for enhanced oil recovery. Tracers are an important tool that can be used to estimate saturation in field tests. A series of measurements of CO2 saturation in an aquifer were undertaken as part of the Otway stage 2B extension field project in Dec. 2014. These tests were a repeat of similar tests in the same well in 2011 with improvements to the data collection and handling method. Two single-well tracer tests using noble gas tracers were conducted. In the first test krypton and xenon are injected into the water-saturated formation to establish dispersivity of the tracers in single-phase flow. Near-residual CO2 saturation is then established near the well. In the second test krypton and xenon are injected with CO2-saturated water to measure the final CO2 saturation. The recovery rate of the tracers is similar to predicted rates using recently published partitioning coefficients. Due to technical difficulties, there was mobile CO2 in the reservoir throughout the second tracer test in 2014. As a consequence, it is necessary to use a variation of the previous simulation procedure to interpret the second tracer test. One-dimensional, radial simulations are used to estimate average saturation of CO2 near the well. Estimates of final average CO2 saturation are computed using two relative permeability models, thermal and isothermal simulations, and three sets of coefficients for the partitioning of the tracers between phases. Four of the partitioning coefficients used were not previously available in the literature. The noble gas tracer field test and analysis of the 2011 and 2014 data both give an average CO2 saturation that is consistent with other field measurements. This study has demonstrated the repeatability of the methodology for noble gas tracer tests in the field.

Incorporating seepage losses into the unsteady streamflow equations for simulating intermittent flow along mountain front streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Niswonger, R.G.; Prudic, David E.; Pohll, G.; Constantz, J.

2005-01-01

Seepage losses along numerous mountain front streams that discharge intermittently onto alluvial fans and piedmont alluvial plains are an important source of groundwater in the Basin and Range Province of the Western United States. Determining the distribution of seepage loss along mountain front streams is important when assessing groundwater resources of the region. Seepage loss along a mountain front stream in northern Nevada was evaluated using a one-dimensional unsteady streamflow model. Seepage loss was incorporated into the spatial derivatives of the streamflow equations. Because seepage loss from streams is dependent on stream depth, wetted perimeter, and streambed properties, a two-dimensional variably saturated flow model was used to develop a series of relations between seepage loss and stream depth for each reach. This method works when streams are separated from groundwater by variably saturated sediment. Two periods of intermittent flow were simulated to evaluate the modeling approach. The model reproduced measured flow and seepage losses along the channel. Seepage loss in the spring of 2000 was limited to the upper reaches on the alluvial plain and totaled 196,000 m3, whereas 64% of the seepage loss in the spring of 2004 occurred at the base of the alluvial plain and totaled 273,000 m3. A greater seepage loss at the base of the piedmont alluvial plain is attributed to increased streambed hydraulic conductivity caused by less armoring of the channel. The modeling approach provides a method for quantifying and distributing seepage loss along mountain front streams that cross alluvial fans or piedmont alluvial plains. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

Impact of Diverse Hydrologic Pathways, 3D Failure Geometries, and Unsaturated Soil Suctions on Shallow Landsliding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, M. E.; Iverson, R. M.; Brien, D. L.; Iverson, N. R.; Lahusen, R. G.; Logan, M.

2016-12-01

Shallow landslides and ensuing debris flows can be triggered by diverse hydrologic phenomena such as groundwater inflow, prolonged moderate-intensity precipitation, or bursts of high-intensity precipitation. However, hazard assessments typically rely on simplistic hydrologic models that disregard this diversity. We used the USGS debris-flow flume to conduct controlled, field-scale slope failure experiments designed to investigate the effects of diverse hydrologic pathways, as well as the effects of 3D landslide geometries and suction stresses in unsaturated soil. Using overhead sprinklers or groundwater injectors on the flume bed, we induced failures in 6 m3 (0.65-m thick and 2-m wide) prisms of loamy sand on a 31º slope. We used 50 sensors to monitor soil deformation, variably saturated pore pressures, and moisture changes. We also determined shear strength, hydraulic conductivity, and unsaturated moisture retention characteristics from ancillary tests. The three hydrologic scenarios noted above led to different behaviors. Groundwater injection and prolonged infiltration created differing soil moisture patterns. Intense sprinkling bursts caused rapid failure without development of widespread positive pore pressures. We simulated these observed differences numerically by coupling 2D variably saturated groundwater flow modeling and 3D limit-equilibrium analysis. We also simulated the time evolution of changes in factors of safety, and quantified the mechanical effects of 3D geometry and unsaturated soil suction on stability. When much of the soil became relatively wet, effects of 3D geometry and soil suction produced slight increases ( 10-20%) in factors of safety. Suction effects were more pronounced with drier soils. Our results indicate that simplistic models cannot consistently predict the timing of slope failure, and that high frequency monitoring (with sampling periods < 60 s) is needed to measure and interpret the effects of rapid hydrologic triggers.

Simulating Salt Movement and Transformation using a Coupled Reactive Transport Model in Variably-Saturated Groundwater Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavakoli Kivi, S.; Bailey, R. T.; Gates, T.

2016-12-01

Salinization is one of the major concerns in irrigated agricultural landscapes. Increasing salinity concentrations are due principally to evaporative concentration; dissolution of salts from weathered minerals and bedrock; and a high water table that results from excessive irrigation, canal seepage, and a lack of efficient drainage systems; leading to decreasing crop yield. High groundwater salinity loading to nearby river systems also impacts downstream areas, with saline river water diverted for application on irrigated fields. In this study, a solute transport model coupled with equilibrium chemistry reactions has been developed to simulate transport of individual salt ions in regional-scale aquifer systems and thereby investigate strategies for salinity remediation. The physically-based numerical model is based on the UZF-RT3D variably-saturated, multi-species groundwater reactive transport modeling code, and accounts for advection, dispersion, carbon and nitrogen cycling, oxidation-reduction reactions, and salt ion equilibrium chemistry reactions such as complexation, ion exchange, and precipitation/dissolution. Each major salt ion (sulfate, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium) is included. The model has been tested against measured soil salinity at a small scale (soil profile) and against soil salinity, groundwater salinity, and groundwater salinity loading to surface water at the regional scale (500 km2) in the Lower Arkansas River Valley (LARV) in southeastern Colorado, an area acutely affected by salinization for many decades and greatly influenced by gypsum deposits. Preliminary results of using the model in scenario analysis suggest that increasing irrigation efficiency, sealing earthen canals, and rotational fallowing of land can decrease the groundwater salt load to the Arkansas River by 50 to 70% and substantially lower soil salinity in the root zone.

Regional variation of flow duration curves in the eastern United States: Process-based analyses of the interaction between climate and landscape properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chouaib, Wafa; Caldwell, Peter V.; Alila, Younes

2018-04-01

This paper advances the physical understanding of the flow duration curve (FDC) regional variation. It provides a process-based analysis of the interaction between climate and landscape properties to explain disparities in FDC shapes. We used (i) long term measured flow and precipitation data over 73 catchments from the eastern US. (ii) We calibrated the Sacramento model (SAC-SMA) to simulate soil moisture and flow components FDCs. The catchments classification based on storm characteristics pointed to the effect of catchments landscape properties on the precipitation variability and consequently on the FDC shapes. The landscape properties effect was pronounce such that low value of the slope of FDC (SFDC)-hinting at limited flow variability-were present in regions of high precipitation variability. Whereas, in regions with low precipitation variability the SFDCs were of larger values. The topographic index distribution, at the catchment scale, indicated that saturation excess overland flow mitigated the flow variability under conditions of low elevations with large soil moisture storage capacity and high infiltration rates. The SFDCs increased due to the predominant subsurface stormflow in catchments at high elevations with limited soil moisture storage capacity and low infiltration rates. Our analyses also highlighted the major role of soil infiltration rates on the FDC despite the impact of the predominant runoff generation mechanism and catchment elevation. In conditions of slow infiltration rates in soils of large moisture storage capacity (at low elevations) and predominant saturation excess, the SFDCs were of larger values. On the other hand, the SFDCs decreased in catchments of prevalent subsurface stormflow and poorly drained soils of small soil moisture storage capacity. The analysis of the flow components FDCs demonstrated that the interflow contribution to the response was the higher in catchments with large value of slope of the FDC. The surface flow FDC was the most affected by the precipitation as it tracked the precipitation duration curve (PDC). In catchments with low SFDCs, this became less applicable as surface flow FDC diverged from PDC at the upper tail (> 40% of the flow percentile). The interflow and baseflow FDCs illustrated most the filtering effect on the precipitation. The process understanding we achieved in this study is key for flow simulation and assessment in addition to future works focusing on process-based FDC predictions.

3D Printing of Polymer-Bonded Rare-Earth Magnets With a Variable Magnetic Compound Fraction for a Predefined Stray Field.

PubMed

Huber, Christian; Abert, Claas; Bruckner, Florian; Groenefeld, Martin; Schuschnigg, Stephan; Teliban, Iulian; Vogler, Christoph; Wautischer, Gregor; Windl, Roman; Suess, Dieter

2017-08-25

Additive manufacturing of polymer-bonded magnets is a recently developed technique, for single-unit production, and for structures that have been impossible to manufacture previously. Also, new possibilities to create a specific stray field around the magnet are triggered. The current work presents a method to 3D print polymer-bonded magnets with a variable magnetic compound fraction distribution. This means the saturation magnetization can be adjusted during the printing process to obtain a required external field of the manufactured magnets. A low-cost, end-user 3D printer with a mixing extruder is used to mix permanent magnetic filaments with pure polyamide (PA12) filaments. The magnetic filaments are compounded, extruded, and characterized for the printing process. To deduce the quality of the manufactured magnets with a variable magnetic compound fraction, an inverse stray field framework is developed. The effectiveness of the printing process and the simulation method is shown. It can also be used to manufacture magnets that produce a predefined stray field in a given region. This opens new possibilities for magnetic sensor applications. This setup and simulation framework allows the design and manufacturing of polymer-bonded permanent magnets, which are impossible to create with conventional methods.

Comparison between deep breathing exercises and incentive spirometry after CABG surgery.

PubMed

Renault, Julia Alencar; Costa-Val, Ricardo; Rosseti, Márcia Braz; Houri Neto, Miguel

2009-01-01

To compare the effects of deep breathing exercises (DBE) and the flow-oriented incentive spirometry (IS) in patients undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) through the following variables: forced vital capacity - FVC, forced expiratory volume in 1 second - FEV(1), maximal respiratory pressures and oxygen saturation. Thirty six patients in CABG postoperative period underwent thirty minutes of non-invasive ventilation during the first 24 hours after extubation and were randomly shared into two groups as following: DBE (n=18) and IS (n=18). The spirometric variables were assessed on the preoperative period and seventh postoperative day (POD). The respiratory muscle strength and oxygen saturation were assessed on the preoperative period, first, second and seventh POD. The groups were considered homogeneous in relation to the demographic and surgical variables. It has been noted fall in the values of FVC and FEV(1) between the preoperative period and the seventh POD, but without significant differences between groups. The maximal respiratory pressures showed drop in the first POD but with and partial recovery until the seventh POD, also without significant differences between groups. The oxygen saturation was the only variable that was completely recovered on the seventh POD, also without significant differences between groups. There were not observed significant differences in maximal respiratory pressures, spirometric variables and oxygen saturation in patients undergone deep breathing exercises and flow-oriented incentive spirometry after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Modeling two-phase flow in PEM fuel cell channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yun; Basu, Suman; Wang, Chao-Yang

2008-05-01

This paper is concerned with the simultaneous flow of liquid water and gaseous reactants in mini-channels of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Envisaging the mini-channels as structured and ordered porous media, we develop a continuum model of two-phase channel flow based on two-phase Darcy's law and the M2 formalism, which allow estimate of the parameters key to fuel cell operation such as overall pressure drop and liquid saturation profiles along the axial flow direction. Analytical solutions of liquid water saturation and species concentrations along the channel are derived to explore the dependences of these physical variables vital to cell performance on operating parameters such as flow stoichiometric ratio and relative humility. The two-phase channel model is further implemented for three-dimensional numerical simulations of two-phase, multi-component transport in a single fuel-cell channel. Three issues critical to optimizing channel design and mitigating channel flooding in PEM fuel cells are fully discussed: liquid water buildup towards the fuel cell outlet, saturation spike in the vicinity of flow cross-sectional heterogeneity, and two-phase pressure drop. Both the two-phase model and analytical solutions presented in this paper may be applicable to more general two-phase flow phenomena through mini- and micro-channels.

Demonstrating the saturation of stimulated Brillouin scattering by ion acoustic decay using fully kinetic simulations

DOE PAGES

Chapman, T.; Winjum, B. J.; Brunner, S.; ...

2015-09-01

The saturation of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) by the decay to turbulence of the ion acoustic wave (IAW) that participates in the three-wave SBS interaction is demonstrated using a quasi-noiseless one-dimensional numerical solution to the Vlasov-Maxwell system of equations. This simulation technique permits careful examination of the decay process and its role in the complex evolution of SBS. Here, the IAW decay process is shown to be an effective SBS saturation mechanism. In our example, the instantaneous plasma reflectivity saturates at ~30% and drops to ~0% as a direct consequence of IAW decay. A contrasting example where the reflectivity ismore » controlled by dephasing due to the nonlinear frequency of the IAW is also discussed.« less

Novel Pulse Oximetry Sonifications for Neonatal Oxygen Saturation Monitoring: A Laboratory Study.

PubMed

Hinckfuss, Kelly; Sanderson, Penelope; Loeb, Robert G; Liley, Helen G; Liu, David

2016-03-01

We aimed to test whether the use of novel pulse oximetry sounds (sonifications) better informs listeners when a neonate's oxygen saturation (SpO2) deviates from the recommended range. Variable-pitch pulse oximeters do not accurately inform clinicians via sound alone when SpO2 is outside the target range of 90% to 95% for neonates on supplemental oxygen. Risk of blindness, organ damage, and death increase if SpO2 remains outside the target range. A more informative sonification may improve clinicians' ability to maintain the target range. In two desktop experiments, nonclinicians' ability to detect SpO2 range and direction of change was tested with novel versus conventional sonifications of simulated patient data. In Experiment 1, a "shoulder" sonification used larger pitch differences between adjacent saturation percentages for SpO2 values outside the target range. In Experiment 2, a "beacon" sonification used equal-appearing pitch differences, but when SpO2 was outside the target range, a fixed-pitch reference tone from the center of the target SpO2 range preceded every fourth pulse tone. The beacon sonification improved range identification accuracy over the control display (85% vs. 60%; p < .001), but the shoulder sonification did not (55% vs. 52%). The beacon provided a distinct auditory alert and reference that significantly improved nonclinical participants' ability to identify SpO2 range. Adding a beacon to the variable-pitch pulse oximeter sound may help clinicians identify when, and by how much, a neonate's SpO2 deviates from the target range, particularly during patient transport situations when auditory information becomes essential. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Self isolating high frequency saturable reactor

DOEpatents

Moore, James A.

1998-06-23

The present invention discloses a saturable reactor and a method for decoupling the interwinding capacitance from the frequency limitations of the reactor so that the equivalent electrical circuit of the saturable reactor comprises a variable inductor. The saturable reactor comprises a plurality of physically symmetrical magnetic cores with closed loop magnetic paths and a novel method of wiring a control winding and a RF winding. The present invention additionally discloses a matching network and method for matching the impedances of a RF generator to a load. The matching network comprises a matching transformer and a saturable reactor.

Spatiotemporal Variability of Dimethylsulphoniopropionate on a Fringing Coral Reef: The Role of Reefal Carbonate Chemistry and Environmental Variability

PubMed Central

Burdett, Heidi L.; Donohue, Penelope J. C.; Hatton, Angela D.; Alwany, Magdy A.; Kamenos, Nicholas A.

2013-01-01

Oceanic pH is projected to decrease by up to 0.5 units by 2100 (a process known as ocean acidification, OA), reducing the calcium carbonate saturation state of the oceans. The coastal ocean is expected to experience periods of even lower carbonate saturation state because of the inherent natural variability of coastal habitats. Thus, in order to accurately project the impact of OA on the coastal ocean, we must first understand its natural variability. The production of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) by marine algae and the release of DMSP’s breakdown product dimethylsulphide (DMS) are often related to environmental stress. This study investigated the spatiotemporal response of tropical macroalgae (Padina sp., Amphiroa sp. and Turbinaria sp.) and the overlying water column to natural changes in reefal carbonate chemistry. We compared macroalgal intracellular DMSP and water column DMSP+DMS concentrations between the environmentally stable reef crest and environmentally variable reef flat of the fringing Suleman Reef, Egypt, over 45-hour sampling periods. Similar diel patterns were observed throughout: maximum intracellular DMSP and water column DMS/P concentrations were observed at night, coinciding with the time of lowest carbonate saturation state. Spatially, water column DMS/P concentrations were highest over areas dominated by seagrass and macroalgae (dissolved DMS/P) and phytoplankton (particulate DMS/P) rather than corals. This research suggests that macroalgae may use DMSP to maintain metabolic function during periods of low carbonate saturation state. In the reef system, seagrass and macroalgae may be more important benthic producers of dissolved DMS/P than corals. An increase in DMS/P concentrations during periods of low carbonate saturation state may become ecologically important in the future under an OA regime, impacting larval settlement and increasing atmospheric emissions of DMS. PMID:23724073

How Does Variability in Aragonite Saturation Proxies Impact Our Estimates of the Intensity and Duration of Exposure to Aragonite Corrosive Conditions in a Coastal Upwelling System?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abell, J. T.; Jacobsen, J.; Bjorkstedt, E.

2016-02-01

Determining aragonite saturation state (Ω) in seawater requires measurement of two parameters of the carbonate system: most commonly dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA). The routine measurement of DIC and TA is not always possible on frequently repeated hydrographic lines or at moored-time series that collect hydrographic data at short time intervals. In such cases a proxy can be developed that relates the saturation state as derived from one time or infrequent DIC and TA measurements (Ωmeas) to more frequently measured parameters such as dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature (Temp). These proxies are generally based on best-fit parameterizations that utilize references values of DO and Temp and adjust linear coefficients until the error between the proxy-derived saturation state (Ωproxy) and Ωmeas is minimized. Proxies have been used to infer Ω from moored hydrographic sensors and gliders which routinely collect DO and Temp data but do not include carbonate parameter measurements. Proxies can also calculate Ω in regional oceanographic models which do not explicitly include carbonate parameters. Here we examine the variability and accuracy of Ωproxy along a near-shore hydrographic line and a moored-time series stations at Trinidad Head, CA. The saturation state is determined using proxies from different coastal regions of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem and from different years of sampling along the hydrographic line. We then calculate the variability and error associated with the use of different proxy coefficients, the sensitivity to reference values and the inclusion of additional variables. We demonstrate how this variability affects estimates of the intensity and duration of exposure to aragonite corrosive conditions on the near-shore shelf and in the water column.

Physically-Based Assessment of Intrinsic Groundwater Resource Vulnerability in AN Urban Catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graf, T.; Therrien, R.; Lemieux, J.; Molson, J. W.

2013-12-01

Several methods exist to assess intrinsic groundwater (re)source vulnerability for the purpose of sustainable groundwater management and protection. However, several methods are empirical and limited in their application to specific types of hydrogeological systems. Recent studies suggest that a physically-based approach could be better suited to provide a general, conceptual and operational basis for groundwater vulnerability assessment. A novel method for physically-based assessment of intrinsic aquifer vulnerability is currently under development and tested to explore the potential of an integrated modelling approach, combining groundwater travel time probability and future scenario modelling in conjunction with the fully integrated HydroGeoSphere model. To determine the intrinsic groundwater resource vulnerability, a fully coupled 2D surface water and 3D variably-saturated groundwater flow model in conjunction with a 3D geological model (GoCAD) has been developed for a case study of the Rivière Saint-Charles (Québec/Canada) regional scale, urban watershed. The model has been calibrated under transient flow conditions for the hydrogeological, variably-saturated subsurface system, coupled with the overland flow zone by taking into account monthly recharge variation and evapotranspiration. To better determine the intrinsic groundwater vulnerability, two independent approaches are considered and subsequently combined in a simple, holistic multi-criteria-decision analyse. Most data for the model comes from an extensive hydrogeological database for the watershed, whereas data gaps have been complemented via field tests and literature review. The subsurface is composed of nine hydrofacies, ranging from unconsolidated fluvioglacial sediments to low permeability bedrock. The overland flow zone is divided into five major zones (Urban, Rural, Forest, River and Lake) to simulate the differences in landuse, whereas the unsaturated zone is represented via the model integrated Van-Genuchten function. The model setup and optimisation turn out to be the most challenging part because of the non-trivial nature (due to the highly non-linear PDEs) of the coupling procedure between the surface and subsurface domain, while keeping realistic parameter ranges and obtaining realistic simulation results in both domains. The model calibration is based on water level monitoring as well as daily mean river discharge measurement at different gauge stations within the catchment. It is intended to create multiple model outcomes for the numerical modelling of the groundwater vulnerability to take into account uncertainty due to the model input data. The next step of the overall vulnerability assessment consists in modelling future vulnerability scenario(s), applying realistic changes to the model by using PEST with SENSAN for subsequent sensitivity analysis. The PEST model could also potentially be used for a model recalibration as a function of the model parameters sensitivity (simple perturbation method). Preliminary results showing a good fit between the observed and simulated water levels and hydrographs. However the simulated water depth at the overland flow domain as well as the simulated saturation distribution in the porous media domain are still showing room for improvement of the numerical model.

A detailed model for simulation of catchment scale subsurface hydrologic processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paniconi, Claudio; Wood, Eric F.

1993-01-01

A catchment scale numerical model is developed based on the three-dimensional transient Richards equation describing fluid flow in variably saturated porous media. The model is designed to take advantage of digital elevation data bases and of information extracted from these data bases by topographic analysis. The practical application of the model is demonstrated in simulations of a small subcatchment of the Konza Prairie reserve near Manhattan, Kansas. In a preliminary investigation of computational issues related to model resolution, we obtain satisfactory numerical results using large aspect ratios, suggesting that horizontal grid dimensions may not be unreasonably constrained by the typically much smaller vertical length scale of a catchment and by vertical discretization requirements. Additional tests are needed to examine the effects of numerical constraints and parameter heterogeneity in determining acceptable grid aspect ratios. In other simulations we attempt to match the observed streamflow response of the catchment, and we point out the small contribution of the streamflow component to the overall water balance of the catchment.

Newtonian nudging for a Richards equation-based distributed hydrological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paniconi, Claudio; Marrocu, Marino; Putti, Mario; Verbunt, Mark

The objective of data assimilation is to provide physically consistent estimates of spatially distributed environmental variables. In this study a relatively simple data assimilation method has been implemented in a relatively complex hydrological model. The data assimilation technique is Newtonian relaxation or nudging, in which model variables are driven towards observations by a forcing term added to the model equations. The forcing term is proportional to the difference between simulation and observation (relaxation component) and contains four-dimensional weighting functions that can incorporate prior knowledge about the spatial and temporal variability and characteristic scales of the state variable(s) being assimilated. The numerical model couples a three-dimensional finite element Richards equation solver for variably saturated porous media and a finite difference diffusion wave approximation based on digital elevation data for surface water dynamics. We describe the implementation of the data assimilation algorithm for the coupled model and report on the numerical and hydrological performance of the resulting assimilation scheme. Nudging is shown to be successful in improving the hydrological simulation results, and it introduces little computational cost, in terms of CPU and other numerical aspects of the model's behavior, in some cases even improving numerical performance compared to model runs without nudging. We also examine the sensitivity of the model to nudging term parameters including the spatio-temporal influence coefficients in the weighting functions. Overall the nudging algorithm is quite flexible, for instance in dealing with concurrent observation datasets, gridded or scattered data, and different state variables, and the implementation presented here can be readily extended to any of these features not already incorporated. Moreover the nudging code and tests can serve as a basis for implementation of more sophisticated data assimilation techniques in a Richards equation-based hydrological model.

Evaluation of graphic cardiovascular display in a high-fidelity simulator.

PubMed

Agutter, James; Drews, Frank; Syroid, Noah; Westneskow, Dwayne; Albert, Rob; Strayer, David; Bermudez, Julio; Weinger, Matthew B

2003-11-01

"Human error" in anesthesia can be attributed to misleading information from patient monitors or to the physician's failure to recognize a pattern. A graphic representation of monitored data may provide better support for detection, diagnosis, and treatment. We designed a graphic display to show hemodynamic variables. Twenty anesthesiologists were asked to assume care of a simulated patient. Half the participants used the graphic cardiovascular display; the other half used a Datex As/3 monitor. One scenario was a total hip replacement with a transfusion reaction to mismatched blood. The second scenario was a radical prostatectomy with 1.5 L of blood loss and myocardial ischemia. Subjects who used the graphic display detected myocardial ischemia 2 min sooner than those who did not use the display. Treatment was initiated sooner (2.5 versus 4.9 min). There were no significant differences between groups in the hip replacement scenario. Systolic blood pressure deviated less from baseline, central venous pressure was closer to its baseline, and arterial oxygen saturation was higher at the end of the case when the graphic display was used. The study lends some support for the hypothesis that providing clinical information graphically in a display designed with emergent features and functional relationships can improve clinicians' ability to detect, diagnose, manage, and treat critical cardiovascular events in a simulated environment. A graphic representation of monitored data may provide better support for detection, diagnosis, and treatment. A user-centered design process led to a novel object-oriented graphic display of hemodynamic variables containing emergent features and functional relationships. In a simulated environment, this display appeared to support clinicians' ability to diagnose, manage, and treat a critical cardiovascular event in a simulated environment. We designed a graphic display to show hemodynamic variables. The study provides some support for the hypothesis that providing clinical information graphically in a display designed with emergent features and functional relationships can improve clinicians' ability to detect, diagnosis, mange, and treat critical cardiovascular events in a simulated environment.

A finite-element model for simulation of two-dimensional steady-state ground-water flow in confined aquifers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kuniansky, E.L.

1990-01-01

A computer program based on the Galerkin finite-element method was developed to simulate two-dimensional steady-state ground-water flow in either isotropic or anisotropic confined aquifers. The program may also be used for unconfined aquifers of constant saturated thickness. Constant head, constant flux, and head-dependent flux boundary conditions can be specified in order to approximate a variety of natural conditions, such as a river or lake boundary, and pumping well. The computer program was developed for the preliminary simulation of ground-water flow in the Edwards-Trinity Regional aquifer system as part of the Regional Aquifer-Systems Analysis Program. Results of the program compare well to analytical solutions and simulations .from published finite-difference models. A concise discussion of the Galerkin method is presented along with a description of the program. Provided in the Supplemental Data section are a listing of the computer program, definitions of selected program variables, and several examples of data input and output used in verifying the accuracy of the program.

Saturation-dependent solute dispersivity in porous media: Pore-scale processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raoof, A.; Hassanizadeh, S. M.

2013-04-01

It is known that in variably saturated porous media, dispersion coefficient depends on Darcy velocity and water saturation. In one-dimensional flow, it is commonly assumed that the dispersion coefficient is a linear function of velocity. The coefficient of proportionality, called the dispersivity, is considered to depend on saturation. However, there is not much known about its dependence on saturation. In this study, we investigate, using a pore network model, how the longitudinal dispersivity varies nonlinearly with saturation. We schematize the porous medium as a network of pore bodies and pore throats with finite volumes. The pore space is modeled using the multidirectional pore-network concept, which allows for a distribution of pore coordination numbers. This topological property together with the distribution of pore sizes are used to mimic the microstructure of real porous media. The dispersivity is calculated by solving the mass balance equations for solute concentration in all network elements and averaging the concentrations over a large number of pores. We have introduced a new formulation of solute transport within pore space, where we account for different compartments of residual water within drained pores. This formulation makes it possible to capture the effect of limited mixing due to partial filling of the pores under variably saturated conditions. We found that dispersivity increases with the decrease in saturation, it reaches a maximum value, and then decreases with further decrease in saturation. To show the capability of our formulation to properly capture the effect of saturation on solute dispersion, we applied it to model the results of a reported experimental study.

Magnetic Field Saturation of the Ion Weibel Instability in Interpenetrating Relativistic Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takamoto, Makoto; Matsumoto, Yosuke; Kato, Tsunehiko N.

2018-06-01

The time evolution and saturation of the Weibel instability at the ion Alfvén current are presented by ab initio particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. We found that the ion Weibel current in three-dimensional (3D) simulations could evolve into the Alfvén current where the magnetic field energy is sustained at 1.5% of the initial beam kinetic energy. The current filaments are no longer isolated at saturation, but rather connected to each other to form a network structure. Electrons are continuously heated during the coalescence of the filaments, which is crucial for obtaining sustained magnetic fields with much stronger levels than with two-dimensional (2D) simulations. The results highlight again the importance of the Weibel instability in generating magnetic fields in laboratory, astrophysical, and cosmological situations.

Nonlinear saturation of the slab ITG instability and zonal flow generation with fully kinetic ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miecnikowski, Matthew T.; Sturdevant, Benjamin J.; Chen, Yang; Parker, Scott E.

2018-05-01

Fully kinetic turbulence models are of interest for their potential to validate or replace gyrokinetic models in plasma regimes where the gyrokinetic expansion parameters are marginal. Here, we demonstrate fully kinetic ion capability by simulating the growth and nonlinear saturation of the ion-temperature-gradient instability in shearless slab geometry assuming adiabatic electrons and including zonal flow dynamics. The ion trajectories are integrated using the Lorentz force, and the cyclotron motion is fully resolved. Linear growth and nonlinear saturation characteristics show excellent agreement with analogous gyrokinetic simulations across a wide range of parameters. The fully kinetic simulation accurately reproduces the nonlinearly generated zonal flow. This work demonstrates nonlinear capability, resolution of weak gradient drive, and zonal flow physics, which are critical aspects of modeling plasma turbulence with full ion dynamics.

A new method for calculation of water saturation in shale gas reservoirs using V P -to-V S ratio and porosity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Kun; Sun, Jianmeng; Zhang, Hongpan; Liu, Haitao; Chen, Xiangyang

2018-02-01

Total water saturation is an important parameter for calculating the free gas content of shale gas reservoirs. Owing to the limitations of the Archie formula and its extended solutions in zones rich in organic or conductive minerals, a new method was proposed to estimate total water saturation according to the relationship between total water saturation, V P -to-V S ratio and total porosity. Firstly, the ranges of the relevant parameters in the viscoelastic BISQ model in shale gas reservoirs were estimated. Then, the effects of relevant parameters on the V P -to-V S ratio were simulated based on the partially saturated viscoelastic BISQ model. These parameters were total water saturation, total porosity, permeability, characteristic squirt-flow length, fluid viscosity and sonic frequency. The simulation results showed that the main factors influencing V P -to-V S ratio were total porosity and total water saturation. When the permeability and the characteristic squirt-flow length changed slightly for a particular shale gas reservoir, their influences could be neglected. Then an empirical equation for total water saturation with respect to total porosity and V P -to-V S ratio was obtained according to the experimental data. Finally, the new method was successfully applied to estimate total water saturation in a sequence formation of shale gas reservoirs. Practical applications have shown good agreement with the results calculated by the Archie model.

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation on gain saturation effect of microchannel plate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Qiangqiang; Yuan, Zheng; Cao, Zhurong, E-mail: cao33jin@aliyun.com

We present here the results of the simulation work, using the three-dimensional particle-in-cell method, on the performance of the lead glass microchannel plate under saturated state. We calculated the electron cascade process with different DC bias voltages under both self-consistent condition and non-self-consistent condition. The comparative results have demonstrated that the strong self-consistent field can suppress the cascade process and make the microchannel plate saturated. The simulation results were also compared to the experimental data and good agreement was obtained. The simulation results also show that the electron multiplication process in the channel is accompanied by the buildup process ofmore » positive charges in the channel wall. Though the interactions among the secondary electron cloud in the channel, the positive charges in the channel wall, and the external acceleration field can make the electron-surface collision more frequent, the collision energy will be inevitably reduced, thus the electron gain will also be reduced.« less

Effects of Breast Milk and Vanilla Odors on Premature Neonate's Heart Rate and Blood Oxygen Saturation During and After Venipuncture.

PubMed

Neshat, Hanieh; Jebreili, Mahnaz; Seyyedrasouli, Aleheh; Ghojazade, Morteza; Hosseini, Mohammad Bagher; Hamishehkar, Hamed

2016-06-01

Different studies have shown that the use of olfactory stimuli during painful medical procedures reduces infants' response to pain. The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of breast milk odor and vanilla odor on premature infants' vital signs including heart rate and blood oxygen saturation during and after venipuncture. A total of 135 preterm infants were randomly selected and divided into three groups of control, vanilla odor, and breast milk odor. Infants in the breast milk group and the vanilla group were exposed to breast milk odor and vanilla odor from 5 minutes prior to sampling until 30 seconds after sampling. The results showed that breast milk odor has a significant effect on the changes of neonatal heart rate and blood oxygen saturation during and after venipuncture and decreased the variability of premature infants' heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. Vanilla odor has no significant effect on premature infants' heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. Breast milk odor can decrease the variability of premature infants' heart rate and blood oxygen saturation during and after venipuncture. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Time-response shaping using output to input saturation transformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambon, E.; Burlion, L.; Apkarian, P.

2018-03-01

For linear systems, the control law design is often performed so that the resulting closed loop meets specific frequency-domain requirements. However, in many cases, it may be observed that the obtained controller does not enforce time-domain requirements amongst which the objective of keeping a scalar output variable in a given interval. In this article, a transformation is proposed to convert prescribed bounds on an output variable into time-varying saturations on the synthesised linear scalar control law. This transformation uses some well-chosen time-varying coefficients so that the resulting time-varying saturation bounds do not overlap in the presence of disturbances. Using an anti-windup approach, it is obtained that the origin of the resulting closed loop is globally asymptotically stable and that the constrained output variable satisfies the time-domain constraints in the presence of an unknown finite-energy-bounded disturbance. An application to a linear ball and beam model is presented.

Enhanced CAH dechlorination in a low permeability, variably-saturated medium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Martin, J.P.; Sorenson, K.S.; Peterson, L.N.; Brennan, R.A.; Werth, C.J.; Sanford, R.A.; Bures, G.H.; Taylor, C.J.; ,

2002-01-01

An innovative pilot-scale field test was performed to enhance the anaerobic reductive dechlorination (ARD) of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) in a low permeability, variably-saturated formation. The selected technology combines the use of a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technique with enhanced bioremediation through the creation of highly-permeable sand- and electron donor-filled fractures in the low permeability matrix. Chitin was selected as the electron donor because of its unique properties as a polymeric organic material and based on the results of lab studies that indicated its ability to support ARD. The distribution and impact of chitin- and sand-filled fractures to the system was evaluated using hydrologic, geophysical, and geochemical parameters. The results indicate that, where distributed, chitin favorably impacted redox conditions and supported enhanced ARD of CAHs. These results indicate that this technology may be a viable and cost-effective approach for remediation of low-permeability, variably saturated systems.

Gas hydrate saturations estimated from pore-and fracture-filling gas hydrate reservoirs in the Qilian Mountain permafrost, China.

PubMed

Xiao, Kun; Zou, Changchun; Lu, Zhenquan; Deng, Juzhi

2017-11-24

Accurate calculation of gas hydrate saturation is an important aspect of gas hydrate resource evaluation. The effective medium theory (EMT model), the velocity model based on two-phase medium theory (TPT model), and the two component laminated media model (TCLM model), are adopted to investigate the characteristics of acoustic velocity and gas hydrate saturation of pore- and fracture-filling reservoirs in the Qilian Mountain permafrost, China. The compressional wave (P-wave) velocity simulated by the EMT model is more consistent with actual log data than the TPT model in the pore-filling reservoir. The range of the gas hydrate saturation of the typical pore-filling reservoir in hole DKXX-13 is 13.0~85.0%, and the average value of the gas hydrate saturation is 61.9%, which is in accordance with the results by the standard Archie equation and actual core test. The P-wave phase velocity simulated by the TCLM model can be transformed directly into the P-wave transverse velocity in a fracture-filling reservoir. The range of the gas hydrate saturation of the typical fracture-filling reservoir in hole DKXX-19 is 14.1~89.9%, and the average value of the gas hydrate saturation is 69.4%, which is in accordance with actual core test results.

Modelling the water balance of irrigated fields in tropical floodplain soils using Hydrus-1D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyene, Abebech; Frankl, Amaury; Verhoest, Niko E. C.; Tilahun, Seifu; Alamirew, Tena; Adgo, Enyew; Nyssen, Jan

2017-04-01

Accurate estimation of evaporation, transpiration and deep percolation is crucial in irrigated agriculture and the sustainable management of water resources. Here, the Hydrus-1D process-based numerical model was used to estimate the actual transpiration, soil evaporation and deep percolation from irrigated fields of floodplain soils. Field experiments were conducted from Dec 2015 to May 2016 in a small irrigation scheme (50 ha) called 'Shina' located in the Lake Tana floodplains of Ethiopia. Six experimental plots (three for onion and three for maize) were selected along a topographic transect to account for soil and groundwater variability. Irrigation amount (400 to 550 mm during the growing period) was measured using V-notches installed at each plot boundary and daily groundwater levels were measured manually from piezometers. There was no surface runoff observed in the growing period and rainfall was measured using a manual rain gauge. All daily weather data required for the evapotranspiration calculation using Pen Man Monteith equation were collected from a nearby metrological station. The soil profiles were described for each field to include the vertical soil heterogeneity in the soil water balance simulations. The soil texture, organic matter, bulk density, field capacity, wilting point and saturated moisture content were measured for all the soil horizons. Soil moisture monitoring at 30 and 60 cm depths was performed. The soil hydraulic parameters for each horizon was estimated using KNN pedotransfer functions for tropical soils and were effectively fitted using the RETC program (R2= 0.98±0.011) for initial prediction. A local sensitivity analysis was performed to select and optimize the most important hydraulic parameters for soil water flow in the unsaturated zone. The most sensitive parameters were saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), saturated moisture content (θs) and pore size distribution (n). Inverse modelling using Hydrus-1D further optimized these parameters (R2 =0.74±0.13). Using the optimized hydraulic parameters, the soil water dynamics were simulated using Hydrus-1D. The atmospheric boundary conditions with surface runoff was used as upper boundary condition with measured rainfall and irrigation input data. The variable pressure head was selected as lower boundary conditions with daily records of groundwater level as time-variable input data. The Hydrus-1D model was successfully applied and calibrated in the study area. The average seasonal actual transpiration values are 310±13 mm for onion and 429±24.7 mm for maize fields. The seasonal average soil evaporation ranges from 12±2.05 mm for maize fields to 38±2.85 mm for onion fields. The seasonal deep percolation from irrigation appeared to be 12 to 40% of applied irrigation. The Hydrus-1D model was able to simulate the temporal and the spatial variations of soil water dynamics in the unsaturated zone of tropical floodplain soils. Key words: floodplains, hydraulic parameters, parameter optimization, small-scale irrigation

Freeze-Thaw Cycle Test on Basalt, Diorite and Tuff Specimens with the Simulated Ground Temperature of Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J.; Hyun, C.; Cho, H.; Park, H.

2010-12-01

Physical weathering caused by freeze-thaw action in cold regions was simulated with artificial weathering simulator in laboratory. Physical weathering of rock in cold regions usually depends on the temperature, rock type and moisture content. Then these three variables were considered in this study. The laboratory freeze-thaw tests were conducted on the three types of rocks, e.g. diorite, basalt and tuff, which are the major rock types around Sejong Station, King George Island, Antarctica. Nine core samples composed of three samples from each rock type were prepared in NX core, and 50 cycles of freeze-thaw test was carried out under dried and saturated water conditions. In this study, the physical weathering of rocks was investigated after each 10 cycles by measuring P-wave velocity, bulk density, effective porosity, Schmidt hardness and uniaxial compression strength(UCS). The experimental result of the diorite and the tuff specimens showed that P-wave velocity, bulk density, effective porosity, Schmidt hardness and UCS were gradually decreased as weathering progresses, but the result of the basalt specimens did not show typical trends due to the characteristics of irregular pore distribution and various pore sizes. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) photographs of diorite, basalt and tuff specimens weathered in dried and saturated conditions were also acquired to investigate the role of water during physical weathering processes. The number and size of microcracks were increased as weathering progresses. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) Grant(NRF-2010-0027753).

Soil moisture flow and nitrate transport through partially saturated zone considering mobile-immobile approach using 3D tank setup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomar, J.; Yadav, B. K.

2016-12-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the soil water flow and nitrate movement through vadose zone considering mobile-immobile approach using large scale three dimensional (3D) tank setup. The three dimensional sand tank setup was fabricated having dimension of 60 cm length, 30 cm width and 60 cm height and embedded with horizontal and vertical layers of sampling ports. The tank was filled with a porous media of average size of 0.5 to 1.0 mm homogeneous and nitrate concentration of 300 mg/l was applied with a distributed constant water flux of 150ml/hr. at the top using a sprinkler system. Pore water samples were collected hourly from the sampling ports and were analyzed using UV-spectrophotometer. The soil hydraulic and solute transport parameters were deduced from the laboratory experiments for simulating the considered 3D domain using the mobile-immobile approach. Soil moisture flow and contaminant transport equations are numerically solved for simulating the nitrate movement in the tank setup. The simulated break through curves (BTC) show the nitrate movement is rapid in mobile region by a factor of 1.2 as compared with the immobile region. The results show that the mobile-immobile approach of predicting solute transport in variably saturated zone can be used effectively in field after getting the required parameters using the laboratory experiments under similar environmental conditions. The high concentration 130 ppm was observed in lateral and transverse axis at 05 cm depth. This results will help in further investigation in field and in implementation of decontamination techniques.

Sensitivity of airborne geophysical data to sublacustrine and near-surface permafrost thaw

USGS Publications Warehouse

Minsley, Burke J.; Wellman, Tristan; Walvoord, Michelle Ann; Revil, Andre

2014-01-01

A coupled hydrogeophysical forward and inverse modeling approach is developed to illustrate the ability of frequency-domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data to characterize subsurface physical properties associated with sublacustrine permafrost thaw during lake-talik formation. Numerical modeling scenarios are evaluated that consider non-isothermal hydrologic responses to variable forcing from different lake depths and for different hydrologic gradients. A novel physical property relationship connects the dynamic distribution of electrical resistivity to ice saturation and temperature outputs from the SUTRA groundwater simulator with freeze–thaw physics. The influence of lithology on electrical resistivity is controlled by a surface conduction term in the physical property relationship. Resistivity models, which reflect changes in subsurface conditions, are used as inputs to simulate AEM data in order to explore the sensitivity of geophysical observations to permafrost thaw. Simulations of sublacustrine talik formation over a 1000-year period are modeled after conditions found in the Yukon Flats, Alaska. Synthetic AEM data are analyzed with a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that quantifies geophysical parameter uncertainty and resolution. Major lithological and permafrost features are well resolved by AEM data in the examples considered. The subtle geometry of partial ice saturation beneath lakes during talik formation cannot be resolved using AEM data, but the gross characteristics of sub-lake resistivity models reflect bulk changes in ice content and can identify the presence of a talik. A final synthetic example compares AEM and ground-based electromagnetic responses for their ability to resolve shallow permafrost and thaw features in the upper 1–2 m below ground outside the lake margin.

A reactive transport modelling approach to assess the leaching potential of hydraulic fracturing fluids associated with coal seam gas extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallants, Dirk; Simunek, Jirka; Gerke, Kirill

2015-04-01

Coal Seam Gas production generates large volumes of "produced" water that may contain compounds originating from the use of hydraulic fracturing fluids. Such produced water also contains elevated concentrations of naturally occurring inorganic and organic compounds, and usually has a high salinity. Leaching of produced water from storage ponds may occur as a result of flooding or containment failure. Some produced water is used for irrigation of specific crops tolerant to elevated salt levels. These chemicals may potentially contaminate soil, shallow groundwater, and groundwater, as well as receiving surface waters. This paper presents an application of scenario modelling using the reactive transport model for variably-saturated media HP1 (coupled HYDRUS-1D and PHREEQC). We evaluate the fate of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and naturally occurring chemicals in soil as a result of unintentional release from storage ponds or when produced water from Coal Seam Gas operations is used in irrigation practices. We present a review of exposure pathways and relevant hydro-bio-geo-chemical processes, a collation of physico-chemical properties of organic/inorganic contaminants as input to a set of generic simulations of transport and attenuation in variably saturated soil profiles. We demonstrate the ability to model the coupled processes of flow and transport in soil of contaminants associated with hydraulic fracturing fluids and naturally occurring contaminants.

The Dependence of Water Permeability in Quartz Sand on Gas Hydrate Saturation in the Pore Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kossel, E.; Deusner, C.; Bigalke, N.; Haeckel, M.

2018-02-01

Transport of fluids in gas hydrate bearing sediments is largely defined by the reduction of the permeability due to gas hydrate crystals in the pore space. Although the exact knowledge of the permeability behavior as a function of gas hydrate saturation is of crucial importance, state-of-the-art simulation codes for gas production scenarios use theoretically derived permeability equations that are hardly backed by experimental data. The reason for the insufficient validation of the model equations is the difficulty to create gas hydrate bearing sediments that have undergone formation mechanisms equivalent to the natural process and that have well-defined gas hydrate saturations. We formed methane hydrates in quartz sand from a methane-saturated aqueous solution and used magnetic resonance imaging to obtain time-resolved, three-dimensional maps of the gas hydrate saturation distribution. These maps were fed into 3-D finite element method simulations of the water flow. In our simulations, we tested the five most well-known permeability equations. All of the suitable permeability equations include the term (1-SH)n, where SH is the gas hydrate saturation and n is a parameter that needs to be constrained. The most basic equation describing the permeability behavior of water flow through gas hydrate bearing sand is k = k0 (1-SH)n. In our experiments, n was determined to be 11.4 (±0.3). Results from this study can be directly applied to bulk flow analysis under the assumption of homogeneous gas hydrate saturation and can be further used to derive effective permeability models for heterogeneous gas hydrate distributions at different scales.

Simulation and estimation of gene number in a biological pathway using almost complete saturation mutagenesis screening of haploid mouse cells.

PubMed

Tokunaga, Masahiro; Kokubu, Chikara; Maeda, Yusuke; Sese, Jun; Horie, Kyoji; Sugimoto, Nakaba; Kinoshita, Taroh; Yusa, Kosuke; Takeda, Junji

2014-11-24

Genome-wide saturation mutagenesis and subsequent phenotype-driven screening has been central to a comprehensive understanding of complex biological processes in classical model organisms such as flies, nematodes, and plants. The degree of "saturation" (i.e., the fraction of possible target genes identified) has been shown to be a critical parameter in determining all relevant genes involved in a biological function, without prior knowledge of their products. In mammalian model systems, however, the relatively large scale and labor intensity of experiments have hampered the achievement of actual saturation mutagenesis, especially for recessive traits that require biallelic mutations to manifest detectable phenotypes. By exploiting the recently established haploid mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), we present an implementation of almost complete saturation mutagenesis in a mammalian system. The haploid ESCs were mutagenized with the chemical mutagen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and processed for the screening of mutants defective in various steps of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor biosynthetic pathway. The resulting 114 independent mutant clones were characterized by a functional complementation assay, and were shown to be defective in any of 20 genes among all 22 known genes essential for this well-characterized pathway. Ten mutants were further validated by whole-exome sequencing. The predominant generation of single-nucleotide substitutions by ENU resulted in a gene mutation rate proportional to the length of the coding sequence, which facilitated the experimental design of saturation mutagenesis screening with the aid of computational simulation. Our study enables mammalian saturation mutagenesis to become a realistic proposition. Computational simulation, combined with a pilot mutagenesis experiment, could serve as a tool for the estimation of the number of genes essential for biological processes such as drug target pathways when a positive selection of mutants is available.

New permafrost is forming around shrinking Arctic lakes, but will it last?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Briggs, Martin A.; Walvoord, Michelle Ann; McKenzie, Jeffrey M.; Voss, Clifford I.; Day-Lewis, Frederick D.; Lane, John W.

2014-01-01

Widespread lake shrinkage in cold regions has been linked to climate warming and permafrost thaw. Permafrost aggradation, however, has been observed within the margins of recently receded lakes, in seeming contradiction of climate warming. Here permafrost aggradation dynamics are examined at Twelvemile Lake, a retreating lake in interior Alaska. Observations reveal patches of recently formed permafrost within the dried lake margin, colocated with discrete bands of willow shrub. We test ecological succession, which alters shading, infiltration, and heat transport, as the driver of aggradation using numerical simulation of variably saturated groundwater flow and heat transport with phase change (i.e., freeze-thaw). Simulations support permafrost development under current climatic conditions, but only when net effects of vegetation on soil conditions are incorporated, thus pointing to the role of ecological succession. Furthermore, model results indicate that permafrost aggradation is transitory with further climate warming, as new permafrost thaws within seven decades.

Binding energies and modelling of nuclei in semiclassical simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-García, M. Ángeles; Tsushima, K.; Valcarce, A.

2008-03-01

We study the binding energies of spin isospin saturated nuclei with nucleon number 8⩽A⩽100 in semiclassical Monte Carlo many-body simulations. The model Hamiltonian consists of (i) nucleon kinetic energy, (ii) a nucleon nucleon interaction potential, and (iii) an effective Pauli potential which depends on density. The basic ingredients of the nucleon nucleon potential are a short-range repulsion, and a medium-range attraction. Our results demonstrate that one can always expect to obtain the empirical binding energies for a set of nuclei by introducing a proper density dependent Pauli potential in terms of a single variable, the nucleon number, A. The present work shows that in the suggested procedure there is a delicate counterbalance of kinetic and potential energetic contributions allowing a good reproduction of the experimental nuclear binding energies. This type of calculations may be of interest in further reproduction of other properties of nuclei such as radii and also exotic nuclei.

Investigation of Slow-wave Activity Saturation during Surgical Anesthesia Reveals a Signature of Neural Inertia in Humans.

PubMed

Warnaby, Catherine E; Sleigh, Jamie W; Hight, Darren; Jbabdi, Saad; Tracey, Irene

2017-10-01

Previously, we showed experimentally that saturation of slow-wave activity provides a potentially individualized neurophysiologic endpoint for perception loss during anesthesia. Furthermore, it is clear that induction and emergence from anesthesia are not symmetrically reversible processes. The observed hysteresis is potentially underpinned by a neural inertia mechanism as proposed in animal studies. In an advanced secondary analysis of 393 individual electroencephalographic data sets, we used slow-wave activity dose-response relationships to parameterize slow-wave activity saturation during induction and emergence from surgical anesthesia. We determined whether neural inertia exists in humans by comparing slow-wave activity dose responses on induction and emergence. Slow-wave activity saturation occurs for different anesthetics and when opioids and muscle relaxants are used during surgery. There was wide interpatient variability in the hypnotic concentrations required to achieve slow-wave activity saturation. Age negatively correlated with power at slow-wave activity saturation. On emergence, we observed abrupt decreases in slow-wave activity dose responses coincident with recovery of behavioral responsiveness in ~33% individuals. These patients are more likely to have lower power at slow-wave activity saturation, be older, and suffer from short-term confusion on emergence. Slow-wave activity saturation during surgical anesthesia implies that large variability in dosing is required to achieve a targeted potential loss of perception in individual patients. A signature for neural inertia in humans is the maintenance of slow-wave activity even in the presence of very-low hypnotic concentrations during emergence from anesthesia.

[Effect of simulated microgravity on peripheral oxygen saturation in rats].

PubMed

Chen, Guangfei; Zhang, Yahui; Yuan, Ming; He, Shilin; Ying, Jun; Li, Chen

2018-02-01

To study the effect of microgravity on peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) in rats, tail-suspended rats were applied to simulate microgravity environment. SpO 2 and arterial oxygen saturation (SaO 2 ) were measured by pulse oximeter and arterial blood gas analyzer (ABGA) respectively on the 14th day, 21st day and 28th day in tail-suspended group and control group. Paired t -test shows that SpO 2 was significantly lower than SaO 2 in tail-suspended group on the 14th day ( P < 0.05), the 21st day ( P < 0.05) and the 28th day ( P < 0.01). The ANOVA results shows that modeling time had significant effect on SpO 2 value but no effect on SaO 2 value in tail-suspended group. These results indicate that pulse oximeter may be not suitable for oxygen saturation test in microgravity environment.

From Sub-basin to Grid Scale Soil Moisture Disaggregation in SMART, A Semi-distributed Hydrologic Modeling Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajami, H.; Sharma, A.

2016-12-01

A computationally efficient, semi-distributed hydrologic modeling framework is developed to simulate water balance at a catchment scale. The Soil Moisture and Runoff simulation Toolkit (SMART) is based upon the delineation of contiguous and topologically connected Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs). In SMART, HRUs are delineated using thresholds obtained from topographic and geomorphic analysis of a catchment, and simulation elements are distributed cross sections or equivalent cross sections (ECS) delineated in first order sub-basins. ECSs are formulated by aggregating topographic and physiographic properties of the part or entire first order sub-basins to further reduce computational time in SMART. Previous investigations using SMART have shown that temporal dynamics of soil moisture are well captured at a HRU level using the ECS delineation approach. However, spatial variability of soil moisture within a given HRU is ignored. Here, we examined a number of disaggregation schemes for soil moisture distribution in each HRU. The disaggregation schemes are either based on topographic based indices or a covariance matrix obtained from distributed soil moisture simulations. To assess the performance of the disaggregation schemes, soil moisture simulations from an integrated land surface-groundwater model, ParFlow.CLM in Baldry sub-catchment, Australia are used. ParFlow is a variably saturated sub-surface flow model that is coupled to the Common Land Model (CLM). Our results illustrate that the statistical disaggregation scheme performs better than the methods based on topographic data in approximating soil moisture distribution at a 60m scale. Moreover, the statistical disaggregation scheme maintains temporal correlation of simulated daily soil moisture while preserves the mean sub-basin soil moisture. Future work is focused on assessing the performance of this scheme in catchments with various topographic and climate settings.

Effect of Native American ancestry on iron-related phenotypes of Alabama hemochromatosis probands with HFE C282Y homozygosity

PubMed Central

Barton, James C; Barton, Ellen H; Acton, Ronald T

2006-01-01

Background In age-matched cohorts of screening study participants recruited from primary care clinics, mean serum transferrin saturation values were significantly lower and mean serum ferritin concentrations were significantly higher in Native Americans than in whites. Twenty-eight percent of 80 Alabama white hemochromatosis probands with HFE C282Y homozygosity previously reported having Native American ancestry, but the possible effect of this ancestry on hemochromatosis phenotypes was unknown. Methods We compiled observations in these 80 probands and used univariate and multivariate methods to analyze associations of age, sex, Native American ancestry (as a dichotomous variable), report of ethanol consumption (as a dichotomous variable), percentage transferrin saturation and loge serum ferritin concentration at diagnosis, quantities of iron removed by phlebotomy to achieve iron depletion, and quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy. Results In a univariate analysis in which probands were grouped by sex, there were no significant differences in reports of ethanol consumption, transferrin saturation, loge serum ferritin concentration, quantities of iron removed to achieve iron depletion, and quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy in probands who reported Native American ancestry than in those who did not. In multivariate analyses, transferrin saturation (as a dependent variable) was not significantly associated with any of the available variables, including reports of Native American ancestry and ethanol consumption. The independent variable quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy was significantly associated with loge serum ferritin used as a dependent variable (p < 0.0001), but not with reports of Native American ancestry or reports of ethanol consumption. Loge serum ferritin was the only independent variable significantly associated with quantities of excess iron removed by phlebotomy used as a dependent variable (p < 0.0001) (p < 0.0001; ANOVA of regression). Conclusion We conclude that the iron-related phenotypes of hemochromatosis probands with HFE C282Y homozygosity are similar in those with and without Native American ancestry reports. PMID:16533407

Quantum hacking: Saturation attack on practical continuous-variable quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Hao; Kumar, Rupesh; Alléaume, Romain

2016-07-01

We identify and study a security loophole in continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) implementations, related to the imperfect linearity of the homodyne detector. By exploiting this loophole, we propose an active side-channel attack on the Gaussian-modulated coherent-state CVQKD protocol combining an intercept-resend attack with an induced saturation of the homodyne detection on the receiver side (Bob). We show that an attacker can bias the excess noise estimation by displacing the quadratures of the coherent states received by Bob. We propose a saturation model that matches experimental measurements on the homodyne detection and use this model to study the impact of the saturation attack on parameter estimation in CVQKD. We demonstrate that this attack can bias the excess noise estimation beyond the null key threshold for any system parameter, thus leading to a full security break. If we consider an additional criterion imposing that the channel transmission estimation should not be affected by the attack, then the saturation attack can only be launched if the attenuation on the quantum channel is sufficient, corresponding to attenuations larger than approximately 6 dB. We moreover discuss the possible countermeasures against the saturation attack and propose a countermeasure based on Gaussian postselection that can be implemented by classical postprocessing and may allow one to distill the secret key when the raw measurement data are partly saturated.

Variable Delay Multi-Pulse Train for Fast Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer and Relayed-Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement MRI

PubMed Central

Xu, Jiadi; Yadav, Nirbhay N.; Bar-Shir, Amnon; Jones, Craig K.; Chan, Kannie W. Y.; Zhang, Jiangyang; Walczak, P.; McMahon, Michael T.; van Zijl, Peter C. M.

2013-01-01

Purpose Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging is a new MRI technology allowing the detection of low concentration endogenous cellular proteins and metabolites indirectly through their exchangeable protons. A new technique, variable delay multi-pulse CEST (VDMP-CEST), is proposed to eliminate the need for recording full Z-spectra and performing asymmetry analysis to obtain CEST contrast. Methods The VDMP-CEST scheme involves acquiring images with two (or more) delays between radiofrequency saturation pulses in pulsed CEST, producing a series of CEST images sensitive to the speed of saturation transfer. Subtracting two images or fitting a time series produces CEST and relayed-nuclear Overhauser enhancement CEST maps without effects of direct water saturation and, when using low radiofrequency power, minimal magnetization transfer contrast interference. Results When applied to several model systems (bovine serum albumin, crosslinked bovine serum albumin, l-glutamic acid) and in vivo on healthy rat brain, VDMP-CEST showed sensitivity to slow to intermediate range magnetization transfer processes (rate < 100–150 Hz), such as amide proton transfer and relayed nuclear Overhauser enhancement-CEST. Images for these contrasts could be acquired in short scan times by using a single radiofrequency frequency. Conclusions VDMP-CEST provides an approach to detect CEST effect by sensitizing saturation experiments to slower exchange processes without interference of direct water saturation and without need to acquire Z-spectra and perform asymmetry analysis. PMID:23813483

Migration of contaminants through the unsaturated zone overlying the Hesbaye chalky aquifer in Belgium: a field investigation.

PubMed

Brouyère, Serge; Dassargues, Alain; Hallet, Vincent

2004-08-01

This paper presents the results of a detailed field investigation that was performed for studying groundwater recharge processes and solute downward migration mechanisms prevailing in the unsaturated zone overlying a chalk aquifer in Belgium. Various laboratory measurements were performed on core samples collected during the drilling of boreholes in the experimental site. In the field, experiments consisted of well logging, infiltration tests in the unsaturated zone, pumping tests in the saturated zone and tracer tests in both the saturated and unsaturated zones. Results show that gravitational flows govern groundwater recharge and solute migration mechanisms in the unsaturated zone. In the variably saturated chalk, the migration and retardation of solutes is strongly influenced by recharge conditions. Under intense injection conditions, solutes migrate at high speed along the partially saturated fissures, downward to the saturated zone. At the same time, they are temporarily retarded in the almost immobile water located in the chalk matrix. Under normal recharge conditions, fissures are inactive and solutes migrate slowly through the chalk matrix. Results also show that concentration dynamics in the saturated zone are related to fluctuations of groundwater levels in the aquifer. A conceptual model is proposed to explain the hydrodispersive behaviour of the variably saturated chalk. Finally, the vulnerability of the chalk to contamination issues occurring at the land surface is discussed.

Test-retest reliability of retinal oxygen saturation measurement.

PubMed

O'Connell, Rachael A; Anderson, Andrew J; Hosking, Sarah L; Batcha, Abrez H; Bui, Bang V

2014-06-01

To determine intrasession and intersession repeatability of retinal vessel oxygen saturation from the Oxymap Retinal Oximeter using a whole image-based analysis technique and so determine optimal analysis parameters to reduce variability. Ten fundus oximetry images were acquired through dilated pupils from 18 healthy participants (aged 22 to 38) using the Oxymap Retinal Oximeter T1. A further 10 images were obtained 1 to 2 weeks later from each individual. Analysis was undertaken for subsets of images to determine the number of images needed to return a stable coefficient of variation (CoV). Intrasession and intersession variability were quantified by evaluating the CoV and establishing the 95% limits of agreement using Bland and Altman analysis. Retinal oxygenation was derived from the distribution of oxygenation values from all vessels of a given width in an image or set of images, as described by Paul et al. in 2013. Grouped in 10-μm-wide bins, oxygen saturation varied significantly for both arteries and veins (p < 0.01). Between 110 and 150 μm, arteries had the least variability between individuals, with average CoVs less than 5% whose confidence intervals did not overlap with the greater than 10% average CoVs for veins across the same range. Bland and Altman analysis showed that there was no bias within or between recording sessions and that the 95% limits of agreement were generally lower in arteries. Retinal vessel oxygen saturation measurements show variability within and between clinical sessions when the whole image is used, which we believe more accurately reflects the true variability in Oxymap images than previous studies on select image segments. Averaging data from vessels 100 to 150 μm in width may help to minimize such variability.

Decentralized finite-time attitude synchronization for multiple rigid spacecraft via a novel disturbance observer.

PubMed

Zong, Qun; Shao, Shikai

2016-11-01

This paper investigates decentralized finite-time attitude synchronization for a group of rigid spacecraft by using quaternion with the consideration of environmental disturbances, inertia uncertainties and actuator saturation. Nonsingular terminal sliding mode (TSM) is used for controller design. Firstly, a theorem is proven that there always exists a kind of TSM that converges faster than fast terminal sliding mode (FTSM) for quaternion-descripted attitude control system. Controller with this kind of TSM has faster convergence and reduced computation than FTSM controller. Then, combining with an adaptive parameter estimation strategy, a novel terminal sliding mode disturbance observer is proposed. The proposed disturbance observer needs no upper bound information of the lumped uncertainties or their derivatives. On the basis of undirected topology and the disturbance observer, decentralized attitude synchronization control laws are designed and all attitude errors are ensured to converge to small regions in finite time. As for actuator saturation problem, an auxiliary variable is introduced and accommodated by the disturbance observer. Finally, simulation results are given and the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is testified. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Modelling flow and heat transfer through unsaturated chalk - Validation with experimental data from the ground surface to the aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiéry, Dominique; Amraoui, Nadia; Noyer, Marie-Luce

2018-01-01

During the winter and spring of 2000-2001, large floods occurred in northern France (Somme River Basin) and southern England (Patcham area of Brighton) in valleys that are developed on Chalk outcrops. The floods durations were particularly long (more than 3 months in the Somme Basin) and caused significant damage in both countries. To improve the understanding of groundwater flooding in Chalk catchments, an experimental site was set up in the Hallue basin, which is located in the Somme River Basin (France). Unsaturated fractured chalk formation overlying the Chalk aquifer was monitored to understand its reaction to long and heavy rainfall events when it reaches a near saturation state. The water content and soil temperature were monitored to a depth of 8 m, and the matrix pressure was monitored down to the water table, 26.5 m below ground level. The monitoring extended over a 2.5-year period (2006-2008) under natural conditions and during two periods when heavy, artificial infiltration was induced. The objective of the paper is to describe a vertical numerical flow model based on Richards' equation using these data that was developed to simulate infiltrating rainwater flow from the ground surface to the saturated aquifer. The MARTHE computer code, which models the unsaturated-saturated continuum, was adapted to reproduce the monitored high saturation periods. Composite constitutive functions (hydraulic conductivity-saturation and pressure-saturation) that integrate the increase in hydraulic conductivity near saturation and extra available porosity resulting from fractures were introduced into the code. Using these composite constitutive functions, the model was able to accurately simulate the water contents and pressures at all depths over the entire monitored period, including the infiltration tests. The soil temperature was also accurately simulated at all depths, except during the infiltrations tests, which contributes to the model validation. The model was used to calculate the aquifer recharge over a long period that included droughts and floods. The calculated recharge is realistic as it makes it possible to simulate the corresponding monitored groundwater level data, which increases confidence in the modelling approach.

Assessment of rock wool as support material for on-site sanitation: hydrodynamic and mechanical characterization.

PubMed

Wanko, Adrien; Laurent, Julien; Bois, Paul; Mosé, Robert; Wagner-Kocher, Christiane; Bahlouli, Nadia; Tiffay, Serge; Braun, Bouke; Provo kluit, Pieter-Willem

2016-01-01

This study proposes mechanical and hydrodynamic characterization of rock wool used as support material in compact filter. A double-pronged approach, based on experimental simulation of various physical states of this material was done. First of all a scanning electron microscopy observation allows to highlight the fibrous network structure, the fibres sizing distribution and the atomic absorption spectrum. The material was essentially lacunar with 97 ± 2% of void space. Static compression tests on variably saturated rock wool samples provide the fact that the strain/stress behaviours depend on both the sample conditioning and the saturation level. Results showed that water exerts plastifying effect on mechanical behaviour of rock wool. The load-displacement curves and drainage evolution under different water saturation levels allowed exhibiting hydraulic retention capacities under stress. Finally, several tracer experiments on rock wool column considering continuous and batch feeding flow regime allowed: (i) to determine the flow model for each test case and the implications for water dynamic in rock wool medium, (ii) to assess the rock wool double porosity and discuss its advantages for wastewater treatment, (iii) to analyse the benefits effect for water treatment when the high level of rock wool hydric retention was associated with the plug-flow effect, and (iv) to discuss the practical contributions for compact filter conception and management.

Numerical demonstration of surfactant concentration-dependent capillarity and viscosity effects on infiltration from a constant flux line source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry, Eric J.; Smith, James E.

2006-09-01

SummarySurface infiltration line sources can deliver surfactant solutions for agricultural purposes or for use in subsurface remediation. Though the prediction of water distribution below a line source has received considerable attention in the scientific literature, little has been has been reported on how infiltration of surfactant solution from a line source differs from water infiltration. Few numerical models are capable of simulating surfactant-induced changes in moisture characteristic and hydraulic conductivity properties of unsaturated soil, so it is difficult to assess the importance of these effects when designing surfactant application schemes. We investigated surfactant infiltration behavior by using the variably-saturated flow and transport model HYDRUS-2D [Simunek, J., Sejna, M., van Genuchten, M.Th., 1999. The HYDRUS-2D software package for simulating the two-dimensional movement of water, heat, and multiple solutes in variably-saturated media, Version 2.0. IGWMC-TPS-53C. International Ground Water Modeling Center, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO] which was modified by [Henry, E.J., Smith, J.E., Warrick, A.W., 2002. Two-dimensional modeling of flow and transport in the vadose zone with surfactant-induced flow. Water Resour. Res. 38. DOI: doi:10.1029/2001WR000674] to incorporate surfactant effects on unsaturated flow. Significant differences were found between pure water and surfactant solution infiltration into a fine sand that was initially at residual moisture content. The surfactant solution wetted a larger area, both horizontally and vertically, relative to water, while the distribution of water within the wetted zone was more uniform than in the surfactant system. The surfactant system exhibited transient localized drainage and rewetting caused by surfactant-induced capillary pressure gradients within the wetting front. A standard unsaturated flow model (i.e., one that does not include surfactant effects on flow) is not capable of capturing the transient flow behavior. However, our results show that by using an effective scaled media (ESM) approach a standard model can be used to simulate later-time hydraulic conditions in a surfactant system.

How to assess the impact of a physical parameterization in simulations of moist convection?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grabowski, Wojciech

2017-04-01

A numerical model capable in simulating moist convection (e.g., cloud-resolving model or large-eddy simulation model) consists of a fluid flow solver combined with required representations (i.e., parameterizations) of physical processes. The later typically include cloud microphysics, radiative transfer, and unresolved turbulent transport. Traditional approaches to investigate impacts of such parameterizations on convective dynamics involve parallel simulations with different parameterization schemes or with different scheme parameters. Such methodologies are not reliable because of the natural variability of a cloud field that is affected by the feedback between the physics and dynamics. For instance, changing the cloud microphysics typically leads to a different realization of the cloud-scale flow, and separating dynamical and microphysical impacts is difficult. This presentation will present a novel modeling methodology, the piggybacking, that allows studying the impact of a physical parameterization on cloud dynamics with confidence. The focus will be on the impact of cloud microphysics parameterization. Specific examples of the piggybacking approach will include simulations concerning the hypothesized deep convection invigoration in polluted environments, the validity of the saturation adjustment in modeling condensation in moist convection, and separation of physical impacts from statistical uncertainty in simulations applying particle-based Lagrangian microphysics, the super-droplet method.

A simplified rainfall-runoff stochastic simulation method for an application of the SCHADEX method to ungauged catchments.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penot, David; Paquet, Emmanuel; Lang, Michel

2014-05-01

SCHADEX is a probabilistic method for extreme flood estimation, developed and applied since 2006 at Electricité de France (EDF) for dam spillway design [Paquet et al., 2013]. SCHADEX is based on a semi-continuous rainfall-runoff simulation process. The method has been built around two models: a Multi-Exponential Weather Pattern (MEWP) distribution for rainfall probability estimation [Garavaglia et al., 2010] and the MORDOR hydrological model. To use SCHADEX in ungauged context, rainfall distribution and hydrological model must be regionalized. The regionalization of the MEWP rainfall distribution can be managed with SPAZM, a daily rainfall interpolator [Gottardi et al., 2012] which provides reasonable estimates of point and areal rainfall up to hight quantiles. The main issue remains to regionalize MORDOR which is heavily parametrized. A much more simple model has been considered: the SCS model. It is a well known model for event simulation [USDA SCS, 1985; Beven, 2003] and it relies on only one parameter. Then, the idea is to use the SCS model instead of MORDOR within a simplified stochastic simulation scheme to produce a distribution of flood volume from an exhaustive crossing between rainy events and catchment saturation hazards. The presentation details this process and its capacity to generate a runoff distribution based on catchment areal rainfall distribution. The simulation method depends on a unique parameter Smax, the maximum initial loss of the catchment. Then an initial loss S (between zero and Smax) can be drawn to account for the variability of catchment state (between dry and saturated). The distribution of initial loss (or conversely, of catchment saturation, as modeled by MORDOR) seems closely linked to the catchment's regime, therefore easily to regionalize. The simulation takes into account a snow contribution for snow driven catchments, and an antecedent runoff. The presentation shows the results of this stochastic procedure applied on 80 French catchments and its capacity to represent the asymptotic behaviour of the runoff distribution. References: K. J. Beven. Rainfall-Runoff modelling The Primer, British Library, 2003. F. Garavaglia, J. Gailhard, E. Paquet, M. Lang, R. Garçon, and P. Bernardara. Introducing a rainfall compound distribution model based on weather patterns sub-sampling. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 14(6):951-964, 2010. F. Gottardi, C. Obled, J. Gailhard, and E. Paquet. Statistical reanalysis of precipitation fields based on ground network data and weather patterns : Application over french mountains. Journal of Hydrology, 432-433:154-167, 2012. ISSN 0022-1694. E. Paquet, F. Garavaglia, R Garçon, and J. Gailhard. The schadex method : a semi-continuous rainfall-runoff simulation for extreme flood estimation. Journal of Hydrology, 2013. USDA SCS, National Engineering Handbook, Supplement A, Section 4, Chapter 10. Whashington DC, 1985.

Decompression illness in goats following simulated submarine escape: 1993-2006.

PubMed

Seddon, F M; Thacker, J C; Fisher, A S; Jurd, K M; White, M G; Loveman, G A M

2014-01-01

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence commissioned work to define the relationship between the internal pressure of a distressed submarine (DISSUB), the depth from which escape is made and the risk of decompression illness (DCI). The program of work used an animal model (goat) to define these risks and this paper reports the incidence and type of DCI observed. A total of 748 pressure exposures comprising saturation only, escape only or saturation followed by escape were conducted in the submarine escape simulator between 1993 and 2006. The DCI following saturation exposures was predominantly limb pain, whereas following escape exposures the DCI predominantly involved the central nervous system and was fast in onset. There was no strong relationship between the risk of DCI and the range of escape depths investigated. The risk of DCI incurred from escape following saturation was greater than that obtained by combining the risks for the independent saturation only, and escape only, exposures. The output from this program of work has led to improved advice on the safety of submarine escape.

An efficient distribution method for nonlinear transport problems in highly heterogeneous stochastic porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahima, Fayadhoi; Meyer, Daniel; Tchelepi, Hamdi

2016-04-01

Because geophysical data are inexorably sparse and incomplete, stochastic treatments of simulated responses are crucial to explore possible scenarios and assess risks in subsurface problems. In particular, nonlinear two-phase flows in porous media are essential, yet challenging, in reservoir simulation and hydrology. Adding highly heterogeneous and uncertain input, such as the permeability and porosity fields, transforms the estimation of the flow response into a tough stochastic problem for which computationally expensive Monte Carlo (MC) simulations remain the preferred option.We propose an alternative approach to evaluate the probability distribution of the (water) saturation for the stochastic Buckley-Leverett problem when the probability distributions of the permeability and porosity fields are available. We give a computationally efficient and numerically accurate method to estimate the one-point probability density (PDF) and cumulative distribution functions (CDF) of the (water) saturation. The distribution method draws inspiration from a Lagrangian approach of the stochastic transport problem and expresses the saturation PDF and CDF essentially in terms of a deterministic mapping and the distribution and statistics of scalar random fields. In a large class of applications these random fields can be estimated at low computational costs (few MC runs), thus making the distribution method attractive. Even though the method relies on a key assumption of fixed streamlines, we show that it performs well for high input variances, which is the case of interest. Once the saturation distribution is determined, any one-point statistics thereof can be obtained, especially the saturation average and standard deviation. Moreover, the probability of rare events and saturation quantiles (e.g. P10, P50 and P90) can be efficiently derived from the distribution method. These statistics can then be used for risk assessment, as well as data assimilation and uncertainty reduction in the prior knowledge of input distributions. We provide various examples and comparisons with MC simulations to illustrate the performance of the method.

Biofilter design for effective nitrogen removal from stormwater - influence of plant species, inflow hydrology and use of a saturated zone.

PubMed

Payne, Emily G I; Pham, Tracey; Cook, Perran L M; Fletcher, Tim D; Hatt, Belinda E; Deletic, Ana

2014-01-01

The use of biofilters to remove nitrogen and other pollutants from urban stormwater runoff has demonstrated varied success across laboratory and field studies. Design variables including plant species and use of a saturated zone have large impacts upon performance. A laboratory column study of 22 plant species and designs with varied outlet configuration was conducted across a 1.5-year period to further investigate the mechanisms and influences driving biofilter nitrogen processing. This paper presents outflow concentrations of total nitrogen from two sampling events across both 'wet' and 'dry' frequency dosing, and from sampling across two points in the outflow hydrograph. All plant species were effective under conditions of frequent dosing, but extended drying increased variation between species and highlighted the importance of a saturated zone in maintaining biofilter function. The saturated zone also effectively treated the volume of stormwater stored between inflow events, but this extended detention provided no additional benefit alongside the rapid processing of the highest performing species. Hence, the saturated zone reduced performance differences between plant species, and potentially acts as an 'insurance policy' against poor sub-optimal plant selection. The study shows the importance of biodiversity and inclusion of a saturated zone in protecting against climate variability.

Quantitative imaging and in situ concentration measurements of quantum dot nanomaterials in variably saturated porous media

DOE PAGES

Uyuşur, Burcu; Snee, Preston T.; Li, Chunyan; ...

2016-01-01

Knowledge of the fate and transport of nanoparticles in the subsurface environment is limited, as techniques to monitor and visualize the transport and distribution of nanoparticles in porous media and measure their in situ concentrations are lacking. To address these issues, we have developed a light transmission and fluorescence method to visualize and measure in situ concentrations of quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles in variably saturated environments. Calibration cells filled with sand as porous medium and various known water saturation levels and QD concentrations were prepared. By measuring the intensity of the light transmitted through porous media exposed to fluorescent lightmore » and by measuring the hue of the light emitted by the QDs under UV light exposure, we obtained simultaneously in situ measurements of water saturation and QD nanoparticle concentrations with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Water saturation was directly proportional to the light intensity. A linear relationship was observed between hue-intensity ratio values and QD concentrations for constant water saturation levels. Lastly, the advantages and limitations of the light transmission and fluorescence method as well as its implications for visualizing and measuring in situ concentrations of QDs nanoparticles in the subsurface environment are discussed.« less

An Examination of Potential Causes of the Persistent Capillary Fringe Extension Observed During a Pumping Test in an Unconfined Aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunn, M. I.; Jones, J.; Endres, A. L.

2008-12-01

Hydrogeologists quantify the properties of unconfined aquifers by analyzing the data from pumping tests. The most appropriate method of incorporating flow contributions from the vadose zone into these analyses has been the subject of debate for decades. Recently, a highly detailed data set was collected during a seven- day pumping test at CFB Borden, Ontario (Bevan et al., 2005) which has allowed a close examination of the vadose zone response to pumping. Water table drawdown was monitored using pressure transducers in 11 monitoring wells, while moisture profiles were collected 19 times during the 7-day test using neutron logging. The Borden aquifer system is quite homogeneous, and numerical simulations using the variably saturated model InHM resulted in excellent reproduction of the observed hydraulic head drawdowns. Conversely, the simulated moisture profiles correlated poorly with neutron-logging-derived observed profiles. Specifically, the field results show delayed drawdown in the vadose zone, resulting in a persistent and significant extension of the capillary fringe, with the shape of the moisture profile remaining constant through the transition zone. Numerical simulations using various forms of the capillary pressure-saturation relationship with reasonable parameter sets were unable produce the extension. Neutron moisture profiles were selected from three locations (3, 5, and 15 m radial distance from the pumping well) at which an adjacent shallow deep piezometer pair could be used to accurately estimate water table location. Using this data in conjunction with the inverse modeling tool PEST, a set of van Genuchten capillary pressure-saturation parameters was generated to match each observed moisture profile. Horizontal and vertical hydraulic gradients and flow rates at the water table were generated using model output and compared to the fitted parameters. The van Genuchten parameter n was found to have significant scatter in both profile location and observation time when compared to any of the modeled results. The van Genuchten parameter alpha was found to vary linearly as a function of horizontal hydraulic gradient; further the results from all observation locations and times were found to follow the same linear relationship. The likely effects of consolidation, entrapped air, heterogeneity, and hydraulic gradients on the observed moisture profile were also evaluated. Results indicate a need for further investigation into the applicability of laboratory derived steady-state water retention curves for field scale simulations.

Bedside determination of bicarbonate and base excess, blood oxygen saturation and content, VD/VT, and P50 using a programmable calculator.

PubMed

Wilkinson, P L

1979-06-01

Assessing and modifying oxygen transport are major parts of ICU patient management. Determination of base excess, blood oxygen saturation and content, dead space ventilation, and P50 helps in this management. A program is described for determining these variables using a T1 59 programmable calculator and PC 100A printer. Each variable can be independently calculated without running the whole program. The calculator-printer's small size, low cost, and hard copy printout make it a valuable and versatile tool for calculating physiological variables. The program is easily entered by an stored on magnetic card, and prompts the user to enter the appropriate variables, making is easy to run by untrained personnel.

The universal function in color dipole model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jalilian, Z.; Boroun, G. R.

2017-10-01

In this work we review color dipole model and recall properties of the saturation and geometrical scaling in this model. Our primary aim is determining the exact universal function in terms of the introduced scaling variable in different distance than the saturation radius. With inserting the mass in calculation we compute numerically the contribution of heavy productions in small x from the total structure function by the fraction of universal functions and show the geometrical scaling is established due to our scaling variable in this study.

MHD modeling of a DIII-D low-torque QH-mode discharge and comparison to observations

DOE PAGES

King, Jacob R.; Kruger, S. E.; Burrell, K. H.; ...

2017-03-07

Extended-MHD modeling of DIII-D tokamak quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) discharges with nonlinear NIMROD simulations saturates into a turbulent state but does not saturate when the steady-state flow inferred from measurements is not included. This is consistent with the experimental observations of the quiescent regime on DIII-D. The simulation with flow develops into a saturated turbulent state where the n Φ = 1 and 2 toroidal modes become dominant through an inverse cascade. Each mode in the range of n Φ = 1–5 is dominant at a different time. Consistent with experimental observations during QH-mode, the simulated state leads to large particlemore » transport relative to the thermal transport. Analysis shows that the amplitude and phase of the density and temperature perturbations differ resulting in greater fluctuation-induced convective particle transport relative to the convective thermal transport. As a result, comparison to magnetic-coil measurements shows that rotation frequencies differ between the simulation and experiment, which indicates that more sophisticated extended-MHD two-fluid modeling is required.« less

MHD modeling of a DIII-D low-torque QH-mode discharge and comparison to observations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, Jacob R.; Kruger, S. E.; Burrell, K. H.

Extended-MHD modeling of DIII-D tokamak quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) discharges with nonlinear NIMROD simulations saturates into a turbulent state but does not saturate when the steady-state flow inferred from measurements is not included. This is consistent with the experimental observations of the quiescent regime on DIII-D. The simulation with flow develops into a saturated turbulent state where the n Φ = 1 and 2 toroidal modes become dominant through an inverse cascade. Each mode in the range of n Φ = 1–5 is dominant at a different time. Consistent with experimental observations during QH-mode, the simulated state leads to large particlemore » transport relative to the thermal transport. Analysis shows that the amplitude and phase of the density and temperature perturbations differ resulting in greater fluctuation-induced convective particle transport relative to the convective thermal transport. As a result, comparison to magnetic-coil measurements shows that rotation frequencies differ between the simulation and experiment, which indicates that more sophisticated extended-MHD two-fluid modeling is required.« less

Linking pore-scale and basin-scale effects on diffusive methane transport in hydrate bearing environments through multi-scale reservoir simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nole, M.; Daigle, H.; Cook, A.; Malinverno, A.; Hillman, J. I. T.

2016-12-01

We explore the gas hydrate-generating capacity of diffusive methane transport induced by solubility gradients due to pore size contrasts in lithologically heterogeneous marine sediments. Through the use of 1D, 2D, and 3D reactive transport simulations, we investigate scale-dependent processes in diffusion-dominated gas hydrate systems. These simulations all track a sand body, or series of sands, surrounded by clays as they are buried through the gas hydrate stability zone. Methane is sourced by microbial methanogenesis in the clays surrounding the sand layers. In 1D, simulations performed in a Lagrangian reference frame demonstrate that gas hydrate in thin sands (3.6 m thick) can occur in high saturations (upward of 70%) at the edges of sand bodies within the upper 400 meters below the seafloor. Diffusion of methane toward the center of the sand layer depends on the concentration gradient within the sand: broader sand pore size distributions with smaller median pore sizes enhance diffusive action toward the sand's center. Incorporating downhole log- and laboratory-derived sand pore size distributions, gas hydrate saturations in the center of the sand can reach 20% of the hydrate saturations at the sand's edges. Furthermore, we show that hydrate-free zones exist immediately above and below the sand and are approximately 5 m thick, depending on the sand-clay solubility contrast. A moving reference frame is also adopted in 2D, and the angle of gravity is rotated relative to the grid system to simulate a dipping sand layer. This is important to minimize diffusive edge effects or numerical diffusion that might be associated with a dipping sand in an Eulerian grid system oriented orthogonal to gravity. Two-dimensional simulations demonstrate the tendency for gas hydrate to accumulate downdip in a sand body because of greater methane transport at depth due to larger sand-clay solubility contrasts. In 3D, basin-scale simulations illuminate how convergent sand layers in a multilayered system can compete for diffusion from clays between them, resulting in relatively low hydrate saturations. All simulations suggest that when hydrate present in clays dissociates with burial, the additional dissolved methane is soaked up by nearby sands preserving high hydrate saturations.

Linking pore-scale and basin-scale effects on diffusive methane transport in hydrate bearing environments through multi-scale reservoir simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nole, Michael; Daigle, Hugh; Cook, Ann

We explore the gas hydrate-generating capacity of diffusive methane transport induced by solubility gradients due to pore size contrasts in lithologically heterogeneous marine sediments. Through the use of 1D, 2D, and 3D reactive transport simulations, we investigate scale-dependent processes in diffusion-dominated gas hydrate systems. These simulations all track a sand body, or series of sands, surrounded by clays as they are buried through the gas hydrate stability zone. Methane is sourced by microbial methanogenesis in the clays surrounding the sand layers. In 1D, simulations performed in a Lagrangian reference frame demonstrate that gas hydrate in thin sands (3.6 m thick)more » can occur in high saturations (upward of 70%) at the edges of sand bodies within the upper 400 meters below the seafloor. Diffusion of methane toward the center of the sand layer depends on the concentration gradient within the sand: broader sand pore size distributions with smaller median pore sizes enhance diffusive action toward the sand’s center. Incorporating downhole log- and laboratory-derived sand pore size distributions, gas hydrate saturations in the center of the sand can reach 20% of the hydrate saturations at the sand’s edges. Furthermore, we show that hydrate-free zones exist immediately above and below the sand and are approximately 5 m thick, depending on the sand-clay solubility contrast. A moving reference frame is also adopted in 2D, and the angle of gravity is rotated relative to the grid system to simulate a dipping sand layer. This is important to minimize diffusive edge effects or numerical diffusion that might be associated with a dipping sand in an Eulerian grid system oriented orthogonal to gravity. Two-dimensional simulations demonstrate the tendency for gas hydrate to accumulate downdip in a sand body because of greater methane transport at depth due to larger sand-clay solubility contrasts. In 3D, basin-scale simulations illuminate how convergent sand layers in a multilayered system can compete for diffusion from clays between them, resulting in relatively low hydrate saturations. All simulations suggest that when hydrate present in clays dissociates with burial, the additional dissolved methane is soaked up by nearby sands preserving high hydrate saturations.« less

[Spatial variation characteristics of surface soil water content, bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity on Karst slopes].

PubMed

Zhang, Chuan; Chen, Hong-Song; Zhang, Wei; Nie, Yun-Peng; Ye, Ying-Ying; Wang, Ke-Lin

2014-06-01

Surface soil water-physical properties play a decisive role in the dynamics of deep soil water. Knowledge of their spatial variation is helpful in understanding the processes of rainfall infiltration and runoff generation, which will contribute to the reasonable utilization of soil water resources in mountainous areas. Based on a grid sampling scheme (10 m x 10 m) and geostatistical methods, this paper aimed to study the spatial variability of surface (0-10 cm) soil water content, soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity on a typical shrub slope (90 m x 120 m, projected length) in Karst area of northwest Guangxi, southwest China. The results showed that the surface soil water content, bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity had different spatial dependence and spatial structure. Sample variogram of the soil water content was fitted well by Gaussian models with the nugget effect, while soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity were fitted well by exponential models with the nugget effect. Variability of soil water content showed strong spatial dependence, while the soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity showed moderate spatial dependence. The spatial ranges of the soil water content and saturated hydraulic conductivity were small, while that of the soil bulk density was much bigger. In general, the soil water content increased with the increase of altitude while it was opposite for the soil bulk densi- ty. However, the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity had a random distribution of large amounts of small patches, showing high spatial heterogeneity. Soil water content negatively (P < 0.01) correlated with the bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity, while there was no significant correlation between the soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity.

Trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability and electrostatic harmonic excitation in earth's foreshock

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimas, Alexander J.

1990-01-01

The Vlasov simulation is used to examine the trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability both with and without mode-mode coupling and subsequent harmonic excitation. It is found that adding the pumped harmonic modes leads to a significant difference in the behavior of the phase-space distribution function near the unstable bump at the saturation time of the instability. The pumped modes permit rapid plateau formation on the space-averaged velocity distribution, in effect preventing the onset of the quasi-linear velocity-diffusion saturation mechanism.

Anti-windup adaptive PID control design for a class of uncertain chaotic systems with input saturation.

PubMed

Tahoun, A H

2017-01-01

In this paper, the stabilization problem of actuators saturation in uncertain chaotic systems is investigated via an adaptive PID control method. The PID control parameters are auto-tuned adaptively via adaptive control laws. A multi-level augmented error is designed to account for the extra terms appearing due to the use of PID and saturation. The proposed control technique uses both the state-feedback and the output-feedback methodologies. Based on Lyapunov׳s stability theory, new anti-windup adaptive controllers are proposed. Demonstrative examples with MATLAB simulations are studied. The simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed adaptive PID controllers. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brightness, hue, and saturation in photopic vision: a result of luminance and wavelength in the cellular phase-grating optical 3D chip of the inverted retina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauinger, Norbert

1994-10-01

In photopic vision, two physical variables (luminance and wavelength) are transformed into three psychological variables (brightness, hue, and saturation). Following on from 3D grating optical explanations of aperture effects (Stiles-Crawford effects SCE I and II), all three variables can be explained via a single 3D chip effect. The 3D grating optical calculations are carried out using the classical von Laue equation and demonstrated using the example of two experimentally confirmed observations in human vision: saturation effects for monochromatic test lights between 485 and 510 nm in the SCE II and the fact that many test lights reverse their hue shift in the SCE II when changing from moderate to high luminances compared with that on changing from low to medium luminances. At the same time, information is obtained on the transition from the trichromatic color system in the retina to the opponent color system.

Mode Analyses of Gyrokinetic Simulations of Plasma Microturbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatch, David R.

This thesis presents analysis of the excitation and role of damped modes in gyrokinetic simulations of plasma microturbulence. In order to address this question, mode decompositions are used to analyze gyrokinetic simulation data. A mode decomposition can be constructed by projecting a nonlinearly evolved gyrokinetic distribution function onto a set of linear eigenmodes, or alternatively by constructing a proper orthogonal decomposition of the distribution function. POD decompositions are used to examine the role of damped modes in saturating ion temperature gradient driven turbulence. In order to identify the contribution of different modes to the energy sources and sinks, numerical diagnostics for a gyrokinetic energy quantity were developed for the GENE code. The use of these energy diagnostics in conjunction with POD mode decompositions demonstrates that ITG turbulence saturates largely through dissipation by damped modes at the same perpendicular spatial scales as those of the driving instabilities. This defines a picture of turbulent saturation that is very different from both traditional hydrodynamic scenarios and also many common theories for the saturation of plasma turbulence. POD mode decompositions are also used to examine the role of subdominant modes in causing magnetic stochasticity in electromagnetic gyrokinetic simulations. It is shown that the magnetic stochasticity, which appears to be ubiquitous in electromagnetic microturbulence, is caused largely by subdominant modes with tearing parity. The application of higher-order singular value decomposition (HOSVD) to the full distribution function from gyrokinetic simulations is presented. This is an effort to demonstrate the ability to characterize and extract insight from a very large, complex, and high-dimensional data-set - the 5-D (plus time) gyrokinetic distribution function.

NIGHTHAWK - A Program for Modeling Saturated Batch and Column Experiments Incorporating Equilibrium and Kinetic Biogeochemistry

EPA Science Inventory

NIGHTHAWK simulates the fate and transport of biogeochemically reactive contaminants in the saturated subsurface. Version 1.2 supports batch and one- dimensional advective-dispersive-reactive transport involving a number of biogeochemical processes, including: microbially-mediate...

A two-dimensional, finite-difference model of the high plains aquifer in southern South Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kolm, K.E.; Case, H. L.

1983-01-01

The High Plains aquifer is the principal source of water for irrigation, industry, municipalities, and domestic use in south-central South Dakota. The aquifer, composed of upper sandstone units of the Arikaree Formation, and the overlying Ogallala and Sand Hills Formations, was simulated using a two-dimensional, finite-difference computer model. The maximum difference between simulated and measured potentiometric heads was less than 60 feet (1- to 4-percent error). Two-thirds of the simulated potentiometric heads were within 26 feet of the measured values (3-percent error). The estimated saturated thickness, computed from simulated potentiometric heads, was within 25-percent error of the known saturated thickness for 95 percent of the study area. (USGS)

LTP saturation and spatial learning disruption: effects of task variables and saturation levels.

PubMed

Barnes, C A; Jung, M W; McNaughton, B L; Korol, D L; Andreasson, K; Worley, P F

1994-10-01

The prediction that "saturation" of LTP/LTE at hippocampal synapses should impair spatial learning was reinvestigated in the light of a more specific consideration of the theory of Hebbian associative networks, which predicts a nonlinear relationship between LTP "saturation" and memory impairment. This nonlinearity may explain the variable results of studies that have addressed the effects of LTP "saturation" on behavior. The extent of LTP "saturation" in fascia dentata produced by the standard chronic LTP stimulation protocol was assessed both electrophysiologically and through the use of an anatomical marker (activation of the immediate-early gene zif268). Both methods point to the conclusion that the standard protocols used to induce LTP do not "saturate" the process at any dorsoventral level, and leave the ventral half of the hippocampus virtually unaffected. LTP-inducing, bilateral perforant path stimulation led to a significant deficit in the reversal of a well-learned spatial response on the Barnes circular platform task as reported previously, yet in the same animals produced no deficit in learning the Morris water task (for which previous results have been conflicting). The behavioral deficit was not a consequence of any after-discharge in the hippocampal EEG. In contrast, administration of maximal electroconvulsive shock led to robust zif268 activation throughout the hippocampus, enhancement of synaptic responses, occlusion of LTP produced by discrete high-frequency stimulation, and spatial learning deficits in the water task. These data provide further support for the involvement of LTP-like synaptic enhancement in spatial learning.

The MSPICE simulation of a saturating transformer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maclean, David N.

A transformer is simulated using a nonlinear saturating magnetic model. Hysteresis and gradual smooth reduction of core permeability are achieved with standard SPICE networks and functions. The equations that define the nonlinear inductance and the MSPICE circuits used to simulate them are derived. A hierarchy of circuit complexity that is based on the structured logic design subcircuit method is used. An example of a push-pull buck regulator being operated in an unbalanced condition is given. Noise ripple on the input power cable generates a dc offset current in the transformer. The example demonstrates how avionics power equipment can be evaluated for large-signal ac, dc, and transient behavior.

Origin of threshold voltage fluctuation caused by ion implantation to source and drain extensions of silicon-on-insulator triple-gate fin-type field-effect transistors using three-dimensional process and device simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsutsumi, Toshiyuki

2018-06-01

The threshold voltage (V th) fluctuation induced by ion implantation (I/I) in the source and drain extensions (SDEs) of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) triple-gate (Tri-Gate) fin-type field-effect transistor (FinFET) was analyzed by both three-dimensional (3D) process and device simulations collaboratively. The origin of the V th fluctuation induced by the SDE I/I is basically a variation of a bottleneck barrier height (BBH) due to implanted arsenic (As+) ions. In particular, a very low and broad V th distribution in the saturation region is due to percolative conduction in addition to the BBH variation. Moreover, it is surprisingly found that the V th fluctuation is mostly characterized by the BBH of only a top surface center line of a Si fin of the device. Our collaborative approach by 3D process and device simulations is dispensable for the accurate investigation of variability-tolerant devices. The obtained results are beneficial for the research and development of such future devices.

A functional relation for field-scale nonaqueous phase liquid dissolution developed using a pore network model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dillard, L.A.; Essaid, H.I.; Blunt, M.J.

2001-01-01

A pore network model with cubic chambers and rectangular tubes was used to estimate the nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) dissolution rate coefficient, Kdissai, and NAPL/water total specific interfacial area, ai. Kdissai was computed as a function of modified Peclet number (Pe???) for various NAPL saturations (SN) and ai during drainage and imbibition and during dissolution without displacement. The largest contributor to ai was the interfacial area in the water-filled corners of chambers and tubes containing NAPL. When Kdissai was divided by ai, the resulting curves of dissolution coefficient, Kdiss versus Pe??? suggested that an approximate value of Kdiss could be obtained as a weak function of hysteresis or SN. Spatially and temporally variable maps of Kdissai calculated using the network model were used in field-scale simulations of NAPL dissolution. These simulations were compared to simulations using a constant value of Kdissai and the empirical correlation of Powers et al. [Water Resour. Res. 30(2) (1994b) 321]. Overall, a methodology was developed for incorporating pore-scale processes into field-scale prediction of NAPL dissolution. Copyright ?? 2001 .

Solar Cycle Variability Induced by Tilt Angle Scatter in a Babcock-Leighton Solar Dynamo Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karak, Bidya Binay; Miesch, Mark

2017-09-01

We present results from a three-dimensional Babcock-Leighton (BL) dynamo model that is sustained by the emergence and dispersal of bipolar magnetic regions (BMRs). On average, each BMR has a systematic tilt given by Joy’s law. Randomness and nonlinearity in the BMR emergence of our model produce variable magnetic cycles. However, when we allow for a random scatter in the tilt angle to mimic the observed departures from Joy’s law, we find more variability in the magnetic cycles. We find that the observed standard deviation in Joy’s law of {σ }δ =15^\\circ produces a variability comparable to the observed solar cycle variability of ˜32%, as quantified by the sunspot number maxima between 1755 and 2008. We also find that tilt angle scatter can promote grand minima and grand maxima. The time spent in grand minima for {σ }δ =15^\\circ is somewhat less than that inferred for the Sun from cosmogenic isotopes (about 9% compared to 17%). However, when we double the tilt scatter to {σ }δ =30^\\circ , the simulation statistics are comparable to the Sun (˜18% of the time in grand minima and ˜10% in grand maxima). Though the BL mechanism is the only source of poloidal field, we find that our simulations always maintain magnetic cycles even at large fluctuations in the tilt angle. We also demonstrate that tilt quenching is a viable and efficient mechanism for dynamo saturation; a suppression of the tilt by only 1°-2° is sufficient to limit the dynamo growth. Thus, any potential observational signatures of tilt quenching in the Sun may be subtle.

Use of the Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Model (WEBMOD) to Simulate Water Quality at Five U.S. Geological Survey Research Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webb, R. M.; Leavesley, G. H.; Shanley, J. B.; Peters, N. E.; Aulenbach, B. T.; Blum, A. E.; Campbell, D. H.; Clow, D. W.; Mast, M. A.; Stallard, R. F.; Larsen, M. C.; Troester, J. W.; Walker, J. F.; White, A. F.

2003-12-01

The Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Model (WEBMOD) was developed as an aid to compare and contrast basic hydrologic and biogeochemical processes active in the diverse hydroclimatic regions represented by the five U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budget (WEBB) sites: Loch Vale, Colorado; Trout Lake, Wisconsin; Sleepers River, Vermont; Panola Mountain, Georgia; and Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. WEBMOD simulates solute concentrations for vegetation canopy, snow pack, impermeable ground, leaf litter, unsaturated and saturated soil zones, riparian zones and streams using selected process modules coupled within the USGS Modular Modeling System (MMS). Source codes for the MMS hydrologic modules include the USGS Precipitation Runoff Modeling System, the National Weather Service Hydro-17 snow model, and TOPMODEL. The hydrologic modules distribute precipitation and temperature to predict evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, snow melt, and streamflow. Streamflow generation mechanisms include infiltration excess, saturated overland flow, preferential lateral flow, and base flow. Input precipitation chemistry, and fluxes and residence times predicted by the hydrologic modules are input into the geochemical module where solute concentrations are computed for a series of discrete well-mixed reservoirs using calls to the geochemical engine PHREEQC. WEBMOD was used to better understand variations in water quality observed at the WEBB sites from October 1991 through September 1997. Initial calibrations were completed by fitting the simulated hydrographs with those measured at the watershed outlets. Model performance was then refined by comparing the predicted export of conservative chemical tracers such as chloride, with those measured at the watershed outlets. The model succeeded in duplicating the temporal variability of net exports of major ions from the watersheds.

Pore Pressure Distribution and Flank Instability in Hydrothermally Altered Stratovolcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ball, J. L.; Taron, J.; Hurwitz, S.; Reid, M. E.

2015-12-01

Field and geophysical investigations of stratovolcanoes with long-lived hydrothermal systems commonly reveal that initially permeable regions (such as brecciated layers of pyroclastic material) can become both altered and water-bearing. Hydrothermal alteration in these regions, including clay formation, can turn them into low-permeability barriers to fluid flow, which could increase pore fluid pressures resulting in flank slope instability. We examined elevated pore pressure conditions using numerical models of hydrothermal flow in stratovolcanoes, informed by geophysical data about internal structures and deposits. Idealized radially symmetric meshes were developed based on cross-sectional profiles and alteration/permeability structures of Cascade Range stratovolcanoes. We used the OpenGeoSys model to simulate variably saturated conditions in volcanoes heated only by regional heat fluxes, as well as 650°C intrusions at two km depth below the surface. Meteoric recharge was estimated from precipitation rates in the Cascade Range. Preliminary results indicate zones of elevated pore pressures form: 1) where slopes are underlain by continuous low-permeability altered layers, or 2) when the edifice has an altered core with saturated, less permeable limbs. The first scenario might control shallow collapses on the slopes above the altered layers. The second could promote deeper flank collapses that are initially limited to the summit and upper slopes, but could progress to the core of an edifice. In both scenarios, pore pressures can be further elevated by shallow intrusions, or evolve over longer time scales under forcing from regional heat flux. Geometries without confining low-permeability layers do not show these pressure effects. Our initial scenarios use radially symmetric models, but we are also simulating hydrothermal flow under real 3D geometries with asymmetric subsurface structures (Mount Adams). Simulation results will be used to inform 3D slope-stability models.

Correlation between simulations and cavitation-induced erosion damage in Spallation Neutron Source target modules after operation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Riemer, Bernie; McClintock, David A; Kaminskas, Saulius

2014-01-01

An explicit finite element (FE) technique developed for estimating dynamic strain in the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) mercury target module vessel is now providing insight into cavitation damage patterns observed in used targets. The technique uses an empirically developed material model for the mercury that describes liquid-like volumetric stiffness combined with a tensile pressure cut-off limit that approximates cavitation. The longest period each point in the mercury is at the tensile cut-off threshold is denoted its saturation time. Now, the pattern of saturation time can be obtained from these simulations and is being positively correlated with observed damage patterns andmore » is interpreted as a qualitative measure of damage potential. Saturation time has been advocated by collaborators at J-Parc as a factor in predicting bubble nuclei growth and collapse intensity. The larger the ratio of maximum bubble size to nucleus, the greater the bubble collapse intensity to be expected; longer saturation times result in greater ratios. With the recent development of a user subroutine for the FE solver saturation time is now provided over the entire mercury domain. Its pattern agrees with spots of damage seen above and below the beam axis on the SNS inner vessel beam window and elsewhere. The other simulation result being compared to observed damage patterns is mercury velocity at the wall. Related R&D has provided evidence for the damage mitigation that higher wall velocity provides. In comparison to observations in SNS targets, inverse correlation of high velocity to damage is seen. In effect, it is the combination of the patterns of saturation time and low velocity that seems to match actual damage patterns.« less

Development of a numerical model for the electric current in burner-stabilised methane-air flames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Speelman, N.; de Goey, L. P. H.; van Oijen, J. A.

2015-03-01

This study presents a new model to simulate the electric behaviour of one-dimensional ionised flames and to predict the electric currents in these flames. The model utilises Poisson's equation to compute the electric potential. A multi-component diffusion model, including the influence of an electric field, is used to model the diffusion of neutral and charged species. The model is incorporated into the existing CHEM1D flame simulation software. A comparison between the computed electric currents and experimental values from the literature shows good qualitative agreement for the voltage-current characteristic. Physical phenomena, such as saturation and the diodic effect, are captured by the model. The dependence of the saturation current on the equivalence ratio is also captured well for equivalence ratios between 0.6 and 1.2. Simulations show a clear relation between the saturation current and the total number of charged particles created. The model shows that the potential at which the electric field saturates is strongly dependent on the recombination rate and the diffusivity of the charged particles. The onset of saturation occurs because most created charged particles are withdrawn from the flame and because the electric field effects start dominating over mass based diffusion. It is shown that this knowledge can be used to optimise ionisation chemistry mechanisms. It is shown numerically that the so-called diodic effect is caused primarily by the distance the heavier cations have to travel to the cathode.

Modeling: The Right Tool for the Job.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gavanasen, Varut; Hussain, S. Tariq

1993-01-01

Reviews the different types of models that can be used in groundwater modeling. Discusses the flow and contaminant transport models in the saturated zone, flow and contaminant transport in variably saturated flow regime, vapor transport, biotransformation models, multiphase models, optimization algorithms, and potentials pitfalls of using these…

How to Recharge a Confined Aquifer: An Exploration of Geologic Controls on Groundwater Storage.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maples, S.; Fogg, G. E.; Maxwell, R. M.; Liu, Y.

2017-12-01

Decreased snowpack storage and groundwater overdraft in California has increased interest in managed aquifer recharge (MAR) of excess winter runoff to the Central Valley aquifer system, which has unused storage capacity that far exceeds the state's surface reservoirs. Recharge to the productive, confined aquifer system remains a challenge due to the presence of nearly-ubiquitous, multiple silt and clay confining units that limit recharge pathways. However, previous studies have identified interconnected networks of sand and gravel deposits that bypass the confining units and accommodate rapid, high-volume recharge to the confined aquifer system in select locations. We use the variably-saturated, fully-integrated groundwater/surface-water flow code, ParFlow, in combination with a high-resolution, transition probability Markov-chain geostatistical model of the subsurface geologic heterogeneity of the east side of the Sacramento Valley, CA, to characterize recharge potential across a landscape that includes these geologic features. Multiple 180-day MAR simulations show that recharge potential is highly dependent on subsurface geologic structure, with a several order-of-magnitude range of recharge rates and volumes across the landscape. Where there are recharge pathways to the productive confined-aquifer system, pressure propagation in the confined system is widespread and rapid, with multi-kilometer lateral pressure propagation. Although widespread pressure propagation occurs in the confined system, only a small fraction of recharge volume is accommodated there. Instead, the majority of recharge occurs by filling unsaturated pore spaces. Where they outcrop at land surface, high-K recharge pathways fill rapidly, accommodating the majority of recharge during early time. However, these features become saturated quickly, and somewhat counterintuitively, the low-K silt and clay facies accommodate the majority of recharge volume during most of the simulation. These findings (1) highlight the large variability of MAR potential across the landscape, wherein the recharge capacity in select areas far exceeds recharge potential over most of the landscape, and (2) elucidate important physical processes that control MAR potential in alluvial aquifer systems.

Methane hydrate formation in turbidite sediments of northern Cascadia, IODP Expedition 311

USGS Publications Warehouse

Torres, M.E.; Trehu, A.M.; Cespedes, N.; Kastner, M.; Wortmann, U.G.; Kim, J.-H.; Long, P.; Malinverno, A.; Pohlman, J.W.; Riedel, M.; Collett, T.

2008-01-01

Expedition 311 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) to northern Cascadia recovered gas-hydrate bearing sediments along a SW-NE transect from the first ridge of the accretionary margin to the eastward limit of gas-hydrate stability. In this study we contrast the gas gas-hydrate distribution from two sites drilled ~ 8??km apart in different tectonic settings. At Site U1325, drilled on a depositional basin with nearly horizontal sedimentary sequences, the gas-hydrate distribution shows a trend of increasing saturation toward the base of gas-hydrate stability, consistent with several model simulations in the literature. Site U1326 was drilled on an uplifted ridge characterized by faulting, which has likely experienced some mass wasting events. Here the gas hydrate does not show a clear depth-distribution trend, the highest gas-hydrate saturation occurs well within the gas-hydrate stability zone at the shallow depth of ~ 49??mbsf. Sediments at both sites are characterized by abundant coarse-grained (sand) layers up to 23??cm in thickness, and are interspaced within fine-grained (clay and silty clay) detrital sediments. The gas-hydrate distribution is punctuated by localized depth intervals of high gas-hydrate saturation, which preferentially occur in the coarse-grained horizons and occupy up to 60% of the pore space at Site U1325 and > 80% at Site U1326. Detailed analyses of contiguous samples of different lithologies show that when enough methane is present, about 90% of the variance in gas-hydrate saturation can be explained by the sand (> 63????m) content of the sediments. The variability in gas-hydrate occupancy of sandy horizons at Site U1326 reflects an insufficient methane supply to the sediment section between 190 and 245??mbsf. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V.

A numerical study of the phase behaviors of drug particle/star triblock copolymer mixtures in dilute solutions for drug carrier application

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Shanhui; Tong, Chaohui; Zhu, Yuejin, E-mail: zhuyuejin@nbu.edu.cn

The complex microstructures of drug particle/ABA star triblock copolymer in dilute solutions have been investigated by a theoretical approach which combines the self-consistent field theory and the hybrid particle-field theory. Simulation results reveal that, when the volume fraction of drug particles is smaller than the saturation concentration, the drug particle encapsulation efficiency is 100%, and micelle loading capacity increases with increasing particle volume fraction. When the volume fraction of drug particles is equal to the saturation concentration, the micelles attain the biggest size, and micelle loading capacity reaches a maximum value which is independent of the copolymer volume fraction. Whenmore » the volume fraction of drug particles is more than the saturation concentration, drug particle encapsulation efficiency decreases with increasing volume fraction of drug particles. Furthermore, it is found that the saturation concentration scales linearly with the copolymer volume fraction. The above simulation results are in good agreement with experimental results.« less

Design of feedback control systems for stable plants with saturating actuators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kapasouris, Petros; Athans, Michael; Stein, Gunter

1988-01-01

A systematic control design methodology is introduced for multi-input/multi-output stable open loop plants with multiple saturations. This new methodology is a substantial improvement over previous heuristic single-input/single-output approaches. The idea is to introduce a supervisor loop so that when the references and/or disturbances are sufficiently small, the control system operates linearly as designed. For signals large enough to cause saturations, the control law is modified in such a way as to ensure stability and to preserve, to the extent possible, the behavior of the linear control design. Key benefits of the methodology are: the modified compensator never produces saturating control signals, integrators and/or slow dynamics in the compensator never windup, the directional properties of the controls are maintained, and the closed loop system has certain guaranteed stability properties. The advantages of the new design methodology are illustrated in the simulation of an academic example and the simulation of the multivariable longitudinal control of a modified model of the F-8 aircraft.

Investigation of Readout RF Pulse Impact on the Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Spectrum

PubMed Central

Huang, Sheng-Min; Jan, Meei-Ling; Liang, Hsin-Chin; Chang, Chia-Hao; Wu, Yi-Chun; Tsai, Shang-Yueh; Wang, Fu-Nien

2015-01-01

Chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging (CEST-MRI) is capable of both microenvironment and molecular imaging. The optimization of scanning parameters is important since the CEST effect is sensitive to factors such as saturation power and field homogeneity. The aim of this study was to determine if the CEST effect would be altered by changing the length of readout RF pulses. Both theoretical computer simulation and phantom experiments were performed to examine the influence of readout RF pulses. Our results showed that the length of readout RF pulses has unremarkable impact on the Z-spectrum and CEST effect in both computer simulation and phantom experiment. Moreover, we demonstrated that multiple refocusing RF pulses used in rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) sequence induced no obvious saturation transfer contrast. Therefore, readout RF pulse has negligible effect on CEST Z-spectrum and the optimization of readout RF pulse length can be disregarded in CEST imaging protocol. PMID:26455576

Multiresponse modeling of variably saturated flow and isotope tracer transport for a hillslope experiment at the Landscape Evolution Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scudeler, Carlotta; Pangle, Luke; Pasetto, Damiano; Niu, Guo-Yue; Volkmann, Till; Paniconi, Claudio; Putti, Mario; Troch, Peter

2016-10-01

This paper explores the challenges of model parameterization and process representation when simulating multiple hydrologic responses from a highly controlled unsaturated flow and transport experiment with a physically based model. The experiment, conducted at the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO), involved alternate injections of water and deuterium-enriched water into an initially very dry hillslope. The multivariate observations included point measures of water content and tracer concentration in the soil, total storage within the hillslope, and integrated fluxes of water and tracer through the seepage face. The simulations were performed with a three-dimensional finite element model that solves the Richards and advection-dispersion equations. Integrated flow, integrated transport, distributed flow, and distributed transport responses were successively analyzed, with parameterization choices at each step supported by standard model performance metrics. In the first steps of our analysis, where seepage face flow, water storage, and average concentration at the seepage face were the target responses, an adequate match between measured and simulated variables was obtained using a simple parameterization consistent with that from a prior flow-only experiment at LEO. When passing to the distributed responses, it was necessary to introduce complexity to additional soil hydraulic parameters to obtain an adequate match for the point-scale flow response. This also improved the match against point measures of tracer concentration, although model performance here was considerably poorer. This suggests that still greater complexity is needed in the model parameterization, or that there may be gaps in process representation for simulating solute transport phenomena in very dry soils.

How runoff begins (and ends): characterizing hydrologic response at the catchment scale

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mirus, Benjamin B.; Loague, Keith

2013-01-01

Improved understanding of the complex dynamics associated with spatially and temporally variable runoff response is needed to better understand the hydrology component of interdisciplinary problems. The objective of this study was to quantitatively characterize the environmental controls on runoff generation for the range of different streamflow-generation mechanisms illustrated in the classic Dunne diagram. The comprehensive physics-based model of coupled surface-subsurface flow, InHM, is employed in a heuristic mode. InHM has been employed previously to successfully simulate the observed hydrologic response at four diverse, well-characterized catchments, which provides the foundation for this study. The C3 and CB catchments are located within steep, forested terrain; the TW and R5 catchments are located in gently sloping rangeland. The InHM boundary-value problems for these four catchments provide the corner-stones for alternative simulation scenarios designed to address the question of how runoff begins (and ends). Simulated rainfall-runoff events are used to systematically explore the impact of soil-hydraulic properties and rainfall characteristics. This approach facilitates quantitative analysis of both integrated and distributed hydrologic responses at high-spatial and temporal resolution over the wide range of environmental conditions represented by the four catchments. The results from 140 unique simulation scenarios illustrate how rainfall intensity/depth, subsurface permeability contrasts, characteristic curve shapes, and topography provide important controls on the hydrologic-response dynamics. The processes by which runoff begins (and ends) are shown, in large part, to be defined by the relative rates of rainfall, infiltration, lateral flow convergence, and storage dynamics within the variably saturated soil layers.

3D-MHD Simulations of the Madison Dynamo Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayliss, R. A.; Forest, C. B.; Wright, J. C.; O'Connell, R.

2003-10-01

Growth, saturation and turbulent evolution of the Madison dynamo experiment is investigated numerically using a 3-D pseudo-spectral simulation of the MHD equations; results of the simulations are used to predict behavior of the experiment. The code solves the self-consistent full evolution of the magnetic and velocity fields. The code uses a spectral representation via spherical harmonic basis functions of the vector fields in longitude and latitude, and fourth order finite differences in the radial direction. The magnetic field evolution has been benchmarked against the laminar kinematic dynamo predicted by M.L. Dudley and R.W. James [Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 425. 407-429 (1989)]. Initial results indicate that saturation of the magnetic field occurs so that the resulting perturbed backreaction of the induced magnetic field changes the velocity field such that it would no longer be linearly unstable, suggesting non-linear terms are necessary for explaining the resulting state. Saturation and self-excitation depend in detail upon the magnetic Prandtl number.

Controls on deep drainage beneath the root soil zone in snowmelt-dominated environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammond, J. C.; Harpold, A. A.; Kampf, S. K.

2017-12-01

Snowmelt is the dominant source of streamflow generation and groundwater recharge in many high elevation and high latitude locations, yet we still lack a detailed understanding of how snowmelt is partitioned between the soil, deep drainage, and streamflow under a variety of soil, climate, and snow conditions. Here we use Hydrus 1-D simulations with historical inputs from five SNOTEL snow monitoring sites in each of three regions, Cascades, Sierra, and Southern Rockies, to investigate how inter-annual variability on water input rate and duration affects soil saturation and deep drainage. Each input scenario was run with three different soil profiles of varying hydraulic conductivity, soil texture, and bulk density. We also created artificial snowmelt scenarios to test how snowmelt intermittence affects deep drainage. Results indicate that precipitation is the strongest predictor (R2 = 0.83) of deep drainage below the root zone, with weaker relationships observed between deep drainage and snow persistence, peak snow water equivalent, and melt rate. The ratio of deep drainage to precipitation shows a stronger positive relationship to melt rate suggesting that a greater fraction of input becomes deep drainage at higher melt rates. For a given amount of precipitation, rapid, concentrated snowmelt may create greater deep drainage below the root zone than slower, intermittent melt. Deep drainage requires saturation below the root zone, so saturated hydraulic conductivity serves as a primary control on deep drainage magnitude. Deep drainage response to climate is mostly independent of soil texture because of its reliance on saturated conditions. Mean water year saturations of deep soil layers can predict deep drainage and may be a useful way to compare sites in soils with soil hydraulic porosities. The unit depth of surface runoff often is often greater than deep drainage at daily and annual timescales, as snowmelt exceeds infiltration capacity in near-surface soil layers. These results suggest that processes affecting the duration of saturation below the root zone could compromise deep recharge, including changes in snowmelt rate and duration as well as the depth and rate of ET losses from the soil profile.

Theoretical analysis and simulations of the generalized Lotka-Volterra model.

PubMed

Malcai, Ofer; Biham, Ofer; Richmond, Peter; Solomon, Sorin

2002-09-01

The dynamics of generalized Lotka-Volterra systems is studied by theoretical techniques and computer simulations. These systems describe the time evolution of the wealth distribution of individuals in a society, as well as of the market values of firms in the stock market. The individual wealths or market values are given by a set of time dependent variables w(i), i=1,...,N. The equations include a stochastic autocatalytic term (representing investments), a drift term (representing social security payments), and a time dependent saturation term (due to the finite size of the economy). The w(i)'s turn out to exhibit a power-law distribution of the form P(w) approximately w(-1-alpha). It is shown analytically that the exponent alpha can be expressed as a function of one parameter, which is the ratio between the constant drift component (social security) and the fluctuating component (investments). This result provides a link between the lower and upper cutoffs of this distribution, namely, between the resources available to the poorest and those available to the richest in a given society. The value of alpha is found to be insensitive to variations in the saturation term, which represent the expansion or contraction of the economy. The results are of much relevance to empirical studies that show that the distribution of the individual wealth in different countries during different periods in the 20th century has followed a power-law distribution with 1

Theoretical analysis and simulations of the generalized Lotka-Volterra model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malcai, Ofer; Biham, Ofer; Richmond, Peter; Solomon, Sorin

2002-09-01

The dynamics of generalized Lotka-Volterra systems is studied by theoretical techniques and computer simulations. These systems describe the time evolution of the wealth distribution of individuals in a society, as well as of the market values of firms in the stock market. The individual wealths or market values are given by a set of time dependent variables wi, i=1,...,N. The equations include a stochastic autocatalytic term (representing investments), a drift term (representing social security payments), and a time dependent saturation term (due to the finite size of the economy). The wi's turn out to exhibit a power-law distribution of the form P(w)~w-1-α. It is shown analytically that the exponent α can be expressed as a function of one parameter, which is the ratio between the constant drift component (social security) and the fluctuating component (investments). This result provides a link between the lower and upper cutoffs of this distribution, namely, between the resources available to the poorest and those available to the richest in a given society. The value of α is found to be insensitive to variations in the saturation term, which represent the expansion or contraction of the economy. The results are of much relevance to empirical studies that show that the distribution of the individual wealth in different countries during different periods in the 20th century has followed a power-law distribution with 1<α<2.

Solidification of a binary alloy: Finite-element, single-domain simulation and new benchmark solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Bars, Michael; Worster, M. Grae

2006-07-01

A finite-element simulation of binary alloy solidification based on a single-domain formulation is presented and tested. Resolution of phase change is first checked by comparison with the analytical results of Worster [M.G. Worster, Solidification of an alloy from a cooled boundary, J. Fluid Mech. 167 (1986) 481-501] for purely diffusive solidification. Fluid dynamical processes without phase change are then tested by comparison with previous numerical studies of thermal convection in a pure fluid [G. de Vahl Davis, Natural convection of air in a square cavity: a bench mark numerical solution, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids 3 (1983) 249-264; D.A. Mayne, A.S. Usmani, M. Crapper, h-adaptive finite element solution of high Rayleigh number thermally driven cavity problem, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Heat Fluid Flow 10 (2000) 598-615; D.C. Wan, B.S.V. Patnaik, G.W. Wei, A new benchmark quality solution for the buoyancy driven cavity by discrete singular convolution, Numer. Heat Transf. 40 (2001) 199-228], in a porous medium with a constant porosity [G. Lauriat, V. Prasad, Non-darcian effects on natural convection in a vertical porous enclosure, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 32 (1989) 2135-2148; P. Nithiarasu, K.N. Seetharamu, T. Sundararajan, Natural convective heat transfer in an enclosure filled with fluid saturated variable porosity medium, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 40 (1997) 3955-3967] and in a mixed liquid-porous medium with a spatially variable porosity [P. Nithiarasu, K.N. Seetharamu, T. Sundararajan, Natural convective heat transfer in an enclosure filled with fluid saturated variable porosity medium, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 40 (1997) 3955-3967; N. Zabaras, D. Samanta, A stabilized volume-averaging finite element method for flow in porous media and binary alloy solidification processes, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 60 (2004) 1103-1138]. Finally, new benchmark solutions for simultaneous flow through both fluid and porous domains and for convective solidification processes are presented, based on the similarity solutions in corner-flow geometries recently obtained by Le Bars and Worster [M. Le Bars, M.G. Worster, Interfacial conditions between a pure fluid and a porous medium: implications for binary alloy solidification, J. Fluid Mech. (in press)]. Good agreement is found for all tests, hence validating our physical and numerical methods. More generally, the computations presented here could now be considered as standard and reliable analytical benchmarks for numerical simulations, specifically and independently testing the different processes underlying binary alloy solidification.

Estimation of saturated pixel values in digital color imaging

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xuemei; Brainard, David H.

2007-01-01

Pixel saturation, where the incident light at a pixel causes one of the color channels of the camera sensor to respond at its maximum value, can produce undesirable artifacts in digital color images. We present a Bayesian algorithm that estimates what the saturated channel's value would have been in the absence of saturation. The algorithm uses the non-saturated responses from the other color channels, together with a multivariate Normal prior that captures the correlation in response across color channels. The appropriate parameters for the prior may be estimated directly from the image data, since most image pixels are not saturated. Given the prior, the responses of the non-saturated channels, and the fact that the true response of the saturated channel is known to be greater than the saturation level, the algorithm returns the optimal expected mean square estimate for the true response. Extensions of the algorithm to the case where more than one channel is saturated are also discussed. Both simulations and examples with real images are presented to show that the algorithm is effective. PMID:15603065

Combat Stress Decreases Memory of Warfighters in Action.

PubMed

Delgado-Moreno, Rosa; Robles-Pérez, José Juan; Clemente-Suárez, Vicente Javier

2017-08-01

The present research aimed to analyze the effect of combat stress in the psychophysiological response and attention and memory of warfighters in a simulated combat situation. Variables of blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, blood glucose, blood lactate, body temperature, lower body muscular strength manifestation, cortical arousal, autonomic modulation, state anxiety and memory and attention through a postmission questionnaire were analyzed before and after a combat simulation in 20 male professional Spanish Army warfighters. The combat simulation produces a significant increase (p < 0.05) in explosive leg strength, rated perceived exertion, blood glucose, blood lactate, somatic anxiety, heart rate, and low frequency domain of the HRV (LF) and a significant decrease of high frequency domain of the heart rate variability (HF). The percentage of correct response in the postmission questionnaire parameters show that elements more related with a physical integrity threat are the most correctly remembered. There were significant differences in the postmission questionnaire variables when participants were divided by the cortical arousal post: sounds no response, mobile phone correct, mobile phone no response, odours correct. The correlation analysis showed positive correlations: LF post/body temperature post, HF post/correct sound, body temperature post/glucose post, CFFTpre/lactate post, CFFT post/wrong sound, glucose post/AC pre, AC post/wrong fusil, AS post/SC post and SC post/wrong olfactory; and negative correlations: LF post/correct sound, body temperature post/lactate post and glucose post/lactate post. This data suggest that combat stress actives fight-flight system of soldiers. As conclusion, Combat stress produces an increased psychophysiological response that cause a selective decrease of memory, depending on the nature, dangerous or harmless of the objects.

Predicting the consumption of foods low in saturated fats among people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The role of planning in the theory of planned behaviour.

PubMed

White, Katherine M; Terry, Deborah J; Troup, Carolyn; Rempel, Lynn A; Norman, Paul

2010-10-01

The present study tested the utility of an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour that included a measure of planning, in the prediction of eating foods low in saturated fats among adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease. Participants (N=184) completed questionnaires assessing standard theory of planned behaviour measures (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control) and the additional volitional variable of planning in relation to eating foods low in saturated fats. Self-report consumption of foods low insaturated fats was assessed 1 month later. In partial support of the theory of planned behaviour, results indicated that attitude and subjective norm predicted intentions to eat foods low in saturated fats and intentions and perceived behavioural control predicted the consumption of foods low in saturated fats. As an additional variable, planning predicted the consumption of foods low in saturated fats directly and also mediated the intention-behaviour and perceived behavioural control-behaviour relationships, suggesting an important role for planning as a post-intentional construct determining healthy eating choices. Suggestions are offered for interventions designed to improve adherence to healthy eating recommendations for people diagnosed with these chronic conditions with a specific emphasis on the steps and activities that are required to promote a healthier lifestyle.

Assessing species saturation: conceptual and methodological challenges.

PubMed

Olivares, Ingrid; Karger, Dirk N; Kessler, Michael

2018-05-07

Is there a maximum number of species that can coexist? Intuitively, we assume an upper limit to the number of species in a given assemblage, or that a lineage can produce, but defining and testing this limit has proven problematic. Herein, we first outline seven general challenges of studies on species saturation, most of which are independent of the actual method used to assess saturation. Among these are the challenge of defining saturation conceptually and operationally, the importance of setting an appropriate referential system, and the need to discriminate among patterns, processes and mechanisms. Second, we list and discuss the methodological approaches that have been used to study species saturation. These approaches vary in time and spatial scales, and in the variables and assumptions needed to assess saturation. We argue that assessing species saturation is possible, but that many studies conducted to date have conceptual and methodological flaws that prevent us from currently attaining a good idea of the occurrence of species saturation. © 2018 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Effective Elastic and Neutron Capture Cross Section Calculations Corresponding to Simulated Fluid Properties from CO2 Push-Pull Simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chugunov, Nikita; Altundas, Bilgin

The submission contains a .xls files consisting of 10 excel sheets, which contain combined list of pressure, saturation, salinity, temperature profiles from the simulation of CO2 push-pull using Brady reservoir model and the corresponding effective compressional and shear velocity, bulk density, and fluid and time-lapse neutron capture cross section profiles of rock at times 0 day (baseline) through 14 days. First 9 sheets (each named after the corresponding CO2 push-pull simulation time) contains simulated pressure, saturation, temperature, salinity profiles and the corresponding effective elastic and neutron capture cross section profiles of rock matrix at the time of CO2 injection. Eachmore » sheet contains two sets of effective compressional velocity profiles of the rock, one based on Gassmann and the other based on Patchy saturation model. Effective neutron capture cross section calculations are done using a proprietary neutron cross-section simulator (SNUPAR) whereas for the thermodynamic properties of CO2 and bulk density of rock matrix filled with fluid, a standalone fluid substitution tool by Schlumberger is used. Last sheet in the file contains the bulk modulus of solid rock, which is inverted from the rock properties (porosity, sound speed etc) based on Gassmann model. Bulk modulus of solid rock in turn is used in the fluid substitution.« less

Modelling soil and soil to plant transfer processes of radionuclides and toxic chemicals at long time scales for performance assessment of Radwaste disposal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albrecht, Achim; Miquel, Stephan

2015-04-01

Performance assessments for surface nuclear waste disposal facilities require simulation of transfer processes from the waste canisters to a reference group living near-by. Such simulations need to be extended over several hundred to hundred thousand years, depending on waste type, restraining possibilities to represent short term system complexity and variability. Related modelling can be simplified as long as processes are represented conservatively with assessment endpoints estimated larger compared to more realistic modelling approaches. The indicators are doses for radionuclides (RN) and risk factors for toxic chemicals (TC, i.e. heavy metals, nitrate). We discuss a new simulation tool (SCM-Andra-multilayer-model, SAMM) that, among others, allows to model situations where RN/TC move through a soil profile characterised by temporal undersaturation and root growth (soil-plant subsystem of the biosphere model compared to the adjacent saturated geosphere). SAMM describes all relevant transfer and reaction processes (advection, diffusion, root transport, radioactive decay, chemical reactions incl. sorption - desorption) using well known differential equations solved numerically within MATLAB with scenario description and parameterisation defined in Excel sheets. With this conservative approach in mind, we apply global parameters for which the solid-solution (Kd) or soil-to-plant (TF) distribution coefficients are the most relevant. Empirical data are available for homogeneous situations, such as one compartment pot experiments, but rare for entire soil profiles. Similarly soil hydrology, in particular upward and downward advective fluxes are modelled using an empirical approach solely based on key soil hydrological parameters (precipitation, evapotranspiration, irrigation, water table level) and the soil porosity. Variability of soil hydrology in space and time, likely to change drastically even on hourly bases (i.e. intense precipitation event) or within a single column (i.e. preferential flow and capillary rise) is nonetheless represented by annual averages. Changing water saturation and associated variability in redox conditions, RN/TC speciation and mobility, represents an example, where the simulation abilities with SAMM are beyond our capacity of in situ observation and measurement, restricting of course our efforts of validation. The latter is thus limited to simpler cases with parameter values stable within the soil column or throughout time. The study of more complex situations is possible with the SAMM simulation tool. For illustration, we give at least two examples, one for a RN and one for a TC; we evaluate the species initially present as well as the daughter RN and the product of reactivity of the TC. Focus is given to situations where RN/TC are present at the base of a soil column; simulation end points are concentrations at the soil surface and for specified agricultural plant species. Dose and risk calculations based on these data are carried out in classical food chain assessment tools. These illustrations are for generic sites and situations for which at least a minor component of upward advective movement is considered, keeping in mind the conservative approach mentioned above.

Measurement and evaluation of the relationships between capillary pressure, relative permeability, and saturation for surrogate fluids for laboratory study of geological carbon sequestration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, H.; Trevisan, L.; Sakaki, T.; Cihan, A.; Smits, K. M.; Illangasekare, T. H.

2013-12-01

Multiphase flow models can be used to improve our understanding of the complex behavior of supercritical CO2 (scCO2) in deep saline aquifers to make predictions for the stable storage strategies. These models rely on constitutive relationships such as capillary pressure (Pc) - saturation (Sw) and relative permeability (kr) - saturation (Sw) as input parameters. However, for practical application of these models, such relationships for scCO2 and brine system are not readily available for geological formations. This is due to the complicated and expensive traditional methods often used to obtain these relationships in the laboratory through high pressure and/or high-temperature controls. A method that has the potential to overcome the difficulty in conducting such experiments is to replicate scCO2 and brine with surrogate fluids that capture the density and viscosity effects to obtain the constitutive relationships under ambient conditions. This study presents an investigation conducted to evaluate this method. An assessment of the method allows us to evaluate the prediction accuracy of multiphase models using the constitutive relationships developed from this approach. With this as a goal, the study reports multiple laboratory column experiments conducted to measure these relationships. The obtained relationships were then used in the multiphase flow simulator TOUGH2 T2VOC to explore capillary trapping mechanisms of scCO2. A comparison of the model simulation to experimental observation was used to assess the accuracy of the measured constitutive relationships. Experimental data confirmed, as expected, that the scaling method cannot be used to obtain the residual and irreducible saturations. The results also showed that the van Genuchten - Mualem model was not able to match the independently measured kr data obtained from column experiments. Simulated results of fluid saturations were compared with saturation measurements obtained using x-ray attenuations. This comparison demonstrated that the experimentally derived constitutive relationships matched the experimental data more accurately than the simulation using constitutive relationships derived from scaling methods and van Genuchten - Mualem model. However, simulated imbibition fronts did not match well, suggesting the need for further study. In general, the study demonstrated the feasibility of using surrogate fluids to obtain both Pc - Sw and kr - Sw relationships to be used in multiphase models of scCO2 migration and entrapment.

Effects of target and distractor saturations on the cognitive performance of an integrated display interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Chengqi; Li, Jing; Wang, Haiyan; Niu, Yafeng

2015-01-01

Color coding is often used to enhance decision quality in complex man-machine interfaces of integrated display systems. However, people are easily distracted by irrelevant colors and by the numerous data points and complex structures in the interface. Although an increasing number of studies are seriously focusing on the problem of achieving efficient color coding, few are able to determine the effects of target and distractor saturations on cognitive performance. To study the performances of target colors among distractors, a systematic experiment is conducted to assess the influence of high and low saturated targets on cognitive performance, and the affecting extent of different saturated distractors of homogeneous colors on targets. According to the analysis of the reaction time through the non-parametric statistical method, a calculation method of the cognitive performance of each color is proposed. Based on the calculation of the color differences and the accumulation of the reaction times, it is shown that with the different saturated distractors of homogeneous colors, the high saturated yellow targets perform better than the low saturated ones, and the green and blue targets have moderate performances. When searching for a singleton target placed on a black background, the color difference between the target and the distractor should be more than 20Δ E*ab units in the yellow saturation coding, whereas the color difference should be more than 40Δ E*ab units in the blue and green saturation coding. In addition, as regards saturation coding, the influence of the color difference between the target and the background on cognitive performance is greater than that of the color difference between the target and the distractor. Seemingly, the hue attribute determines whether the saturation difference between the target and the distractor affects the cognitive performance. Based on the experimental results, the simulation design of the instrument dials in a flight situation awareness interface is completed and tested. Simulation results show the feasibility of the method of choosing the target and distractor colors, and the proposed research provides the instruction for the color saturation design of the interface.

Humidity: A review and primer on atmospheric moisture and human health.

PubMed

Davis, Robert E; McGregor, Glenn R; Enfield, Kyle B

2016-01-01

Research examining associations between weather and human health frequently includes the effects of atmospheric humidity. A large number of humidity variables have been developed for numerous purposes, but little guidance is available to health researchers regarding appropriate variable selection. We examine a suite of commonly used humidity variables and summarize both the medical and biometeorological literature on associations between humidity and human health. As an example of the importance of humidity variable selection, we correlate numerous hourly humidity variables to daily respiratory syncytial virus isolates in Singapore from 1992 to 1994. Most water-vapor mass based variables (specific humidity, absolute humidity, mixing ratio, dewpoint temperature, vapor pressure) exhibit comparable correlations. Variables that include a thermal component (relative humidity, dewpoint depression, saturation vapor pressure) exhibit strong diurnality and seasonality. Humidity variable selection must be dictated by the underlying research question. Despite being the most commonly used humidity variable, relative humidity should be used sparingly and avoided in cases when the proximity to saturation is not medically relevant. Care must be taken in averaging certain humidity variables daily or seasonally to avoid statistical biasing associated with variables that are inherently diurnal through their relationship to temperature. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Coupled Heat and Moisture Transport Simulation on the Re-saturation of Engineered Clay Barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, W. H.; Chuang, Y. F.

2014-12-01

Engineered clay barrier plays a major role for the isolation of radioactive wastes in a underground repository. This paper investigates the resaturation processes of clay barrier, with emphasis on the coupling effects of heat and moisture during the intrusion of groundwater to the repository. A reference bentonite and a locally available clay were adopted in the laboratory program. Soil suction of clay specimens was measured by psychrometers embedded in clay specimens and by vapor equilibrium technique conducted at varying temperatures so as to determine the soil water characteristic curves of the two clays at different temperatures. And water uptake tests were conducted on clay specimens compacted at various densities to simulate the intrusion of groundwater into the clay barrier. Using the soil water characteristic curve, an integration scheme was introduced to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated clay. It was found that soil suction decreases as temperature increases, resulting in a reduction in water retention capability. The finite element method was then employed to carry out the numerical simulation of the saturation process in the near field of a repository. Results of the numerical simulation were validated using the degree of saturation profile obtained from the water uptake tests on the clays. The numerical scheme was then extended to establish a model simulating the resaturation process after the closure of a repository. Finally, the model was then used to evaluate the effect of clay barrier thickness on the time required for groundwater to penetrate the clay barrier and approach saturation. Due to the variation in clay suction and thermal conductivity with temperature of clay barrier material, the calculated temperature field shows a reduction as a result of incorporating the hydro-properties in the calculations.

Pore-scale simulation of liquid CO2 displacement of water using a two-phase lattice Boltzmann model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Haihu; Valocchi, Albert J.; Werth, Charles J.

A lattice Boltzmann color-fluid model, which was recently proposed by Liu et al. [H. Liu, A.J. Valocchi, and Q. Kang. Three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann model for immiscible two-phase flow simulations. Phys. Rev. E, 85:046309, 2012.] based on a concept of continuum surface force, is improved to simulate immiscible two-phase flows in porous media. The new improvements allow the model to account for different kinematic viscosities of both fluids and to model fluid-solid interactions. The capability and accuracy of this model is first validated by two benchmark tests: a layered two-phase flow with a viscosity ratio, and a dynamic capillary intrusion. Thismore » model is then used to simulate liquid CO2 (LCO2) displacing water in a dual-permeability pore network. The extent and behavior of LCO2 preferential flow (i.e., fingering) is found to depend on the capillary number (Ca), and three different displacement patterns observed in previous micromodel experiments are reproduced. The predicted variation of LCO2 saturation with Ca, as well as variation of specific interfacial length with LCO2 saturation, are both in good agreement with the experimental observations. To understand the effect of heterogeneity on pore-scale displacement, we also simulate LCO2 displacing water in a randomly heterogeneous pore network, which has the same size and porosity as the dual-permeability pore network. In comparison to the dual-permeability case, the transition from capillary fingering to viscous fingering occurs at a higher Ca, and LCO2 saturation is higher at low Ca but lower at high Ca. In either pore network, the LCO2-water specific interfacial length is found to obey a power-law dependence on LCO2 saturation.« less

MHD modeling of a DIII-D low-torque QH-mode discharge and comparison to observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, J. R.; Kruger, S. E.; Burrell, K. H.; Chen, X.; Garofalo, A. M.; Groebner, R. J.; Olofsson, K. E. J.; Pankin, A. Y.; Snyder, P. B.

2017-05-01

Extended-MHD modeling of DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)] quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) discharges with nonlinear NIMROD [C. R. Sovinec et al., J. Comput. Phys. 195, 355 (2004)] simulations saturates into a turbulent state but does not saturate when the steady-state flow inferred from measurements is not included. This is consistent with the experimental observations of the quiescent regime on DIII-D. The simulation with flow develops into a saturated turbulent state where the nϕ=1 and 2 toroidal modes become dominant through an inverse cascade. Each mode in the range of nϕ=1 -5 is dominant at a different time. Consistent with experimental observations during QH-mode, the simulated state leads to large particle transport relative to the thermal transport. Analysis shows that the amplitude and phase of the density and temperature perturbations differ resulting in greater fluctuation-induced convective particle transport relative to the convective thermal transport. Comparison to magnetic-coil measurements shows that rotation frequencies differ between the simulation and experiment, which indicates that more sophisticated extended-MHD two-fluid modeling is required.

Promoting Early Diagnosis of Hemodynamic Instability during Simulated Hemorrhage with the Use of a Real-time Decision-assist Algorithm

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

vilian trauma systems and in military casualty care rely on standard vital signs (blood pressure, arterial oxygen saturation , heart rate [HR...acting to maintain blood pressure and arterial oxygen saturation (i.e., standard vital signs are not changing) in the presence of re- duced...assessments in austere environments. Profiles of changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac output, and venous oxygen saturation during LBNP have been

First-order Probabilistic Analysis of the Effects of Heterogeneity on Pore-water Pressure in a Hillslope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, J.; Yan, E.; Yeh, T. C. J.

2015-12-01

Pore-water pressure in a hillslope is a critical control of its stability. The main objective of this paper is to introduce a first-order moment analysis to investigate the pressure head variability within a hypothetical hillslope, induced by steady rainfall infiltration. This approach accounts for the uncertainties and spatial variation of the hydraulic conductivity, and is based on a first-order Taylor approximation of pressure perturbations calculated by a variably saturated, finite element flow model. Using this approach, the effects of variance (σ2lnKs) and spatial structure anisotropy (λh/λv) of natural logarithm of saturated hydraulic conductivity, and normalized vertical infiltration flux (q/ks) on the hillslope pore-water pressure are evaluated. We found that the responses of pressure head variability (σ2p) are quite different between unsaturated region and saturated region divided by the phreatic surface. Above the phreatic surface, a higher variability in pressure head is obtained from a higher σ2lnKs, a higher λh/λv and a smaller q/ks; while below the phreatic surface, a higher σ2lnKs, a lower λh/λv or a larger q/ks would lead to a higher variability in pressure head, and greater range of fluctuation of the phreatic surface within the hillslope. σ2lnKs has greatest impact on σ2p within the slope and λh/λv has smallest impact. All three variables have greater influence on maximum σ2p within the saturated region below the phreatic surface than that within the unsaturated region above the phreatic surface. The results obtained from this study are useful to understand the influence of hydraulic conductivity variations on slope seepage and stability under different slope conditions and material spatial distributions.

Model Parameter Variability for Enhanced Anaerobic Bioremediation of DNAPL Source Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, X.; Gerhard, J. I.; Barry, D. A.

2005-12-01

The objective of the Source Area Bioremediation (SABRE) project, an international collaboration of twelve companies, two government agencies and three research institutions, is to evaluate the performance of enhanced anaerobic bioremediation for the treatment of chlorinated ethene source areas containing dense, non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL). This 4-year, 5.7 million dollars research effort focuses on a pilot-scale demonstration of enhanced bioremediation at a trichloroethene (TCE) DNAPL field site in the United Kingdom, and includes a significant program of laboratory and modelling studies. Prior to field implementation, a large-scale, multi-laboratory microcosm study was performed to determine the optimal system properties to support dehalogenation of TCE in site soil and groundwater. This statistically-based suite of experiments measured the influence of key variables (electron donor, nutrient addition, bioaugmentation, TCE concentration and sulphate concentration) in promoting the reductive dechlorination of TCE to ethene. As well, a comprehensive biogeochemical numerical model was developed for simulating the anaerobic dehalogenation of chlorinated ethenes. An appropriate (reduced) version of this model was combined with a parameter estimation method based on fitting of the experimental results. Each of over 150 individual microcosm calibrations involved matching predicted and observed time-varying concentrations of all chlorinated compounds. This study focuses on an analysis of this suite of fitted model parameter values. This includes determining the statistical correlation between parameters typically employed in standard Michaelis-Menten type rate descriptions (e.g., maximum dechlorination rates, half-saturation constants) and the key experimental variables. The analysis provides insight into the degree to which aqueous phase TCE and cis-DCE inhibit dechlorination of less-chlorinated compounds. Overall, this work provides a database of the numerical modelling parameters typically employed for simulating TCE dechlorination relevant for a range of system conditions (e.g, bioaugmented, high TCE concentrations, etc.). The significance of the obtained variability of parameters is illustrated with one-dimensional simulations of enhanced anaerobic bioremediation of residual TCE DNAPL.

Experimental Characterization of a Plasma Deflagration Accelerator for Simulating Fusion Wall Response to Disruption Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Underwood, Thomas; Loebner, Keith; Cappelli, Mark

2016-10-01

In this work, the suitability of a pulsed deflagration accelerator to simulate the interaction of edge-localized modes with plasma first wall materials is investigated. Experimental measurements derived from a suite of diagnostics are presented that focus on the both the properties of the plasma jet and the manner in which such jets couple with material interfaces. Detailed measurements of the thermodynamic plasma state variables within the jet are presented using a quadruple Langmuir probe operating in current-saturation mode. This data in conjunction with spectroscopic measurements of H α Stark broadening via a fast-framing, intensified CCD camera provide spatial and temporal measurements of how the plasma density and temperature scale as a function of input energy. Using these measurements, estimates for the energy flux associated with the deflagration accelerator are found to be completely tunable over a range spanning 150 MW m-2 - 30 GW m-2. The plasma-material interface is investigated using tungsten tokens exposed to the plasma plume under variable conditions. Visualizations of resulting shock structures are achieved through Schlieren cinematography and energy transfer dynamics are discussed by presenting temperature measurements of exposed materials. This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Stewardship Science Academic Program in addition to the National Defense Science Engineering Graduate Fellowship.

A simulation/optimization study to assess seawater intrusion management strategies for the Gaza Strip coastal aquifer (Palestine)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dentoni, Marta; Deidda, Roberto; Paniconi, Claudio; Qahman, Khalid; Lecca, Giuditta

2015-03-01

Seawater intrusion is one of the major threats to freshwater resources in coastal areas, often exacerbated by groundwater overexploitation. Mitigation measures are needed to properly manage aquifers, and to restore groundwater quality. This study integrates three computational tools into a unified framework to investigate seawater intrusion in coastal areas and to assess strategies for managing groundwater resources under natural and human-induced stresses. The three components are a three-dimensional hydrogeological model for density-dependent variably saturated flow and miscible salt transport, an automatic calibration procedure that uses state variable outputs from the model to estimate selected model parameters, and an optimization module that couples a genetic algorithm with the simulation model. The computational system is used to rank alternative strategies for mitigation of seawater intrusion, taking into account conflicting objectives and problem constraints. It is applied to the Gaza Strip (Palestine) coastal aquifer to identify a feasible groundwater management strategy for the period 2011-2020. The optimized solution is able to: (1) keep overall future abstraction from municipal groundwater wells close to the user-defined maximum level, (2) increase the average groundwater heads, and (3) lower both the total mass of salt extracted and the extent of the areas affected by seawater intrusion.

Knowing requires data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Naranjo, Ramon C.

2017-01-01

Groundwater-flow models are often calibrated using a limited number of observations relative to the unknown inputs required for the model. This is especially true for models that simulate groundwater surface-water interactions. In this case, subsurface temperature sensors can be an efficient means for collecting long-term data that capture the transient nature of physical processes such as seepage losses. Continuous and spatially dense network of diverse observation data can be used to improve knowledge of important physical drivers, conceptualize and calibrate variably saturated groundwater flow models. An example is presented for which the results of such analysis were used to help guide irrigation districts and water management decisions on costly upgrades to conveyance systems to improve water usage, farm productivity and restoration efforts to improve downstream water quality and ecosystems.

A new surface-potential-based compact model for the MoS2 field effect transistors in active matrix display applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Jingchen; Peng, Songang; Liu, Wei; Wu, Quantan; Li, Ling; Geng, Di; Yang, Guanhua; Ji, Zhouyu; Lu, Nianduan; Liu, Ming

2018-02-01

We present a continuous surface-potential-based compact model for molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) field effect transistors based on the multiple trapping release theory and the variable-range hopping theory. We also built contact resistance and velocity saturation models based on the analytical surface potential. This model is verified with experimental data and is able to accurately predict the temperature dependent behavior of the MoS2 field effect transistor. Our compact model is coded in Verilog-A, which can be implemented in a computer-aided design environment. Finally, we carried out an active matrix display simulation, which suggested that the proposed model can be successfully applied to circuit design.

Test of the Rosetta Pedotransfer Function for saturated hydraulic conductivity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Simulation models are tools that can be used to explore, for example, effects of cultural practices on soil erosion and irrigation on crop yield. However, often these models require many soil related input data of which the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is one of the most important ones. The...

Simple adaptive control for quadcopters with saturated actuators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borisov, Oleg I.; Bobtsov, Alexey A.; Pyrkin, Anton A.; Gromov, Vladislav S.

2017-01-01

The stabilization problem for quadcopters with saturated actuators is considered. A simple adaptive output control approach is proposed. The control law "consecutive compensator" is augmented with the auxiliary integral loop and anti-windup scheme. Efficiency of the obtained regulator was confirmed by simulation of the quadcopter control problem.

Female exposure to high G: effects of simulated combat sorties on cerebral and arterial O2 saturation.

PubMed

Tripp, L D; Chelette, T; Savul, S; Widman, R A

1998-09-01

One of the key factors in maintaining optimal cognitive performance in the high-G environment is the adequate delivery of oxygen to the cerebral tissue. As eye-level blood pressure is compromised at 22 mmHg x G(-1), perfusion to the peripheral cerebral tissues (cerebral cortex) may not be adequate to support the mental demands of flight. This study measured the effect of closed-loop flight simulations (3 min) on cerebral oxygen saturation changes (rSO2), arterial oxygen saturation (SAO2), and heart rate (HR), in both rested (8 h of rest) and sleepless (24 h without sleep) conditions. Subjects (16; 8 males and 8 females) were subjected to G-exposures via closed-loop flight simulations in a series of four 3-min sorties flown by subjects on the Dynamic Environment Simulator (centrifuge) in either a rested or a sleepless state. Prior to the centrifuge flight, subjects were instrumented with sensors for measurement of arterial oxygen saturation (SAO2) and regional cerebral tissue oxygenation (rSO2). Subjects wore the standard flight suit, boots, CSU-13B/P anti-G suit, and the COMBAT EDGE positive-pressure breathing for G-protection system. Significant changes in cerebral and arterial oxygen saturation were observed within groups when comparing pretest baselines and minimum values during the test and pre- and post-G rSO2, SAO2, and HR in both the rested and sleepless state, (p # 0.01), respectively, for each group. Comparisons between groups showed women to have significantly smaller regional cerebral cortex oxygen decreases than men (p # 0.01). No significant changes in SAO2, however, were observed between groups. Both men and women showed a slow recovery of rSO2 values to the prebaseline levels. Sleeplessness had no effect on the rSO2, SAO2, and HR compared with the rested condition. During acceleration, regional cerebral tissue oxygen decreased 13% in men compared with 9% in women. The recovery of cerebral tissue oxygen levels to prebaseline values was retarded somewhat when compared with the recovery response of arterial oxygen saturation.

SUTRA (Saturated-Unsaturated Transport). A Finite-Element Simulation Model for Saturated-Unsaturated, Fluid-Density-Dependent Ground-Water Flow with Energy Transport or Chemically-Reactive Single-Species Solute Transport.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-30

as three dimensional, when the assumption is made that all SUTRA parameters and coefficients have a constant value in the third space direction. A...finite element. The type of element employed by SUTRA for two-dimensional simulation is a quadrilateral which has a finite thickness in the third ... space dimension. This type of a quad- rilateral element and a typical two-dimensional mesh is shown in Figure 3.1. - All twelve edges of the two

Evolution of the fastest-growing relativistic mixed mode instability driven by a tenuous plasma beam in one and two dimensions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dieckmann, M. E.; Frederiksen, J. T.; Bret, A.

2006-11-15

Particle-in-cell simulations confirm here that a mixed plasma mode is the fastest growing when a highly relativistic tenuous electron-proton beam interacts with an unmagnetized plasma. The mixed modes grow faster than the filamentation and two-stream modes in simulations with beam Lorentz factors {gamma} of 4, 16, and 256, and are responsible for thermalizing the electrons. The mixed modes are followed to their saturation for the case of {gamma}=4 and electron phase space holes are shown to form in the bulk plasma, while the electron beam becomes filamentary. The initial saturation is electrostatic in nature in the considered one- and two-dimensionalmore » geometries. Simulations performed with two different particle-in-cell simulation codes evidence that a finite grid instability couples energy into high-frequency electromagnetic waves, imposing simulation constraints.« less

Association of dietary nutrients with blood lipids and blood pressure in 18 countries: a cross-sectional analysis from the PURE study.

PubMed

Mente, Andrew; Dehghan, Mahshid; Rangarajan, Sumathy; McQueen, Matthew; Dagenais, Gilles; Wielgosz, Andreas; Lear, Scott; Li, Wei; Chen, Hui; Yi, Sun; Wang, Yang; Diaz, Rafael; Avezum, Alvaro; Lopez-Jaramillo, Patricio; Seron, Pamela; Kumar, Rajesh; Gupta, Rajeev; Mohan, Viswanathan; Swaminathan, Sumathi; Kutty, Raman; Zatonska, Katarzyna; Iqbal, Romaina; Yusuf, Rita; Mohammadifard, Noushin; Khatib, Rasha; Nasir, Nafiza Mat; Ismail, Noorhassim; Oguz, Aytekin; Rosengren, Annika; Yusufali, Afzalhussein; Wentzel-Viljoen, Edelweiss; Puoane, Thandi; Chifamba, Jephat; Teo, Koon; Anand, Sonia S; Yusuf, Salim

2017-10-01

The relation between dietary nutrients and cardiovascular disease risk markers in many regions worldwide is unknown. In this study, we investigated the effect of dietary nutrients on blood lipids and blood pressure, two of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease, in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. We studied 125 287 participants from 18 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Habitual food intake was measured with validated food frequency questionnaires. We assessed the associations between nutrients (total fats, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, and dietary cholesterol) and cardiovascular disease risk markers using multilevel modelling. The effect of isocaloric replacement of saturated fatty acids with other fats and carbohydrates was determined overall and by levels of intakes by use of nutrient density models. We did simulation modelling in which we assumed that the effects of saturated fatty acids on cardiovascular disease events was solely related to their association through an individual risk marker, and then compared these simulated risk marker-based estimates with directly observed associations of saturated fatty acids with cardiovascular disease events. Participants were enrolled into the study from Jan 1, 2003, to March 31, 2013. Intake of total fat and each type of fat was associated with higher concentrations of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, but also with higher HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), and lower triglycerides, ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol, and ratio of apolipoprotein B (ApoB) to ApoA1 (all p trend <0·0001). Higher carbohydrate intake was associated with lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and ApoB, but also with lower HDL cholesterol and ApoA1, and higher triglycerides, ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol, and ApoB-to-ApoA1 ratio (all p trend <0·0001, apart from ApoB [p trend =0·0014]). Higher intakes of total fat, saturated fatty acids, and carbohydrates were associated with higher blood pressure, whereas higher protein intake was associated with lower blood pressure. Replacement of saturated fatty acids with carbohydrates was associated with the most adverse effects on lipids, whereas replacement of saturated fatty acids with unsaturated fats improved some risk markers (LDL cholesterol and blood pressure), but seemed to worsen others (HDL cholesterol and triglycerides). The observed associations between saturated fatty acids and cardiovascular disease events were approximated by the simulated associations mediated through the effects on the ApoB-to-ApoA1 ratio, but not with other lipid markers including LDL cholesterol. Our data are at odds with current recommendations to reduce total fat and saturated fats. Reducing saturated fatty acid intake and replacing it with carbohydrate has an adverse effect on blood lipids. Substituting saturated fatty acids with unsaturated fats might improve some risk markers, but might worsen others. Simulations suggest that ApoB-to-ApoA1 ratio probably provides the best overall indication of the effect of saturated fatty acids on cardiovascular disease risk among the markers tested. Focusing on a single lipid marker such as LDL cholesterol alone does not capture the net clinical effects of nutrients on cardiovascular risk. Full funding sources listed at the end of the paper (see Acknowledgments). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of nearshore recharge on groundwater interactions with a lake in mantled karst terrain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, Terrie M.

2000-01-01

The recharge and discharge of groundwater were investigated for a lake basin in the mantled karst terrain of central Florida to determine the relative importance of transient groundwater inflow to the lake water budget. Variably saturated groundwater flow modeling simulated water table responses observed beneath two hillsides radiating outward from the groundwater flow‐through lake. Modeling results indicated that transient water table mounding and groundwater flow reversals in the nearshore region following large daily rainfall events generated most of the net groundwater inflow to the lake. Simulated daily groundwater inflow was greatest following water table mounding near the lake, not following subsequent peaks in the water level of upper basin wells. Transient mounding generated net groundwater inflow to the lake, that is, groundwater inflow in excess of the outflow occurring through the deeper lake bottom. The timing of the modeled net groundwater inflow agreed with an independent lake water budget; however, the quantity was considerably less than the budget‐derived value.

Unified Theory for Aircraft Handling Qualities and Adverse Aircraft-Pilot Coupling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hess, R. A.

1997-01-01

A unified theory for aircraft handling qualities and adverse aircraft-pilot coupling or pilot-induced oscillations is introduced. The theory is based on a structural model of the human pilot. A methodology is presented for the prediction of (1) handling qualities levels; (2) pilot-induced oscillation rating levels; and (3) a frequency range in which pilot-induced oscillations are likely to occur. Although the dynamics of the force-feel system of the cockpit inceptor is included, the methodology will not account for effects attributable to control sensitivity and is limited to single-axis tasks and, at present, to linear vehicle models. The theory is derived from the feedback topology of the structural model and an examination of flight test results for 32 aircraft configurations simulated by the U.S. Air Force/CALSPAN NT-33A and Total In-Flight Simulator variable stability aircraft. An extension to nonlinear vehicle dynamics such as that encountered with actuator saturation is discussed.

Anomalous transport in discrete arcs and simulation of double layers in a model auroral circuit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Robert A.

1987-01-01

The evolution and long-time stability of a double layer (DL) in a discrete auroral arc requires that the parallel current in the arc, which may be considered uniform at the source, be diverted within the arc to charge the flanks of the U-shaped double layer potential structure. A simple model is presented in which this current redistribution is effected by anomalous transport based on electrostatic lower hybrid waves driven by the flank structure itself. This process provides the limiting constraint on the double layer potential. The flank charging may be represented as that of a nonlinear transmission line. A simplified model circuit, in which the transmission line is represented by a nonlinear impedance in parallel with a variable resistor, is incorporated in a one-dimensional simulation model to give the current density at the DL boundaries. Results are presented for the scaling of the DL potential as a function of the width of the arc and the saturation efficiency of the lower hybrid instability mechanism.

Anomalous transport in discrete arcs and simulation of double layers in a model auroral circuit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Robert A.

1987-01-01

The evolution and long-time stability of a double layer in a discrete auroral arc requires that the parallel current in the arc, which may be considered uniform at the source, be diverted within the arc to charge the flanks of the U-shaped double-layer potential structure. A simple model is presented in which this current re-distribution is effected by anomalous transport based on electrostatic lower hybrid waves driven by the flank structure itself. This process provides the limiting constraint on the double-layer potential. The flank charging may be represented as that of a nonlinear transmission. A simplified model circuit, in which the transmission line is represented by a nonlinear impedance in parallel with a variable resistor, is incorporated in a 1-d simulation model to give the current density at the DL boundaries. Results are presented for the scaling of the DL potential as a function of the width of the arc and the saturation efficiency of the lower hybrid instability mechanism.

Evaluating the performance of parallel subsurface simulators: An illustrative example with PFLOTRAN

PubMed Central

Hammond, G E; Lichtner, P C; Mills, R T

2014-01-01

[1] To better inform the subsurface scientist on the expected performance of parallel simulators, this work investigates performance of the reactive multiphase flow and multicomponent biogeochemical transport code PFLOTRAN as it is applied to several realistic modeling scenarios run on the Jaguar supercomputer. After a brief introduction to the code's parallel layout and code design, PFLOTRAN's parallel performance (measured through strong and weak scalability analyses) is evaluated in the context of conceptual model layout, software and algorithmic design, and known hardware limitations. PFLOTRAN scales well (with regard to strong scaling) for three realistic problem scenarios: (1) in situ leaching of copper from a mineral ore deposit within a 5-spot flow regime, (2) transient flow and solute transport within a regional doublet, and (3) a real-world problem involving uranium surface complexation within a heterogeneous and extremely dynamic variably saturated flow field. Weak scalability is discussed in detail for the regional doublet problem, and several difficulties with its interpretation are noted. PMID:25506097

Evaluating the performance of parallel subsurface simulators: An illustrative example with PFLOTRAN.

PubMed

Hammond, G E; Lichtner, P C; Mills, R T

2014-01-01

[1] To better inform the subsurface scientist on the expected performance of parallel simulators, this work investigates performance of the reactive multiphase flow and multicomponent biogeochemical transport code PFLOTRAN as it is applied to several realistic modeling scenarios run on the Jaguar supercomputer. After a brief introduction to the code's parallel layout and code design, PFLOTRAN's parallel performance (measured through strong and weak scalability analyses) is evaluated in the context of conceptual model layout, software and algorithmic design, and known hardware limitations. PFLOTRAN scales well (with regard to strong scaling) for three realistic problem scenarios: (1) in situ leaching of copper from a mineral ore deposit within a 5-spot flow regime, (2) transient flow and solute transport within a regional doublet, and (3) a real-world problem involving uranium surface complexation within a heterogeneous and extremely dynamic variably saturated flow field. Weak scalability is discussed in detail for the regional doublet problem, and several difficulties with its interpretation are noted.

Bifurcated helical core equilibrium states in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, W. A.; Chapman, I. T.; Schmitz, O.; Turnbull, A. D.; Tobias, B. J.; Lazarus, E. A.; Turco, F.; Lanctot, M. J.; Evans, T. E.; Graves, J. P.; Brunetti, D.; Pfefferlé, D.; Reimerdes, H.; Sauter, O.; Halpern, F. D.; Tran, T. M.; Coda, S.; Duval, B. P.; Labit, B.; Pochelon, A.; Turnyanskiy, M. R.; Lao, L.; Luce, T. C.; Buttery, R.; Ferron, J. R.; Hollmann, E. M.; Petty, C. C.; van Zeeland, M.; Fenstermacher, M. E.; Hanson, J. M.; Lütjens, H.

2013-07-01

Tokamaks with weak to moderate reversed central shear in which the minimum inverse rotational transform (safety factor) qmin is in the neighbourhood of unity can trigger bifurcated magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium states, one of which is similar to a saturated ideal internal kink mode. Peaked prescribed pressure profiles reproduce the ‘snake’ structures observed in many tokamaks which has led to a novel explanation of the snake as a bifurcated equilibrium state. Snake equilibrium structures are computed in simulations of the tokamak à configuration variable (TCV), DIII-D and mega amp spherical torus (MAST) tokamaks. The internal helical deformations only weakly modulate the plasma-vacuum interface which is more sensitive to ripple and resonant magnetic perturbations. On the other hand, the external perturbations do not alter the helical core deformation in a significant manner. The confinement of fast particles in MAST simulations deteriorate with the amplitude of the helical core distortion. These three-dimensional bifurcated solutions constitute a paradigm shift that motivates the applications of tools developed for stellarator research in tokamak physics investigations.

Modeling GPR data to interpret porosity and DNAPL saturations for calibration of a 3-D multiphase flow simulation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sneddon, Kristen W.; Powers, Michael H.; Johnson, Raymond H.; Poeter, Eileen P.

2002-01-01

Dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) are a pervasive and persistent category of groundwater contamination. In an effort to better understand their unique subsurface behavior, a controlled and carefully monitored injection of PCE (perchloroethylene), a typical DNAPL, was performed in conjunction with the University of Waterloo at Canadian Forces Base Borden in 1991. Of the various geophysical methods used to monitor the migration of injected PCE, the U.S. Geological Survey collected 500-MHz ground penetrating radar (GPR) data. These data are used in determining calibration parameters for a multiphase flow simulation. GPR data were acquired over time on a fixed two-dimensional surficial grid as the DNAPL was injected into the subsurface. Emphasis is on the method of determining DNAPL saturation values from this time-lapse GPR data set. Interactive full-waveform GPR modeling of regularized field traces resolves relative dielectric permittivity versus depth profiles for pre-injection and later-time data. Modeled values are end members in recursive calculations of the Bruggeman-Hanai-Sen (BHS) mixing formula, yielding interpreted pre-injection porosity and post-injection DNAPL saturation values. The resulting interpreted physical properties of porosity and DNAPL saturation of the Borden test cell, defined on a grid spacing of 50 cm with 1-cm depth resolution, are used as observations for calibration of a 3-D multiphase flow simulation. Calculated values of DNAPL saturation in the subsurface at 14 and 22 hours after the start of injection, from both the GPR and the multiphase flow modeling, are interpolated volumetrically and presented for visual comparison.

Importance of Wetlands to Streamflow Generation

Treesearch

E. S. Verry; R. K. Kolka

2003-01-01

Hewlett (1961) proposed the variable-source-area concept of streamflow origin in the mountains of North Carolina suggesting streamflow was produced from water leaving saturated areas near the channel. Dunne and Black confirmed this concept on the Sleepers River watershed in Vermont (1970). Areas near the river were saturated by subsurface or interflow from adjacent...

Direction of unsaturated flow in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lu, Ning; Kaya, Basak Sener; Godt, Jonathan W.

2011-01-01

The distribution of soil moisture in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope is a transient, variably saturated physical process controlled by rainfall characteristics, hillslope geometry, and the hydrological properties of the hillslope materials. The major driving mechanisms for moisture movement are gravity and gradients in matric potential. The latter is solely controlled by gradients of moisture content. In a homogeneous and isotropic saturated hillslope, absent a gradient in moisture content and under the driving force of gravity with a constant pressure boundary at the slope surface, flow is always in the lateral downslope direction, under either transient or steady state conditions. However, under variably saturated conditions, both gravity and moisture content gradients drive fluid motion, leading to complex flow patterns. In general, the flow field near the ground surface is variably saturated and transient, and the direction of flow could be laterally downslope, laterally upslope, or vertically downward. Previous work has suggested that prevailing rainfall conditions are sufficient to completely control these flow regimes. This work, however, shows that under time-varying rainfall conditions, vertical, downslope, and upslope lateral flow can concurrently occur at different depths and locations within the hillslope. More importantly, we show that the state of wetting or drying in a hillslope defines the temporal and spatial regimes of flow and when and where laterally downslope and/or laterally upslope flow occurs.

Direction of unsaturated flow in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lu, N.; Kaya, B.S.; Godt, J.W.

2011-01-01

The distribution of soil moisture in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope is a transient, variably saturated physical process controlled by rainfall characteristics, hillslope geometry, and the hydrological properties of the hillslope materials. The major driving mechanisms for moisture movement are gravity and gradients in matric potential. The latter is solely controlled by gradients of moisture content. In a homogeneous and isotropic saturated hillslope, absent a gradient in moisture content and under the driving force of gravity with a constant pressure boundary at the slope surface, flow is always in the lateral downslope direction, under either transient or steady state conditions. However, under variably saturated conditions, both gravity and moisture content gradients drive fluid motion, leading to complex flow patterns. In general, the flow field near the ground surface is variably saturated and transient, and the direction of flow could be laterally downslope, laterally upslope, or vertically downward. Previous work has suggested that prevailing rainfall conditions are sufficient to completely control these flow regimes. This work, however, shows that under time-varying rainfall conditions, vertical, downslope, and upslope lateral flow can concurrently occur at different depths and locations within the hillslope. More importantly, we show that the state of wetting or drying in a hillslope defines the temporal and spatial regimes of flow and when and where laterally downslope and/or laterally upslope flow occurs. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

A novel concept of fault current limiter based on saturable core in high voltage DC transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Jiaxin; Zhou, Hang; Gan, Pengcheng; Zhong, Yongheng; Gao, Yanhui; Muramatsu, Kazuhiro; Du, Zhiye; Chen, Baichao

2018-05-01

To develop mechanical circuit breaker in high voltage direct current (HVDC) system, a fault current limiter is required. Traditional method to limit DC fault current is to use superconducting technology or power electronic devices, which is quite difficult to be brought to practical use under high voltage circumstances. In this paper, a novel concept of high voltage DC transmission system fault current limiter (DCSFCL) based on saturable core was proposed. In the DCSFCL, the permanent magnets (PM) are added on both up and down side of the core to generate reverse magnetic flux that offset the magnetic flux generated by DC current and make the DC winding present a variable inductance to the DC system. In normal state, DCSFCL works as a smoothing reactor and its inductance is within the scope of the design requirements. When a fault occurs, the inductance of DCSFCL rises immediately and limits the steepness of the fault current. Magnetic field simulations were carried out, showing that compared with conventional smoothing reactor, DCSFCL can decrease the high steepness of DC fault current by 17% in less than 10ms, which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of this method.

Simulation of water-table aquifers using specified saturated thickness

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sheets, Rodney A.; Hill, Mary C.; Haitjema, Henk M.; Provost, Alden M.; Masterson, John P.

2014-01-01

Simulating groundwater flow in a water-table (unconfined) aquifer can be difficult because the saturated thickness available for flow depends on model-calculated hydraulic heads. It is often possible to realize substantial time savings and still obtain accurate head and flow solutions by specifying an approximate saturated thickness a priori, thus linearizing this aspect of the model. This specified-thickness approximation often relies on the use of the “confined” option in numerical models, which has led to confusion and criticism of the method. This article reviews the theoretical basis for the specified-thickness approximation, derives an error analysis for relatively ideal problems, and illustrates the utility of the approximation with a complex test problem. In the transient version of our complex test problem, the specified-thickness approximation produced maximum errors in computed drawdown of about 4% of initial aquifer saturated thickness even when maximum drawdowns were nearly 20% of initial saturated thickness. In the final steady-state version, the approximation produced maximum errors in computed drawdown of about 20% of initial aquifer saturated thickness (mean errors of about 5%) when maximum drawdowns were about 35% of initial saturated thickness. In early phases of model development, such as during initial model calibration efforts, the specified-thickness approximation can be a very effective tool to facilitate convergence. The reduced execution time and increased stability obtained through the approximation can be especially useful when many model runs are required, such as during inverse model calibration, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, multimodel analysis, and development of optimal resource management scenarios.

Behavior of the Enthalpy of Adsorption in Nanoporous Materials Close to Saturation Conditions

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Many important industrial separation processes based on adsorption operate close to saturation. In this regime, the underlying adsorption processes are mostly driven by entropic forces. At equilibrium, the entropy of adsorption is closely related to the enthalpy of adsorption. Thus, studying the behavior of the enthalpy of adsorption as a function of loading is fundamental to understanding separation processes. Unfortunately, close to saturation, the enthalpy of adsorption is hard to measure experimentally and hard to compute in simulations. In simulations, the enthalpy of adsorption is usually obtained from energy/particle fluctuations in the grand-canonical ensemble, but this methodology is hampered by vanishing insertions/deletions at high loading. To investigate the fundamental behavior of the enthalpy and entropy of adsorption at high loading, we develop a simplistic model of adsorption in a channel and show that at saturation the enthalpy of adsorption diverges to large positive values due to repulsive intermolecular interactions. However, there are many systems that can avoid repulsive intermolecular interactions and hence do not show this drastic increase in enthalpy of adsorption close to saturation. We find that the conventional grand-canonical Monte Carlo method is incapable of determining the enthalpy of adsorption from energy/particle fluctuations at high loading. Here, we show that by using the continuous fractional component Monte Carlo, the enthalpy of adsorption close to saturation conditions can be reliably obtained from the energy/particle fluctuations in the grand-canonical ensemble. The best method to study properties at saturation is the NVT energy (local-) slope methodology. PMID:28521093

Characterization of an 800 nm SASE FEL at Saturation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nuhn, Heinz-Dieter

2002-11-13

VISA (Visible to Infrared SASE Amplifier) is an FEL (Free Electron Laser) designed to saturate at a radiation wavelength of 800 nm within a 4-m long, strong focusing undulator. Large gain is achieved by driving the FEL with the 72 MeV, high brightness beam of BNL's Accelerator Test Facility (ATF). We present measurements that demonstrate saturation in addition to the frequency spectrum of the FEL radiation. Energy, gain length and spectral characteristics are compared and shown to agree with simulation and theoretical predictions.

Numerical simulation of injection process of warm carbon dioxide into layer saturated with methane and its hydrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khasanov, M. K.; Stolpovsky, M. V.; Gimaltdinov, I. K.

2018-05-01

In this article, in a flat-one-dimensional approximation, a mathematical model is presented for injecting warm carbon dioxide into a methane hydrate formation of finite length. It is established that the model of formation of hydrate of carbon dioxide in the absence of an area saturated with methane and water, under certain parameters, leads to thermodynamic contradiction. The mathematical model of carbon dioxide injection with formation of the region saturated with methane and water is constructed.

Monitoring mixed venous oxygen saturation in patients with obstructive shock after massive pulmonary embolism.

PubMed

Krivec, Bojan; Voga, Gorazd; Podbregar, Matej

2004-05-31

Patients with massive pulmonary embolism and obstructive shock usually require hemodynamic stabilization and thrombolysis. Little is known about the optimal and proper use of volume infusion and vasoactive drugs, or about the titration of thrombolytic agents in patients with relative contraindication for such treatment. The aim of the study was to find the most rapidly changing hemodynamic variable to monitor and optimize the treatment of patients with obstructive shock following massive pulmonary embolism. Ten consecutive patients hospitalized in the medical intensive care unit in the community General Hospital with obstructive shock following massive pulmonary embolism were included in the prospective observational study. Heart rate, systolic arterial pressure, central venous pressure, mean pulmonary-artery pressure, cardiac index, total pulmonary vascular-resistance index, mixed venous oxygen saturation, and urine output were measured on admission and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, and 16 hours. Patients were treated with urokinase through the distal port of a pulmonary-artery catheter. At 1 hour, mixed venous oxygen saturation, systolic arterial pressure and cardiac index were higher than their admission values (31+/-10 vs. 49+/-12%, p<0.0001; 86+/-12 vs. 105+/-17 mmHg, p<0.01; 1.5+/-0.4 vs. 1.9+/-0.7 L/min/m2, p<0.05; respectively), whereas heart rate, central venous pressure, mean pulmonary-artery pressure and urine output remained unchanged. Total pulmonary vascular-resistance index was lower than at admission (29+/-10 vs. 21+/-12 mmHg/L/min/m2, p<0.05). The relative change of mixed venous oxygen saturation at hour 1 was higher than the relative changes of all other studied variables (p<0.05). Serum lactate on admission and at 12 hours correlated to mixed venous oxygen saturation (r=-0.855, p<0.001). In obstructive shock after massive pulmonary embolism, mixed venous oxygen saturation changes more rapidly than other standard hemodynamic variables.

Understanding Hydrological Processes in Variable Source Areas in the Glaciated Northeastern US Watersheds under Variable Climate Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steenhuis, T. S.; Azzaino, Z.; Hoang, L.; Pacenka, S.; Worqlul, A. W.; Mukundan, R.; Stoof, C.; Owens, E. M.; Richards, B. K.

2017-12-01

The New York City source watersheds in the Catskill Mountains' humid, temperate climate has long-term hydrological and water quality monitoring data It is one of the few catchments where implementation of source and landscape management practices has led to decreased phosphorus concentration in the receiving surface waters. One of the reasons is that landscape measures correctly targeted the saturated variable source runoff areas (VSA) in the valley bottoms as the location where most of the runoff and other nonpoint pollutants originated. Measures targeting these areas were instrumental in lowering phosphorus concentration. Further improvements in water quality can be made based on a better understanding of the flow processes and water table fluctuations in the VSA. For that reason, we instrumented a self-contained upland variable source watershed with a landscape characteristic of a soil underlain by glacial till at shallow depth similar to the Catskill watersheds. In this presentation, we will discuss our experimental findings and present a mathematical model. Variable source areas have a small slope making gravity the driving force for the flow, greatly simplifying the simulation of the flow processes. The experimental data and the model simulations agreed for both outflow and water table fluctuations. We found that while the flows to the outlet were similar throughout the year, the discharge of the VSA varies greatly. This was due to transpiration by the plants which became active when soil temperatures were above 10oC. We found that shortly after the temperature increased above 10oC the baseflow stopped and only surface runoff occurred when rainstorms exceeded the storage capacity of the soil in at least a portion of the variable source area. Since plant growth in the variable source area was a major variable determining the base flow behavior, changes in temperature in the future - affecting the duration of the growing season - will affect baseflow and related transport of nutrient and other chemicals many times more than small temperature related increases in potential evaporation rate. This in turn will directly change the water availability and pollutant transport in the many surface source watersheds with variable source area hydrology.

Aging of D-limonene-cleaned assemblies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Somer, T.A.

1994-04-01

The performance of 2000 electronic circuit variables was monitored throughout a 5000-hour exposure to + 160{degrees}F. the 2000 variables involve 36 electronic assemblies, cleaned with various solvents, including d-limonene, as a replacement for TCE. The assemblies were divided into four groups, including a TCE-cleaned control group at room temperature. Of the three groups exposed at + 160{degrees}F, one was cleaned in TCE, one was cleaned in d-limonene, and one was kept in a saturated d-limonene atmosphere. No performance degradation was observed with any of the groups, including the worst case exposure in a saturated d-limonene atmosphere.

Benchmarking variable-density flow in saturated and unsaturated porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guevara Morel, Carlos Roberto; Cremer, Clemens; Graf, Thomas

2015-04-01

In natural environments, fluid density and viscosity can be affected by spatial and temporal variations of solute concentration and/or temperature. These variations can occur, for example, due to salt water intrusion in coastal aquifers, leachate infiltration from waste disposal sites and upconing of saline water from deep aquifers. As a consequence, potentially unstable situations may exist in which a dense fluid overlies a less dense fluid. This situation can produce instabilities that manifest as dense plume fingers that move vertically downwards counterbalanced by vertical upwards flow of the less dense fluid. Resulting free convection increases solute transport rates over large distances and times relative to constant-density flow. Therefore, the understanding of free convection is relevant for the protection of freshwater aquifer systems. The results from a laboratory experiment of saturated and unsaturated variable-density flow and solute transport (Simmons et al., Transp. Porous Medium, 2002) are used as the physical basis to define a mathematical benchmark. The HydroGeoSphere code coupled with PEST are used to estimate the optimal parameter set capable of reproducing the physical model. A grid convergency analysis (in space and time) is also undertaken in order to obtain the adequate spatial and temporal discretizations. The new mathematical benchmark is useful for model comparison and testing of variable-density variably saturated flow in porous media.

Stress and temperature distributions of individual particles in a shock wave propagating through dry and wet sand mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumaker, Merit G.; Kennedy, Gregory; Thadhani, Naresh; Hankin, Markos; Stewart, Sarah T.; Borg, John P.

2017-01-01

Determining stress and temperature distributions of dynamically compacted particles is of interest to the geophysical and astrological research communities. However, the researcher cannot easily observe particle interactions during a planar shock experiment. By using mesoscale simulations, we can unravel granular particle interactions. Unlike homogenous materials, the averaged Hugoniot state for heterogeneous granular materials differs from the individual stress and temperature states of particles during a shock event. From planar shock experiments for dry and water-saturated Oklahoma sand, we constructed simulations using Sandia National Laboratory code known as CTH and then compared these simulated results to the experimental results. This document compares and presents stress and temperature distributions from simulations, with a discussion on the difference between Hugoniot measurements and distribution peaks for dry and water-saturated sand.

(I Can't Get No) Saturation: A simulation and guidelines for sample sizes in qualitative research.

PubMed

van Rijnsoever, Frank J

2017-01-01

I explore the sample size in qualitative research that is required to reach theoretical saturation. I conceptualize a population as consisting of sub-populations that contain different types of information sources that hold a number of codes. Theoretical saturation is reached after all the codes in the population have been observed once in the sample. I delineate three different scenarios to sample information sources: "random chance," which is based on probability sampling, "minimal information," which yields at least one new code per sampling step, and "maximum information," which yields the largest number of new codes per sampling step. Next, I use simulations to assess the minimum sample size for each scenario for systematically varying hypothetical populations. I show that theoretical saturation is more dependent on the mean probability of observing codes than on the number of codes in a population. Moreover, the minimal and maximal information scenarios are significantly more efficient than random chance, but yield fewer repetitions per code to validate the findings. I formulate guidelines for purposive sampling and recommend that researchers follow a minimum information scenario.

Toward multiscale modelings of grain-fluid systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chareyre, Bruno; Yuan, Chao; Montella, Eduard P.; Salager, Simon

2017-06-01

Computationally efficient methods have been developed for simulating partially saturated granular materials in the pendular regime. In contrast, one hardly avoid expensive direct resolutions of 2-phase fluid dynamics problem for mixed pendular-funicular situations or even saturated regimes. Following previous developments for single-phase flow, a pore-network approach of the coupling problems is described. The geometry and movements of phases and interfaces are described on the basis of a tetrahedrization of the pore space, introducing elementary objects such as bridge, meniscus, pore body and pore throat, together with local rules of evolution. As firmly established local rules are still missing on some aspects (entry capillary pressure and pore-scale pressure-saturation relations, forces on the grains, or kinetics of transfers in mixed situations) a multi-scale numerical framework is introduced, enhancing the pore-network approach with the help of direct simulations. Small subsets of a granular system are extracted, in which multiphase scenario are solved using the Lattice-Boltzman method (LBM). In turns, a global problem is assembled and solved at the network scale, as illustrated by a simulated primary drainage.

Modelling mass transfer during venting/soil vapour extraction: Non-aqueous phase liquid/gas mass transfer coefficient estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esrael, D.; Kacem, M.; Benadda, B.

2017-07-01

We investigate how the simulation of the venting/soil vapour extraction (SVE) process is affected by the mass transfer coefficient, using a model comprising five partial differential equations describing gas flow and mass conservation of phases and including an expression accounting for soil saturation conditions. In doing so, we test five previously reported quations for estimating the non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL)/gas initial mass transfer coefficient and evaluate an expression that uses a reference NAPL saturation. Four venting/SVE experiments utilizing a sand column are performed with dry and non-saturated sand at low and high flow rates, and the obtained experimental results are subsequently simulated, revealing that hydrodynamic dispersion cannot be neglected in the estimation of the mass transfer coefficient, particularly in the case of low velocities. Among the tested models, only the analytical solution of a convection-dispersion equation and the equation proposed herein are suitable for correctly modelling the experimental results, with the developed model representing the best choice for correctly simulating the experimental results and the tailing part of the extracted gas concentration curve.

Finite-time stabilization for a class of nonholonomic feedforward systems subject to inputs saturation.

PubMed

Gao, Fangzheng; Yuan, Ye; Wu, Yuqiang

2016-09-01

This paper studies the problem of finite-time stabilization by state feedback for a class of uncertain nonholonomic systems in feedforward-like form subject to inputs saturation. Under the weaker homogeneous condition on systems growth, a saturated finite-time control scheme is developed by exploiting the adding a power integrator method, the homogeneous domination approach and the nested saturation technique. Together with a novel switching control strategy, the designed saturated controller guarantees that the states of closed-loop system are regulated to zero in a finite time without violation of the constraint. As an application of the proposed theoretical results, the problem of saturated finite-time control for vertical wheel on rotating table is solved. Simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of thermal model for pan evaporation to the hydrology of a defined medium, the sponge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trenchard, M. H.; Artley, J. A. (Principal Investigator)

1981-01-01

A technique is presented which estimates pan evaporation from the commonly observed values of daily maximum and minimum air temperatures. These two variables are transformed to saturation vapor pressure equivalents which are used in a simple linear regression model. The model provides reasonably accurate estimates of pan evaporation rates over a large geographic area. The derived evaporation algorithm is combined with precipitation to obtain a simple moisture variable. A hypothetical medium with a capacity of 8 inches of water is initialized at 4 inches. The medium behaves like a sponge: it absorbs all incident precipitation, with runoff or drainage occurring only after it is saturated. Water is lost from this simple system through evaporation just as from a Class A pan, but at a rate proportional to its degree of saturation. The contents of the sponge is a moisture index calculated from only the maximum and minium temperatures and precipitation.

Saturation-state sensitivity of marine bivalve larvae to ocean acidification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waldbusser, George G.; Hales, Burke; Langdon, Chris J.; Haley, Brian A.; Schrader, Paul; Brunner, Elizabeth L.; Gray, Matthew W.; Miller, Cale A.; Gimenez, Iria

2015-03-01

Ocean acidification results in co-varying inorganic carbon system variables. Of these, an explicit focus on pH and organismal acid-base regulation has failed to distinguish the mechanism of failure in highly sensitive bivalve larvae. With unique chemical manipulations of seawater we show definitively that larval shell development and growth are dependent on seawater saturation state, and not on carbon dioxide partial pressure or pH. Although other physiological processes are affected by pH, mineral saturation state thresholds will be crossed decades to centuries ahead of pH thresholds owing to nonlinear changes in the carbonate system variables as carbon dioxide is added. Our findings were repeatable for two species of bivalve larvae could resolve discrepancies in experimental results, are consistent with a previous model of ocean acidification impacts due to rapid calcification in bivalve larvae, and suggest a fundamental ocean acidification bottleneck at early life-history for some marine keystone species.

Nonlinear MHD simulations of QH-mode DIII-D plasmas and implications for ITER high Q scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, F.; Huijsmans, G. T. A.; Loarte, A.; Garofalo, A. M.; Solomon, W. M.; Hoelzl, M.; Nkonga, B.; Pamela, S.; Becoulet, M.; Orain, F.; Van Vugt, D.

2018-01-01

In nonlinear MHD simulations of DIII-D QH-mode plasmas it has been found that low n kink/peeling modes (KPMs) are unstable and grow to a saturated kink-peeling mode. The features of the dominant saturated KPMs, which are localised toroidally by nonlinear coupling of harmonics, such as mode frequencies, density fluctuations and their effect on pedestal particle and energy transport, are in good agreement with the observations of the edge harmonic oscillation typically present in DIII-D QH-mode experiments. The nonlinear evolution of MHD modes including both kink-peeling modes and ballooning modes, is investigated through MHD simulations by varying the pedestal current and pressure relative to the initial conditions of DIII-D QH-mode plasma. The edge current and pressure at the pedestal are key parameters for the plasma either saturating to a QH-mode regime or a ballooning mode dominant regime. The influence of E × B flow and its shear on the QH-mode plasma has been investigated. E × B flow shear has a strong stabilisation effect on the medium to high-n modes but is destabilising for the n = 2 mode. The QH-mode extrapolation results of an ITER Q = 10 plasma show that the pedestal currents are large enough to destabilise n = 1-5 KPMs, leading to a stationary saturated kink-peeling mode.

Evolution of gas saturation and relative permeability during gas production from hydrate-bearing sediments: Gas invasion vs. gas nucleation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Jaewon; Santamarina, J. Carlos

2014-01-01

Capillarity and both gas and water permeabilities change as a function of gas saturation. Typical trends established in the discipline of unsaturated soil behavior are used when simulating gas production from hydrate-bearing sediments. However, the evolution of gas saturation and water drainage in gas invasion (i.e., classical soil behavior) and gas nucleation (i.e., gas production) is inherently different: micromodel experimental results show that gas invasion forms a continuous flow path while gas nucleation forms isolated gas clusters. Complementary simulations conducted using tube networks explore the implications of the two different desaturation processes. In spite of their distinct morphological differences in fluid displacement, numerical results show that the computed capillarity-saturation curves are very similar in gas invasion and nucleation (the gas-water interface confronts similar pore throat size distribution in both cases); the relative water permeability trends are similar (the mean free path for water flow is not affected by the topology of the gas phase); and the relative gas permeability is slightly lower in nucleation (delayed percolation of initially isolated gas-filled pores that do not contribute to gas conductivity). Models developed for unsaturated sediments can be used for reservoir simulation in the context of gas production from hydrate-bearing sediments, with minor adjustments to accommodate a lower gas invasion pressure Po and a higher gas percolation threshold.

Controls on shallow landslide initiation: Diverse hydrologic pathways, 3D failure geometries, and unsaturated soil suctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, Mark; Iverson, Richard; Brien, Dianne; Iverson, Neal; LaHusen, Richard; Logan, Matthew

2017-04-01

Shallow landslides and ensuing debris flows are a common hazard worldwide, yet forecasting their initiation at a specific site is challenging. These challenges arise, in part, from diverse near-surface hydrologic pathways under different wetting conditions, 3D failure geometries, and the effects of suction in partially saturated soils. Simplistic hydrologic models typically used for regional hazard assessment disregard these complexities. As an alterative to field studies where the effects of these governing factors can be difficult to isolate, we used the USGS debris-flow flume to conduct controlled, field-scale landslide initiation experiments. Using overhead sprinklers or groundwater injectors on the flume bed, we triggered failures using three different wetting conditions: groundwater inflow from below, prolonged moderate-intensity precipitation, and bursts of high-intensity precipitation. Failures occurred in 6 m3 (0.65-m thick and 2-m wide) prisms of loamy sand on a 31° slope; these field-scale failures enabled realistic incorporation of nonlinear scale-dependent effects such as soil suction. During the experiments, we monitored soil deformation, variably saturated pore pressures, and moisture changes using ˜50 sensors sampling at 20 Hz. From ancillary laboratory tests, we determined shear strength, saturated hydraulic conductivities, and unsaturated moisture retention characteristics. The three different wetting conditions noted above led to different hydrologic pathways and influenced instrumental responses and failure timing. During groundwater injection, pore-water pressures increased from the bed of the flume upwards into the sediment, whereas prolonged moderate infiltration wet the sediment from the ground surface downward. In both cases, pore pressures acting on the impending failure surface slowly rose until abrupt failure. In contrast, a burst of intense sprinkling caused rapid failure without precursory development of widespread positive pore pressures. Using coupled 2D variably saturated groundwater flow modeling and 3D limit-equilibrium analyses, we simulated the observed hydrologic behaviors and the time evolution of changes in factors of safety. Our measured parameters successfully reproduced pore pressure observations without calibration. We also quantified the mechanical effects of 3D geometry and unsaturated soil suction on stability. Although suction effects appreciably increased the stability of drier sediment, they were dampened (to <10% increase) in wetted sediment. 3D geometry effects from the lateral margins consistently increased factors of safety by >20% in wet or dry sediment. Importantly, both 3D and suction effects enabled more accurate simulation of failure times. Without these effects, failure timing and/or back-calculated shear strengths would be markedly incorrect. Our results indicate that simplistic models could not consistently predict the timing of slope failure given diverse hydrologic pathways. Moreover, high frequency monitoring (with sampling periods < ˜60 s) would be required to measure and interpret the effects of rapid hydrologic triggers, such as intense rain bursts.

Analysis of a Li-Ion Nanobattery with Graphite Anode Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

DOE PAGES

Ponce, Victor; Galvez-Aranda, Diego E.; Seminario, Jorge M.

2017-05-19

In this work, molecular dynamics simulations were performed of the initial charging of a Li-ion nanobattery with a graphite anode and lithium hexaflourphosphate (LiPF 6) salt dissolved in ethylene carbonate (CO 3C 2H 4) solvent as the electrolyte solution. The charging was achieved through the application of external electric fields simulating voltage sources. A variety of force fields were combined to simulate the materials of the nanobattery, including the solid electrolyte interphase, metal collectors, and insulator cover. Some of the force field parameters were estimated using ab initio methods and others were taken from the literature. We studied the behaviormore » of Li-ions traveling from cathode to anode through electrolyte solutions of concentrations 1.15 and 3.36 M. Time-dependent variables such as energy, temperature, volume, polarization, and mean square displacement are reported; a few of these variables, as well as others such as current, resistance, current density, conductivity, and resistivity are reported as a function of the external field and charging voltage. A solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer was also added to the model to study the mechanism behind the diffusion of the Li-ions through the SEI. As the battery is charged, the depletion of Li atoms in the cathode and their accumulation in the anode follow a linear increase of the polarizability in the solvent, until reaching a saturation point after which the charging of the battery stops, i.e., the energy provided by the external source decays to very low levels. Lastly, the nanobattery model containing the most common materials of a commercial lithium-ion battery is very useful to determine atomistic information that is difficult or too expensive to obtain experimentally; available data shows consistency with our results.« less

Extension of Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program's Fluid Property Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patel, Kishan

2011-01-01

This internship focused on the development of additional capabilities for the General Fluid Systems Simulation Program (GFSSP). GFSSP is a thermo-fluid code used to evaluate system performance by a finite volume-based network analysis method. The program was developed primarily to analyze the complex internal flow of propulsion systems and is capable of solving many problems related to thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. GFSSP is integrated with thermodynamic programs that provide fluid properties for sub-cooled, superheated, and saturation states. For fluids that are not included in the thermodynamic property program, look-up property tables can be provided. The look-up property tables of the current release version can only handle sub-cooled and superheated states. The primary purpose of the internship was to extend the look-up tables to handle saturated states. This involves a) generation of a property table using REFPROP, a thermodynamic property program that is widely used, and b) modifications of the Fortran source code to read in an additional property table containing saturation data for both saturated liquid and saturated vapor states. Also, a method was implemented to calculate the thermodynamic properties of user-fluids within the saturation region, given values of pressure and enthalpy. These additions required new code to be written, and older code had to be adjusted to accommodate the new capabilities. Ultimately, the changes will lead to the incorporation of this new capability in future versions of GFSSP. This paper describes the development and validation of the new capability.

Transient Calibration of a Variably-Saturated Groundwater Flow Model By Iterative Ensemble Smoothering: Synthetic Case and Application to the Flow Induced During Shaft Excavation and Operation of the Bure Underground Research Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lam, D. T.; Kerrou, J.; Benabderrahmane, H.; Perrochet, P.

2017-12-01

The calibration of groundwater flow models in transient state can be motivated by the expected improved characterization of the aquifer hydraulic properties, especially when supported by a rich transient dataset. In the prospect of setting up a calibration strategy for a variably-saturated transient groundwater flow model of the area around the ANDRA's Bure Underground Research Laboratory, we wish to take advantage of the long hydraulic head and flowrate time series collected near and at the access shafts in order to help inform the model hydraulic parameters. A promising inverse approach for such high-dimensional nonlinear model, and which applicability has been illustrated more extensively in other scientific fields, could be an iterative ensemble smoother algorithm initially developed for a reservoir engineering problem. Furthermore, the ensemble-based stochastic framework will allow to address to some extent the uncertainty of the calibration for a subsequent analysis of a flow process dependent prediction. By assimilating the available data in one single step, this method iteratively updates each member of an initial ensemble of stochastic realizations of parameters until the minimization of an objective function. However, as it is well known for ensemble-based Kalman methods, this correction computed from approximations of covariance matrices is most efficient when the ensemble realizations are multi-Gaussian. As shown by the comparison of the updated ensemble mean obtained for our simplified synthetic model of 2D vertical flow by using either multi-Gaussian or multipoint simulations of parameters, the ensemble smoother fails to preserve the initial connectivity of the facies and the parameter bimodal distribution. Given the geological structures depicted by the multi-layered geological model built for the real case, our goal is to find how to still best leverage the performance of the ensemble smoother while using an initial ensemble of conditional multi-Gaussian simulations or multipoint simulations as conceptually consistent as possible. Performance of the algorithm including additional steps to help mitigate the effects of non-Gaussian patterns, such as Gaussian anamorphosis, or resampling of facies from the training image using updated local probability constraints will be assessed.

Current transformer model with hysteresis for improving the protection response in electrical transmission systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matussek, Robert; Dzienis, Cezary; Blumschein, Jörg; Schulte, Horst

2014-12-01

In this paper, a generic enhanced protection current transformer (CT) model with saturation effects and transient behavior is presented. The model is used for the purpose of analysis and design of power system protection algorithms. Three major classes of protection CT have been modeled which all take into account the nonlinear inductance with remanence effects. The transient short-circuit currents in power systems are simulated under CT saturation condition. The response of a common power system protection algorithm with respect to robustness to nominal parameter variations and sensitivity against maloperation is demonstrated by simulation studies.

Integrated simulations of saturated neoclassical tearing modes in DIII-D, Joint European Torus, and ITER plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Halpern, Federico D.; Bateman, Glenn; Kritz, Arnold H.

2006-06-15

A revised version of the ISLAND module [C. N. Nguyen et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 3604 (2004)] is used in the BALDUR code [C. E. Singer et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 49, 275 (1988)] to carry out integrated modeling simulations of DIII-D [J. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)], Joint European Torus (JET) [P. H. Rebut et al., Nucl. Fusion 25, 1011 (1985)], and ITER [R. Aymar et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 44, 519 (2002)] tokamak discharges in order to investigate the adverse effects of multiple saturated magnetic islands driven by neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs). Simulations are carried outmore » with a predictive model for the temperature and density pedestal at the edge of the high confinement mode (H-mode) plasma and with core transport described using the Multi-Mode model. The ISLAND module, which is used to compute magnetic island widths, includes the effects of an arbitrary aspect ratio and plasma cross sectional shape, the effect of the neoclassical bootstrap current, and the effect of the distortion in the shape of each magnetic island caused by the radial variation of the perturbed magnetic field. Radial transport is enhanced across the width of each magnetic island within the BALDUR integrated modeling simulations in order to produce a self-consistent local flattening of the plasma profiles. It is found that the main consequence of the NTM magnetic islands is a decrease in the central plasma temperature and total energy. For the DIII-D and JET discharges, it is found that inclusion of the NTMs typically results in a decrease in total energy of the order of 15%. In simulations of ITER, it is found that the saturated magnetic island widths normalized by the plasma minor radius, for the lowest order individual tearing modes, are approximately 24% for the 2/1 mode and 12% for the 3/2 mode. As a result, the ratio of ITER fusion power to heating power (fusion Q) is reduced from Q=10.6 in simulations with no NTM islands to Q=2.6 in simulations with fully saturated NTM islands.« less

Regional coupling of unsaturated and saturated flow and transport modeling - implementation at an alpine foothill aquifer in Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klammler, G.; Rock, G.; Kupfersberger, H.; Fank, J.

2012-04-01

For many European countries nitrate leaching from the soil zone into the aquifer due to surplus application of mineral fertilizer and animal manure by farmers constitutes the most important threat to groundwater quality. Since this is a diffuse pollution situation measures to change agricultural production have to be investigated at the aquifer scale. In principal, the problem could be solved by the 3 dimensional equation describing variable saturated groundwater flow and solute transport. However, this is computationally prohibitive due to the temporal and spatial scope of the task, particularly in the framework of running numerous simulations to compromise between conflicting interests (i.e. good groundwater status and high agricultural yield). For the aquifer 'Westliches Leibnitzer Feld' we break down this task into 1d vertical movement of water and nitrate mass in the unsaturated zone and 2d horizontal flow of water and solutes in the saturated compartment. The aquifer is located within the Mur Valley about 20 km south of Graz and consists of early Holocene gravel with varying amounts of sand and some silt. The unsaturated flow and nitrate leaching package SIMWASER/STOTRASIM (Stenitzer, 1988; Feichtinger, 1998) is calibrated to the lysimeter data sets and further on applied to so called hydrotopes which are unique combinations of soil type and agricultural management. To account for the unknown regional distribution of crops grown and amount, timing and kind of fertilizers used a stochastic tool (Klammler et al, 2011) is developed that generates sequences of crop rotations derived from municipal statistical data. To match the observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater with a saturated nitrate transport model it is of utmost importance to apply a realistic input distribution of nitrate mass in terms of spatial and temporal characteristics. A table is generated by running SIMWASER/STOTRASIM that consists of unsaturated water and nitrate fluxes for each 10 cm interval of every hydrotope vertical profile until the lowest observed groundwater table is reached. The fluctuation range of the phreatic surface is also discretized in 10 cm intervals and used as outflow boundary condition. By this procedure, the influence of the groundwater table on the water and nitrate mass leaving the unsaturated can be considered taken into account varying soil horizons. To cover saturated flow in the WLF aquifer a 2-dimensional transient horizontal flow and solute transport model is set up. A sequential coupling between the two models is implemented, i.e. a unidirectional transfer of recharge and nitrate mass outflow from the hydrotopes to the saturated compartment. For this purpose, a one-time assignment between the spatial discretization of the hydrotopes and the finite element mesh has to be set up. The resulting groundwater table computed for a given time step with the input from SIMWASER/STOTRASIM is then used to extract the corresponding water and nitrate mass values from the look-up table to be used for the consecutive time step. This process is being repeated until the end of the simulation period. Within this approach there is no direct feedback between the unsaturated and the saturated aquifer compartment, i.e. there is no simultaneous (within the same time step) update of the pressure head - unsaturated head relationship at the soil and the phreatic surface (like is shown e.g. in Walsum and Groedendijk, 2008). For the dominating coarse sand conditions of the WLF aquifer we believe that this simplification is not of further relevance. For higher soil moisture contents (i.e. almost full saturation near the groundwater table) the curve returns to specific retention within a short vertical distance. Thus, there might only be mutual impact between soil and phreatic surface conditions for shallow groundwater tables. However, it should be mentioned here that all other processes in the two compartments (including capillary rise due to clay rich soils and groundwater withdrawn by root plants or evaporation losses) are accordingly considered given the capabilities of the used models. If we impose the computed groundwater table elevation as the outflow condition of the hydrotope for the next time step we postulate that the associated water volume of the saturated storage change will lead to the same change of the phreatic surface in the hydrotope column. This is only valid if the storage characteristics of the affected unsaturated soil layers can be adequately described by the co-located porosity of the saturated model. Moreover, the current soil moisture content of the respective soil layers is not being considered by the implemented new outflow boundary condition. Thus, from the perspective of continuity of mass it might be more correct, to transfer the same water volume that led to the saturated change (rise and fall) of the groundwater table to the unsaturated hydrotope column and compute the adjusted outflow boundary position for use in the next time step. Due to the hydrogeological conditions in our application, for almost all hydrotopes we have the same soil type (i.e. coarse sand) in the range of groundwater table fluctuations and thus, we expect no further impact of transferring the groundwater table from the saturated computation to the unsaturated domain. Summarizing, for the hydrogeologic conditions of our test site and the scope of the problem to be solved the sequential coupling between 1d unsaturated vertical and 2d saturated horizontal simulation of water movement and solute transport is regarded as an appropriate conceptual and numerical approach. Due to the extensive look-up table containing unsaturated water and nitrate fluxes for each hydrotope at a vertical resolution of 10 cm no further feedback processes between the unsaturated and saturated subsurface compartment need to be considered. Feichtinger, F. (1998). STOTRASIM - Ein Modell zur Simulation der Stickstoffdynamik in der ungesättigten Zone eines Ackerstandortes. Schriftenreihe des Bundesamtes für Wasserwirtschaft, Bd. 7, 14-41. Klammler, G., Rock, G., Fank, J. & H. Kupfersberger, H. (2011): Generating land use information to derive diffuse water and nitrate transfer as input for groundwater modelling at the aquifer scale, Proc of MODELCARE 2011 Models - Repository of Knowledge, Leipzig. Stenitzer, E. (1988). SIMWASER - Ein numerisches Modell zur Simulation des Bodenwasserhaushaltes und des Pflanzenertrages eines Standortes. Mitteilung Nr. 31, Bundesanstalt für Kulturtechnik und Bodenwasserhaushalt, A-3252 Petzenkirchen. Van Walsum, P.E.V. and P. Groedendilk (2008). Quasi steady-state simulation of the unsaturated zone in groundwater modeling of lowland regions. Vadose Zone J. 7:769-781 doi:10.2136/vzj2007.0146.

Brownian dynamics simulations of simplified cytochrome c molecules in the presence of a charged surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorba, C.; Geyer, T.; Helms, V.

2004-07-01

Simulations were performed for up to 150 simplified spherical horse heart cytochrome c molecules in the presence of a charged surface, which serves as an approximate model for a lipid membrane. Screened electrostatic and short-ranged attractive as well as repulsive van der Waals forces for interparticle and particle-membrane interactions are utilized in the simulations. At a distance from the membrane, where particle-membrane interactions are negligible, the simulation is coupled to a noninteraction continuum analogous to a heat bath [Geyer et al., J. Chem. Phys. 120, 4573 (2004)]. From the particles' density profiles perpendicular to the planar surface binding isotherms are derived and compared to experimental results [Heimburg et al. (1999)]. Using a negatively charged structureless membrane surface a saturation effect was found for relatively large particle concentrations. Since biological membranes often contain membrane proteins, we also studied the influence of additional charges on our model membrane mimicking bacterial reaction centers. We find that the onset of the saturation occurs for much lower concentrations and is sensitive to the detailed implementation. Therefore we suggest that local distortion of membrane planarity (undulation), or lipid demixing, or the presence of charged integral membrane proteins create preferential binding sites on the membrane. Only then do we observe saturation at physiological concentrations.

Application of a fully integrated surface-subsurface physically based flow model for evaluating groundwater recharge from a flash flood event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pino, Cristian; Herrera, Paulo; Therrien, René

2017-04-01

In many arid regions around the world groundwater recharge occurs during flash floods. This transient spatially and temporally concentrated flood-recharge process takes place through the variably saturated zone between surface and usually the deep groundwater table. These flood events are characterized by rapid and extreme changes in surface flow depth and velocity and soil moisture conditions. Infiltration rates change over time controlled by the hydraulic gradients and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at the surface-subsurface interface. Today is a challenge to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge from flash flood events under real field conditions at different scales in arid areas. We apply an integrated surface-subsurface variably saturated physically-based flow model at the watershed scale to assess the recharge process during and after a flash flood event registered in an arid fluvial valley in Northern Chile. We are able to reproduce reasonably well observed groundwater levels and surface flow discharges during and after the flood with a calibrated model. We also investigate the magnitude and spatio-temporal distribution of recharge and the response of the system to variations of different surface and subsurface parameters, initial soil moisture content and groundwater table depths and surface flow conditions. We demonstrate how an integrated physically based model allows the exploration of different spatial and temporal system states, and that the analysis of the results of the simulations help us to improve our understanding of the recharge processes in similar type of systems that are common to many arid areas around the world.

Observations on preferential flow and horizontal transport of nitrogen fertilizer in the unsaturated zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilkison, D.H.; Blevins, D.W.

1999-01-01

A study site underlain by a claypan soil was instrumented to examine the transport of fertilizer nitrogen (N) under corn (Zea mays L.) cultivation. The study was designed to examine N transport within the unsaturated zone and in interflow (the saturated flow of water on top of the claypan). A 15N- labeled fertilizer (labeled N), bromide (Br), and chloride (Cl) were used as field tracers. Rapid or prolonged infiltration events allowed water and dissolved solutes to perch on the claypan for brief periods. However, a well- developed network of preferential flow paths quickly diverted water and solutes through the claypan and into the underlying glacial till aquifer. Excess fertilizer N in the unsaturated zone supplied a continuous, but declining input of N to ground water for a period of 15 mo after a single fertilizer application. Calculated solute velocities through the claypan matrix (6.4 x 10-6 cm s-1) were similar to horizontal transport rates along the claypan (3.5 to 7.3 x 10-6 cm s-1) but much slower than infiltration rates determined for preferential flow paths (1.67 x 10-3 cm s-1). These flow paths accounted for 35% of the transport. A seasonally variable, dual mode of transport (matrix and preferential flow) prevented the claypan from being an effective barrier to vertical transport. Simulations of selected field observations, conducted using the variably saturated two- dimensional flow and transport model, VS2DT, confirmed the presence of a dual flow regime in the claypan.

A pore-size classification for peat bogs derived from unsaturated hydraulic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Tobias Karl David; Iden, Sascha Christian; Durner, Wolfgang

2017-12-01

In ombrotrophic peatlands, the moisture content of the acrotelm (vadoze zone) controls oxygen diffusion rates, redox state, and the turnover of organic matter. Thus, variably saturated flow processes determine whether peatlands act as sinks or sources of atmospheric carbon, and modelling these processes is crucial to assess effects of changed environmental conditions on the future development of these ecosystems. We show that the Richards equation can be used to accurately describe the moisture dynamics under evaporative conditions in variably saturated peat soil, encompassing the transition from the topmost living moss layer to the decomposed peat as part of the vadose zone. Soil hydraulic properties (SHP) were identified by inverse simulation of evaporation experiments on samples from the entire acrotelm. To obtain consistent descriptions of the observations, the traditional van Genuchten-Mualem model was extended to account for non-capillary water storage and flow. We found that the SHP of the uppermost moss layer reflect a pore-size distribution (PSD) that combines three distinct pore systems of the Sphagnum moss. For deeper samples, acrotelm pedogenesis changes the shape of the SHP due to the collapse of inter-plant pores and an infill with smaller particles. This leads to gradually more homogeneous and bi-modal PSDs with increasing depth, which in turn can serve as a proxy for increasing state of pedogenesis in peatlands. From this, we derive a nomenclature and size classification for the pore spaces of Sphagnum mosses and define inter-, intra-, and inner-plant pore spaces, with effective pore diameters of > 300, 300-30, and 30-10 µm, respectively.

Pore scale modelling of electrical and hydraulic properties of a semi-consolidated sandstone under unsaturated conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cassiani, G.; dalla, E.; Brovelli, A.; Pitea, D.; Binley, A. M.

2003-04-01

The development of reliable constitutive laws to translate geophysical properties into hydrological ones is the fundamental step for successful applications of hydrogeophysical techniques. Many such laws have been proposed and applied, particularly with regard to two types of relationships: (a) between moisture content and dielectric properties, and (b) between electrical resistivity, rock structure and water saturation. The classical Archie's law belongs to this latter category. Archie's relationship has been widely used, starting from borehole logs applications, to translate geoelectrical measurements into estimates of saturation. However, in spite of its popularity, it remains an empirical relationship, the parameters of which must be calibrated case by case, e.g. on laboratory data. Pore-scale models have been recently recognized and used as powerful tools to investigate the constitutive relations of multiphase soils from a pore-scale point of view, because they bridge the microscopic and macroscopic scales. In this project, we develop and validate a three-dimensional pore-scale method to compute electrical properties of unsaturated and saturated porous media. First we simulate a random packing of spheres [1] that obeys the grain-size distribution and porosity of an experimental porous medium system; then we simulate primary drainage with a morphological approach [2]; finally, for each state of saturation during the drainage process, we solve the electrical conduction equation within the grain structure with a new numerical model and compute the apparent electrical resistivity of the porous medium. We apply the new method to a semi-consolidated Permo-Triassic Sandstone from the UK (Sherwood Sandstone) for which both pressure-saturation (Van Genuchten) and Archie's law parameters have been measured on laboratory samples. A comparison between simulated and measured relationships has been performed.

Numerical simulations of stick-slip in fluid saturated granular fault gouge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorostkar, O.; Johnson, P. A.; Guyer, R. A.; Marone, C.; Carmeliet, J.

2016-12-01

Fluids play a key role in determining the frictional strength and stability of faults. For example, fluid flow and fluid-solid interaction in fault gouge can trigger seismicity, alter earthquake nucleation properties and cause fault zone weakening. We present results of 3D numerical simulations of stick-slip behavior in dry and saturated granular fault gouge. In the saturated case, the gouge is fully saturated and drainage is possible through the boundaries. We model the solid phase (particles) with the discrete element method (DEM) while the fluid is described by the Navier-Stokes equations and solved by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In our model, granular gouge is sheared between two rough plates under boundary conditions of constant normal stress and constant shearing velocity at the layer boundaries. A phase-space study including shearing velocity and normal stress is taken to identify the conditions for stick-slip regime. We analyzed slip events for dry and saturated cases to determine shear stress drop, released kinetic energy and compaction. The presence of fluid tends to cause larger slip events. We observe a close correlation between the kinetic energy of the particles and of the fluid. In short, during slip, fluid flow induced by the failure and compaction of the granular system, mobilizes the particles, which increases their kinetic energy, leading to greater slip. We further observe that the solid-fluid interaction forces are equal or larger than the solid-solid interaction forces during the slip event, indicating the important influence of the fluid on the granular system. Our simulations can explain the behaviors observed in experimental studies and we are working to apply our results to tectonic faults.

Real-time management of an urban groundwater well field threatened by pollution.

PubMed

Bauser, Gero; Franssen, Harrie-Jan Hendricks; Kaiser, Hans-Peter; Kuhlmann, Ulrich; Stauffer, Fritz; Kinzelbach, Wolfgang

2010-09-01

We present an optimal real-time control approach for the management of drinking water well fields. The methodology is applied to the Hardhof field in the city of Zurich, Switzerland, which is threatened by diffuse pollution. The risk of attracting pollutants is higher if the pumping rate is increased and can be reduced by increasing artificial recharge (AR) or by adaptive allocation of the AR. The method was first tested in offline simulations with a three-dimensional finite element variably saturated subsurface flow model for the period January 2004-August 2005. The simulations revealed that (1) optimal control results were more effective than the historical control results and (2) the spatial distribution of AR should be different from the historical one. Next, the methodology was extended to a real-time control method based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter method, using 87 online groundwater head measurements, and tested at the site. The real-time control of the well field resulted in a decrease of the electrical conductivity of the water at critical measurement points which indicates a reduced inflow of water originating from contaminated sites. It can be concluded that the simulation and the application confirm the feasibility of the real-time control concept.

Assessment of Psychophysiological Response and Specific Fine Motor Skills in Combat Units.

PubMed

Sánchez-Molina, Joaquín; Robles-Pérez, José J; Clemente-Suárez, Vicente J

2018-03-02

Soldiers´ training and experience can influence the outcome of the missions, as well as their own physical integrity. The objective of this research was to analyze the psycho-physiological response and specific motor skills in an urban combat simulation with two units of infantry with different training and experience. psychophysiological parameters -Heart Rate, blood oxygen saturation, glucose and blood lactate, cortical activation, anxiety and heart rate variability-, as well as fine motor skills were analyzed in 31 male soldiers of the Spanish Army, 19 belonging to the Light Infantry Brigade, and 12 to the Heavy Forces Infantry Brigade, before and after an urban combat simulation. A combat simulation provokes an alteration of the psycho-physiological basal state in soldiers and a great unbalance in the sympathetic-vagal interaction. The specific training of Light Infantry unit involves lower metabolic, cardiovascular, and anxiogenic response not only previous, but mainly after a combat maneuver, than Heavy Infantry unit's. No differences were found in relation with fine motor skills, improving in both cases after the maneuver. This fact should be taken into account for betterment units´ deployment preparation in current theaters of operations.

Numerical simulation of superheated vapor bubble rising in stagnant liquid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samkhaniani, N.; Ansari, M. R.

2017-09-01

In present study, the rising of superheated vapor bubble in saturated liquid is simulated using volume of fluid method in OpenFOAM cfd package. The surface tension between vapor-liquid phases is considered using continuous surface force method. In order to reduce spurious current near interface, Lafaurie smoothing filter is applied to improve curvature calculation. Phase change is considered using Tanasawa mass transfer model. The variation of saturation temperature in vapor bubble with local pressure is considered with simplified Clausius-Clapeyron relation. The couple velocity-pressure equation is solved using PISO algorithm. The numerical model is validated with: (1) isothermal bubble rising and (2) one-dimensional horizontal film condensation. Then, the shape and life time history of single superheated vapor bubble are investigated. The present numerical study shows vapor bubble in saturated liquid undergoes boiling and condensation. It indicates bubble life time is nearly linear proportional with bubble size and superheat temperature.

Transport and discrete particle noise in gyrokinetic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Thomas; Lee, W. W.

2006-10-01

We present results from our recent investigations regarding the effects of discrete particle noise on the long-time behavior and transport properties of gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulations. It is found that the amplitude of nonlinearly saturated drift waves is unaffected by discreteness-induced noise in plasmas whose behavior is dominated by a single mode in the saturated state. We further show that the scaling of this noise amplitude with particle count is correctly predicted by the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, even though the drift waves have driven the plasma from thermal equilibrium. As well, we find that the long-term behavior of the saturated system is unaffected by discreteness-induced noise even when multiple modes are included. Additional work utilizing a code with both total-f and δf capabilities is also presented, as part of our efforts to better understand the long- time balance between entropy production, collisional dissipation, and particle/heat flux in gyrokinetic plasmas.

Hydrogeophysical investigations at Hidden Dam, Raymond, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Minsley, Burke J.; Burton, Bethany L.; Ikard, Scott; Powers, Michael H.

2011-01-01

Self-potential and direct current resistivity surveys are carried out at the Hidden Dam site in Raymond, California to assess present-day seepage patterns and better understand the hydrogeologic mechanisms that likely influence seepage. Numerical modeling is utilized in conjunction with the geophysical measurements to predict variably-saturated flow through typical two-dimensional dam cross-sections as a function of reservoir elevation. Several different flow scenarios are investigated based on the known hydrogeology, as well as information about typical subsurface structures gained from the resistivity survey. The flow models are also used to simulate the bulk electrical resistivity in the subsurface under varying saturation conditions, as well as the self-potential response using petrophysical relationships and electrokinetic coupling equations.The self-potential survey consists of 512 measurements on the downstream area of the dam, and corroborates known seepage areas on the northwest side of the dam. Two direct-current resistivity profiles, each approximately 2,500 ft (762 m) long, indicate a broad sediment channel under the northwest side of the dam, which may be a significant seepage pathway through the foundation. A focusing of seepage in low-topography areas downstream of the dam is confirmed from the numerical flow simulations, which is also consistent with past observations. Little evidence of seepage is identified from the self-potential data on the southeast side of the dam, also consistent with historical records, though one possible area of focused seepage is identified near the outlet works. Integration of the geophysical surveys, numerical modeling, and observation well data provides a framework for better understanding seepage at the site through a combined hydrogeophysical approach.

Environmental controls on drainage behavior of an ephemeral stream

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blasch, K.W.; Ferré, T.P.A.; Vrugt, J.A.

2010-01-01

Streambed drainage was measured at the cessation of 26 ephemeral streamflow events in Rillito Creek, Tucson, Arizona from August 2000 to June 2002 using buried time domain reflectometry (TDR) probes. An unusual drainage response was identified, which was characterized by sharp drainage from saturation to near field capacity at each depth with an increased delay between depths. We simulated the drainage response using a variably saturated numerical flow model representing a two-layer system with a high permeability layer overlying a lower permeability layer. Both the observed data and the numerical simulation show a strong correlation between the drainage velocity and the temperature of the stream water. A linear combination of temperature and the no-flow period preceding flow explained about 90% of the measured variations in drainage velocity. Evaluation of this correlative relationship with the one-dimensional numerical flow model showed that the observed temperature fluctuations could not reproduce the magnitude of variation in the observed drainage velocity. Instead, the model results indicated that flow duration exerts the most control on drainage velocity, with the drainage velocity decreasing nonlinearly with increasing flow duration. These findings suggest flow duration is a primary control of water availability for plant uptake in near surface sediments of an ephemeral stream, an important finding for estimating the ecological risk of natural or engineered changes to streamflow patterns. Correlative analyses of soil moisture data, although easy and widely used, can result in erroneous conclusions of hydrologic cause—effect relationships, and demonstrating the need for joint physically-based numerical modeling and data synthesis for hypothesis testing to support quantitative risk analysis.

Contrasts in the Sensitivity of Community Calcification to Temporal Saturation State Variability Within Temperate and Tropical Marine Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwiatkowski, L.

2016-02-01

Ongoing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and invasion of part of this CO2 into the oceans are projected to lower the calcium carbonate saturation state. As a result, the ability of many marine organisms to calcify may be compromised, with significant impacts on ocean ecosystems throughout the 21st Century. In laboratory manipulations, calcifying organisms have exhibited reduced calcification under elevated pCO2 conditions. Consequently, in situ observations of the sensitivity of calcifying communities to natural saturation state variability are increasingly valued as they incorporate complex species interactions, and capture the carbonate chemistry conditions to which communities are acclimatized. Using intensive seawater sampling techniques we assess the community level sensitivity of calcification rates to natural temporal variability in the aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) at both a tropical coral reef and temperate intertidal study site. Both sites experiences large daily variation in Ωarag during low tide due to photosynthesis, respiration, and the time at which the sites are isolated from the open ocean. On hourly timescales, we find that community level rates of calcification have only a weak dependence on variability in Ωarag at the tropical study site. At the temperate study site, although limited Ωarag sensitivity is observed during the day, nighttime community calcification rates are found to be strongly influenced by variability in Ωarag, with greater dissolution rates at lower Ωarag levels. If the short-term sensitivity of community calcification to Ωarag described here is representative of the long-term sensitivity of marine ecosystems to ocean acidification, then one would expect temperate intertidal calcifying communities to be more vulnerable than tropical coral reef calcifying communities. In particular, reductions in net community calcification, in the temperate intertidal zone may be predominately due to the nocturnal impact of ocean acidification.

Effect of current on the maximum possible reward.

PubMed

Gallistel, C R; Leon, M; Waraczynski, M; Hanau, M S

1991-12-01

Using a 2-lever choice paradigm with concurrent variable interval schedules of reward, it was found that when pulse frequency is increased, the preference-determining rewarding effect of 0.5-s trains of brief cathodal pulses delivered to the medial forebrain bundle of the rat saturates (stops increasing) at values ranging from 200 to 631 pulses/s (pps). Raising the current lowered the saturation frequency, which confirms earlier, more extensive findings showing that the rewarding effect of short trains saturates at pulse frequencies that vary from less than 100 pps to more than 800 pps, depending on the current. It was also found that the maximum possible reward--the magnitude of the reward at or beyond the saturation pulse frequency--increases with increasing current. Thus, increasing the current reduces the saturation frequency but increases the subjective magnitude of the maximum possible reward.

Examining Parallelism of Sets of Psychometric Measures Using Latent Variable Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raykov, Tenko; Patelis, Thanos; Marcoulides, George A.

2011-01-01

A latent variable modeling approach that can be used to examine whether several psychometric tests are parallel is discussed. The method consists of sequentially testing the properties of parallel measures via a corresponding relaxation of parameter constraints in a saturated model or an appropriately constructed latent variable model. The…

Hydrologic Triggering of Shallow Landslides in a Field-scale Flume

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, M. E.; Iverson, R. M.; Iverson, N. R.; Brien, D. L.; Lahusen, R. G.; Logan, M.

2006-12-01

Hydrologic Triggering of Shallow Landslides in a Field-scale Flume Mark E. Reid, Richard M. Iverson, Neal R. Iverson, Dianne L. Brien, Richard G. LaHusen, and Mathew Logan Shallow landslides are often triggered by pore-water pressure increases driven by 1) groundwater inflow from underlying bedrock or soil, 2) prolonged moderate-intensity rainfall or snowmelt, or 3) bursts of high-intensity rainfall. These shallow failures are difficult to capture in the field, limiting our understanding of how different water pathways control failure style or timing. We used the field-scale, USGS debris-flow flume for 7 controlled landslide initiation experiments designed to examine the influence of different hydrologic triggers and the role of soil density, relative to critical state, on failure style and timing. Using sprinklers and/or groundwater injectors, we induced failure in a 0.65m thick, 2m wide, 6m3 prism of loamy sand on a 31° slope, placed behind a retaining wall. We monitored ~50 sensors to measure soil deformation (tiltmeters & extensometers), pore pressure (tensiometers and transducers), and soil moisture (TDR probes). We also extracted soil samples for laboratory estimates of porosity, shear strength, saturated hydraulic conductivity at differing porosities, unsaturated moisture retention characteristics, and compressibility. Experiments with loose soil all resulted in abrupt failure along the concrete flume bed with rapid mobilization into a debris flow. Each of the 3 water pathways, however, resulted in slightly different pore-pressure fields at failure and different times to failure. For example, groundwater injection at the flume bed led to a saturated zone that advanced upward, wetting over half the soil prism before pressures at the bed were sufficient to provoke collapse. With moderate-intensity surface sprinkling, an unsaturated wetting front propagated downward until reaching the bed, then a saturated zone built upward, with the highest pressures at the bed. With the third trigger, soils were initially wetted (but not saturated) with moderate-intensity sprinkling and then subjected to a high-intensity burst, causing failure without widespread positive pressures. It appears that a small pressure perturbation from the burst traveled rapidly downward through tension-saturated soil and led to positive pressure development at the flume bed resulting in failure. In contrast, failures in experiments with stronger, denser soil were gradual and episodic, requiring both sprinkling and groundwater injection. Numerical simulations of variably saturated groundwater flow mimic the behaviors described above. Simulated rainfall with an intensity greater than soil hydraulic conductivity generates rapid pressure perturbations, whereas lower intensity rainfall leads to wetting front propagation and water table buildup. Our results suggest that transient responses induced by high intensity bursts require relatively high frequency monitoring of unsaturated zone changes; in this case conventional piezometers would be unlikely to detect failure-inducing pore pressure changes. These experiments also indicate that although different water pathways control the timing of failure, initial soil density controls the style of failure.

Determination of Time Dependent Virus Inactivation Rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chrysikopoulos, C. V.; Vogler, E. T.

2003-12-01

A methodology is developed for estimating temporally variable virus inactivation rate coefficients from experimental virus inactivation data. The methodology consists of a technique for slope estimation of normalized virus inactivation data in conjunction with a resampling parameter estimation procedure. The slope estimation technique is based on a relatively flexible geostatistical method known as universal kriging. Drift coefficients are obtained by nonlinear fitting of bootstrap samples and the corresponding confidence intervals are obtained by bootstrap percentiles. The proposed methodology yields more accurate time dependent virus inactivation rate coefficients than those estimated by fitting virus inactivation data to a first-order inactivation model. The methodology is successfully applied to a set of poliovirus batch inactivation data. Furthermore, the importance of accurate inactivation rate coefficient determination on virus transport in water saturated porous media is demonstrated with model simulations.

Transport of ARS-labeled hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in saturated granular media is influenced by surface charge variability even in the presence of humic acid

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHAP) are increasingly being used to remediate soils and water polluted by metals and radionuclides. The transport and retention of Alizarin red S (ARS)-labeled nHAP in water-saturated granular media were investigated. Experiments were conducted over a range of ionic ...

Water Displacement in Oil-Wet Tight Reservoirs by Dynamic Network Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Li, M.; Chen, M.

2017-12-01

Pore network simulation is an effective tool for studying the multiphase flow in porous media. Based on the topological information and pore-throat size distribution obtained from the analysis of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and constant-rate mercury injection (CRMI) for tight cores (composed by micro-nano scale throats and micro scale pores), a simple cubic (SC) pore-throat network was built with equilateral triangular cross-section throats and cubic bodies. Rules for oil and water movement and redistribution were devised in accordance with the physics process at pore-throat scale. Water flooding from oil-saturated under irreducible water were simulated by considering the changing displacement rate and viscosity ratio at the slightly oil-wet condition (the static contact angle ranges between π/2 to 2π/3). Different from the double pressure field algorithm, a single pressure field which solved by using successive over relaxation method was used with the flow of irreducible water in corners was ignored while its swilling was take into consideration. Dynamic of displacement fronts, relative permeability curves and residual oil saturation were obtained. It showed that there were obviously snap-off at low capillary number (Nc<10-5) and fingering at high capillary number (Nc<10-4) even at a favorable viscosity ratio (M=1). The magnitude of viscosity ratio effect on relative permeability depended largely on the capillary number, which the effect wasn't noticeable for a high capillary number. For residual oil saturation Sor, it showed that Sor decreased with the increase of capillary number at different viscosity ratio. Changing of residual oil saturation from simulation was in good agreement with the experimental results in a certain range, which indicated that this network model could be used to character the water flooding in tight reservoirs.

Modeling biogenic gas bubbles formation and migration in coarse sand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, S.

2011-12-01

Shujun Ye Department of Hydrosciences, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China; sjye@nju.edu.cn Brent E. Sleep Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A4 CANADA; sleep@ecf.utoronto.ca Methane gas generation in porous media was investigated in an anaerobic two-dimensional sand-filled cell. Inoculation of the lower portion of the cell with a methanogenic culture and addition of methanol to the bottom of the cell led to biomass growth and formation of a gas phase. The formation, migration, distribution and saturation of gases in the cell were visualized by the charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. Gas generated at the bottom of the cell in the biologically active zone moved upwards in discrete fingers, so that gas phase saturations (gas-filled fraction of void space) in the biologically active zone at the bottom of the cell did not exceed 40-50%, while gas accumulation at the top of the cell produced gas phase saturations as high as 80%. Macroscopic invasion percolation (MIP) at near pore scale[Glass, et al., 2001; Kueper and McWhorter, 1992]was used to model gas bubbles growth in porous media. The nonwetting phase migration pathway can be yielded directly by MIP. MIP was adopted to simulate the expansion, fragmentation, and mobilization of gas clusters in the cell. The production of gas, and gas phash saturations were simulated by a continuum model - compositional simulator (COMPSIM) [Sleep and Sykes, 1993]. So a combination of a continuum model and a MIP model was used to simulate the formation, fragmentation and migration of biogenic gas bubbles. Key words: biogenic gas; two dimensional; porous media; MIP; COMPSIM

Reactive transport modeling of processes controlling the distribution and natural attenuation of phenolic compounds in a deep sandstone aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayer, K. U.; Benner, S. G.; Frind, E. O.; Thornton, S. F.; Lerner, D. N.

2001-12-01

Reactive solute transport modeling was utilized to evaluate the potential for natural attenuation of a contaminant plume containing phenolic compounds at a chemical producer in the West Midlands, UK. The reactive transport simulations consider microbially mediated biodegradation of the phenolic compounds (phenols, cresols, and xylenols) by multiple electron acceptors. Inorganic reactions including hydrolysis, aqueous complexation, dissolution of primary minerals, formation of secondary mineral phases, and ion exchange are considered. One-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulations were conducted. Mass balance calculations indicate that biodegradation in the saturated zone has degraded approximately 1-5% of the organic contaminant plume over a time period of 47 years. Simulations indicate that denitrification is the most significant degradation process, accounting for approximately 50% of the organic contaminant removal, followed by sulfate reduction and fermentation reactions, each contributing 15-20%. Aerobic respiration accounts for less than 10% of the observed contaminant removal in the saturated zone. Although concentrations of Fe(III) and Mn(IV) mineral phases are high in the aquifer sediment, reductive dissolution is limited, producing only 5% of the observed mass loss. Mass balance calculations suggest that no more than 20-25% of the observed total inorganic carbon (TIC) was generated from biodegradation reactions in the saturated zone. Simulations indicate that aerobic biodegradation in the unsaturated zone, before the contaminant entered the aquifer, may have produced the majority of the TIC observed in the plume. Because long-term degradation is limited to processes within the saturated zone, use of observed TIC concentrations to predict the future natural attenuation may overestimate contaminant degradation by a factor of 4-5.

Aging of d-Limonene-cleaned assemblies. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Somer, T.A.

1995-08-01

The performance of 1600 electronic circuit variables was monitored throughout an 8000-hour exposure to +160{degrees}F. The variables involve 36 electronic assemblies, cleaned with various solvents, including d-Limonene, as a replacement for trichloroethylene (TCE). The assemblies were divided into four groups, including a TCE-cleaned control group at room temperature. Of the three groups exposed at +160{degrees}F, one was cleaned in TCE, one was cleaned in d-Limonene, and one was kept in a saturated d-Limonene atmosphere. No performance degradation was observed with any of the groups, including the worst-case exposure in a saturated d-Limonene atmosphere.

Assessing the Impact of Topography on Groundwater Salinization Due to Storm Surge Inundation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, X.; Yang, J.; Graf, T.; Koneshloo, M.; O'Neal, M. A.; Michael, H. A.

2015-12-01

The sea-level rise and increase in the frequency and intensity of coastal storms due to climate change are likely to exacerbate adverse effects of storm surges on low-lying coastal areas. The landward flow of water during storm surges introduces salt to surficial coastal aquifers and threatens groundwater resources. Coastal topography (e.g. ponds, dunes, canals) likely has a strong impact on overwash and salinization processes, but is generally highly simplified in modeling studies. To understand the topographic impacts on groundwater salinization, we modeled overwash and variable-density groundwater flow and salt transport in 3D using the fully coupled surface and subsurface numerical simulator, HydroGeoSphere. The model simulates the coastal aquifer as an integrated system considering processes such as overland flow, coupled surface and subsurface exchange, variably saturated flow, and variable-density flow. To represent various coastal landscape types, we started with realistic coastal topography from Delaware, USA, and then generated synthetic fields with differing shore-perpendicular connectivity and surface depressions. The groundwater salinization analysis suggested that the topographic connectivity promoting overland flow controls the volume of aquifer that is salinized. In contrast, depression storage of surface water mainly controls the time for infiltrated salt to flush from the aquifer. The results indicate that for a range of synthetic conditions, topography increases the flushing time of salt by 20-300% relative to an equivalent "simple slope" in which topographic variation is absent. Our study suggests that topography have a significant impact on overwash salinization, with important implications for land management at local scales and groundwater vulnerability assessment at regional to global scales.

Colorimetric device for measurement of transvascular fluid flux in blood-perfused organs.

PubMed

Oppenheimer, L; Richardson, W N; Bilan, D; Hoppensack, M

1987-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a device capable of measuring transvascular fluid flux in blood-perfused organs. For any given blood flow through the organ (QT), transvascular flux (QF) can be considered as the fraction of QT exchange. Presumably, QF would change the background concentration of an impermeable tracer residing in the perfusate. Thus QF could be calculated from the relative changes in tracer concentration for any given QT. We have used Blue Dextran (1 g/l of blood) as the reference tracer. Because the minimum molecular weight of Blue Dextran is 2 X 10(6), we anticipated it to behave as an impermeable tracer in most organs. QF was simulated with continuous infusions of plasma, normal saline solution, and a 50% mixture of both. Changes in Blue Dextran concentration were continuously followed colorimetrically by changes in transmission of specific light at a wavelength of 632 nm. Because 632-nm light is affected by hematocrit and O2 saturation changes, two additional wavelengths were used: 815-nm, which is not affected by saturation or Blue Dextran concentration changes, was used to account for changes in hematocrit, and 887-nm specific light, which is not affected by Blue Dextran, served to correct for saturation changes. Red cells could not be used as the reference tracer because of the possibility of hematocrit changes independent of fluid flux (Fahraeus effect). The device so constructed proved capable of measuring rates of fluid infusion in the order of 0.1% of QT with a variability of 10% around the mean.

Physical Processes Controlling the Spatial Distributions of Relative Humidity in the Tropical Tropopause Layer Over the Pacific

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, Eric J.; Thornberry, Troy D.; Rollins, Andrew W.; Ueyama, Rei; Pfister, Leonhard; Bui, Thaopaul; Diskin, Glenn S.; Digangi, Joshua P.; Hintsa, Eric; Gao, Ru-Shan;

A Perturbation Analysis of Harmonics Generation from Saturated Elements in Power Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumano, Teruhisa

Nonlinear phenomena such as saturation in magnetic flux give considerable effects in power system analysis. It is reported that a failure in a real 500kV system triggered islanding operation, where resultant even harmonics caused malfunctions in protective relays. It is also reported that the major origin of this wave distortion is nothing but unidirectional magnetization of the transformer iron core. Time simulation is widely used today to analyze this type of phenomena, but it has basically two shortcomings. One is that the time simulation takes two much computing time in the vicinity of inflection points in the saturation characteristic curve because certain iterative procedure such as N-R (Newton-Raphson) should be used and such methods tend to be caught in an ill conditioned numerical hunting. The other is that such simulation methods sometimes do not help intuitive understanding of the studied phenomenon because the whole nonlinear equations are treated in a matrix form and not properly divided into understandable parts as done in linear systems. This paper proposes a new computation scheme which is based on so called perturbation method. Magnetic saturation in iron cores in a generator and a transformer are taken into account. The proposed method has a special feature against the first shortcoming of the N-R based time simulation method stated above. In the proposed method no iterative process is used to reduce the equation residue but uses perturbation series, which means free from the ill condition problem. Users have only to calculate each perturbation terms one by one until he reaches necessary accuracy. In a numerical example treated in the present paper the first order perturbation can make reasonably high accuracy, which means very fast computing. In numerical study three nonlinear elements are considered. Calculated results are almost identical to the conventional Newton-Raphson based time simulation, which shows the validity of the method. The proposed method would be effectively used in a screening where many case studies are needed.

Adaptive integral feedback controller for pitch and yaw channels of an AUV with actuator saturations.

PubMed

Sarhadi, Pouria; Noei, Abolfazl Ranjbar; Khosravi, Alireza

2016-11-01

Input saturations and uncertain dynamics are among the practical challenges in control of autonomous vehicles. Adaptive control is known as a proper method to deal with the uncertain dynamics of these systems. Therefore, incorporating the ability to confront with input saturation in adaptive controllers can be valuable. In this paper, an adaptive autopilot is presented for the pitch and yaw channels of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the presence of input saturations. This will be performed by combination of a model reference adaptive control (MRAC) with integral state feedback with a modern anti-windup (AW) compensator. MRAC with integral state feedback is commonly used in autonomous vehicles. However, some proper modifications need to be taken into account in order to cope with the saturation problem. To this end, a Riccati-based anti-windup (AW) compensator is employed. The presented technique is applied to the non-linear six degrees of freedom (DOF) model of an AUV and the obtained results are compared with that of its baseline method. Several simulation scenarios are executed in the pitch and yaw channels to evaluate the controller performance. Moreover, effectiveness of proposed adaptive controller is comprehensively investigated by implementing Monte Carlo simulations. The obtained results verify the performance of proposed method. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transport of strontium and cesium in simulated hanford tank waste leachate through quartz sand under saturated and unsaturated flow.

PubMed

Rod, Kenton A; Um, Wooyong; Flury, Markus

2010-11-01

We investigated the effects of water saturation and secondary precipitate formation on Sr and Cs transport through quartz sand columns under saturated and unsaturated flow. Column experiments were conducted at effective water saturation ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 under steady-state flow using either 0.1 M NaNO(3) or simulated tank waste leachate (STWL; 1 M NaNO(3) and 1 M NaOH) mimicking Hanford (Washington, USA) tank waste. In 0.1 M NaNO(3) columns, Sr transported like a conservative tracer, whereas Cs was retarded relative to Sr. The transport of Sr and Cs in the 0.1 M NaNO(3) columns under all water saturations could be described with the equilibrium convection-dispersion equation (CDE). In STWL columns, Sr mobility was significantly reduced compared to the 0.1 M NaNO(3) column, because Sr was incorporated into or sorbed to neo-formed secondary precipitates. Strontium sequestration by precipitates was confirmed by additional batch and electron micrograph analyses. In contrast(,) the transport of Cs was less affected by the STWL; retardation of Cs in STWL columns was similar to that found in 0.1 M NaNO(3) columns. Analysis of STWL column data revealed that both Sr and Cs breakthrough curves showed nonideal behavior that suggest nonequilibrium conditions, although nonlinear geochemical behavior cannot be ruled out.

Transport of Strontium and Cesium in Simulated Hanford Tank Waste Leachate through Quartz Sand under Saturated and Unsaturated Flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rod, Kenton A.; Um, Wooyong; Flury, Markus

2010-11-01

We investigated the effects of water saturation and formation of secondary precipitates on transport of Sr and Cs through sand columns under unsaturated water flow. A series of column experiments was run at effective water saturations ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 under steady-state flow using columns filled with quartz sand. The solution phase was either 0.1 M NaNO3 or a simulated tank waste leachate (STWL), mimicking the leaks of tank wastes at the Hanford Site, Washington, USA. In STWL, the mobility of Sr was significantly reduced as the water saturation decreased, because Sr was incorporated into or sorbed to neo-formedmore » secondary precipitates. In contrast, the transport of Cs in STWL was similar to that of a nonreactive tracer. In 0.1 M NaNO3, Sr moved like a conservative tracer, showing no retardation, whereas Cs was retarded relative to Sr. The flow regime for the 0.1 M NaNO3 columns under all water saturations could be described with the equilibrium convection-dispersion equation (CDE). However, for STWL, the Sr and Cs breakthrough curves indicated the presence of non-equilibria under unsaturated flow conditions. Such non-equilibrium conditions, caused by physical and chemical processes can reduce the mobility of radionuclides at the Hanford vadose zone.« less

Computational investigation of noble gas adsorption and separation by nanoporous materials.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allendorf, Mark D.; Sanders, Joseph C.; Greathouse, Jeffery A.

2008-10-01

Molecular simulations are used to assess the ability of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials to store and separate noble gases. Specifically, grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation techniques are used to predict noble gas adsorption isotherms at room temperature. Experimental trends of noble gas inflation curves of a Zn-based material (IRMOF-1) are matched by the simulation results. The simulations also predict that IRMOF-1 selectively adsorbs Xe atoms in Xe/Kr and Xe/Ar mixtures at total feed gas pressures of 1 bar (14.7 psia) and 10 bar (147 psia). Finally, simulations of a copper-based MOF (Cu-BTC) predict this material's ability to selectively adsorb Xemore » and Kr atoms when present in trace amounts in atmospheric air samples. These preliminary results suggest that Cu-BTC may be an ideal candidate for the pre-concentration of noble gases from air samples. Additional simulations and experiments are needed to determine the saturation limit of Cu-BTC for xenon, and whether any krypton atoms would remain in the Cu-BTC pores upon saturation.« less

An Evaluation of the Effects of Variable Sampling on Component, Image, and Factor Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Velicer, Wayne F.; Fava, Joseph L.

1987-01-01

Principal component analysis, image component analysis, and maximum likelihood factor analysis were compared to assess the effects of variable sampling. Results with respect to degree of saturation and average number of variables per factor were clear and dramatic. Differential effects on boundary cases and nonconvergence problems were also found.…

Solid-solution aqueous-solution equilibria: thermodynamic theory and representation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Glynn, P.D.; Reardon, E.J.

1990-01-01

Thorstenson and Plummer's (1977) "stoichiometric saturation' model is reviewed, and a general relation between stoichiometric saturation Kss constants and excess free energies of mixing is derived for a binary solid-solution B1-xCxA: GE = RT[ln Kss - xln(xKCA) - (l-x)ln((l-x)KBA)]. This equation allows a suitable excess free energy function, such as Guggenheim's (1937) sub-regular function, to be fitted from experimentally determined Kss constants. Solid-phase free energies and component activity-coefficients can then be determined from one or two fitted parameters and from the endmember solubility products KBA and KCA. A general form of Lippmann's (1977,1980) "solutus equation is derived from an examination of Lippmann's (1977,1980) "total solubility product' model. Lippmann's ??II or "total solubility product' variable is used to represent graphically not only thermodynamic equilibrium states and primary saturation states but also stoichiometric saturation and pure phase saturation states. -from Authors

(I Can’t Get No) Saturation: A simulation and guidelines for sample sizes in qualitative research

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

I explore the sample size in qualitative research that is required to reach theoretical saturation. I conceptualize a population as consisting of sub-populations that contain different types of information sources that hold a number of codes. Theoretical saturation is reached after all the codes in the population have been observed once in the sample. I delineate three different scenarios to sample information sources: “random chance,” which is based on probability sampling, “minimal information,” which yields at least one new code per sampling step, and “maximum information,” which yields the largest number of new codes per sampling step. Next, I use simulations to assess the minimum sample size for each scenario for systematically varying hypothetical populations. I show that theoretical saturation is more dependent on the mean probability of observing codes than on the number of codes in a population. Moreover, the minimal and maximal information scenarios are significantly more efficient than random chance, but yield fewer repetitions per code to validate the findings. I formulate guidelines for purposive sampling and recommend that researchers follow a minimum information scenario. PMID:28746358

From modulated Hebbian plasticity to simple behavior learning through noise and weight saturation.

PubMed

Soltoggio, Andrea; Stanley, Kenneth O

2012-10-01

Synaptic plasticity is a major mechanism for adaptation, learning, and memory. Yet current models struggle to link local synaptic changes to the acquisition of behaviors. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate a computational relationship between local Hebbian plasticity and behavior learning by exploiting two traditionally unwanted features: neural noise and synaptic weight saturation. A modulation signal is employed to arbitrate the sign of plasticity: when the modulation is positive, the synaptic weights saturate to express exploitative behavior; when it is negative, the weights converge to average values, and neural noise reconfigures the network's functionality. This process is demonstrated through simulating neural dynamics in the autonomous emergence of fearful and aggressive navigating behaviors and in the solution to reward-based problems. The neural model learns, memorizes, and modifies different behaviors that lead to positive modulation in a variety of settings. The algorithm establishes a simple relationship between local plasticity and behavior learning by demonstrating the utility of noise and weight saturation. Moreover, it provides a new tool to simulate adaptive behavior, and contributes to bridging the gap between synaptic changes and behavior in neural computation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental study and theoretical interpretation of saturation effect on ultrasonic velocity in tight sandstones under different pressure conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dongqing; Wei, Jianxin; Di, Bangrang; Ding, Pinbo; Huang, Shiqi; Shuai, Da

2018-03-01

Understanding the influence of lithology, porosity, permeability, pore structure, fluid content and fluid distribution on the elastic wave properties of porous rocks is of great significance for seismic exploration. However, unlike conventional sandstones, the petrophysical characteristics of tight sandstones are more complex and less understood. To address this problem, we measured ultrasonic velocity in partially saturated tight sandstones under different effective pressures. A new model is proposed, combining the Mavko-Jizba-Gurevich relations and the White model. The proposed model can satisfactorily simulate and explain the saturation dependence and pressure dependence of velocity in tight sandstones. Under low effective pressure, the relationship of P-wave velocity to saturation is pre-dominantly attributed to local (pore scale) fluid flow and inhomogeneous pore-fluid distribution (large scale). At higher effective pressure, local fluid flow gradually decreases, and P-wave velocity gradually shifts from uniform saturation towards patchy saturation. We also find that shear modulus is more sensitive to saturation at low effective pressures. The new model includes wetting ratio, an adjustable parameter that is closely related to the relationship between shear modulus and saturation.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murokh, A.

VISA (Visible to Infrared SASE Amplifier) is a high-gain self-amplified spontaneous emission FEL, which achieved saturation at 840 nm within a single-pass 4-m undulator. A gain length shorter than 18 cm has been obtained, yielding the gain of 2 x 10{sup 8} at saturation. The FEL performance, including spectral, angular, and statistical properties of SASE radiation, has been characterized for different electron beam conditions. The results are compared to 3-D SASE FEL theory and start-to-end numerical simulations of the entire injector, transport, and FEL system. Detailed agreement between simulations and experimental results is obtained over the wide range of themore » electron beam parameters.« less

Application of two hydrologic models with different runoff mechanisms to a hillslope dominated watershed in the northeastern US: A comparison of HSPF and SMR

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, M.S.; Coon, W.F.; Mehta, V.K.; Steenhuis, T.S.; Brooks, E.S.; Boll, J.

2003-01-01

Differences in the simulation of hydrologic processes by watershed models directly affect the accuracy of results. Surface runoff generation can be simulated as either: (1) infiltration-excess (or Hortonian) overland flow, or (2) saturation-excess overland flow. This study compared the Hydrological Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF) and the Soil Moisture Routing (SMR) models, each representing one of these mechanisms. These two models were applied to a 102 km2 watershed in the upper part of the Irondequoit Creek basin in central New York State over a seven-year simulation period. The models differed in both the complexity of simulating snowmelt and baseflow processes as well as the detail in which the geographic information was preserved by each model. Despite their differences in structure and representation of hydrologic processes, the two models simulated streamflow with almost equal accuracy. Since streamflow is an integral response and depends mainly on the watershed water balance, this was not unexpected. Model efficiency values for the seven-year simulation period were 0.67 and 0.65 for SMR and HSPF, respectively. HSPF simulated winter streamflow slightly better than SMR as a result of its complex snowmelt routine, whereas SMR simulated summer flows better than HSPF as a result of its runoff and baseflow processes. An important difference between model results was the ability to predict the spatial distribution of soil moisture content. HSPF aggregates soil moisture content, which is generally related to a specific pervious land unit across the entire watershed, whereas SMR predictions of moisture content distribution are geographically specific and matched field observations reasonably well. Important is that the saturated area was predicted well by SMR and confirmed the validity of using saturation-excess mechanisms for this hillslope dominated watershed. ?? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of different assimilation methodologies of groundwater levels to improve predictions of root zone soil moisture with an integrated terrestrial system model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hongjuan; Kurtz, Wolfgang; Kollet, Stefan; Vereecken, Harry; Franssen, Harrie-Jan Hendricks

2018-01-01

The linkage between root zone soil moisture and groundwater is either neglected or simplified in most land surface models. The fully-coupled subsurface-land surface model TerrSysMP including variably saturated groundwater dynamics is used in this work. We test and compare five data assimilation methodologies for assimilating groundwater level data via the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) to improve root zone soil moisture estimation with TerrSysMP. Groundwater level data are assimilated in the form of pressure head or soil moisture (set equal to porosity in the saturated zone) to update state vectors. In the five assimilation methodologies, the state vector contains either (i) pressure head, or (ii) log-transformed pressure head, or (iii) soil moisture, or (iv) pressure head for the saturated zone only, or (v) a combination of pressure head and soil moisture, pressure head for the saturated zone and soil moisture for the unsaturated zone. These methodologies are evaluated in synthetic experiments which are performed for different climate conditions, soil types and plant functional types to simulate various root zone soil moisture distributions and groundwater levels. The results demonstrate that EnKF cannot properly handle strongly skewed pressure distributions which are caused by extreme negative pressure heads in the unsaturated zone during dry periods. This problem can only be alleviated by methodology (iii), (iv) and (v). The last approach gives the best results and avoids unphysical updates related to strongly skewed pressure heads in the unsaturated zone. If groundwater level data are assimilated by methodology (iii), EnKF fails to update the state vector containing the soil moisture values if for (almost) all the realizations the observation does not bring significant new information. Synthetic experiments for the joint assimilation of groundwater levels and surface soil moisture support methodology (v) and show great potential for improving the representation of root zone soil moisture.

Observer-based adaptive backstepping control for fractional order systems with input saturation.

PubMed

Sheng, Dian; Wei, Yiheng; Cheng, Songsong; Wang, Yong

2017-07-03

An observer-based fractional order anti-saturation adaptive backstepping control scheme is proposed for incommensurate fractional order systems with input saturation and partial measurable state in this paper. On the basis of stability analysis, a novel state observer is established first since the only information we could acquire is the system output. In order to compensate the saturation, a series of virtual signals are generated via the construction of fractional order auxiliary system. Afterwards, the controller design is carried out in accordance with the adaptive backstepping control method by introduction of the indirect Lyapunov method. To highlight the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme, simulation examples are demonstrated at last. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of urban effluents on summer hypoxia in the highly turbid Gironde Estuary, applying a 3D model coupling hydrodynamics, sediment transport and biogeochemical processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lajaunie-Salla, Katixa; Wild-Allen, Karen; Sottolichio, Aldo; Thouvenin, Bénédicte; Litrico, Xavier; Abril, Gwenaël

2017-10-01

Estuaries are increasingly degraded due to coastal urban development and are prone to hypoxia problems. The macro-tidal Gironde Estuary is characterized by a highly concentrated turbidity maximum zone (TMZ). Field observations show that hypoxia occurs in summer in the TMZ at low river flow and a few days after the spring tide peak. In situ data highlight lower dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations around the city of Bordeaux, located in the upper estuary. Interactions between multiple factors limit the understanding of the processes controlling the dynamics of hypoxia. A 3D biogeochemical model was developed, coupled with hydrodynamics and a sediment transport model, to assess the contribution of the TMZ and the impact of urban effluents through wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and sewage overflows (SOs) on hypoxia. Our model describes the transport of solutes and suspended material and the biogeochemical mechanisms impacting oxygen: primary production, degradation of all organic matter (i.e. including phytoplankton respiration, degradation of river and urban watershed matter), nitrification and gas exchange. The composition and the degradation rates of each variable were characterized by in situ measurements and experimental data from the study area. The DO model was validated against observations in Bordeaux City. The simulated DO concentrations show good agreement with field observations and satisfactorily reproduce the seasonal and neap-spring time scale variations around the city of Bordeaux. Simulations show a spatial and temporal correlation between the formation of summer hypoxia and the location of the TMZ, with minimum DO centered in the vicinity of Bordeaux. To understand the contribution of the urban watershed forcing, different simulations with the presence or absence of urban effluents were compared. Our results show that in summer, a reduction of POC from SO would increase the DO minimum in the vicinity of Bordeaux by 3% of saturation. Omitting discharge from SO and WWTPs, DO would improve by 10% of saturation and mitigate hypoxic events.

Soil variability along a nitrogen mineralization and nitrification gradient in a nitrogen-saturated hardwood forest

Treesearch

Frank S. Gilliam; Nikki L. Lyttle; Ashley Thomas; Mary Beth Adams

2005-01-01

Some N-saturated watersheds of the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF), West Virginia, exhibit a high degree of spatial heterogeneity in soil N processing. We used soils from four sites at FEF representing a gradient in net N mineralization and nitrification to consider the causes and consequences of such spatial heterogeneity. We collected soils with extremely high vs....

Short-term and seasonal pH,pCO2and saturation state variability in a coral-reef ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gray, Sarah E. C.; Degrandpre, Michael D.; Langdon, Chris; Corredor, Jorge E.

2012-09-01

Coral reefs are predicted to be one of the ecosystems most sensitive to ocean acidification. To improve predictions of coral reef response to acidification, we need to better characterize the natural range of variability of pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and calcium carbonate saturation states (Ω). In this study, autonomous sensors for pH and pCO2 were deployed on Media Luna reef, Puerto Rico over three seasons from 2007 to 2008. High temporal resolution CaCO3 saturation states were calculated from the in situ data, giving a much more detailed characterization of reef saturation states than previously possible. Reef pH, pCO2 and aragonite saturation (ΩAr) ranged from 7.89 to 8.17 pH units, 176-613 μatm and 2.7-4.7, respectively, in the range characteristic of most other previously studied reef ecosystems. The diel pH, pCO2 and Ω cycles were also large, encompassing about half of the seasonal range of variability. Warming explained about 50% of the seasonal supersaturation in mean pCO2, with the remaining supersaturation primarily due to net heterotrophy and net CaCO3 production. Net heterotrophy was likely driven by remineralization of mangrove derived organic carbon which continued into the fall, sustaining high pCO2 levels until early winter when the pCO2 returned to offshore values. As a consequence, the reef was a source of CO2 to the atmosphere during the summer and fall and a sink during winter, resulting in a net annual source of 0.73 ± 1.7 mol m-2 year-1. These results show that reefs are exposed to a wide range of saturation states in their natural environment. Mean ΩAr levels will drop to 3.0 when atmospheric CO2 increases to 500 μatm and ΩAr will be less than 3.0 for greater than 70% of the time in the summer. Long duration exposure to these low ΩAr levels are expected to significantly decrease calcification rates on the reef.

A panel study in congestive heart failure to estimate the short-term effects from personal factors and environmental conditions on oxygen saturation and pulse rate.

PubMed

Goldberg, M S; Giannetti, N; Burnett, R T; Mayo, N E; Valois, M-F; Brophy, J M

2008-10-01

Recent studies suggest that persons with congestive heart failure (CHF) may be at higher risk for short-term effects of air pollution. This daily diary panel study in Montreal, Quebec, was carried out to determine whether oxygen saturation and pulse rate were associated with selected personal factors, weather conditions and air pollution. Thirty-one subjects with CHF participated in this study in 2002 and 2003. Over a 2-month period, the investigators measured their oxygen saturation, pulse rate, weight and temperature each morning and recorded these and other data in a daily diary. Air pollution and weather conditions were obtained from fixed-site monitoring stations. The study made use of mixed regression models, adjusting for within-subject serial correlation and temporal trends, to determine the association between oxygen saturation and pulse rate and personal and environmental variables. Depending on the model, we accounted for the effects of a variety of personal variables (eg, body temperature, salt consumption) as well as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone, maximum temperature and change in barometric pressure at 8:00 from the previous day. In multivariable analyses, the study found that oxygen saturation was reduced when subjects reported that they were ill, consumed salt, or drank liquids on the previous day and had higher body temperatures on the concurrent day (only the latter was statistically significant). Relative humidity and decreased atmospheric pressure from the previous day were associated with oxygen saturation. In univariate analyses, there was negative associations with concentrations of fine particulates, ozone, and sulphur dioxide (SO2), but only SO2 was significant after adjustment for the effects of weather. For pulse rate, no associations were found for the personal variables and in univariate analyses the study found positive associations with NO(2), fine particulates (aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microm or under, PM(2.5)), SO2, and maximum temperature, although only the latter two were significant after adjustment for environmental effects. The findings from the present investigation suggest that personal and environmental conditions affect intermediate physiological parameters that may affect the health of CHF patients.

Laboratory-scale experiments and numerical modeling of cosolvent flushing of multi-component NAPLs in saturated porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agaoglu, Berken; Scheytt, Traugott; Copty, Nadim K.

2012-10-01

This study examines the mechanistic processes governing multiphase flow of a water-cosolvent-NAPL system in saturated porous media. Laboratory batch and column flushing experiments were conducted to determine the equilibrium properties of pure NAPL and synthetically prepared NAPL mixtures as well as NAPL recovery mechanisms for different water-ethanol contents. The effect of contact time was investigated by considering different steady and intermittent flow velocities. A modified version of multiphase flow simulator (UTCHEM) was used to compare the multiphase model simulations with the column experiment results. The effect of employing different grid geometries (1D, 2D, 3D), heterogeneity and different initial NAPL saturation configurations was also examined in the model. It is shown that the change in velocity affects the mass transfer rate between phases as well as the ultimate NAPL recovery percentage. The experiments with low flow rate flushing of pure NAPL and the 3D UTCHEM simulations gave similar effluent concentrations and NAPL cumulative recoveries. Model simulations over-estimated NAPL recovery for high specific discharges and rate-limited mass transfer, suggesting a constant mass transfer coefficient for the entire flushing experiment may not be valid. When multi-component NAPLs are present, the dissolution rate of individual organic compounds (namely, toluene and benzene) into the ethanol-water flushing solution is found not to correlate with their equilibrium solubility values.

Geochemical and Geomechanical Effects on Wellbore Cement Fractures

DOE PAGES

Um, Wooyong; Jung, Hun Bok; Kabilan, Senthil; ...

2014-12-31

Experimental studies were conducted using batch reactors, X-ray microtomograpy (XMT), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to determine changes in cement fracture surfaces, fluid flow pathways, and permeability with geochemical and geomechanical processes. Composite Portland cement-basalt caprock core with artificial fractures was prepared and reacted with CO2-saturated groundwater at 50°C and 10 MPa for 3 to 3.5 months under static conditions to understand the geochemical and geomechanical effects on the integrity of wellbores containing defects. Cement-basalt interface samples were subjected to mechanical stress at 2.7 MPa before the CO2 reaction. XMT provided three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of the opening and interconnectionmore » of cement fractures due to mechanical stress. After the CO2 reaction, XMT images revealed that calcium carbonate precipitation occurred extensively within the fractures in the cement matrix, but only partially along fractures located at the cement-basalt interface. The permeability calculated based on CFD simulation was in agreement with the experimentally measured permeability. The experimental results imply that the wellbore cement with fractures is likely to be healed during exposure to CO2-saturated groundwater under static conditions, whereas fractures along the cement-caprock interface are still likely to remain vulnerable to the leakage of CO2. CFD simulation for the flow of different fluids (CO2-saturated brine and supercritical CO2) using a pressure difference of 20 kPa and 200 kPa along ~2 cm-long cement fractures showed that a pressure gradient increase resulted in an increase of CO2 fluids flux by a factor of only ~3-9 because the friction of CO2 fluids on cement fracture surfaces increased with higher flow rate as well. At the same pressure gradient, the simulated flow rate was higher for supercritical CO2 than CO2-saturated brine by a factor of only ~2-3, because the viscosity of supercritical CO2 is much lower than that of CO2-saturated brine. The study suggests that in deep geological reservoirs the geochemical and geomechanical processes have coupled effects on the wellbore cement fracture evolution and fluid flow along the fracture surfaces.« less

Optimal savings and the value of population.

PubMed

Arrow, Kenneth J; Bensoussan, Alain; Feng, Qi; Sethi, Suresh P

2007-11-20

We study a model of economic growth in which an exogenously changing population enters in the objective function under total utilitarianism and into the state dynamics as the labor input to the production function. We consider an arbitrary population growth until it reaches a critical level (resp. saturation level) at which point it starts growing exponentially (resp. it stops growing altogether). This requires population as well as capital as state variables. By letting the population variable serve as the surrogate of time, we are still able to depict the optimal path and its convergence to the long-run equilibrium on a two-dimensional phase diagram. The phase diagram consists of a transient curve that reaches the classical curve associated with a positive exponential growth at the time the population reaches the critical level. In the case of an asymptotic population saturation, we expect the transient curve to approach the equilibrium as the population approaches its saturation level. Finally, we characterize the approaches to the classical curve and to the equilibrium.

Optimal savings and the value of population

PubMed Central

Arrow, Kenneth J.; Bensoussan, Alain; Feng, Qi; Sethi, Suresh P.

2007-01-01

We study a model of economic growth in which an exogenously changing population enters in the objective function under total utilitarianism and into the state dynamics as the labor input to the production function. We consider an arbitrary population growth until it reaches a critical level (resp. saturation level) at which point it starts growing exponentially (resp. it stops growing altogether). This requires population as well as capital as state variables. By letting the population variable serve as the surrogate of time, we are still able to depict the optimal path and its convergence to the long-run equilibrium on a two-dimensional phase diagram. The phase diagram consists of a transient curve that reaches the classical curve associated with a positive exponential growth at the time the population reaches the critical level. In the case of an asymptotic population saturation, we expect the transient curve to approach the equilibrium as the population approaches its saturation level. Finally, we characterize the approaches to the classical curve and to the equilibrium. PMID:17984059

Design, fabrication and delivery of a prototype saturator for ACPL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keyser, G.; Rogers, C. F.; Squires, P.

1979-01-01

The design configuration and performance characteristics of a saturator developed to provide ground-based simulation for some of the experiments for ACPL-1 first flights of Spacelab are described, some difficulties encountered with the apparatus are discussed, and recommendations concerning testing of this type of instrument are presented. The saturators provide a means of accurately fixing the water vapor mixing ratio of an aerosol sample. Dew point temperatures from almost freezing to ambient room temperatures can be attained with high precision. The instruments can accommodate aerosol flow rates approaching 1000 cc/s. Provisions were made to inject aerosols upstream of these saturators, although downstream injection can be accomplished as well. A device of this type will be used in the ACPL-1 to condition various aerosols delivered concurrently to a CFD, expansion chamber, and static diffusion chamber used in zero gravity cloud-forming experiments. The saturator was designed to meet the requirements projected for the flight instrument.

Locally driven interannual variability of near-surface pH and ΩA in the Strait of Georgia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore-Maley, Ben L.; Allen, Susan E.; Ianson, Debby

2016-03-01

Declines in mean ocean pH and aragonite saturation state (ΩA) driven by anthropogenic CO2 emissions have raised concerns regarding the trends of pH and ΩA in estuaries. Low pH and ΩA can be harmful to a variety of marine organisms, especially those with calcium carbonate shells, and so may threaten the productive ecosystems and commercial fisheries found in many estuarine environments. The Strait of Georgia is a large, temperate, productive estuarine system with numerous wild and aquaculture shellfish and finfish populations. We determine the seasonality and variability of near-surface pH and ΩA in the Strait using a one-dimensional, biophysical, mixing layer model. We further evaluate the sensitivity of these quantities to local wind, freshwater, and cloud forcing by running the model over a wide range of scenarios using 12 years of observations. Near-surface pH and ΩA demonstrate strong seasonal cycles characterized by low pH, aragonite-undersaturated waters in winter and high pH, aragonite-supersaturated waters in summer. The aragonite saturation horizon generally lies at ˜20 m depth except in winter and during strong Fraser River freshets when it shoals to the surface. Periods of strong interannual variability in pH and aragonite saturation horizon depth arise in spring and summer. We determine that at different times of year, each of wind speed, freshwater flux, and cloud fraction are the dominant drivers of this variability. These results establish the mechanisms behind the emerging observations of highly variable near-surface carbonate chemistry in the Strait.

Efficiency of depleted UO2 based semiconductor neutron detectors in direct and indirect configuration—A GEANT4 simulation study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parida, M. K.; Prabakar, K.; Sundari, S. T.

2018-03-01

In the present work, Monte Carlo simulations using GEANT4 are carried out to estimate the efficiency of semiconductor neutron detectors with depleted UO2 (DUO2) as converter material, in both planar (direct and indirect) and 3D geometry (cylindrical perforation and trenches structure) configurations. The simulations were conducted for neutrons of variable energy viz., thermal (25 meV) and fast (1 to 10 MeV) that were incident on varying thicknesses (0.25 μm to 1000 μm), diameters (1 μm to 9 μm) and widths (1 μm to 9 μm) along with depths (50 μm to 275 μm) of DUO2 for planar, cylindrical perforated and trench structures, respectively. In the case of direct planar detectors, efficiency was found to increase with the thickness of DUO2 and the rate at which efficiency increased was found to follow the macroscopic fission cross section at the corresponding neutron energy. In the case of indirect planar detector, efficiency was lower as compared to direct configuration and was found to saturate beyond a thickness of ~3 μm. This saturation is explained on the basis of mean free path of neutrons in the DUO2 material. For the 3D perforated silicon detectors of cylindrical (trench) geometry, backfilled with DUO2, the efficiency for detection of thermal neutrons ~25 meV and fast neutrons ~ typical energy of 10 MeV was found to be ~0.0159% (~0.0177%) and ~0.0088% (0.0098%), respectively. These efficiency values were two (one) order values higher than planar indirect detector for thermal (fast) neutrons. Histogram plots were also obtained from the GEANT4 simulations to monitor the energy distribution of fission products in planar (direct and indirect) and 3D geometry (cylindrical and trench) configurations. These plots revealed that, for all the detector configurations, the energy deposited by the fission products are higher as compared to the typical gamma ray background. Thus, for detectors with DUO2 as converter material, higher values of low level discriminator (LLD) can be set, so as to achieve good background discrimination.

Effects of CO 2 on mechanical variability and constitutive behavior of the Lower Tuscaloosa formation, Cranfield Injection Site, USA

DOE PAGES

Rinehart, Alex J.; Dewers, Thomas A.; Broome, Scott T.; ...

2016-08-25

We characterize geomechanical constitutive behavior of reservoir sandstones at conditions simulating the “Cranfield” Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership injection program. From two cores of Lower Tuscaloosa Formation, three sandstone lithofacies were identified for mechanical testing based on permeability and lithology. These include: chlorite-cemented conglomeratic sandstone (Facies A); quartz-cemented fine sandstone (Facies B); and quartz- and calcite-cemented very fine sandstone (Facies C). We performed a suite of compression tests for each lithofacies at 100 °C and pore pressure of 30 MPa, including hydrostatic compression and triaxial tests at several confining pressures. Plugs were saturated with supercritical CO 2-saturated brine. Chemical environmentmore » affected the mechanical response of all three lithofacies, which experience initial plastic yielding at stresses far below estimated in situ stress. Measured elastic moduli degradation defines a secondary yield surface coinciding with in situ stress for Facies B and C. Facies A shows measurable volumetric creep strain and a failure envelope below estimates of in situ stress, linked to damage of chlorite cements by acidic pore solutions. Furthermore, the substantial weakening of a particular lithofacies by CO 2 demonstrates a possible chemical-mechanical coupling during injection at Cranfield with implications for CO 2 injection, reservoir permeability stimulation, and enhanced oil recovery.« less

On the role of sea-state in bubble-mediated air-sea gas flux during a winter storm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Jun-Hong; Emerson, Steven R.; D'Asaro, Eric A.; McNeil, Craig L.; Harcourt, Ramsey R.; Sullivan, Peter P.; Yang, Bo; Cronin, Meghan F.

2017-04-01

Oceanic bubbles play an important role in the air-sea exchange of weakly soluble gases at moderate to high wind speeds. A Lagrangian bubble model embedded in a large eddy simulation model is developed to study bubbles and their influence on dissolved gases in the upper ocean. The transient evolution of mixed-layer dissolved oxygen and nitrogen gases at Ocean Station Papa (50°N, 145°W) during a winter storm is reproduced with the model. Among different physical processes, gas bubbles are the most important in elevating dissolved gas concentrations during the storm, while atmospheric pressure governs the variability of gas saturation anomaly (the relative departure of dissolved gas concentration from the saturation concentration). For the same wind speed, bubble-mediated gas fluxes are larger during rising wind with smaller wave age than during falling wind with larger wave age. Wave conditions are the primary cause for the bubble gas flux difference: when wind strengthens, waves are less-developed with respect to wind, resulting in more frequent large breaking waves. Bubble generation in large breaking waves is favorable for a large bubble-mediated gas flux. The wave-age dependence is not included in any existing bubble-mediated gas flux parameterizations.

Center for the Study of Plasma Microturbulence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parker, Scott E.

We have discovered a possible "natural fueling" mechanism in tokamak fusion reactors using large scale gyrokinetic turbulence simulation. In the presence of a heat flux dominated tokamak plasma, cold ions naturally pinch radially inward. If cold DT fuel is introduced near the edge using shallow pellet injection, the cold fuel will pinch inward, at the expense of hot helium ash going radially outward. By adjusting the cold DT fuel concentration, the core DT density profiles can be maintained. We have also shown that cold source ions from edge recycling of cold neutrals are pinched radially inward. This mechanism may bemore » important for fully understanding the edge pedestal buildup after an ELM crash. Work includes benchmarking the gyrokinetic turbulence codes in the electromagnetic regime. This includes cyclone base case parameters with an increasing plasma beta. The code comparisons include GEM, GYRO and GENE. There is good linear agreement between the codes using the Cyclone base case, but including electromagnetics and scanning the plasma beta. All the codes have difficulty achieving nonlinear saturation as the kinetic ballooning limit is approached. GEM does not saturate well when beta gets above about 1/2 of the ideal ballooning limit. We find that the lack of saturation is due to the long wavelength k{sub y} modes being nonlinearly pumped to high levels. If the fundamental k{sub y} mode is zeroed out, higher values of beta nonlinearly saturate well. Additionally, there have been studies to better understand CTEM nonlinear saturation and the importance of zonal flows. We have continued our investigation of trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence. More recently, we have focused on the nonlinear saturation of TEM turbulence. An important feature of TEM is that in many parameter regimes, the zonal flow is unimportant. We find that when zonal flows are unimportant, zonal density is the dominant saturation mechanism. We developed a simple theory that agrees with the simulation and predicts zonal density generation and feedback stabilization of the most unstable mode even in the absence of zonal flow. We are using GEM to simulate NSTX discharges. We have also done verification and validation on DIII-D. Good agreement with GYRO and DIII-D flux levels were reported in the core region.« less

Applications of Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy for edge physics studies (invited)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martin, E. H., E-mail: martineh@ornl.gov; Caughman, J. B. O.; Isler, R. C.

Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy provides a very powerful method to obtain detailed information about the electronic structure of the atom through measurement of the spectral line profile. This is achieved through a significant decrease in the Doppler broadening and essentially an elimination of the instrument broadening inherent to passive spectroscopic techniques. In this paper we present the technique and associated physics of Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy in addition to how one selects the appropriate transition. Simulations of H{sub δ} spectra are presented to illustrate the increased sensitivity to both electric field and electron density measurements.

Applications of Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy for edge physics studies (invited).

PubMed

Martin, E H; Zafar, A; Caughman, J B O; Isler, R C; Bell, G L

2016-11-01

Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy provides a very powerful method to obtain detailed information about the electronic structure of the atom through measurement of the spectral line profile. This is achieved through a significant decrease in the Doppler broadening and essentially an elimination of the instrument broadening inherent to passive spectroscopic techniques. In this paper we present the technique and associated physics of Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy in addition to how one selects the appropriate transition. Simulations of H δ spectra are presented to illustrate the increased sensitivity to both electric field and electron density measurements.

Food pricing strategies, population diets, and non-communicable disease: a systematic review of simulation studies.

PubMed

Eyles, Helen; Ni Mhurchu, Cliona; Nghiem, Nhung; Blakely, Tony

2012-01-01

Food pricing strategies have been proposed to encourage healthy eating habits, which may in turn help stem global increases in non-communicable diseases. This systematic review of simulation studies investigates the estimated association between food pricing strategies and changes in food purchases or intakes (consumption) (objective 1); Health and disease outcomes (objective 2), and whether there are any differences in these outcomes by socio-economic group (objective 3). Electronic databases, Internet search engines, and bibliographies of included studies were searched for articles published in English between 1 January 1990 and 24 October 2011 for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Where ≥ 3 studies examined the same pricing strategy and consumption (purchases or intake) or health outcome, results were pooled, and a mean own-price elasticity (own-PE) estimated (the own-PE represents the change in demand with a 1% change in price of that good). Objective 1: pooled estimates were possible for the following: (1) taxes on carbonated soft drinks: own-PE (n  =  4 studies), -0.93 (range, -0.06, -2.43), and a modelled -0.02% (-0.01%, -0.04%) reduction in energy (calorie) intake for each 1% price increase (n  =  3 studies); (2) taxes on saturated fat: -0.02% (-0.01%, -0.04%) reduction in energy intake from saturated fat per 1% price increase (n  =  5 studies); and (3) subsidies on fruits and vegetables: own-PE (n = 3 studies), -0.35 (-0.21, -0.77). Objectives 2 and 3: variability of food pricing strategies and outcomes prevented pooled analyses, although higher quality studies suggested unintended compensatory purchasing that could result in overall effects being counter to health. Eleven of 14 studies evaluating lower socio-economic groups estimated that food pricing strategies would be associated with pro-health outcomes. Food pricing strategies also have the potential to reduce disparities. Based on modelling studies, taxes on carbonated drinks and saturated fat and subsidies on fruits and vegetables would be associated with beneficial dietary change, with the potential for improved health. Additional research into possible compensatory purchasing and population health outcomes is needed.

Application of SEAWAT to select variable-density and viscosity problems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dausman, Alyssa M.; Langevin, Christian D.; Thorne, Danny T.; Sukop, Michael C.

2010-01-01

SEAWAT is a combined version of MODFLOW and MT3DMS, designed to simulate three-dimensional, variable-density, saturated groundwater flow. The most recent version of the SEAWAT program, SEAWAT Version 4 (or SEAWAT_V4), supports equations of state for fluid density and viscosity. In SEAWAT_V4, fluid density can be calculated as a function of one or more MT3DMS species, and optionally, fluid pressure. Fluid viscosity is calculated as a function of one or more MT3DMS species, and the program also includes additional functions for representing the dependence of fluid viscosity on temperature. This report documents testing of and experimentation with SEAWAT_V4 with six previously published problems that include various combinations of density-dependent flow due to temperature variations and/or concentration variations of one or more species. Some of the problems also include variations in viscosity that result from temperature differences in water and oil. Comparisons between the results of SEAWAT_V4 and other published results are generally consistent with one another, with minor differences considered acceptable.

Accounting for temporal variation in soil hydrological properties when simulating surface runoff on tilled plots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chahinian, Nanée; Moussa, Roger; Andrieux, Patrick; Voltz, Marc

2006-07-01

Tillage operations are known to greatly influence local overland flow, infiltration and depressional storage by altering soil hydraulic properties and soil surface roughness. The calibration of runoff models for tilled fields is not identical to that of untilled fields, as it has to take into consideration the temporal variability of parameters due to the transient nature of surface crusts. In this paper, we seek the application of a rainfall-runoff model and the development of a calibration methodology to take into account the impact of tillage on overland flow simulation at the scale of a tilled plot (3240 m 2) located in southern France. The selected model couples the (Morel-Seytoux, H.J., 1978. Derivation of equations for variable rainfall infiltration. Water Resources Research. 14(4), 561-568). Infiltration equation to a transfer function based on the diffusive wave equation. The parameters to be calibrated are the hydraulic conductivity at natural saturation Ks, the surface detention Sd and the lag time ω. A two-step calibration procedure is presented. First, eleven rainfall-runoff events are calibrated individually and the variability of the calibrated parameters are analysed. The individually calibrated Ks values decrease monotonously according to the total amount of rainfall since tillage. No clear relationship is observed between the two parameters Sd and ω, and the date of tillage. However, the lag time ω increases inversely with the peakflow of the events. Fairly good agreement is observed between the simulated and measured hydrographs of the calibration set. Simple mathematical laws describing the evolution of Ks and ω are selected, while Sd is considered constant. The second step involves the collective calibration of the law of evolution of each parameter on the whole calibration set. This procedure is calibrated on 11 events and validated on ten runoff inducing and four non-runoff inducing rainfall events. The suggested calibration methodology seems robust and can be transposed to other gauged sites.

Spectral variability of photospheric radiation due to faculae. I. The Sun and Sun-like stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, Charlotte M.; Beeck, Benjamin; Unruh, Yvonne C.; Solanki, Sami K.; Krivova, Natalie A.; Yeo, Kok Leng

2017-09-01

Context. Stellar spectral variability on timescales of a day and longer, arising from magnetic surface features such as dark spots and bright faculae, is an important noise source when characterising extra-solar planets. Current 1D models of faculae do not capture the geometric properties and fail to reproduce observed solar facular contrasts. Magnetoconvection simulations provide facular contrasts accounting for geometry. Aims: We calculate facular contrast spectra from magnetoconvection models of the solar photosphere with a view to improve (a) future parameter determinations for planets with early G type host stars and (b) reconstructions of solar spectral variability. Methods: Regions of a solar twin (G2, log g = 4.44) atmosphere with a range of initial average vertical magnetic fields (100 to 500 G) were simulated using a 3D radiation-magnetohydrodynamics code, MURaM, and synthetic intensity spectra were calculated from the ultraviolet (149.5 nm) to the far infrared (160 000 nm) with the ATLAS9 radiative transfer code. Nine viewing angles were investigated to account for facular positions across most of the stellar disc. Results: Contrasts of the radiation from simulation boxes with different levels of magnetic flux relative to an atmosphere with no magnetic field are a complicated function of position, wavelength and magnetic field strength that is not reproduced by 1D facular models. Generally, contrasts increase towards the limb, but at UV wavelengths a saturation and decrease are observed close to the limb. Contrasts also increase strongly from the visible to the UV; there is a rich spectral dependence, with marked peaks in molecular bands and strong spectral lines. At disc centre, a complex relationship with magnetic field was found and areas of strong magnetic field can appear either dark or bright, depending on wavelength. Spectra calculated for a wide variety of magnetic fluxes will also serve to improve total and spectral solar irradiance reconstructions.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL NAPL FATE AND TRANSPORT MODEL

EPA Science Inventory

We have added several new and significant capabilities to UTCHEM to make it into a general-purpose NAPL simulator. The simulator is now capable of modeling transient and steady-state three-dimensional flow and mass transport in the groundwater (saturated) and vadose (unsaturated...

APOA2 -256T>C polymorphism interacts with saturated fatty acids intake to affect anthropometric and hormonal variables in type 2 diabetic patients.

PubMed

Basiri, Marjan Ghane; Sotoudeh, Gity; Alvandi, Ehsan; Djalali, Mahmood; Eshraghian, Mohammad Reza; Noorshahi, Neda; Koohdani, Fariba

2015-05-01

Recent studies have established the interaction between APOA2 -256T>C polymorphism and dietary saturated fatty acids intake in relation to obesity on healthy individuals. In the current study, we investigate the effects of this interaction on anthropometric variables and serum levels of leptin and ghrelin in patients with type 2 diabetes. In this cross-sectional study, 737 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (290 males and 447 females) were recruited from diabetes clinics in Tehran. The usual dietary intake of all participants during the last year was obtained by validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. APOA2 genotyping was performed by real-time PCR on genomic DNA. No significant relation was obtained by univariate analysis between anthropometric variables and APOA2 genotypes. However, after adjusting for age, gender, physical activity and total energy intake, we identified a significant interaction between APOA2-saturated fatty acids intake and body mass index (BMI). After adjusting for potential confounders, serum levels of ghrelin in CC genotype patients were significantly higher than T allele carriers (p = 0.03), whereas the case with leptin did not reveal a significant difference. The result of this study confirmed the interaction between APOA2 -256T>C polymorphism and SFAs intake with BMI in type 2 diabetic patients. In fact, homozygous patients for the C allele with high saturated fatty acids intake had higher BMI. The APOA2 -256T>C polymorphism was associated with elevated levels of serum ghrelin.

Evaluation of infiltration models in contaminated landscape.

PubMed

Sadegh Zadeh, Kouroush; Shirmohammadi, Adel; Montas, Hubert J; Felton, Gary

2007-06-01

The infiltration models of Kostiakov, Green-Ampt, and Philip (two and three terms equations) were used, calibrated, and evaluated to simulate in-situ infiltration in nine different soil types. The Osborne-Moré modified version of the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization algorithm was coupled with the experimental data obtained by the double ring infiltrometers and the infiltration equations, to estimate the model parameters. Comparison of the model outputs with the experimental data indicates that the models can successfully describe cumulative infiltration in different soil types. However, since Kostiakov's equation fails to accurately simulate the infiltration rate as time approaches infinity, Philip's two-term equation, in some cases, produces negative values for the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils, and the Green-Ampt model uses piston flow assumptions, we suggest using Philip's three-term equation to simulate infiltration and to estimate the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils.

Computer simulations of electromagnetic cool ion beam instabilities. [in near earth space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gary, S. P.; Madland, C. D.; Schriver, D.; Winske, D.

1986-01-01

Electromagnetic ion beam instabilities driven by cool ion beams at propagation parallel or antiparallel to a uniform magnetic field are studied using computer simulations. The elements of linear theory applicable to electromagnetic ion beam instabilities and the simulations derived from a one-dimensional hybrid computer code are described. The quasi-linear regime of the right-hand resonant ion beam instability, and the gyrophase bunching of the nonlinear regime of the right-hand resonant and nonresonant instabilities are examined. It is detected that in the quasi-linear regime the instability saturation is due to a reduction in the beam core relative drift speed and an increase in the perpendicular-to-parallel beam temperature; in the nonlinear regime the instabilities saturate when half the initial beam drift kinetic energy density is converted to fluctuating magnetic field energy density.

Assessment of crop growth and soil water modules in SWAT2000 using extensive field experiment data in an irrigation district of the Yellow River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luo, Y.; He, C.; Sophocleous, M.; Yin, Z.; Hongrui, R.; Ouyang, Z.

2008-01-01

SWAT, a physically-based, hydrological model simulates crop growth, soil water and groundwater movement, and transport of sediment and nutrients at both the process and watershed scales. While the different versions of SWAT have been widely used throughout the world for agricultural and water resources applications, little has been done to test the performance, variability, and transferability of the parameters in the crop growth, soil water, and groundwater modules in an integrated way with multiple sets of field experimental data at the process scale. Using an multiple years of field experimental data of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the irrigation district of the Yellow River Basin, this paper assesses the performance of the plant-soil-groundwater modules and the variability and transferability of SWAT2000. Comparison of the simulated results by SWAT to the observations showed that SWAT performed quite unsatisfactorily in LAI predictions during the senescence stage, in yield predictions, and in soil-water estimation under dry soil-profile conditions. The unsatisfactory performance in LAI prediction might be attributed to over-simplified senescence modeling; in yield prediction to the improper computation of the harvest index; and in soil water under dry conditions to the exclusion of groundwater evaporation from the soil water balance in SWAT. In this paper, improvements in crop growth, soil water, and groundwater modules in SWAT were implemented. The saturated soil profile was coupled to the oscillating groundwater table. A variable evaporation coefficient taking into account soil water deficit index, groundwater depth, and crop root depth was used to replace the fixed coefficient in computing groundwater evaporation. The soil water balance included the groundwater evaporation. The modifications improved simulations of crop evapotranspiration and biomass as well as soil water dynamics under dry soil-profile conditions. The evaluation shows that the crop growth and soil water components of SWAT could be further refined to better simulate the hydrology of agricultural watersheds. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ambulatory vital signs in the workup of pulmonary embolism using a standardized 3-minute walk test.

PubMed

Amin, Qamar; Perry, Jeffrey J; Stiell, Ian G; Mohapatra, Subhra; Alsadoon, Abdulaziz; Rodger, Marc

2015-05-01

Diagnosing pulmonary embolism can be difficult given its highly variable clinical presentation. Our objective was to determine whether a decrease in oxygen saturation or an increase in heart rate while ambulating could be used as an objective tool in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. This was a two-site tertiary-care-centre prospective cohort study that enrolled adult emergency department or thrombosis clinic patients with suspected or newly confirmed pulmonary embolism. Patients were asked to participate in a standardized 3-minute walk test, which assessed ambulatory heart rate and ambulatory oxygen saturation. The primary outcome was pulmonary embolism. We enrolled 114 patients, including 30 with pulmonary embolism (26.3%). A ≥2% absolute decrease in ambulatory oxygen saturation and an ambulatory change in heart rate >10 beats per minute (BPM) were significantly associated with pulmonary embolism. An ambulatory heart rate change of >10 BPM had a sensitivity of 96.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 83.3 to 99.4) and a specificity of 31.0% (95% CI 22.1 to 45.0) for pulmonary embolism. A ≥2% absolute decrease ambulatory oxygen saturation had a sensitivity of 80.2% (95% CI 62.7 to 90.5) and a specificity of 39.3% (95% CI 29.5 to 50.0) for pulmonary embolism. The combination of both variables yielded a sensitivity of 100.0% (95% CI 87.0 to 100.0) and a specificity of 11.0% (95% CI 6.6 to 21.0). In summary, our study found that an ambulatory heart rate change of >10 BPM or a ≥2% absolute decrease in ambulatory oxygen saturation from baseline during a standardized 3-minute walk test are highly correlated with pulmonary embolism. Although the findings appear promising, neither of these variables can currently be recommended as a screening tool for pulmonary embolism until larger prospective studies examine their performance either alone or with pre-existing rules.

Documentation of a graphical display program for the saturated- unsaturated transport (SUTRA) finite-element simulation model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Souza, W.R.

1987-01-01

This report documents a graphical display program for the U. S. Geological Survey finite-element groundwater flow and solute transport model. Graphic features of the program, SUTRA-PLOT (SUTRA-PLOT = saturated/unsaturated transport), include: (1) plots of the finite-element mesh, (2) velocity vector plots, (3) contour plots of pressure, solute concentration, temperature, or saturation, and (4) a finite-element interpolator for gridding data prior to contouring. SUTRA-PLOT is written in FORTRAN 77 on a PRIME 750 computer system, and requires Version 9.0 or higher of the DISSPLA graphics library. The program requires two input files: the SUTRA input data list and the SUTRA simulation output listing. The program is menu driven and specifications for individual types of plots are entered and may be edited interactively. Installation instruction, a source code listing, and a description of the computer code are given. Six examples of plotting applications are used to demonstrate various features of the plotting program. (Author 's abstract)

Simulation of Nonisothermal Consolidation of Saturated Soils Based on a Thermodynamic Model

PubMed Central

Cheng, Xiaohui

2013-01-01

Based on the nonequilibrium thermodynamics, a thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling model for saturated soils is established, including a constitutive model without such concepts as yield surface and flow rule. An elastic potential energy density function is defined to derive a hyperelastic relation among the effective stress, the elastic strain, and the dry density. The classical linear non-equilibrium thermodynamic theory is employed to quantitatively describe the unrecoverable energy processes like the nonelastic deformation development in materials by the concepts of dissipative force and dissipative flow. In particular the granular fluctuation, which represents the kinetic energy fluctuation and elastic potential energy fluctuation at particulate scale caused by the irregular mutual movement between particles, is introduced in the model and described by the concept of granular entropy. Using this model, the nonisothermal consolidation of saturated clays under cyclic thermal loadings is simulated in this paper to validate the model. The results show that the nonisothermal consolidation is heavily OCR dependent and unrecoverable. PMID:23983623

Simulation of nonisothermal consolidation of saturated soils based on a thermodynamic model.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhichao; Cheng, Xiaohui

2013-01-01

Based on the nonequilibrium thermodynamics, a thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling model for saturated soils is established, including a constitutive model without such concepts as yield surface and flow rule. An elastic potential energy density function is defined to derive a hyperelastic relation among the effective stress, the elastic strain, and the dry density. The classical linear non-equilibrium thermodynamic theory is employed to quantitatively describe the unrecoverable energy processes like the nonelastic deformation development in materials by the concepts of dissipative force and dissipative flow. In particular the granular fluctuation, which represents the kinetic energy fluctuation and elastic potential energy fluctuation at particulate scale caused by the irregular mutual movement between particles, is introduced in the model and described by the concept of granular entropy. Using this model, the nonisothermal consolidation of saturated clays under cyclic thermal loadings is simulated in this paper to validate the model. The results show that the nonisothermal consolidation is heavily OCR dependent and unrecoverable.

Sub-10 nm Gate Length Graphene Transistors: Operating at Terahertz Frequencies with Current Saturation

PubMed Central

Zheng, Jiaxin; Wang, Lu; Quhe, Ruge; Liu, Qihang; Li, Hong; Yu, Dapeng; Mei, Wai-Ning; Shi, Junjie; Gao, Zhengxiang; Lu, Jing

2013-01-01

Radio-frequency application of graphene transistors is attracting much recent attention due to the high carrier mobility of graphene. The measured intrinsic cut-off frequency (fT) of graphene transistor generally increases with the reduced gate length (Lgate) till Lgate = 40 nm, and the maximum measured fT has reached 300 GHz. Using ab initio quantum transport simulation, we reveal for the first time that fT of a graphene transistor still increases with the reduced Lgate when Lgate scales down to a few nm and reaches astonishing a few tens of THz. We observe a clear drain current saturation when a band gap is opened in graphene, with the maximum intrinsic voltage gain increased by a factor of 20. Our simulation strongly suggests it is possible to design a graphene transistor with an extraordinary high fT and drain current saturation by continuously shortening Lgate and opening a band gap. PMID:23419782

A hydro-mechanical framework for early warning of rainfall-induced landslides (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godt, J.; Lu, N.; Baum, R. L.

2013-12-01

Landslide early warning requires an estimate of the location, timing, and magnitude of initial movement, and the change in volume and momentum of material as it travels down a slope or channel. In many locations advance assessment of landslide location, volume, and momentum is possible, but prediction of landslide timing entails understanding the evolution of rainfall and soil-water conditions, and consequent effects on slope stability in real time. Existing schemes for landslide prediction generally rely on empirical relations between landslide occurrence and rainfall amount and duration, however, these relations do not account for temporally variable rainfall nor the variably saturated processes that control the hydro-mechanical response of hillside materials to rainfall. Although limited by the resolution and accuracy of rainfall forecasts and now-casts in complex terrain and by the inherent difficulty in adequately characterizing subsurface materials, physics-based models provide a general means to quantitatively link rainfall and landslide occurrence. To obtain quantitative estimates of landslide potential from physics-based models using observed or forecasted rainfall requires explicit consideration of the changes in effective stress that result from changes in soil moisture and pore-water pressures. The physics that control soil-water conditions are transient, nonlinear, hysteretic, and dependent on material composition and history. In order to examine the physical processes that control infiltration and effective stress in variably saturated materials, we present field and laboratory results describing intrinsic relations among soil water and mechanical properties of hillside materials. At the REV (representative elementary volume) scale, the interaction between pore fluids and solid grains can be effectively described by the relation between soil suction, soil water content, hydraulic conductivity, and suction stress. We show that these relations can be obtained independently from outflow, shear strength, and deformation tests for a wide range of earth materials. We then compare laboratory results with measurements of pore pressure and moisture content from landslide-prone settings and demonstrate that laboratory results obtained for hillside materials are representative of field conditions. These fundamental relations provide a basis to combine observed or forecasted rainfall with in-situ measurements of soil water conditions using hydro-mechanical models that simulate transient variably saturated flow and slope stability. We conclude that early warning using an approach in which in-situ observations are used to establish initial conditions for hydro-mechanical models is feasible in areas of high landslide risk where laboratory characterization of materials is practical and accurate rainfall information can be obtained. Analogous to weather and climate forecasting, such models could then be applied in an ensemble fashion to obtain quantitative estimates of landslide probability and error. Application to broader regions likely awaits breakthroughs in the development of remotely sensed proxies of soil properties and subsurface moisture conditions.

Salt Content Determination for Bentonite Mine Spoil: Saturation Extracts Versus 1:5 Extracts

Treesearch

Marguerite E. Voorhees; Daniel W. Uresk

2004-01-01

The reliability of estimating salt content in saturated extracts from 1:5 (1spoil:5water) extract levels for bentonite mine spoil was examined by regression analyses. Nine chemical variables were examined that included pH, EC, Ca++, Mg++, Na+, K+, HCO3-, SO4-, and Cl-. Ion concentrations from 1:5 extracts were estimated with high predictability for Ca++, Mg++, Na+, SO4...

[Design of a pulse oximeter used to low perfusion and low oxygen saturation].

PubMed

Tan, Shuangping; Ai, Zhiguang; Yang, Yuxing; Xie, Qingguo

2013-05-01

This paper presents a new pulse oximeter used to low perfusion at 0.125% and wide oxygen saturation range from 35% to 100%. In order to acquire the best PPG signals, the variable gain amplifier(VGA) is adopted in hardware. The self-developed auto-correlation modeling method is adopted in software and it can extract pulse wave from low perfusion signals and remove motion artifacts partly.

Colloid-facilitated transport of cesium in variably saturated Hanford sediments.

PubMed

Chen, Gang; Flury, Markus; Harsh, James B; Lichtner, Peter C

2005-05-15

Radioactive 137Cs has leaked from underground waste tanks into the vadose zone at the Hanford Reservation in south-central Washington State. There is concern that 137Cs, currently located in the vadose zone, can reach the groundwater. In this study, we investigated whether, and to what extent, colloidal particles can facilitate the transport of 137Cs at Hanford. We used colloidal materials isolated from Hanford sediments. Transport experiments were conducted under variably saturated, steady-state flow conditions in repacked, 20 cm long Hanford sediment columns, with effective water saturations ranging from 0.2 to 1.0. Cesium, pre-associated with colloids, was stripped off during transport through the sediments. The higher the flow rates, the less Cs was stripped off, indicating in part that Cs desorption from carrying colloids was a residence-time-dependent process. Depending on the flow rate, up to 70% of the initially sorbed Cs desorbed from colloidal carriers and was captured in the stationary sediments. Less Cs was stripped off colloids under unsaturated than under saturated flow conditions at similar flow rates. This phenomenon was likely due to the reduced availability of sorption sites for Cs on the sediments as the water content decreased and water flow was divided between mobile and immobile regions.

Sources of variability in satellite-derived estimates of phytoplankton production in the eastern tropical Pacific

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banse, Karl; Yong, Marina

1990-01-01

As a proxy for satellite CZCS observations and concurrent measurements of primary production rates, data from 138 stations occupied seasonally during 1967-1968 in the offshore eastern tropical Pacific were analyzed in terms of six temporal groups and our current regimes. Multiple linear regressions on column production Pt show that simulated satellite pigment is generally weakly correlated, but sometimes not correlated with Pt, and that incident irradiance, sea surface temperature, nitrate, transparency, and depths of mixed layer or nitracline assume little or no importance. After a proxy for the light-saturated chlorophyll-specific photosynthetic rate P(max) is added, the coefficient of determination ranges from 0.55 to 0.91 (median of 0.85) for the 10 cases. In stepwise multiple linear regressions the P(max) proxy is the best predictor for Pt.

A COMSOL-GEMS interface for modeling coupled reactive-transport geochemical processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azad, Vahid Jafari; Li, Chang; Verba, Circe; Ideker, Jason H.; Isgor, O. Burkan

2016-07-01

An interface was developed between COMSOL MultiphysicsTM finite element analysis software and (geo)chemical modeling platform, GEMS, for the reactive-transport modeling of (geo)chemical processes in variably saturated porous media. The two standalone software packages are managed from the interface that uses a non-iterative operator splitting technique to couple the transport (COMSOL) and reaction (GEMS) processes. The interface allows modeling media with complex chemistry (e.g. cement) using GEMS thermodynamic database formats. Benchmark comparisons show that the developed interface can be used to predict a variety of reactive-transport processes accurately. The full functionality of the interface was demonstrated to model transport processes, governed by extended Nernst-Plank equation, in Class H Portland cement samples in high pressure and temperature autoclaves simulating systems that are used to store captured carbon dioxide (CO2) in geological reservoirs.

Variably-saturated groundwater modeling for optimizing managed aquifer recharge using trench infiltration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heilweil, Victor M.; Benoit, Jerome; Healy, Richard W.

2015-01-01

Spreading-basin methods have resulted in more than 130 million cubic meters of recharge to the unconfined Navajo Sandstone of southern Utah in the past decade, but infiltration rates have slowed in recent years because of reduced hydraulic gradients and clogging. Trench infiltration is a promising alternative technique for increasing recharge and minimizing evaporation. This paper uses a variably saturated flow model to further investigate the relative importance of the following variables on rates of trench infiltration to unconfined aquifers: saturated hydraulic conductivity, trench spacing and dimensions, initial water-table depth, alternate wet/dry periods, and number of parallel trenches. Modeling results showed (1) increased infiltration with higher hydraulic conductivity, deeper initial water tables, and larger spacing between parallel trenches, (2) deeper or wider trenches do not substantially increase infiltration, (3) alternating wet/dry periods result in less overall infiltration than keeping the trenches continuously full, and (4) larger numbers of parallel trenches within a fixed area increases infiltration but with a diminishing effect as trench spacing becomes tighter. An empirical equation for estimating expected trench infiltration rates as a function of hydraulic conductivity and initial water-table depth was derived and can be used for evaluating feasibility of trench infiltration in other hydrogeologic settings

MO-G-BRF-06: Radiotherapy and Prompt Oxygen Dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kissick, M; Campos, D; Adamson, E

Purpose: Adaptive radiotherapy requires a knowledge of the changing local tumor oxygen concentrations for times on the order of the treatment time, a time scale far shorter than cell death and proliferation. This knowledge will be needed to guide hypofractionated radiotherapy. Methods: A diffuse optical probe system was developed to spatially average over the whole interior of athymic Sprague Dawley nude mouse xenografts of human head and neck cancers. The blood volume and hemoglobin saturation was measured in real time. The quantities were measured with spectral fitting before and after 10 Gy of radiation is applied. An MRI BOLD scanmore » is acquired before and after 10 Gy that measures regional changes in R2* which is inversely proportional to oxygen availability. Simulations were performed to fit the blood oxygen dynamics and infer changes in hypoxia within the tumor. Results: The optical probe measured nearly constant blood volume and a significant drop in hemoglobin saturation of about 30% after 10 Gy over the time scale of less than 30 minutes. The averaged R2* within the tumor volume increased by 15% after the 10 Gy dose, which is consistent with the optical results. The simulations and experiments support likely dynamic metabolic changes and/or fast vasoconstrictive signals are occurring that change the oxygen concentrations significantly, but not cell death or proliferation. Conclusion: Significant oxygen changes were observed to occur within 30 minutes, coinciding with the treatment time scale. This dynamic is very important for patient specific adaptive therapy. For hypofractionated therapy, the local instantaneous oxygen content is likely the most important variable to control. The invention of a bedside device for the purpose of measuring the instantaneous response to large radiation doses would be an important step to future improvements in outcome.« less

Numerical simulation of humidification and heating during inspiration within an adult nose.

PubMed

Sommer, F; Kroger, R; Lindemann, J

2012-06-01

The temperature of inhaled air is highly relevant for the humidification process. Narrow anatomical conditions limit possibilities for in vivo measurements. Numerical simulations offer a great potential to examine the function of the human nose. In the present study, the nasal humidification of inhaled air was simulated simultaneously with temperature distribution during a respiratory cycle. A realistic nose model based on a multislice CT scan was created. The simulation was performed by the Software Fluent(r). Boundary conditions were based on previous in vivo measurements. Inhaled air had a temperature of 20(deg)C and relative humidity of 30%. The wall temperature was assumed to be variable from 34(deg)C to 30(deg)C with constant humidity saturation of 100% during the respiratory cycle. A substantial increase in temperature and humidity can be observed after passing the nasal valve area. Areas with high speed air flow, e.g. the space around the turbinates, show an intensive humidification and heating potential. Inspired air reaches 95% humidity and 28(deg)C within the nasopharynx. The human nose features an enormous humidification and heating capability. Warming and humidification are dependent on each other and show a similar spacial pattern. Concerning the climatisation function, the middle turbinate is of high importance. In contrast to in vivo measurements, numerical simulations can explore the impact of airflow distribution on nasal air conditioning. They are an effective method to investigate nasal pathologies and impacts of surgical procedures.

Elastic velocity models for gas-hydrate-bearing sediments-a comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chand, Shyam; Minshull, Tim A.; Gei, Davide; Carcione, José M.

2004-11-01

The presence of gas hydrate in oceanic sediments is mostly identified by bottom-simulating reflectors (BSRs), reflection events with reversed polarity following the trend of the seafloor. Attempts to quantify the amount of gas hydrate present in oceanic sediments have been based mainly on the presence or absence of a BSR and its relative amplitude. Recent studies have shown that a BSR is not a necessary criterion for the presence of gas hydrates, but rather its presence depends on the type of sediments and the in situ conditions. The influence of hydrate on the physical properties of sediments overlying the BSR is determined by the elastic properties of their constituents and on sediment microstructure. In this context several approaches have been developed to predict the physical properties of sediments, and thereby quantify the amount of gas/gas hydrate present from observed deviations of these properties from those predicted for sediments without gas hydrate. We tested four models: the empirical weighted equation (WE); the three-phase effective-medium theory (TPEM); the three-phase Biot theory (TPB) and the differential effective-medium theory (DEM). We compared these models for a range of variables (porosity and clay content) using standard values for physical parameters. The comparison shows that all the models predict sediment properties comparable to field values except for the WE model at lower porosities and the TPB model at higher porosities. The models differ in the variation of velocity with porosity and clay content. The variation of velocity with hydrate saturation is also different, although the range is similar. We have used these models to predict velocities for field data sets from sediment sections with and without gas hydrates. The first is from the Mallik 2L-38 well, Mackenzie Delta, Canada, and the second is from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 164 on Blake Ridge. Both data sets have Vp and Vs information along with the composition and porosity of the matrix. Models are considered successful if predictions from both Vp and Vs match hydrate saturations inferred from other data. Three of the models predict consistent hydrate saturations of 60-80 per cent from both Vp and Vs from log and vertical seismic profiling data for the Mallik 2L-38 well data set, but the TPEM model predicts 20 per cent higher saturations, as does the DEM model with a clay-water starting medium. For the clay-rich sediments of Blake Ridge, the DEM, TPEM and WE models predict 10-20 per cent hydrate saturation from Vp data, comparable to that inferred from resistivity data. The hydrate saturation predicted by the TPB model from Vp is higher. Using Vs data, the DEM and TPEM models predict very low or zero hydrate saturation while the TPB and WE models predict hydrate saturation very much higher than those predicted from Vp data. Low hydrate saturations are observed to have little effect on Vs. The hydrate phase appears to be connected within the sediment microstructure even at low saturations.

Modulational-instability-induced supercontinuum generation with saturable nonlinear response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raja, R. Vasantha Jayakantha; Porsezian, K.; Nithyanandan, K.

2010-07-01

We theoretically investigate the supercontinuum generation (SCG) on the basis of modulational instability (MI) in liquid-core photonic crystal fibers (LCPCF) with CS2-filled central core. The effect of saturable nonlinearity of LCPCF on SCG in the femtosecond regime is studied using an appropriately modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We also compare the MI induced spectral broadening with SCG obtained by soliton fission. To analyze the quality of the pulse broadening, we study the coherence of the SC pulse numerically. It is evident from the numerical simulation that the response of the saturable nonlinearity suppresses the broadening of the pulse. We also observe that the MI induced SCG in the presence of saturable nonlinearity degrades the coherence of the SCG pulse when compared to unsaturated medium.

Modulational-instability-induced supercontinuum generation with saturable nonlinear response

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raja, R. Vasantha Jayakantha; Porsezian, K.; Nithyanandan, K.

2010-07-15

We theoretically investigate the supercontinuum generation (SCG) on the basis of modulational instability (MI) in liquid-core photonic crystal fibers (LCPCF) with CS{sub 2}-filled central core. The effect of saturable nonlinearity of LCPCF on SCG in the femtosecond regime is studied using an appropriately modified nonlinear Schroedinger equation. We also compare the MI induced spectral broadening with SCG obtained by soliton fission. To analyze the quality of the pulse broadening, we study the coherence of the SC pulse numerically. It is evident from the numerical simulation that the response of the saturable nonlinearity suppresses the broadening of the pulse. We alsomore » observe that the MI induced SCG in the presence of saturable nonlinearity degrades the coherence of the SCG pulse when compared to unsaturated medium.« less

On the persistence of unstable bump-on-tail electron velocity distributions in the earth's foreshock

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimas, Alexander J.; Fitzenreiter, Richard J.

1988-01-01

This paper presents further evidence for the persistence of bump-on-tail unstable reduced velocity distributions in the earth's electron foreshock, which contradicts the understanding of quasi-linear saturation of the bump-on-tail instability. A modified theory for the saturation of the bump-on-tail instability in the earth's foreshock is proposed to explain the mechanism of this persistence, and the predictions are compared to the results of a numerical simulation of the electron plasma in the foreshock. The results support the thesis that quasi-linear saturation of the bump-on-tail instability is modified in the foreshock, due to the driven nature of the region, so that at saturation the stabilized velocity distribution still appears bump-on-tail unstable to linear plasma analysis.

Exploring the effects of data quality, data worth, and redundancy of CO2 gas pressure and saturation data on reservoir characterization through PEST Inversion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fang, Zhufeng; Hou, Zhangshuan; Lin, Guang

2014-04-01

This study examined the impacts of reservoir properties on CO2 migration after subsurface injection and evaluated the possibility of characterizing reservoir properties using CO2 monitoring data such as saturation distribution. The injection reservoir was assumed to be located 1400-1500 m below the ground surface such that CO2 remained in the supercritical state. The reservoir was assumed to contain layers with alternating conductive and resistive properties, which is analogous to actual geological formations such as the Mount Simon Sandstone unit. The CO2 injection simulation used a cylindrical grid setting in which the injection well was situated at the center of themore » domain, which extended up to 8000 m from the injection well. The CO2 migration was simulated using the PNNL-developed simulator STOMP-CO2e (the water-salt-CO2 module). We adopted a nonlinear parameter estimation and optimization modeling software package, PEST, for automated reservoir parameter estimation. We explored the effects of data quality, data worth, and data redundancy on the detectability of reservoir parameters using CO2 saturation monitoring data, by comparing PEST inversion results using data with different levels of noises, various numbers of monitoring wells and locations, and different data collection spacing and temporal sampling intervals. This study yielded insight into the use of CO2 saturation monitoring data for reservoir characterization and how to design the monitoring system to optimize data worth and reduce data redundancy.« less

Persistence of baroreceptor control of cerebral blood flow velocity at a simulated altitude of 5000 m.

PubMed

Passino, Claudio; Cencetti, Simone; Spadacini, Giammario; Quintana, Robert; Parker, Daryl; Robergs, Robert; Appenzeller, Otto; Bernardi, Luciano

2007-09-01

To assess the effects of acute exposure to simulated high altitude on baroreflex control of mean cerebral blood flow velocity (MCFV). We compared beat-to-beat changes in RR interval, arterial blood pressure, mean MCFV (by transcranial Doppler velocimetry in the middle cerebral artery), end-tidal CO2, oxygen saturation and respiration in 19 healthy subjects at baseline (Albuquerque, 1779 m), after acute exposure to simulated high altitude in a hypobaric chamber (barometric pressure as at 5000 m) and during oxygen administration (to achieve 100% oxygen saturation) at the same barometric pressure (HOX). Baroreflex control on each signal was assessed by univariate and bivariate power spectral analysis performed on time series obtained during controlled (15 breaths/min) breathing, before and during baroreflex modulation induced by 0.1-Hz sinusoidal neck suction. At baseline, neck suction was able to induce a clear increase in low-frequency power in MCFV (P<0.001) as well as in RR and blood pressure. At high altitude, MCFV, as well as RR and blood pressure, was still able to respond to neck suction (all P<0.001), compared to controlled breathing alone, despite marked decreases in end-tidal CO2 and oxygen saturation at high altitude. A similar response was obtained at HOX. Phase delay analysis excluded a passive transmission of low-frequency oscillations from arterial pressure to cerebral circulation. During acute exposure to high altitude, cerebral blood flow is still modulated by the autonomic nervous system through the baroreflex, whose sensitivity is not affected by changes in CO2 and oxygen saturation levels.

Characterising the short-term sensitivity of Californian intertidal community calcification to ocean acidification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwiatkowski, Lester; Caldeira, Ken

2015-04-01

Anthropogenic emissions of CO2 and invasion of part of this CO2 into the oceans results in a decrease in seawater pH and a lowering of the calcium carbonate saturation state. The historic and projected decrease of the calcium carbonate saturation state of seawater has the potential to compromise the ability of many marine calcifying organisms to form their calcium carbonate shells or skeletons and is likely to have significant ocean ecosystem impacts over the 21st Century. In laboratory manipulations temperate calcifying organisms have been shown to exhibit reduced calcification as a result of CO2 addition. However, very few experiments have observed how calcification in temperate systems responds to natural variations in seawater carbonate chemistry. We assess the community level sensitivity of Californian tidal pool calcification rates to variability in the calcium carbonate saturation state. Our tidal pool study sites at Bodega Bay in Northern California experience extreme variation in low tide carbonate saturation state due to photosynthetic activity and the time at which the pools are isolated from the open ocean. During our study period, we observed aragonite saturation levels ranging from 0.5 to 9. Photosynthetic activity is largely dependent on temperature and photosynthetic active radiation which vary on a diurnal timescale whereas the time at which pools are isolated from open seawater, and thus the amount by which tide pool carbonate chemistry differs from that of open ocean waters, is largely a consequence of tidal period which varies on a lunar cycle. Because there are substantial uncorrelated components of light, temperature, and seawater carbonate chemistry in our data, one can separate the influence of carbonate saturation state on calcification from the influence of temperature and PAR. This provides an opportunity to characterise the short-timescale sensitivity of tidal pool calcification rates to changes in carbonate saturation state. We show that on such timescales community level rates of daytime calcification are not strongly influenced by variability in carbonate saturation state. This suggests that these intertidal communities may be more resilient to projected ocean acidification than previously thought, although extending this work to consider longer timescales would be required to more firmly support this hypothesis.

Modeling magnetization transfer effects of Q2TIPS bolus saturation in multi-TI pulsed arterial spin labeling.

PubMed

Petr, Jan; Schramm, Georg; Hofheinz, Frank; Langner, Jens; van den Hoff, Jörg

2014-10-01

To estimate the relaxation time changes during Q2TIPS bolus saturation caused by magnetization transfer effects and to propose and evaluate an extended model for perfusion quantification which takes this into account. Three multi inversion-time pulsed arterial spin labeling sequences with different bolus saturation duration were acquired for five healthy volunteers. Magnetization transfer exchange rates in tissue and blood were obtained from control image saturation recovery. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) obtained using the extended model and the standard model was compared. A decrease of obtained CBF of 6% (10%) was observed in grey matter when the duration of bolus saturation increased from 600 to 900 ms (1200 ms). This decrease was reduced to 1.6% (2.8%) when the extended quantification model was used. Compared with the extended model, the standard model underestimated CBF in grey matter by 9.7, 15.0, and 18.7% for saturation durations 600, 900, and 1200 ms, respectively. Results for simulated single inversion-time data showed 5-16% CBF underestimation depending on blood arrival time and bolus saturation duration. Magnetization transfer effects caused by bolus saturation pulses should not be ignored when performing quantification as they can cause appreciable underestimation of the CBF. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Efficient uncertainty quantification in fully-integrated surface and subsurface hydrologic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, K. L.; Berg, S. J.; Davison, J. H.; Sudicky, E. A.; Forsyth, P. A.

2018-01-01

Although high performance computers and advanced numerical methods have made the application of fully-integrated surface and subsurface flow and transport models such as HydroGeoSphere common place, run times for large complex basin models can still be on the order of days to weeks, thus, limiting the usefulness of traditional workhorse algorithms for uncertainty quantification (UQ) such as Latin Hypercube simulation (LHS) or Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), which generally require thousands of simulations to achieve an acceptable level of accuracy. In this paper we investigate non-intrusive polynomial chaos for uncertainty quantification, which in contrast to random sampling methods (e.g., LHS and MCS), represents a model response of interest as a weighted sum of polynomials over the random inputs. Once a chaos expansion has been constructed, approximating the mean, covariance, probability density function, cumulative distribution function, and other common statistics as well as local and global sensitivity measures is straightforward and computationally inexpensive, thus making PCE an attractive UQ method for hydrologic models with long run times. Our polynomial chaos implementation was validated through comparison with analytical solutions as well as solutions obtained via LHS for simple numerical problems. It was then used to quantify parametric uncertainty in a series of numerical problems with increasing complexity, including a two-dimensional fully-saturated, steady flow and transient transport problem with six uncertain parameters and one quantity of interest; a one-dimensional variably-saturated column test involving transient flow and transport, four uncertain parameters, and two quantities of interest at 101 spatial locations and five different times each (1010 total); and a three-dimensional fully-integrated surface and subsurface flow and transport problem for a small test catchment involving seven uncertain parameters and three quantities of interest at 241 different times each. Numerical experiments show that polynomial chaos is an effective and robust method for quantifying uncertainty in fully-integrated hydrologic simulations, which provides a rich set of features and is computationally efficient. Our approach has the potential for significant speedup over existing sampling based methods when the number of uncertain model parameters is modest ( ≤ 20). To our knowledge, this is the first implementation of the algorithm in a comprehensive, fully-integrated, physically-based three-dimensional hydrosystem model.

Glass-water interactions: Effect of high-valence cations on glass structure and chemical durability

DOE PAGES

Pierce, Eric M.; Kerisit, Sebastien N.; Charpentier, Thibault; ...

2016-02-27

Spectroscopic measurements, dissolution experiments, and Monte Carlo simulations were performed to investigate the effect of high valence cations (HVC) on the mechanisms of glass dissolution under dilute and near-saturated conditions. Raman and NMR spectroscopy were used to determine the structural changes that occur in glass, specifically network formers (e.g., Al, Si, and B), with the addition of the HVC element hafnium in the Na 2O Al 2O 3 B 2O 3 HfO 2 SiO 2 system (e.g., Na/(Al+B) = 1.0 and HfO 2/SiO 2 from 0.0 to 0.42). Spectroscopic measurements revealed that increasing hafnium content decreases N 4 and increasesmore » the amount of Si–O–Hf moieties in the glass. Results from flow through experiments conducted under dilute and near saturated conditions show a decrease of approximately 100 or more in the dissolution rate over the series from 0 to 20 mol% HfO 2. Comparing the average steady-state rates obtained under dilute conditions to the rates obtained for near-saturated conditions reveal a divergence in the magnitude between the average steady state rates measured in these different conditions. The reason for this divergence was investigated more thoroughly using Monte Carlo simulations. Simulations indicate that the divergence in glass dissolution behavior under dilute and near-saturated conditions result from the formation of a low coordination Si sites when Si from the saturated solution adsorbs to Hf on the glass surface. The residence time of the newly formed low coordination Si sites is longer at the glass surface and increases the density of anchor sites from which altered layers with higher Si densities can form than in the absence of Hf. These results illustrate the importance of understanding solid water/solid-fluid interactions by linking macroscopic reaction kinetics to nanometer scale interfacial processes.« less

Microscopic analysis of saturable absorbers: Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors versus graphene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hader, J.; Moloney, J. V.; College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721

2016-02-07

Fully microscopic many-body calculations are used to study the influence of strong sub-picosecond pulses on the carrier distributions and corresponding optical response in saturable absorbers used for mode-locking—semiconductor (quantum well) saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) and single layer graphene based saturable absorber mirrors (GSAMs). Unlike in GSAMs, the saturation fluence and recovery time in SESAMs show a strong spectral dependence. While the saturation fluence in the SESAM is minimal at the excitonic bandgap, the optimal recovery time and least pulse distortion due to group delay dispersion are found for excitation higher in the first subband. For excitation near the SESAM bandgap,more » the saturation fluence is about one tenth of that in the GSAM. At energies above the bandgap, the fluences in both systems become similar. A strong dependence of the saturation fluence on the pulse width in both systems is caused by carrier relaxation during the pulse. The recovery time in graphene is found to be about two to four times faster than that in the SESAMs. The occurrence of negative differential transmission in graphene is shown to be caused by dopant related carriers. In SESAMs, a negative differential transmission is found when exciting below the excitonic resonance where excitation induced dephasing leads to an enhancement of the absorption. Comparisons of the simulation data to the experiment show a very good quantitative agreement.« less

Evaluation of Working Fluids for Organic Rankine Cycle Based on Exergy Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setiawan, D.; Subrata, I. D. M.; Purwanto, Y. A.; Tambunan, A. H.

2018-05-01

One of the crucial aspects to determine the performance of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is the selection of appropriate working fluids. This paper describes the simulative performance of several organic fluid and water as working fluid of an ORC based on exergy analysis with a heat source from waste heat recovery. The simulation was conducted by using Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The effect of several parameters and thermodynamic properties of working fluid was analyzed, and part of them was used as variables for the simulation in order to determine their sensitivity to the exergy efficiency changes. The results of this study showed that water is not appropriate to be used as working fluid at temperature lower than 130 °C, because the expansion process falls in saturated area. It was also found that Benzene had the highest exergy efficiency, i.e. about 10.49%, among the dry type working fluid. The increasing turbine inlet temperature did not lead to the increase of exergy efficiency when using organic working fluids with critical temperature near heat source temperature. Meanwhile, exergy efficiency decreasing linearly with the increasing condenser inlet temperature. In addition, it was found that working fluid with high latent heat of vaporization and specific heat exert in high exergy efficiency.

Numerical Simulation of Ultra-Fast Pulse Propagation in Two-Photon Absorbing Medium

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-08-01

physical problems including coherent- and incoherent regimes of optical power limiting, saturation, CEP effects, soliton formation etc. It can be also...coherent- and incoherent regimes of optical power limiting, saturation, CEP effects, electromagnetically induced transparency, soliton formation etc...experimental data ( dark blue); Upper panel - 1PA spectrum; Lower panel - 2PA cross section spectrum. The parameter values used are shown in Table 1. 10

Simulation of partially saturated - saturated flow in the Caspar Creek E-road groundwater system

Treesearch

Jason C. Fisher

2000-01-01

Abstract - Over the past decade, the U.S. Forest Service has monitored the subsurface hillslope flow of the E-road swale. The swale is located in the Caspar Creek watershed near Fort Bragg, California. In hydrologic year 1990 a logging road was built across the middle section of the hillslope followed by a total clearcut of the area during the following year....

Modelling of deformation of underground tunnel lining, interacting with water-saturated soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berezhnoi, D. V.; Balafendieva, I. S.; Sachenkov, A. A.; Sekaeva, L. R.

2016-11-01

Built finite element method of calculating the deformation of underground tunnel lining, interacting with dry and water-saturated soils. To simulate the interaction between the lining and soils environments, including physical and non-linear, a special "contact" finite element, which allows to consider all cases of interaction between the contacting surfaces. It solved a number of problems of deformation with the ground subway tunnel lining rings.

Transition to Turbulent Dynamo Saturation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seshasayanan, Kannabiran; Gallet, Basile; Alexakis, Alexandros

2017-11-01

While the saturated magnetic energy is independent of viscosity in dynamo experiments, it remains viscosity dependent in state-of-the-art 3D direct numerical simulations (DNS). Extrapolating such viscous scaling laws to realistic parameter values leads to an underestimation of the magnetic energy by several orders of magnitude. The origin of this discrepancy is that fully 3D DNS cannot reach low enough values of the magnetic Prandtl number Pm. To bypass this limitation and investigate dynamo saturation at very low Pm, we focus on the vicinity of the dynamo threshold in a rapidly rotating flow: the velocity field then depends on two spatial coordinates only, while the magnetic field consists of a single Fourier mode in the third direction. We perform numerical simulations of the resulting set of reduced equations for Pm down to 2 ×10-5. This parameter regime is currently out of reach to fully 3D DNS. We show that the magnetic energy transitions from a high-Pm viscous scaling regime to a low-Pm turbulent scaling regime, the latter being independent of viscosity. The transition to the turbulent saturation regime occurs at a low value of the magnetic Prandtl number, Pm ≃10-3 , which explains why it has been overlooked by numerical studies so far.

Transition to Turbulent Dynamo Saturation.

PubMed

Seshasayanan, Kannabiran; Gallet, Basile; Alexakis, Alexandros

2017-11-17

While the saturated magnetic energy is independent of viscosity in dynamo experiments, it remains viscosity dependent in state-of-the-art 3D direct numerical simulations (DNS). Extrapolating such viscous scaling laws to realistic parameter values leads to an underestimation of the magnetic energy by several orders of magnitude. The origin of this discrepancy is that fully 3D DNS cannot reach low enough values of the magnetic Prandtl number Pm. To bypass this limitation and investigate dynamo saturation at very low Pm, we focus on the vicinity of the dynamo threshold in a rapidly rotating flow: the velocity field then depends on two spatial coordinates only, while the magnetic field consists of a single Fourier mode in the third direction. We perform numerical simulations of the resulting set of reduced equations for Pm down to 2×10^{-5}. This parameter regime is currently out of reach to fully 3D DNS. We show that the magnetic energy transitions from a high-Pm viscous scaling regime to a low-Pm turbulent scaling regime, the latter being independent of viscosity. The transition to the turbulent saturation regime occurs at a low value of the magnetic Prandtl number, Pm≃10^{-3}, which explains why it has been overlooked by numerical studies so far.

Influence of infrastructure on water quality and greenhouse gas dynamics in urban streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Rose M.; Kaushal, Sujay S.; Beaulieu, Jake J.; Pennino, Michael J.; Welty, Claire

2017-06-01

Streams and rivers are significant sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) globally, and watershed management can alter greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from streams. We hypothesized that urban infrastructure significantly alters downstream water quality and contributes to variability in GHG saturation and emissions. We measured gas saturation and estimated emission rates in headwaters of two urban stream networks (Red Run and Dead Run) of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Long-Term Ecological Research project. We identified four combinations of stormwater and sanitary infrastructure present in these watersheds, including: (1) stream burial, (2) inline stormwater wetlands, (3) riparian/floodplain preservation, and (4) septic systems. We selected two first-order catchments in each of these categories and measured GHG concentrations, emissions, and dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC and DOC) and nutrient concentrations biweekly for 1 year. From a water quality perspective, the DOC : NO3- ratio of streamwater was significantly different across infrastructure categories. Multiple linear regressions including DOC : NO3- and other variables (dissolved oxygen, DO; total dissolved nitrogen, TDN; and temperature) explained much of the statistical variation in nitrous oxide (N2O, r2 = 0.78), carbon dioxide (CO2, r2 = 0.78), and methane (CH4, r2 = 0.50) saturation in stream water. We measured N2O saturation ratios, which were among the highest reported in the literature for streams, ranging from 1.1 to 47 across all sites and dates. N2O saturation ratios were highest in streams draining watersheds with septic systems and strongly correlated with TDN. The CO2 saturation ratio was highly correlated with the N2O saturation ratio across all sites and dates, and the CO2 saturation ratio ranged from 1.1 to 73. CH4 was always supersaturated, with saturation ratios ranging from 3.0 to 2157. Longitudinal surveys extending form headwaters to third-order outlets of Red Run and Dead Run took place in spring and fall. Linear regressions of these data yielded significant negative relationships between each gas with increasing watershed size as well as consistent relationships between solutes (TDN or DOC, and DOC : TDN ratio) and gas saturation. Despite a decline in gas saturation between the headwaters and stream outlet, streams remained saturated with GHGs throughout the drainage network, suggesting that urban streams are continuous sources of CO2, CH4, and N2O. Our results suggest that infrastructure decisions can have significant effects on downstream water quality and greenhouse gases, and watershed management strategies may need to consider coupled impacts on urban water and air quality.

Non-invasive evaluation of blood oxygen saturation and hematocrit from T1 and T2 relaxation times: In-vitro validation in fetal blood.

PubMed

Portnoy, Sharon; Seed, Mike; Sled, John G; Macgowan, Christopher K

2017-12-01

We propose an analytical method for calculating blood hematocrit (Hct) and oxygen saturation (sO 2 ) from measurements of its T 1 and T 2 relaxation times. Through algebraic substitution, established two-compartment relationships describing R1=T1-1 and R2=T2-1 as a function of hematocrit and oxygen saturation were rearranged to solve for Hct and sO 2 in terms of R 1 and R 2 . Resulting solutions for Hct and sO 2 are the roots of cubic polynomials. Feasibility of the method was established by comparison of Hct and sO 2 estimates obtained from relaxometry measurements (at 1.5 Tesla) in cord blood specimens to ground-truth values obtained by blood gas analysis. Monte Carlo simulations were also conducted to assess the effect of T 1 , T 2 measurement uncertainty on precision of Hct and sO 2 estimates. Good agreement was observed between estimated and ground-truth blood properties (bias = 0.01; 95% limits of agreement = ±0.13 for Hct and sO 2 ). Considering the combined effects of biological variability and random measurement noise, we estimate a typical uncertainty of ±0.1 for Hct, sO 2 estimates. Results demonstrate accurate quantification of Hct and sO 2 from T 1 and T 2 . This method is applicable to noninvasive fetal vessel oximetry-an application where existing oximetry devices are unusable or require risky blood-sampling procedures. Magn Reson Med 78:2352-2359, 2017. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Quasi-static finite element modeling of seismic attenuation and dispersion due to wave-induced fluid flow in poroelastic media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quintal, Beatriz; Steeb, Holger; Frehner, Marcel; Schmalholz, Stefan M.

2011-01-01

The finite element method is used to solve Biot's equations of consolidation in the displacement-pressure (u - p) formulation. We compute one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) numerical quasi-static creep tests with poroelastic media exhibiting mesoscopic-scale heterogeneities to calculate the complex and frequency-dependent P wave moduli from the modeled stress-strain relations. The P wave modulus is used to calculate the frequency-dependent attenuation (i.e., inverse of quality factor) and phase velocity of the medium. Attenuation and velocity dispersion are due to fluid flow induced by pressure differences between regions of different compressibilities, e.g., regions (or patches) saturated with different fluids (i.e., so-called patchy saturation). Comparison of our numerical results with analytical solutions demonstrates the accuracy and stability of the algorithm for a wide range of frequencies (six orders of magnitude). The algorithm employs variable time stepping and an unstructured mesh which make it efficient and accurate for 2-D simulations in media with heterogeneities of arbitrary geometries (e.g., curved shapes). We further numerically calculate the quality factor and phase velocity for 1-D layered patchy saturated porous media exhibiting random distributions of patch sizes. We show that the numerical results for the random distributions can be approximated using a volume average of White's analytical solution and the proposed averaging method is, therefore, suitable for a fast and transparent prediction of both quality factor and phase velocity. Application of our results to frequency-dependent reflection coefficients of hydrocarbon reservoirs indicates that attenuation due to wave-induced flow can increase the reflection coefficient at low frequencies, as is observed at some reservoirs.

Imaging and Measurements of Flow Phenomena and Impact of Soil Associated Constituents Through Unsaturated Porous Media in a 2D System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pales, A. R.; Li, B.; Clifford, H.; Edayilam, N.; Montgomery, D.; Dogan, M.; Tharayil, N.; Martinez, N. E.; Moysey, S. M.; Darnault, C. J. G.

2016-12-01

This research aims to build upon past two-dimension (2D) tank light transmission methods to quantify real-time flow in unsaturated porous media (ASTM silica sand; US Silica, Ottawa, IL, USA) and how exudates effect unstable flow patterns. A 2D tank light transmission method was created using a transparent flow through tank coupled with a random rainfall simulator; a commercial LED light and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor digital single lens reflex (CMOS DSLR) Nikon D5500 camera were used to capture the real-time flow images. The images were broken down from red-green-blue (RGB) into hue-saturation-intensity (HVI) and analyzed in Matlab to produce quantifiable data about finger formation and water saturation distribution. Contact angle and surface tension of the chemical plant exudate solutions was measured using a Kruss EasyDrop FM40Mk2 (Kruss GmbH Germany). The exudates (oxalate, citrate, tannic acid, and Suwannee River Natural Organic Matter) had an increased wettability effect compared to control rain water (0.01M NaCl). This resulted in variable finger formation and speed of finger propagation; dependent on exudate type and concentration. Water saturation along the vertical and horizontal profile (Matlab) was used to quantify the finger more objectively than by eye assessment alone. The changes in finger formation and speed of propagation between the control rain water (0.01M NaCl) and the solutions containing plant exudates illustrates that the plant exudates increased the wettability (mobility) of water moving through unsaturated porous media. This understanding of plant exudates effect on unsaturated flow is important for future works in this study to analyze how plants, their roots and exudates, may affect the mobility of radionuclides in unsaturated porous media.

The Aggregate Description of Semi-Arid Vegetation with Precipitation-Generated Soil Moisture Heterogeneity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Cary B.; Houser, Paul R.; Arain, Altaf M.; Yang, Zong-Liang; Syed, Kamran; Shuttleworth, W. James

1997-01-01

Meteorological measurements in the Walnut Gulch catchment in Arizona were used to synthesize a distributed, hourly-average time series of data across a 26.9 by 12.5 km area with a grid resolution of 480 m for a continuous 18-month period which included two seasons of monsoonal rainfall. Coupled surface-atmosphere model runs established the acceptability (for modelling purposes) of assuming uniformity in all meteorological variables other than rainfall. Rainfall was interpolated onto the grid from an array of 82 recording rain gauges. These meteorological data were used as forcing variables for an equivalent array of stand-alone Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS) models to describe the evolution of soil moisture and surface energy fluxes in response to the prevalent, heterogeneous pattern of convective precipitation. The calculated area-average behaviour was compared with that given by a single aggregate BATS simulation forced with area-average meteorological data. Heterogeneous rainfall gives rise to significant but partly compensating differences in the transpiration and the intercepted rainfall components of total evaporation during rain storms. However, the calculated area-average surface energy fluxes given by the two simulations in rain-free conditions with strong heterogeneity in soil moisture were always close to identical, a result which is independent of whether default or site-specific vegetation and soil parameters were used. Because the spatial variability in soil moisture throughout the catchment has the same order of magnitude as the amount of rain failing in a typical convective storm (commonly 10% of the vegetation's root zone saturation) in a semi-arid environment, non-linearitv in the relationship between transpiration and the soil moisture available to the vegetation has limited influence on area-average surface fluxes.

Evaluation Metrics for Simulations of Tropical South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallup, S.; Baker, I. T.; Denning, A. S.; Cheeseman, M.; Haynes, K. D.; Phillips, M.

2017-12-01

The evergreen broadleaf forest of the Amazon Basin is the largest rainforest on earth, and has teleconnections to global climate and carbon cycle characteristics. This region defies simple characterization, spanning large gradients in total rainfall and seasonal variability. Broadly, the region can be thought of as trending from light-limited in its wettest areas to water-limited near the ecotone, with individual landscapes possibly exhibiting the characteristics of either (or both) limitations during an annual cycle. A basin-scale classification of mean behavior has been elusive, and ecosystem response to seasonal cycles and anomalous drought events has resulted in some disagreement in the literature, to say the least. However, new observational platforms and instruments make characterization of the heterogeneity and variability more feasible.To evaluate simulations of ecophysiological function, we develop metrics that correlate various observational products with meteorological variables such as precipitation and radiation. Observations include eddy covariance fluxes, Solar Induced Fluorescence (SIF, from GOME2 and OCO2), biomass and vegetation indices. We find that the modest correlation between SIF and precipitation decreases with increasing annual precipitation, although the relationship is not consistent between products. Biomass increases with increasing precipitation. Although vegetation indices are generally correlated with biomass and precipitation, they can saturate or experience retrieval issues during cloudy periods.Using these observational products and relationships, we develop a set of model evaluation metrics. These metrics are designed to call attention to models that get "the right answer only if it's for the right reason," and provide an opportunity for more critical evaluation of model physics. These metrics represent a testbed that can be applied to multiple models as a means to evaluate their performance in tropical South America.

An efficient distribution method for nonlinear transport problems in stochastic porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahima, F.; Tchelepi, H.; Meyer, D. W.

2015-12-01

Because geophysical data are inexorably sparse and incomplete, stochastic treatments of simulated responses are convenient to explore possible scenarios and assess risks in subsurface problems. In particular, understanding how uncertainties propagate in porous media with nonlinear two-phase flow is essential, yet challenging, in reservoir simulation and hydrology. We give a computationally efficient and numerically accurate method to estimate the one-point probability density (PDF) and cumulative distribution functions (CDF) of the water saturation for the stochastic Buckley-Leverett problem when the probability distributions of the permeability and porosity fields are available. The method draws inspiration from the streamline approach and expresses the distributions of interest essentially in terms of an analytically derived mapping and the distribution of the time of flight. In a large class of applications the latter can be estimated at low computational costs (even via conventional Monte Carlo). Once the water saturation distribution is determined, any one-point statistics thereof can be obtained, especially its average and standard deviation. Moreover, rarely available in other approaches, yet crucial information such as the probability of rare events and saturation quantiles (e.g. P10, P50 and P90) can be derived from the method. We provide various examples and comparisons with Monte Carlo simulations to illustrate the performance of the method.

Collisionless shock formation, spontaneous electromagnetic fluctuations, and streaming instabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bret, A.; Instituto de Investigaciones Energeticas y Aplicaciones Industriales, Campus Universitario de Ciudad Real, 13071 Ciudad Real; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, MS-51 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

2013-04-15

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in astrophysics and in the lab. Recent numerical simulations and experiments have shown how they can arise from the encounter of two collisionless plasma shells. When the shells interpenetrate, the overlapping region turns unstable, triggering the shock formation. As a first step towards a microscopic understanding of the process, we analyze here in detail the initial instability phase. On the one hand, 2D relativistic Particle-In-Cell simulations are performed where two symmetric initially cold pair plasmas collide. On the other hand, the instabilities at work are analyzed, as well as the field at saturation and the seedmore » field which gets amplified. For mildly relativistic motions and onward, Weibel modes govern the linear phase. We derive an expression for the duration of the linear phase in good agreement with the simulations. This saturation time constitutes indeed a lower-bound for the shock formation time.« less

Influence of Mean State Changes on the Structure of ENSO in a Tropical Coupled GCM.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Codron, Francis; Vintzileos, Augustin; Sadourny, Robert

2001-03-01

This study examines the response of the climate simulated by the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace tropical Pacific coupled general circulation model to two changes in parameterization: an improved coupling scheme at the coast, and the introduction of a saturation mixing ratio limiter in the water vapor advection scheme, which improves the rainfall distribution over and around orography. The main effect of these modifications is the suppression of spurious upwelling off the South American coast in Northern Hemisphere summer. Coupled feedbacks then extend this warming over the whole basin in an El Niño-like structure, with a maximum at the equator and in the eastern part of the basin. The mean precipitation pattern widens and moves equatorward as the trade winds weaken.This warmer mean state leads to a doubling of the standard deviation of interannual SST anomalies, and to a longer ENSO period. The structure of the ENSO cycle also shifts from westward propagation in the original simulation to a standing oscillation. The simulation of El Niño thus improves when compared to recent observed events. The study of ENSO spatial structure and lagged correlations shows that these changes of El Niño characteristics are caused by both the increase of amplitude and the modification of the spatial structure of the wind stress response to SST anomalies.These results show that both the mean state and variability of the tropical ocean can be very sensitive to biases or forcings, even geographically localized. They may also give some insight into the mechanisms responsible for the changes in ENSO characteristics due to decadal variability or climate change.

On the importance of variable soil depth and process representation in the modeling of shallow landslide initiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fatichi, S.; Burlando, P.; Anagnostopoulos, G.

2014-12-01

Sub-surface hydrology has a dominant role on the initiation of rainfall-induced landslides, since changes in the soil water potential affect soil shear strength and thus apparent cohesion. Especially on steep slopes and shallow soils, loss of shear strength can lead to failure even in unsaturated conditions. A process based model, HYDROlisthisis, characterized by high resolution in space and, time is developed to investigate the interactions between surface and subsurface hydrology and shallow landslide initiation. Specifically, 3D variably saturated flow conditions, including soil hydraulic hysteresis and preferential flow, are simulated for the subsurface flow, coupled with a surface runoff routine. Evapotranspiration and specific root water uptake are taken into account for continuous simulations of soil water content during storm and inter-storm periods. The geotechnical component of the model is based on a multidimensional limit equilibrium analysis, which takes into account the basic principles of unsaturated soil mechanics. The model is applied to a small catchment in Switzerland historically prone to rainfall-triggered landslides. A series of numerical simulations were carried out with various boundary conditions (soil depths) and using hydrological and geotechnical components of different complexity. Specifically, the sensitivity to the inclusion of preferential flow and soil hydraulic hysteresis was tested together with the replacement of the infinite slope assumption with a multi-dimensional limit equilibrium analysis. The effect of the different model components on model performance was assessed using accuracy statistics and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. The results show that boundary conditions play a crucial role in the model performance and that the introduced hydrological (preferential flow and soil hydraulic hysteresis) and geotechnical components (multidimensional limit equilibrium analysis) considerably improve predictive capabilities in the presented case study.

Impact of climate change on freshwater resources in a heterogeneous coastal aquifer of Bremerhaven, Germany: A three-dimensional modeling study.

PubMed

Yang, Jie; Graf, Thomas; Ptak, Thomas

2015-01-01

Climate change is expected to induce sea level rise in the German Bight, which is part of the North Sea, Germany. Climate change may also modify river discharge of the river Weser flowing into the German Bight, which will alter both pressure and salinity distributions in the river Weser estuary. To study the long-term interaction between sea level rise, discharge variations, a storm surge and coastal aquifer flow dynamics, a 3D seawater intrusion model was designed using the fully coupled surface-subsurface numerical model HydroGeoSphere. The model simulates the coastal aquifer as an integral system considering complexities such as variable-density flow, variably saturated flow, irregular boundary conditions, irregular land surface and anthropogenic structures (e.g., dyke, drainage canals, water gates). The simulated steady-state groundwater flow of the year 2009 is calibrated using PEST. In addition, four climate change scenarios are simulated based on the calibrated model: (i) sea level rise of 1m, (ii) the salinity of the seaside boundary increases by 4 PSU (Practical Salinity Units), (iii) the salinity of the seaside boundary decreases by 12 PSU, and (iv) a storm surge with partial dyke failure. Under scenarios (i) and (iv), the salinized area expands several kilometers further inland during several years. Natural remediation can take up to 20 years. However, sudden short-term salinity changes in the river Weser estuary do not influence the salinized area in the coastal aquifer. The obtained results are useful for coastal engineering practices and drinking water resource management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties on water dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gumiere, Silvio Jose; Caron, Jean; Périard, Yann; Lafond, Jonathan

2013-04-01

Soil hydraulic properties may present spatial variability and dependence at the scale of watersheds or fields even in man-made single soil structures, such as cranberry fields. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and soil moisture curves were measured at two depths for three cranberry fields (about 2 ha) at three different sites near Québec city, Canada. Two of the three studied fields indicate strong spatial dependence for Ksat values and soil moisture curves both in horizontal and vertical directions. In the summer of 2012, the three fields were equipped with 55 tensiometers installed at a depth of 0.10 m in a regular grid. About 20 mm of irrigation water were applied uniformly by aspersion to the fields, raising soil water content to near saturation condition. Soil water tension was measured once every hour during seven days. Geostatistical techniques such as co-kriging and cross-correlograms estimations were used to investigate the spatial dependence between variables. The results show that soil tension varied faster in high Ksat zones than in low Ksatones in the cranberry fields. These results indicate that soil water dynamic is strongly affected by the variability of saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, even in a supposed homogenous anthropogenic soil. This information may have a strong impact in irrigation management and subsurface drainage efficiency as well as other water conservation issues. Future work will involve 3D numerical modeling of the field water dynamics with HYDRUS software. The anticipated outcome will provide valuable information for the understanding of the effect of spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties on soil water dynamics and its relationship with crop production and water conservation.

Coupling Effects of Heat and Moisture on the Saturation Processes of Buffer Material in a Deep Geological Repository

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wei-Hsing

2017-04-01

Clay barrier plays a major role for the isolation of radioactive wastes in a underground repository. This paper investigates the resaturation behavior of clay barrier, with emphasis on the coupling effects of heat and moisture of buffer material in the near-field of a repository during groundwater intrusion processes. A locally available clay named "Zhisin clay" and a standard bentotine material were adopted in the laboratory program. Water uptake tests were conducted on clay specimens compacted at various densities to simulate the intrusion of groundwater into the buffer material. Soil suction of clay specimens was measured by psychrometers embedded in clay specimens and by vapor equilibrium technique conducted at varying temperatures. Using the soil water characteristic curve, an integration scheme was introduced to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated clay. The finite element program ABAQUS was then employed to carry out the numerical simulation of the saturation process in the near field of a repository. Results of the numerical simulation were validated using the degree of saturation profile obtained from the water uptake tests on Zhisin clay. The numerical scheme was then extended to establish a model simulating the resaturation process after the closure of a repository. It was found that, due to the variation in suction and thermal conductivity with temperature of clay barrier material, the calculated temperature field shows a reduction as a result of incorporating the hydro-properties in the calculations.

Effects of Ion-ion Collisions and Inhomogeneity in Two-dimensional Simulations of Stimulated Brillouin Backscattering*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, B. I.

2005-10-01

Two-dimensional simulations of stimulated Brillouin backscattering (SBBS) with the BZOHAR^1 code have been extended to include ion-ion collisions and spatial nonuniformity in the mean ion flow. BZOHAR hybrid simulations (particle-in-cell kinetic ions and Boltzmann fluid electrons) have shown^2 that SBBS saturation is dominated by ion trapping effects and secondary instability of the primary ion wave (decay into subharmonic ion waves and ion quasi-modes). Here we address the effects of ion collisions^3 on SBBS saturation and employ the efficient Langevin ion collision algorithm of Ref. 4 and the Fokker-Planck collision operator of Ref. 5. We also report simulations of SBBS with a linear gradient in the mean ion drift, which in conjunction with the nonlinear frequency shift due to ion trapping can introduce auto-resonance effects that may enhance reflectivities.^6 For SBBS in a high-gain limit with ion collisions or inhomogeneity, we find that ion trapping and secondary ion wave instabilities are robust saturation mechanisms. *Work performed for US DOE by UC LLNL under Contr. W-7405-ENG-48. ^1B.I. Cohen, et al., Phys. Plasmas 4, 956 (1997). ^2B.I. Cohen, et al., Phys. Plasmas, 12, 052703 (2005),. ^ 3P.W. Rambo, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 83 (1997). ^ 4M.E. Jones, et al., J. Comp. Phys. 123, 169, (1996). ^ 5W. M. Manheimer, et al., J. Comp. Phys. 138, 563 (1997). ^ 6E.A. Williams, et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 231 (2004).

Laboratory-scale experiments and numerical modeling of cosolvent flushing of multi-component NAPLs in saturated porous media.

PubMed

Agaoglu, Berken; Scheytt, Traugott; Copty, Nadim K

2012-10-01

This study examines the mechanistic processes governing multiphase flow of a water-cosolvent-NAPL system in saturated porous media. Laboratory batch and column flushing experiments were conducted to determine the equilibrium properties of pure NAPL and synthetically prepared NAPL mixtures as well as NAPL recovery mechanisms for different water-ethanol contents. The effect of contact time was investigated by considering different steady and intermittent flow velocities. A modified version of multiphase flow simulator (UTCHEM) was used to compare the multiphase model simulations with the column experiment results. The effect of employing different grid geometries (1D, 2D, 3D), heterogeneity and different initial NAPL saturation configurations was also examined in the model. It is shown that the change in velocity affects the mass transfer rate between phases as well as the ultimate NAPL recovery percentage. The experiments with low flow rate flushing of pure NAPL and the 3D UTCHEM simulations gave similar effluent concentrations and NAPL cumulative recoveries. Model simulations over-estimated NAPL recovery for high specific discharges and rate-limited mass transfer, suggesting a constant mass transfer coefficient for the entire flushing experiment may not be valid. When multi-component NAPLs are present, the dissolution rate of individual organic compounds (namely, toluene and benzene) into the ethanol-water flushing solution is found not to correlate with their equilibrium solubility values. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A composite numerical model for assessing subsurface transport of oily wastes and chemical constituents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panday, S.; Wu, Y. S.; Huyakorn, P. S.; Wade, S. C.; Saleem, Z. A.

1997-02-01

Subsurface fate and transport models are utilized to predict concentrations of chemicals leaching from wastes into downgradient receptor wells. The contaminant concentrations in groundwater provide a measure of the risk to human health and the environment. The level of potential risk is currently used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether management of the wastes should conform to hazardous waste management standards. It is important that the transport and fate of contaminants is simulated realistically. Most models in common use are inappropriate for simulating the migration of wastes containing significant fractions of nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPLs). The migration of NAPL and its dissolved constituents may not be reliably predicted using conventional aqueous-phase transport simulations. To overcome this deficiency, an efficient and robust regulatory assessment model incorporating multiphase flow and transport in the unsaturated and saturated zones of the subsurface environment has been developed. The proposed composite model takes into account all of the major transport processes including infiltration and ambient flow of NAPL, entrapment of residual NAPL, adsorption, volatilization, degradation, dissolution of chemical constituents, and transport by advection and hydrodynamic dispersion. Conceptually, the subsurface is treated as a composite unsaturated zone-saturated zone system. The composite simulator consists of three major interconnected computational modules representing the following components of the migration pathway: (1) vertical multiphase flow and transport in the unsaturated zone; (2) areal movement of the free-product lens in the saturated zone with vertical equilibrium; and (3) three-dimensional aqueous-phase transport of dissolved chemicals in ambient groundwater. Such a composite model configuration promotes computational efficiency and robustness (desirable for regulatory assessment applications). Two examples are presented to demonstrate the model verification and a site application. Simulation results obtained using the composite modeling approach are compared with a rigorous numerical solution and field observations of crude oil saturations and plume concentrations of total dissolved organic carbon at a spill site in Minnesota, U.S.A. These comparisons demonstrate the ability of the present model to provide realistic depiction of field-scale situations.

Uncertainty quantification and propagation of errors of the Lennard-Jones 12-6 parameters for n-alkanes

PubMed Central

Knotts, Thomas A.

2017-01-01

Molecular simulation has the ability to predict various physical properties that are difficult to obtain experimentally. For example, we implement molecular simulation to predict the critical constants (i.e., critical temperature, critical density, critical pressure, and critical compressibility factor) for large n-alkanes that thermally decompose experimentally (as large as C48). Historically, molecular simulation has been viewed as a tool that is limited to providing qualitative insight. One key reason for this perceived weakness in molecular simulation is the difficulty to quantify the uncertainty in the results. This is because molecular simulations have many sources of uncertainty that propagate and are difficult to quantify. We investigate one of the most important sources of uncertainty, namely, the intermolecular force field parameters. Specifically, we quantify the uncertainty in the Lennard-Jones (LJ) 12-6 parameters for the CH4, CH3, and CH2 united-atom interaction sites. We then demonstrate how the uncertainties in the parameters lead to uncertainties in the saturated liquid density and critical constant values obtained from Gibbs Ensemble Monte Carlo simulation. Our results suggest that the uncertainties attributed to the LJ 12-6 parameters are small enough that quantitatively useful estimates of the saturated liquid density and the critical constants can be obtained from molecular simulation. PMID:28527455

Dynamic of aragonite saturation horizon in waters of Baja California, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valencia Gasti, J. A.; Oliva, N. L.; Martin Hernandez-Ayon, J. M.; Durazo, R.; Santamaria-del-Angel, E.; Alin, S. R.; Feely, R. A.

2016-02-01

The status of the ocean acidification can be estimated by hydrographic calibrated data with carbon system variables. Recently empirical models for the coast of southern California and northern Baja California were developed. These models can be applied mainly in places where hydrographic data exist but also with measurements of the carbon system available for calibrations. The aim of this study was to analyze the hydrographic data of a transect in front of Ensenada's coast, corresponding to the line 100 of IMECOCAL's program during the period 1998-2014. Such data was used to apply an empirical model to estimate the aragonite saturation state (Ωa) in order to identify oceanographic conditions that could influence the variability of the depth of saturation horizon that might be in the last 17 years in habitats of shellfish and oyster production areas adjacent to the coast of Ensenada. It was found that the temperature, salinity, oxygen, pH, dissolved inorganic carbon and Ωa showed a seasonal variation with different oceanographic scenarios: (a) during spring-summer the California Current flow to the Ecuador and upwelling events are presented; (b) in autumn-winter the influence the Southern California Bight Eddy can transport water from the subarctic to Ecuador in the oceanic portion of the transect and towards the pole at the coastal side. These oceanographic characteristics encourage that coastal stations present seasonal variability, reflected in the depth of the horizon Ωa shallower ( 66m + 21m) in spring and deeper into the winter ( 122m + 35). It has been reported that the upwelling off the coast of BC transport water from a depth between 80 and 90m in spring and summer; therefore under saturated water (Ωa <1) may be transported to the platform upwelling off the coast of BC

Biofilm effect on soil hydraulic properties: Experimental investigation using soil-grown real biofilm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volk, Elazar; Iden, Sascha C.; Furman, Alex; Durner, Wolfgang; Rosenzweig, Ravid

2016-08-01

Understanding the influence of attached microbial biomass on water flow in variably saturated soils is crucial for many engineered flow systems. So far, the investigation of the effects of microbial biomass has been mainly limited to water-saturated systems. We have assessed the influence of biofilms on the soil hydraulic properties under variably saturated conditions. A sandy soil was incubated with Pseudomonas Putida and the hydraulic properties of the incubated soil were determined by a combination of methods. Our results show a stronger soil water retention in the inoculated soil as compared to the control. The increase in volumetric water content reaches approximately 0.015 cm3 cm-3 but is only moderately correlated with the carbon deficit, a proxy for biofilm quantity, and less with the cell viable counts. The presence of biofilm reduced the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil by up to one order of magnitude. Under unsaturated conditions, the hydraulic conductivity was only reduced by a factor of four. This means that relative water conductance in biofilm-affected soils is higher compared to the clean soil at low water contents, and that the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve of biofilm-affected soil cannot be predicted by simply scaling the saturated hydraulic conductivity. A flexible parameterization of the soil hydraulic functions accounting for capillary and noncapillary flow was needed to adequately describe the observed properties over the entire wetness range. More research is needed to address the exact flow mechanisms in biofilm-affected, unsaturated soil and how they are related to effective system properties.

Synchronization of multiple 3-DOF helicopters under actuator faults and saturations with prescribed performance.

PubMed

Yang, Huiliao; Jiang, Bin; Yang, Hao; Liu, Hugh H T

2018-04-01

The distributed cooperative control strategy is proposed to make the networked nonlinear 3-DOF helicopters achieve the attitude synchronization in the presence of actuator faults and saturations. Based on robust adaptive control, the proposed control method can both compensate the uncertain partial loss of control effectiveness and deal with the system uncertainties. To address actuator saturation problem, the control scheme is designed to ensure that the saturation constraint on the actuation will not be violated during the operation in spite of the actuator faults. It is shown that with the proposed control strategy, both the tracking errors of the leading helicopter and the attitude synchronization errors of each following helicopter are bounded in the existence of faulty actuators and actuator saturations. Moreover, the state responses of the entire group would not exceed the predesigned performance functions which are totally independent from the underlaying interaction topology. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using MELTS to understand the evolution of silicic magmas: Challenges and successes in modeling the Highland Range Volcanic Sequence (NV)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaum, R. C.; Gualda, G. A.; Ghiorso, M. S.; Miller, C. F.; Colombini, L. L.

2009-12-01

The Highland Range near Searchlight, Nevada is comprised of mid-Miocene, intermediate to silicic volcanic rocks. This study focuses on the most silicic portion of the eruptive sequence (16.0-16.5 Ma). The first eruptions during this interval were effusive and produced trachydacite (66-70 wt% SiO2), but later the eruptive style shifted to explosive and compositions were more evolved (70-78 wt% SiO2). Glass compositions in rocks saturated in both quartz and sanidine align along the 150 MPa quartz+sanidine saturation surface, suggesting that the Highland Range magmas equilibrated in a single reservoir at that pressure. We are interested in better understanding this transition in eruptive style from effusive to eruptive, and our approach is based on modeling melt evolution using MELTS thermodynamic modeling software. We selected representative samples from key stratigraphic units, and focused on samples for which whole-rock and glass compositions, as well as mineral abundances, are available. This allows for direct comparison of simulation results with existing data. Initial simulations showed that MELTS predicts unrealistic paths of evolution when compared to the glass compositions and to the phase relations in the Qz-Ab-Or ternary. In particular, the stability field of quartz predicted by MELTS is much too small, causing melts to become exceedingly silicic (>80 wt% SiO2). Sanidine, on the other hand, has fairly sodic compositions and crystallizes too early in the sequence; therefore, simulated melt compositions are never as potassic as the analyzed glasses. Similar results are obtained when modeling the evolution of the Bishop and Campanian magmas, showing that these are systematic problems in MELTS calibration. Accordingly, we have adjusted the enthalpy of quartz and potassium end-member of the feldspar solid solution in MELTS so that the quartz-sanidine saturation surface is correctly predicted. We find that this modified version of MELTS much better models the evolution of silicic magmas. Sanidine begins to crystallize at lower temperatures, causing evolved melts to become significantly more potassic. Also, MELTS prediction of quartz saturation is in agreement with the position of the experimentally determined 150 MPa quartz+sanidine saturation surface. Importantly, the melt evolution that this modified version of MELTS predicts is very consistent with whole-rock data, glass chemistry, and mineral abundances in samples from the Highland Range. Simulations using the modified version of MELTS show that it works remarkably well, at least for relatively low degrees of crystallization. But a more reliable model to simulate the evolution of silicic magmas is necessary to more properly simulate the evolution of silicic systems, in particular at high degrees of crystallinity. We are currently working to create gMELTS, an associated solution model of the haplogranitic system, which, once completed, will be optimized to simulate the evolution of silicic systems.

Using grey intensity adjustment strategy to enhance the measurement accuracy of digital image correlation considering the effect of intensity saturation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bang-Jian; Wang, Quan-Bao; Duan, Deng-Ping; Chen, Ji-An

2018-05-01

Intensity saturation can cause decorrelation phenomenon and decrease the measurement accuracy in digital image correlation (DIC). In the paper, the grey intensity adjustment strategy is proposed to improve the measurement accuracy of DIC considering the effect of intensity saturation. First, the grey intensity adjustment strategy is described in detail, which can recover the truncated grey intensities of the saturated pixels and reduce the decorrelation phenomenon. The simulated speckle patterns are then employed to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed strategy, which indicates that the displacement accuracy can be improved by about 40% by the proposed strategy. Finally, the true experimental image is used to show the feasibility of the proposed strategy, which indicates that the displacement accuracy can be increased by about 10% by the proposed strategy.

Spatial structure and scaling of macropores in hydrological process at small catchment scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silasari, Rasmiaditya; Broer, Martine; Blöschl, Günter

2013-04-01

During rainfall events, the formation of overland flow can occur under the circumstances of saturation excess and/or infiltration excess. These conditions are affected by the soil moisture state which represents the soil water content in micropores and macropores. Macropores act as pathway for the preferential flows and have been widely studied locally. However, very little is known about their spatial structure and conductivity of macropores and other flow characteristic at the catchment scale. This study will analyze these characteristics to better understand its importance in hydrological processes. The research will be conducted in Petzenkirchen Hydrological Open Air Laboratory (HOAL), a 64 ha catchment located 100 km west of Vienna. The land use is divided between arable land (87%), pasture (5%), forest (6%) and paved surfaces (2%). Video cameras will be installed on an agricultural field to monitor the overland flow pattern during rainfall events. A wireless soil moisture network is also installed within the monitored area. These field data will be combined to analyze the soil moisture state and the responding surface runoff occurrence. The variability of the macropores spatial structure of the observed area (field scale) then will be assessed based on the topography and soil data. Soil characteristics will be supported with laboratory experiments on soil matrix flow to obtain proper definitions of the spatial structure of macropores and its variability. A coupled physically based distributed model of surface and subsurface flow will be used to simulate the variability of macropores spatial structure and its effect on the flow behaviour. This model will be validated by simulating the observed rainfall events. Upscaling from field scale to catchment scale will be done to understand the effect of macropores variability on larger scales by applying spatial stochastic methods. The first phase in this study is the installation and monitoring configuration of video cameras and soil moisture monitoring equipment to obtain the initial data of overland flow occurrence and soil moisture state relationships.

Carbonate saturation state of surface waters in the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean: controls and implications for the onset of aragonite undersaturation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeJong, H. B.; Dunbar, R. B.; Mucciarone, D. A.; Koweek, D.

2016-02-01

Predicting when surface waters of the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean will become undersaturated with respect to biogenic carbonate minerals is challenging in part due to the lack of baseline high resolution carbon system data. Here we present 1700 surface total alkalinity measurements from the Ross Sea and along a transect between the Ross Sea and southern Chile from the austral autumn (February-March 2013). We calculate the saturation state of aragonite (ΩAr) and calcite (ΩCa) using measured total alkalinity and pCO2. In the Ross Sea and south of the Polar Front, variability in carbonate saturation state (Ω) is mainly driven by algal photosynthesis. Freshwater dilution and calcification have minimal influence on Ω variability. We estimate an early spring surface water ΩAr value of 1.2 for the Ross Sea using a total alkalinity-salinity relationship and historical pCO2 measurements. Our results suggest that the Ross Sea is not likely to become undersaturated with respect to aragonite until the year 2070.

Electric conductivity for laboratory and field monitoring of induced partial saturation (IPS) in sands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazemiroodsari, Hadi

Liquefaction is loss of shear strength in fully saturated loose sands caused by build-up of excess pore water pressure, during moderate to large earthquakes, leading to catastrophic failures of structures. Currently used liquefaction mitigation measures are often costly and cannot be applied at sites with existing structures. An innovative, practical, and cost effective liquefaction mitigation technique titled "Induced Partial Saturation" (IPS) was developed by researchers at Northeastern University. The IPS technique is based on injection of sodium percarbonate solution into fully saturated liquefaction susceptible sand. Sodium percarbonate dissolves in water and breaks down into sodium and carbonate ions and hydrogen peroxide which generates oxygen gas bubbles. Oxygen gas bubbles become trapped in sand pores and therefore decrease the degree of saturation of the sand, increase the compressibility of the soil, thus reduce its potential for liquefaction. The implementation of IPS required the development and validation of a monitoring and evaluation technique that would help ensure that the sands are indeed partially saturated. This dissertation focuses on this aspect of the IPS research. The monitoring system developed was based on using electric conductivity fundamentals and probes to detect the transport of chemical solution, calculate degree of saturation of sand, and determine the final zone of partial saturation created by IPS. To understand the fundamentals of electric conductivity, laboratory bench-top tests were conducted using electric conductivity probes and small specimens of Ottawa sand. Bench-top tests were used to study rate of generation of gas bubbles due to reaction of sodium percarbonate solution in sand, and to confirm a theory based on which degree of saturation were calculated. In addition to bench-top tests, electric conductivity probes were used in a relatively large sand specimen prepared in a specially manufactured glass tank. IPS was implemented in the prepared specimen to validate the numerical simulation model and explore the use of conductivity probes to detect the transport of chemical solution, estimate degree of saturation achieved due to injection of chemical solution, and evaluate final zone of partial saturation. The conductivity probe and the simulation results agreed well. To study the effect of IPS on liquefaction response of the sand specimen, IPS was implemented in a large (2-story high) sand specimen prepared in the laminar box of NEES Buffalo and then the specimen was subjected to harmonic shaking. Electric conductivity probes were used in the specimen treatment by controlling the duration and spacing of injection of the chemical solution, in monitoring the transport of chemical solution, in the estimation of zone of partial saturation achieved, and in the estimation of degree of saturation achieved due to implementation of IPS. The conductivity probes indicated partial saturation of the specimen. The shaking tests results confirmed the partial saturation state of the sand specimen. In addition, to the laboratory works, electric conductivity probes were used in field implementation of IPS in a pilot test at the Wildlife Liquefaction Array (WLA) of NEES UCSB site. The conductivity probes in the field test helped decide the optimum injection pressure, the injection tube spacing, and the degree of saturation that could be achieved in the field. The various laboratory and field tests confirmed that electric conductivity and the probes devised and used can be invaluable in the implementation of IPS, by providing information regarding transport of the chemical solution, the spacing of injection tubes, duration of injection, and the zone and degree of partial saturation caused by IPS.

Managing numerical errors in random sequential adsorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cieśla, Michał; Nowak, Aleksandra

2016-09-01

Aim of this study is to examine the influence of a finite surface size and a finite simulation time on a packing fraction estimated using random sequential adsorption simulations. The goal of particular interest is providing hints on simulation setup to achieve desired level of accuracy. The analysis is based on properties of saturated random packing of disks on continuous and flat surfaces of different sizes.

Evaluating the Wald Test for Item-Level Comparison of Saturated and Reduced Models in Cognitive Diagnosis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de la Torre, Jimmy; Lee, Young-Sun

2013-01-01

This article used the Wald test to evaluate the item-level fit of a saturated cognitive diagnosis model (CDM) relative to the fits of the reduced models it subsumes. A simulation study was carried out to examine the Type I error and power of the Wald test in the context of the G-DINA model. Results show that when the sample size is small and a…

Experimental and numerical investigation of DNAPL infiltration and spreading in a 2-D sandbox by means of light transmission method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, F.; Shi, X.; Wu, J.; Gao, Y. W.

2013-12-01

Chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) are widespread groundwater contaminants often referred to as dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Accuracy description of the spreading behavior and configuration for subsurface DNAPL migration is important, especially favourable for design effective remediation strategies. In this study, a 2-D experiment was conducted to investigate the infiltration behavior and spatial distribution of PCE in saturated porous media. Accusand 20/30 mesh sand (Unimin, Le Sueur, MN) was used as the background medium with two 70/80 and 60/70 mesh lenses embedded to simulate heterogeneous conditions. Dyed PCE of 100 ml was released into the flow cell at a constant rate of 2ml/min using a Harvard Apparatus syringe pump with a 50 ml glass syringe for two times, and 5 ml/min water was continuously injected through the inlet at the left side of the sandbox, while kept the same effluent rate at right side to create hydrodynamic condition. A light transmission (LT) system was used to record the migration of PCE and determine the saturation distribution of PCE in the sandbox experiment with a thermoelectrically air-cooled charged-coupled device (CCD) camera. All images were processed using MATLAB to calculate thickness-averaged PCE saturation for each pixel. Mass balance was checked through comparing injected known mounts of PCE with that calculated from LT analysis. Results showed that LT method is effective to delineate PCE migration pathways and quantify the saturation distribution. The relative errors of total PCE volumes calculated by LT analysis at different times were within 15% of the injected PCE volumes. The simulation are conducted using the multiphase modeling software T2VOC, which calibrated by the LT analysis results of three recorded time steps to fit with the complete spatial-temporal distribution of the PCE saturation. Model verification was then performed using the other eight recorded time steps. Simulated results showed that the model could successfully reproduce the migration pathways and distribution configuration observed from the laboratory experiment and LT analysis, excepted for a smaller pool height on the lenses, and a lower saturation values in PCE accumulation area due to local heterogeneities. Due to the influence of water flow, the PCE distribution was asymmetrical, and the PCE distribution area, pool height as well as PCE saturation in the accumulation region at right side was much greater. Acknowledge: This work is financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China grants No. 41030746 and 41172206.

Identification of immiscible NAPL contaminant sources in aquifers by a modified two-level saturation based imperialist competitive algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghafouri, H. R.; Mosharaf-Dehkordi, M.; Afzalan, B.

2017-07-01

A simulation-optimization model is proposed for identifying the characteristics of local immiscible NAPL contaminant sources inside aquifers. This model employs the UTCHEM 9.0 software as its simulator for solving the governing equations associated with the multi-phase flow in porous media. As the optimization model, a novel two-level saturation based Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) is proposed to estimate the parameters of contaminant sources. The first level consists of three parallel independent ICAs and plays as a pre-conditioner for the second level which is a single modified ICA. The ICA in the second level is modified by dividing each country into a number of provinces (smaller parts). Similar to countries in the classical ICA, these provinces are optimized by the assimilation, competition, and revolution steps in the ICA. To increase the diversity of populations, a new approach named knock the base method is proposed. The performance and accuracy of the simulation-optimization model is assessed by solving a set of two and three-dimensional problems considering the effects of different parameters such as the grid size, rock heterogeneity and designated monitoring networks. The obtained numerical results indicate that using this simulation-optimization model provides accurate results at a less number of iterations when compared with the model employing the classical one-level ICA. A model is proposed to identify characteristics of immiscible NAPL contaminant sources. The contaminant is immiscible in water and multi-phase flow is simulated. The model is a multi-level saturation-based optimization algorithm based on ICA. Each answer string in second level is divided into a set of provinces. Each ICA is modified by incorporating a new knock the base model.

Velocity shear, turbulent saturation, and steep plasma gradients in the scrape-off layer of inner-wall limited tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Halpern, Federico D.; Ricci, Paolo

2016-12-19

The narrow power decay-length (λ q), recently found in the scrape-off layer (SOL) of inner wall limited (IWL) discharges in tokamaks, is studied using 3D, flux-driven, global two fluid turbulence simulations. The formation of the steep plasma profiles is found to arise due to radially sheared E×B poloidal flows. A complex interaction between sheared flows and parallel plasma currents outflowing into the sheath regulates the turbulent saturation, determining the transport levels. We quantify the effects of sheared flows, obtaining theoretical estimates in agreement with our non-linear simulations. As a result, analytical calculations suggest that the IWL λ q is roughlymore » equal to the turbulent correlation length.« less

Comparing the line broadened quasilinear model to Vlasov code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghantous, K.; Berk, H. L.; Gorelenkov, N. N.

2014-03-01

The Line Broadened Quasilinear (LBQ) model is revisited to study its predicted saturation level as compared with predictions of a Vlasov solver BOT [Lilley et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 195003 (2009) and M. Lilley, BOT Manual. The parametric dependencies of the model are modified to achieve more accuracy compared to the results of the Vlasov solver both in regards to a mode amplitude's time evolution to a saturated state and its final steady state amplitude in the parameter space of the model's applicability. However, the regions of stability as predicted by LBQ model and BOT are found to significantly differ from each other. The solutions of the BOT simulations are found to have a larger region of instability than the LBQ simulations.

Gas breakthrough and emission through unsaturated compacted clay in landfill final cover

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ng, C.W.W.; Chen, Z.K.; Coo, J.L.

Highlights: • Explore feasibility of unsaturated clay as a gas barrier in landfill cover. • Gas breakthrough pressure increases with clay thickness and degree of saturation. • Gas emission rate decreases with clay thickness and degree of saturation. • A 0.6 m-thick clay layer may be sufficient to meet gas emission rate limit. - Abstract: Determination of gas transport parameters in compacted clay plays a vital role for evaluating the effectiveness of soil barriers. The gas breakthrough pressure has been widely studied for saturated swelling clay buffer commonly used in high-level radioactive waste disposal facility where the generated gas pressuremore » is very high (in the order of MPa). However, compacted clay in landfill cover is usually unsaturated and the generated landfill gas pressure is normally low (typically less than 10 kPa). Furthermore, effects of clay thickness and degree of saturation on gas breakthrough and emission rate in the context of unsaturated landfill cover has not been quantitatively investigated in previous studies. The feasibility of using unsaturated compacted clay as gas barrier in landfill covers is thus worthwhile to be explored over a wide range of landfill gas pressures under various degrees of saturation and clay thicknesses. In this study, to evaluate the effectiveness of unsaturated compacted clay to minimize gas emission, one-dimensional soil column tests were carried out on unsaturated compacted clay to determine gas breakthrough pressures at ultimate limit state (high pressure range) and gas emission rates at serviceability limit state (low pressure range). Various degrees of saturation and thicknesses of unsaturated clay sample were considered. Moreover, numerical simulations were carried out using a coupled gas–water flow finite element program (CODE-BRIGHT) to better understand the experimental results by extending the clay thickness and varying the degree of saturation to a broader range that is typical at different climate conditions. The results of experimental study and numerical simulation reveal that as the degree of saturation and thickness of clay increase, the gas breakthrough pressure increases but the gas emission rate decreases significantly. Under a gas pressure of 10 kPa (the upper bound limit of typical landfill gas pressure), a 0.6 m or thicker compacted clay is able to prevent gas breakthrough at degree of saturation of 60% or above (in humid regions). Furthermore, to meet the limit of gas emission rate set by the Australian guideline, a 0.6 m-thick clay layer may be sufficient even at low degree of saturation (i.e., 10% like in arid regions)« less

A 70 kV solid-state high voltage pulse generator based on saturable pulse transformer.

PubMed

Fan, Xuliang; Liu, Jinliang

2014-02-01

High voltage pulse generators are widely applied in many fields. In recent years, solid-state and operating at repetitive mode are the most important developing trends of high voltage pulse generators. A solid-state high voltage pulse generator based on saturable pulse transformer is proposed in this paper. The proposed generator is consisted of three parts. They are charging system, triggering system, and the major loop. Saturable pulse transformer is the key component of the whole generator, which acts as a step-up transformer and main switch during working process of this generator. The circuit and working principles of the proposed pulse generator are introduced first in this paper, and the saturable pulse transformer used in this generator is introduced in detail. Circuit of the major loop is simulated to verify the design of the system. Demonstration experiments are carried out, and the results show that when the primary energy storage capacitor is charged to a high voltage, such as 2.5 kV, a voltage with amplitude of 86 kV can be achieved on the secondary winding. The magnetic core of saturable pulse transformer is saturated deeply and the saturable inductance of the secondary windings is very small. The switch function of the saturable pulse transformer can be realized ideally. Therefore, a 71 kV output voltage pulse is formed on the load. Moreover, the magnetic core of the saturable pulse transformer can be reset automatically.

Numerical simulation of multi-dimensional NMR response in tight sandstone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jiangfeng; Xie, Ranhong; Zou, Youlong; Ding, Yejiao

2016-06-01

Conventional logging methods have limitations in the evaluation of tight sandstone reservoirs. The multi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging method has the advantage that it can simultaneously measure transverse relaxation time (T 2), longitudinal relaxation time (T 1) and diffusion coefficient (D). In this paper, we simulate NMR measurements of tight sandstone with different wettability and saturations by the random walk method and obtain the magnetization decays of Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill pulse sequences with different wait times (TW) and echo spacings (TE) under a magnetic field gradient, resulting in D-T 2-T 1 maps by the multiple echo trains joint inversion method. We also study the effects of wettability, saturation, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of data and restricted diffusion on the D-T 2-T 1 maps in tight sandstone. The results show that with decreasing wetting fluid saturation, the surface relaxation rate of the wetting fluid gradually increases and the restricted diffusion phenomenon becomes more and more obvious, which leads to the wetting fluid signal moving along the direction of short relaxation and the direction of the diffusion coefficient decreasing in D-T 2-T 1 maps. Meanwhile, the non-wetting fluid position in D-T 2-T 1 maps does not change with saturation variation. With decreasing SNR, the ability to identify water and oil signals based on NMR maps gradually decreases. The wetting fluid D-T 1 and D-T 2 correlations in NMR diffusion-relaxation maps of tight sandstone are obtained through expanding the wetting fluid restricted diffusion models, and are further applied to recognize the wetting fluid in simulated D-T 2 maps and D-T 1 maps.

Modeling the effect of glutamate diffusion and uptake on NMDA and non-NMDA receptor saturation.

PubMed Central

Holmes, W R

1995-01-01

One- and two-dimensional models of glutamate diffusion, uptake, and binding in the synaptic cleft were developed to determine if the release of single vesicles of glutamate would saturate NMDA and non-NMDA receptors. Ranges of parameter values were used in the simulations to determine the conditions when saturation could occur. Single vesicles of glutamate did not saturate NMDA receptors unless diffusion was very slow and the number of glutamate molecules in a vesicle was large. However, the release of eight vesicles at 400 Hz caused NMDA receptor saturation for all parameter values tested. Glutamate uptake was found to reduce NMDA receptor saturation, but the effect was smaller than that of changes in the diffusion coefficient or in the number of glutamate molecules in a vesicle. Non-NMDA receptors were not saturated unless diffusion was very slow and the number of glutamate molecules in a vesicle was large. The release of eight vesicles at 400 Hz caused significant non-NMDA receptor desensitization. The results suggest that NMDA and non-NMDA receptors are not saturated by single vesicles of glutamate under usual conditions, and that tetanic input, of the type typically used to induce long-term potentiation, will increase calcium influx by increasing receptor binding as well as by reducing voltage-dependent block of NMDA receptors. Images FIGURE 1 PMID:8580317

Elastic anisotropy of Opalinus Clay under variable saturation and triaxial stress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarout, Joel; Esteban, Lionel; Delle Piane, Claudio; Maney, Bruce; Dewhurst, David N.

2014-09-01

A novel experimental method is introduced to estimate the Thomsen's elastic anisotropy parameters ɛ and δ of a transversely isotropic shale under variable stress and saturation conditions. The method consists in recording P-wave velocities along numerous paths on a cylindrical specimen using miniature ultrasonic transducers. Such an overdetermined set of measurements is specifically designed to reduce the uncertainty associated with the determination of Thomsen's δ parameter compared to the classical method for which a single off-axis measurement is used (usually at 45° to the specimen's axis). This method is applied to a specimen of Opalinus Clay recovered from the Mont-Terri Underground Research Laboratory in Switzerland. The specimen is first saturated with brine at low effective pressure and then subjected to an effective pressure cycle up to 40 MPa, followed by a triaxial loading up to failure. During saturation and deformation, the evolution of P-wave velocities along a maximum of 240 ray paths is monitored and Thomsen's parameters α, ɛ and δ are computed by fitting Thomsen's weak anisotropy model to the data. The values of ɛ and δ obtained at the highest confining pressures reached during the experiment are comparable with those predicted from X-ray diffraction texture analysis and modelling for Opalinus Clay reported in the literature. These models neglect the effect of soft-porosity on elastic properties, but become relevant when soft porosity is closed at high effective pressure.

Geomorphological control on variably saturated hillslope hydrology and slope instability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Giuseppe, Formetta; Simoni, Silvia; Godt, Jonathan W.; Lu, Ning; Rigon, Riccardo

2016-01-01

In steep topography, the processes governing variably saturated subsurface hydrologic response and the interparticle stresses leading to shallow landslide initiation are physically linked. However, these processes are usually analyzed separately. Here, we take a combined approach, simultaneously analyzing the influence of topography on both hillslope hydrology and the effective stress fields within the hillslope itself. Clearly, runoff and saturated groundwater flow are dominated by gravity and, ultimately, by topography. Less clear is how landscape morphology influences flows in the vadose zone, where transient fluxes are usually taken to be vertical. We aim to assess and quantify the impact of topography on both saturated and unsaturated hillslope hydrology and its effects on shallow slope stability. Three real hillslope morphologies (concave, convex, and planar) are analyzed using a 3-D, physically based, distributed model coupled with a module for computation of the probability of failure, based on the infinite slope assumption. The results of the analyses, which included parameter uncertainty analysis of the results themselves, show that convex and planar slopes are more stable than concave slopes. Specifically, under the same initial, boundary, and infiltration conditions, the percentage of unstable areas ranges from 1.3% for the planar hillslope, 21% for convex, to a maximum value of 33% for the concave morphology. The results are supported by a sensitivity analysis carried out to examine the effect of initial conditions and rainfall intensity.

Micro-scale finite element modeling of ultrasound propagation in aluminum trabecular bone-mimicking phantoms: A comparison between numerical simulation and experimental results.

PubMed

Vafaeian, B; Le, L H; Tran, T N H T; El-Rich, M; El-Bialy, T; Adeeb, S

2016-05-01

The present study investigated the accuracy of micro-scale finite element modeling for simulating broadband ultrasound propagation in water-saturated trabecular bone-mimicking phantoms. To this end, five commercially manufactured aluminum foam samples as trabecular bone-mimicking phantoms were utilized for ultrasonic immersion through-transmission experiments. Based on micro-computed tomography images of the same physical samples, three-dimensional high-resolution computational samples were generated to be implemented in the micro-scale finite element models. The finite element models employed the standard Galerkin finite element method (FEM) in time domain to simulate the ultrasonic experiments. The numerical simulations did not include energy dissipative mechanisms of ultrasonic attenuation; however, they expectedly simulated reflection, refraction, scattering, and wave mode conversion. The accuracy of the finite element simulations were evaluated by comparing the simulated ultrasonic attenuation and velocity with the experimental data. The maximum and the average relative errors between the experimental and simulated attenuation coefficients in the frequency range of 0.6-1.4 MHz were 17% and 6% respectively. Moreover, the simulations closely predicted the time-of-flight based velocities and the phase velocities of ultrasound with maximum relative errors of 20 m/s and 11 m/s respectively. The results of this study strongly suggest that micro-scale finite element modeling can effectively simulate broadband ultrasound propagation in water-saturated trabecular bone-mimicking structures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Correcting reaction rates measured by saturation-transfer magnetic resonance spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabr, Refaat E.; Weiss, Robert G.; Bottomley, Paul A.

2008-04-01

Off-resonance or spillover irradiation and incomplete saturation can introduce significant errors in the estimates of chemical rate constants measured by saturation-transfer magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Existing methods of correction are effective only over a limited parameter range. Here, a general approach of numerically solving the Bloch-McConnell equations to calculate exchange rates, relaxation times and concentrations for the saturation-transfer experiment is investigated, but found to require more measurements and higher signal-to-noise ratios than in vivo studies can practically afford. As an alternative, correction formulae for the reaction rate are provided which account for the expected parameter ranges and limited measurements available in vivo. The correction term is a quadratic function of experimental measurements. In computer simulations, the new formulae showed negligible bias and reduced the maximum error in the rate constants by about 3-fold compared to traditional formulae, and the error scatter by about 4-fold, over a wide range of parameters for conventional saturation transfer employing progressive saturation, and for the four-angle saturation-transfer method applied to the creatine kinase (CK) reaction in the human heart at 1.5 T. In normal in vivo spectra affected by spillover, the correction increases the mean calculated forward CK reaction rate by 6-16% over traditional and prior correction formulae.

Inertial Wave Turbulence Driven by Elliptical Instability.

PubMed

Le Reun, Thomas; Favier, Benjamin; Barker, Adrian J; Le Bars, Michael

2017-07-21

The combination of elliptical deformation of streamlines and vorticity can lead to the destabilization of any rotating flow via the elliptical instability. Such a mechanism has been invoked as a possible source of turbulence in planetary cores subject to tidal deformations. The saturation of the elliptical instability has been shown to generate turbulence composed of nonlinearly interacting waves and strong columnar vortices with varying respective amplitudes, depending on the control parameters and geometry. In this Letter, we present a suite of numerical simulations to investigate the saturation and the transition from vortex-dominated to wave-dominated regimes. This is achieved by simulating the growth and saturation of the elliptical instability in an idealized triply periodic domain, adding a frictional damping to the geostrophic component only, to mimic its interaction with boundaries. We reproduce several experimental observations within one idealized local model and complement them by reaching more extreme flow parameters. In particular, a wave-dominated regime that exhibits many signatures of inertial wave turbulence is characterized for the first time. This regime is expected in planetary interiors.

Inertial Wave Turbulence Driven by Elliptical Instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Reun, Thomas; Favier, Benjamin; Barker, Adrian J.; Le Bars, Michael

2017-07-01

The combination of elliptical deformation of streamlines and vorticity can lead to the destabilization of any rotating flow via the elliptical instability. Such a mechanism has been invoked as a possible source of turbulence in planetary cores subject to tidal deformations. The saturation of the elliptical instability has been shown to generate turbulence composed of nonlinearly interacting waves and strong columnar vortices with varying respective amplitudes, depending on the control parameters and geometry. In this Letter, we present a suite of numerical simulations to investigate the saturation and the transition from vortex-dominated to wave-dominated regimes. This is achieved by simulating the growth and saturation of the elliptical instability in an idealized triply periodic domain, adding a frictional damping to the geostrophic component only, to mimic its interaction with boundaries. We reproduce several experimental observations within one idealized local model and complement them by reaching more extreme flow parameters. In particular, a wave-dominated regime that exhibits many signatures of inertial wave turbulence is characterized for the first time. This regime is expected in planetary interiors.

Computation of the bluff-body sound generation by a self-consistent mean flow formulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fani, A.; Citro, V.; Giannetti, F.; Auteri, F.

2018-03-01

The sound generated by the flow around a circular cylinder is numerically investigated by using a finite-element method. In particular, we study the acoustic emissions generated by the flow past the bluff body at low Mach and Reynolds numbers. We perform a global stability analysis by using the compressible linearized Navier-Stokes equations. The resulting direct global mode provides detailed information related to the underlying hydrodynamic instability and data on the acoustic field generated. In order to recover the intensity of the produced sound, we apply the self-consistent model for non-linear saturation proposed by Mantič-Lugo, Arratia, and Gallaire ["Self-consistent mean flow description of the nonlinear saturation of the vortex shedding in the cylinder wake," Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 084501 (2014)]. The application of this model allows us to compute the amplitude of the resulting linear mode and the effects of saturation on the mode structure and acoustic field. Our results show excellent agreement with those obtained by a full compressible simulation direct numerical simulation and those derived by the application of classical acoustic analogy formulations.

Performance analysis and simulation of vertical gallium nitride nanowire transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witzigmann, Bernd; Yu, Feng; Frank, Kristian; Strempel, Klaas; Fatahilah, Muhammad Fahlesa; Schumacher, Hans Werner; Wasisto, Hutomo Suryo; Römer, Friedhard; Waag, Andreas

2018-06-01

Gallium nitride (GaN) nanowire transistors are analyzed using hydrodynamic simulation. Both p-body and n-body devices are compared in terms of threshold voltage, saturation behavior and transconductance. The calculations are calibrated using experimental data. The threshold voltage can be tuned from enhancement to depletion mode with wire doping. Surface states cause a shift of threshold voltage and saturation current. The saturation current depends on the gate design, with a composite gate acting as field plate in the p-body device. He joined Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, as a Technical Staff Member. In October 2001, he joined the Optical Access and Transport Division, Agere Systems, Alhambra, CA. In 2004, he was appointed an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich,. Since 2008, at the University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany, and he has been a Professor the Head of the Computational Electronics and Photonics Group, and co-director of CINSaT since 2010. His research interests include computational optoelectronics, process and device design of semiconductor photonic devices, microwave components, and electromagnetics modeling for nanophotonics. Dr. Witzigmann is a senior member of the SPIE and IEEE.

Multiphase flow of carbon dioxide and brine in dual porosity carbonates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pentland, Christopher; Oedai, Sjaam; Ott, Holger

2014-05-01

The storage of carbon dioxide in subsurface formations presents a challenge in terms of multiphase flow characterisation. Project planning requires an understanding of multiphase flow characteristics such as the relationship between relative permeability and saturation. At present there are only a limited number of relative permeability relations for carbon dioxide-brine fluid systems, most of which are measured on sandstone rocks. In this study coreflood experiments are performed to investigate the relative permeability of carbon dioxide and brine in two dual porosity carbonate systems. Carbon dioxide is injected into the brine saturated rocks in a primary drainage process. The rock fluid system is pre-equilibrated to avoid chemical reactions and physical mass transfer between phases. The pressure drop across the samples, the amount of brine displaced and the saturation distribution within the rocks are measured. The experiments are repeated on the same rocks for the decane-brine fluid system. The experimental data is interpreted by simulating the experiments with a continuum scale Darcy solver. Selected functional representations of relative permeability are investigated, the parameters of which are chosen such that a least squares objective function is minimised (i.e. the difference between experimental observations and simulated response). The match between simulation and measurement is dependent upon the form of the functional representations. The best agreement is achieved with the Corey [Brooks and Corey, 1964] or modified Corey [Masalmeh et al., 2007] functions which best represent the relative permeability of brine at low brine saturations. The relative permeability of carbon dioxide is shown to be lower than the relative permeability of decane over the saturation ranges investigated. The relative permeability of the brine phase is comparable for the two fluid systems. These observations are consistent with the rocks being water-wet. During the experiment only a portion of the full saturation range is investigated, corresponding to carbon dioxide entering the macro pores of the dual porosity systems. Within this pore space the relative permeability behaviour is comparable to that measured in Berea sandstone. Brooks, R. H., and A. T. Corey (1964), Hydraulic properties of porous media, Hydrology Papers 3, Civil Engineering Dept., Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO. Masalmeh, S., I. Abu-Shiekah, and X. Jing (2007), Improved Characterization and Modeling of Capillary Transition Zones in Carbonate Reservoirs, SPE Reserv. Eval. Eng., 10(2), doi:10.2118/109094-PA.

Implementation and application of a gradient enhanced crystal plasticity model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soyarslan, C.; Perdahcıoǧlu, E. S.; Aşık, E. E.; van den Boogaard, A. H.; Bargmann, S.

2017-10-01

A rate-independent crystal plasticity model is implemented in which description of the hardening of the material is given as a function of the total dislocation density. The evolution of statistically stored dislocations (SSDs) is described using a saturating type evolution law. The evolution of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) on the other hand is described using the gradient of the plastic strain tensor in a non-local manner. The gradient of the incremental plastic strain tensor is computed explicitly during an implicit FE simulation after each converged step. Using the plastic strain tensor stored as state variables at each integration point and an efficient numerical algorithm to find the gradients, the GND density is obtained. This results in a weak coupling of the equilibrium solution and the gradient enhancement. The algorithm is applied to an academic test problem which considers growth of a cylindrical void in a single crystal matrix.

Adaptive NN control for discrete-time pure-feedback systems with unknown control direction under amplitude and rate actuator constraints.

PubMed

Chen, Weisheng

2009-07-01

This paper focuses on the problem of adaptive neural network tracking control for a class of discrete-time pure-feedback systems with unknown control direction under amplitude and rate actuator constraints. Two novel state-feedback and output-feedback dynamic control laws are established where the function tanh(.) is employed to solve the saturation constraint problem. Implicit function theorem and mean value theorem are exploited to deal with non-affine variables that are used as actual control. Radial basis function neural networks are used to approximate the desired input function. Discrete Nussbaum gain is used to estimate the unknown sign of control gain. The uniform boundedness of all closed-loop signals is guaranteed. The tracking error is proved to converge to a small residual set around the origin. A simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of control schemes proposed in this paper.

Water permeability in hydrate-bearing sediments: A pore-scale study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Sheng; Seol, Yongkoo

2014-06-01

Permeability is a critical parameter governing methane flux and fluid flow in hydrate-bearing sediments; however, limited valid data are available due to experimental challenges. Here we investigate the relationship between apparent water permeability (k') and hydrate saturation (Sh), accounting for hydrate pore-scale growth habit and meso-scale heterogeneity. Results from capillary tube models rely on cross-sectional tube shapes and hydrate pore habits, thus are appropriate only for sediments with uniform hydrate distribution and known hydrate pore character. Given our pore network modeling results showing that accumulating hydrate in sediments decreases sediment porosity and increases hydraulic tortuosity, we propose a modified Kozeny-Carman model to characterize water permeability in hydrate-bearing sediments. This model agrees well with experimental results and can be easily implemented in reservoir simulators with no empirical variables other than Sh. Results are also relevant to flow through other natural sediments that undergo diagenesis, salt precipitation, or bio-clogging.

Comparative ELM study between the observation by ECEI and linear/nonlinear simulation in the KSTAR plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Minwoo; Park, Hyeon K.; Yun, Gunsu; Lee, Jaehyun; Lee, Jieun; Lee, Woochang; Jardin, Stephen; Xu, X. Q.; Kstar Team

2015-11-01

The modeling of the Edge-localized-mode (ELM) should be rigorously pursued for reliable and robust ELM control for steady-state long-pulse H-mode operation in ITER as well as DEMO. In the KSTAR discharge #7328, a linear stability of the ELMs is investigated using M3D-C1 and BOUT + + codes. This is achieved by linear simulation for the n = 8 mode structure of the ELM observed by the KSTAR electron cyclotron emission imaging (ECEI) systems. In the process of analysis, variations due to the plasma equilibrium profiles and transport coefficients on the ELM growth rate are investigated and simulation results with the two codes are compared. The numerical simulations are extended to nonlinear phase of the ELM dynamics, which includes saturation and crash of the modes. Preliminary results of the nonlinear simulations are compared with the measured images especially from the saturation to the crash. This work is supported by NRF of Korea under contract no. NRF-2014M1A7A1A03029865, US DoE by LLNL under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and US DoE by PPPL under contract DE-AC02-09CH11466.

Comparison study of vector control of induction motor with and without saturation and iron loss fed by three level inverter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bougherara, Salim; Golea, Amar; Benchouia, M. Toufik

2018-05-01

This paper is addressed to a comparative study of the vector control of a three phase induction motor based on two mathematical models. The first one is the conventional model based on the assumptions that the saturation and the iron losses are neglected; the second model fully accounts for both the fundamental iron loss and main flux saturation with and without compensation. A rotor resistance identifier is developed, so the compensation of its variation is achieved. The induction motor should be fed through a three levels inverter. The simulation results show the performances of the vector control based on the both models.

All-optical switch consisting of two-stage interferometers controlled by using saturable absorption of monolayer graphene.

PubMed

Oya, Masayuki; Kishikawa, Hiroki; Goto, Nobuo; Yanagiya, Shin-ichiro

2012-11-19

At routing nodes in future photonic networks, pico-second switching will be a key function. We propose an all-optical switch consisting of two-stage Mach-Zehnder interferometers, whose arms contain graphene saturable absorption films. Optical amplitudes along the interferometers are controlled to perform switching between two output ports instead of phase control used in conventional switches. Since only absorption is used for realizing complete switching, insertion loss of 10.2 dB is accompanied in switching. Picosecond response can be expected because of the fast response of saturable absorption of graphene. The switching characteristics are theoretically analyzed and numerically simulated by the finite-difference beam propagation method (FD-BPM).

Decomposition and model selection for large contingency tables.

PubMed

Dahinden, Corinne; Kalisch, Markus; Bühlmann, Peter

2010-04-01

Large contingency tables summarizing categorical variables arise in many areas. One example is in biology, where large numbers of biomarkers are cross-tabulated according to their discrete expression level. Interactions of the variables are of great interest and are generally studied with log-linear models. The structure of a log-linear model can be visually represented by a graph from which the conditional independence structure can then be easily read off. However, since the number of parameters in a saturated model grows exponentially in the number of variables, this generally comes with a heavy computational burden. Even if we restrict ourselves to models of lower-order interactions or other sparse structures, we are faced with the problem of a large number of cells which play the role of sample size. This is in sharp contrast to high-dimensional regression or classification procedures because, in addition to a high-dimensional parameter, we also have to deal with the analogue of a huge sample size. Furthermore, high-dimensional tables naturally feature a large number of sampling zeros which often leads to the nonexistence of the maximum likelihood estimate. We therefore present a decomposition approach, where we first divide the problem into several lower-dimensional problems and then combine these to form a global solution. Our methodology is computationally feasible for log-linear interaction models with many categorical variables each or some of them having many levels. We demonstrate the proposed method on simulated data and apply it to a bio-medical problem in cancer research.

ALEGRA-MHD Simulations for Magnetization of an Ellipsoidal Inclusion

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-01

diffusion has saturated. The simplicity of the interior solution lends itself well to verification of computational electromagnetic simulations...magnetic diffusion, permeability, computational electromagnetism , verification, magnetohydrodynamics 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION... electromagnetic phenomena including magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). This multiphysics capability is a key feature of ALEGRA and the result of many years of

Electron plasma wave filamentation in the kinetic regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lushnikov, Pavel; Rose, Harvey; Silantyev, Denis

2016-10-01

We consider nonlinear electron plasma wave (EPW) dynamics in the kinetic wavenumber regime, 0.25 < kλD < 0.45 , which is typical for current high temperature laser-plasma interaction experiments, where k is the EPW wavenumber and λD is the electron Debye length. In this kinetic regime, EPW frequency reduction due to electron trapping may dominate the ponderomotive frequency shift. Previous 3D PIC simulations showed that the trapped electron EPW filamentation instability can saturate stimulated Raman backscatter by reducing the EPWs coherence but multidimensional Vlasov simulations [1] are needed to address that saturation in details. We performed nonlinear, non-equilibrium 2D Vlasov simulations to study the EPW filamentation. The initial conditions are created either by external forcing or by constructing the appropriate 1D travelling Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) mode. Transverse perturbations of any of these initial conditions grow with time eventually producing strongly nonlinear filamentation followed by plasma turbulence. We compared these simulations with the theoretical results on growth rates of the transverse instability BGK mode showing the satisfactory agreement. Supported by the New Mexico Consortium and NSF DMS-1412140.

Characterization of Bitumen Micro-Mechanical Behaviors Using AFM, Phase Dynamics Theory and MD Simulation.

PubMed

Hou, Yue; Wang, Linbing; Wang, Dawei; Guo, Meng; Liu, Pengfei; Yu, Jianxin

2017-02-21

Fundamental understanding of micro-mechanical behaviors in bitumen, including phase separation, micro-friction, micro-abrasion, etc., can help the pavement engineers better understand the bitumen mechanical performances at macroscale. Recent researches show that the microstructure evolution in bitumen will directly affect its surface structure and micro-mechanical performance. In this study, the bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behaviors are studied using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) experiments, Phase Dynamics Theory and Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation. The AFM experiment results show that different phase-structure will occur at the surface of the bitumen samples under certain thermodynamic conditions at microscale. The phenomenon can be explained using the phase dynamics theory, where the effects of stability parameter and temperature on bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behavior are studied combined with MD Simulation. Simulation results show that the saturates phase, in contrast to the naphthene aromatics phase, plays a major role in bitumen micro-mechanical behavior. A high stress zone occurs at the interface between the saturates phase and the naphthene aromatics phase, which may form discontinuities that further affect the bitumen frictional performance.

Characterization of Bitumen Micro-Mechanical Behaviors Using AFM, Phase Dynamics Theory and MD Simulation

PubMed Central

Hou, Yue; Wang, Linbing; Wang, Dawei; Guo, Meng; Liu, Pengfei; Yu, Jianxin

2017-01-01

Fundamental understanding of micro-mechanical behaviors in bitumen, including phase separation, micro-friction, micro-abrasion, etc., can help the pavement engineers better understand the bitumen mechanical performances at macroscale. Recent researches show that the microstructure evolution in bitumen will directly affect its surface structure and micro-mechanical performance. In this study, the bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behaviors are studied using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) experiments, Phase Dynamics Theory and Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation. The AFM experiment results show that different phase-structure will occur at the surface of the bitumen samples under certain thermodynamic conditions at microscale. The phenomenon can be explained using the phase dynamics theory, where the effects of stability parameter and temperature on bitumen microstructure and micro-mechanical behavior are studied combined with MD Simulation. Simulation results show that the saturates phase, in contrast to the naphthene aromatics phase, plays a major role in bitumen micro-mechanical behavior. A high stress zone occurs at the interface between the saturates phase and the naphthene aromatics phase, which may form discontinuities that further affect the bitumen frictional performance. PMID:28772570

A new continuous sliding mode control approach with actuator saturation for control of 2-DOF helicopter system.

PubMed

Sadala, S P; Patre, B M

2018-03-01

The 2-degree of freedom (DOF) helicopter system is a typical higher-order, multi-variable, nonlinear and strong coupled control system. The helicopter dynamics also includes parametric uncertainties and is subject to unknown external disturbances. Such complicated system requires designing a sophisticated control algorithm that can handle these difficulties. This paper presents a new robust control algorithm which is a combination of two continuous control techniques, composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) and super-twisting control (STC) methods. In the existing integral sliding mode (ISM) based CNF control law, the discontinuous term exhibits chattering which is not desirable for many practical applications. As the continuity of well known STC reduces chattering in the system, the proposed strategy is beneficial over the current ISM based CNF control law which has a discontinuous term. Two controllers with integral sliding surface are designed to control the position of the pitch and the yaw angles of the 2- DOF helicopter. The adequacy of this specific combination has been exhibited through general analysis, simulation and experimental results of 2-DOF helicopter setup. The acquired results demonstrate the good execution of the proposed controller regarding stabilization, following reference input without overshoot against actuator saturation and robustness concerning to the limited matched disturbances. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fundamental mechanisms of laser damage of dielectric crystals by ultrashort pulse: ionization dynamics for the Keldysh model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gruzdev, Vitaly

2014-12-01

Laser-induced ionization is a major process that initiates and drives the initial stages of laser-induced damage (LID) of high-quality transparent solids. The ionization and its contribution to LID are characterized in terms of the time-dependent ionization rate and conduction-band electron density. Considering femtosecond pulses of various durations (from 35 to 706 fs) and variable peak irradiances (from 0.01 to 60 TW/cm2), we use a single-rate equation to simulate time variations of conduction-band electron density and rates of the photoionization and impact ionization. The photoionization rate is evaluated with the Keldysh equation. At low irradiance, the electron density and total ionization rate demonstrate power scaling characteristic of multiphoton ionization. With the increase of irradiance, there is observed a saturation of the photoionization rate due to photoionization suppression by the Keldysh-type singularity during the increase in the number of simultaneously absorbed photons by 1. A striking result is that the saturation is followed by a stepwise transition from the ionization regime which is completely dominated by the photoionization to a regime totally dominated by the impact ionization. The transition results in the increase of the electron density by a few orders of magnitude induced by a variation of peak laser irradiance by about 15% to 20%. The physical effects that are involved are discussed.

The impact of fluid topology on residual saturations - A pore-network model study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doster, F.; Kallel, W.; van Dijke, R.

2014-12-01

In two-phase flow in porous media only fractions of the resident fluid are mobilised during a displacement process and, in general, a significant amount of the resident fluid remains permanently trapped. Depending on the application, entrapment is desirable (geological carbon storage), or it should be obviated (enhanced oil recovery, contaminant remediation). Despite its utmost importance for these applications, predictions of trapped fluid saturations for macroscopic systems, in particular under changing displacement conditions, remain challenging. The models that aim to represent trapping phenomena are typically empirical and require tracking of the history of the state variables. This exacerbates the experimental verification and the design of sophisticated displacement technologies that enhance or impede trapping. Recently, experiments [1] have suggested that a macroscopic normalized Euler number, quantifying the topology of fluid distributions, could serve as a parameter to predict residual saturations based on state variables. In these experiments the entrapment of fluids was visualised through 3D micro CT imaging. However, the experiments are notoriously time consuming and therefore only allow for a sparse sampling of the parameter space. Pore-network models represent porous media through an equivalent network structure of pores and throats. Under quasi-static capillary dominated conditions displacement processes can be modeled through simple invasion percolation rules. Hence, in contrast to experiments, pore-network models are fast and therefore allow full sampling of the parameter space. Here, we use pore-network modeling [2] to critically investigate the knowledge gained through observing and tracking the normalized Euler number. More specifically, we identify conditions under which (a) systems with the same saturations but different normalized Euler numbers lead to different residual saturations and (b) systems with the same saturations and the same normalized Euler numbers but different process histories yield the same residual saturations. Special attention is given to contact angle and process histories with varying drainage and imbibition periods. [1] Herring et al., Adv. Water. Resour., 62, 47-58 (2013) [2] Ryazanov et al., Transp. Porous Media, 80, 79-99 (2009).

Tests of a low-pressure switch protected by a saturating inductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauer, E. J.; Birx, D. L.

1981-10-01

A triggered low-pressure switch was tested switching a charged capacitor across a damping resistor simulating a transformer. A series saturating inductor protected the switch from electron beam anode damage. The capacitor was 15 micro F and charge voltages up to 50 kV were used. The time to current maximum was 5 to 8 micro S. The current terminated at about 50 micro S and voltage could be reapplied at about 100 micro S.

Variable resistance constant tension and lubrication device. [using oil-saturated leather wiper

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, H. J. (Inventor)

1974-01-01

A variable resistance device is described which includes a cylindrical housing having elongated resistance wires. A movable arm having a supporting block carried on the outer end is rotatably carried by the cylindrical housing. An arcuate steel spring member is pivotally supported by the movable arm. A leather wiper member is carried adjacent to one end of the spring steel member, and an electrically conductive surface is carried adjacent to the other end. The supporting block maintains the spring steel member in compression so that a constant pressure is applied to the conductive end of the spring steel member and the leather wiper. The leather wiper is saturated with a lubricating oil for maintaining the resistance wire clean as the movable arm is manipulated.

On the consistency of scale among experiments, theory, and simulation

DOE PAGES

McClure, James E.; Dye, Amanda L.; Miller, Cass T.; ...

2017-02-20

As a tool for addressing problems of scale, we consider an evolving approach known as the thermodynamically constrained averaging theory (TCAT), which has broad applicability to hydrology. We consider the case of modeling of two-fluid-phase flow in porous media, and we focus on issues of scale as they relate to various measures of pressure, capillary pressure, and state equations needed to produce solvable models. We apply TCAT to perform physics-based data assimilation to understand how the internal behavior influences the macroscale state of two-fluid porous medium systems. A microfluidic experimental method and a lattice Boltzmann simulation method are used to examinemore » a key deficiency associated with standard approaches. In a hydrologic process such as evaporation, the water content will ultimately be reduced below the irreducible wetting-phase saturation determined from experiments. This is problematic since the derived closure relationships cannot predict the associated capillary pressures for these states. Here, we demonstrate that the irreducible wetting-phase saturation is an artifact of the experimental design, caused by the fact that the boundary pressure difference does not approximate the true capillary pressure. Using averaging methods, we compute the true capillary pressure for fluid configurations at and below the irreducible wetting-phase saturation. Results of our analysis include a state function for the capillary pressure expressed as a function of fluid saturation and interfacial area.« less

On the consistency of scale among experiments, theory, and simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClure, James E.; Dye, Amanda L.; Miller, Cass T.; Gray, William G.

2017-02-01

As a tool for addressing problems of scale, we consider an evolving approach known as the thermodynamically constrained averaging theory (TCAT), which has broad applicability to hydrology. We consider the case of modeling of two-fluid-phase flow in porous media, and we focus on issues of scale as they relate to various measures of pressure, capillary pressure, and state equations needed to produce solvable models. We apply TCAT to perform physics-based data assimilation to understand how the internal behavior influences the macroscale state of two-fluid porous medium systems. A microfluidic experimental method and a lattice Boltzmann simulation method are used to examine a key deficiency associated with standard approaches. In a hydrologic process such as evaporation, the water content will ultimately be reduced below the irreducible wetting-phase saturation determined from experiments. This is problematic since the derived closure relationships cannot predict the associated capillary pressures for these states. We demonstrate that the irreducible wetting-phase saturation is an artifact of the experimental design, caused by the fact that the boundary pressure difference does not approximate the true capillary pressure. Using averaging methods, we compute the true capillary pressure for fluid configurations at and below the irreducible wetting-phase saturation. Results of our analysis include a state function for the capillary pressure expressed as a function of fluid saturation and interfacial area.

Lattice Boltzmann simulations of supercritical CO2-water drainage displacement in porous media: CO2 saturation and displacement mechanism.

PubMed

Yamabe, Hirotatsu; Tsuji, Takeshi; Liang, Yunfeng; Matsuoka, Toshifumi

2015-01-06

CO2 geosequestration in deep aquifers requires the displacement of water (wetting phase) from the porous media by supercritical CO2 (nonwetting phase). However, the interfacial instabilities, such as viscous and capillary fingerings, develop during the drainage displacement. Moreover, the burstlike Haines jump often occurs under conditions of low capillary number. To study these interfacial instabilities, we performed lattice Boltzmann simulations of CO2-water drainage displacement in a 3D synthetic granular rock model at a fixed viscosity ratio and at various capillary numbers. The capillary numbers are varied by changing injection pressure, which induces changes in flow velocity. It was observed that the viscous fingering was dominant at high injection pressures, whereas the crossover of viscous and capillary fingerings was observed, accompanied by Haines jumps, at low injection pressures. The Haines jumps flowing forward caused a significant drop of CO2 saturation, whereas Haines jumps flowing backward caused an increase of CO2 saturation (per injection depth). We demonstrated that the pore-scale Haines jumps remarkably influenced the flow path and therefore equilibrium CO2 saturation in crossover domain, which is in turn related to the storage efficiency in the field-scale geosequestration. The results can improve our understandings of the storage efficiency by the effects of pore-scale displacement phenomena.

[Effects of Cultivation Soil Properties on the Transport of Genetically Engineered Microorganism in Huabei Plain].

PubMed

Zhang, Jing; Liu, Ping; Liu, Chun; Chen, Xiao-xuan; Zhang, Lei

2015-12-01

The transport of genetically engineered microorganism (GEM) in the soil is considered to be the important factor influencing the enhanced bioremediation of polluted soil. The transport of an atrazine-degrading GEM and its influencing factors were investigated in the saturated cultivation soil of Huabei Plain. The results showed that horizontal infiltration was the main mechanism of GEM transport in the saturated cultivation soil. The transport process could be simulated using the filtration model. Soil properties showed significant effects on pore water flow and GEM transport in saturated soil. When particle size, porosity and sand component of the soil increased, the hydraulic conductivity constant increased and filtration coefficient of GEM decreased in saturated soil, indicating the reduced retention of GEM in the soil. An increase in infiltration flow also increased hydraulic conductivity constant in saturated soil and consequently decreased filtration coefficient of GEM. When hydraulic conductivity constants ranged from 5.02 m · d⁻¹ to 6.70 m · d⁻¹ in the saturated soil, the filtration coefficients of GEM varied from 0.105 to 0.274. There was a significantly negative correlation between them.

Repulsion-based model for contact angle saturation in electrowetting

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

We introduce a new model for contact angle saturation phenomenon in electrowetting on dielectric systems. This new model attributes contact angle saturation to repulsion between trapped charges on the cap and base surfaces of the droplet in the vicinity of the three-phase contact line, which prevents these surfaces from converging during contact angle reduction. This repulsion-based saturation is similar to repulsion between charges accumulated on the surfaces of conducting droplets which causes the well known Coulombic fission and Taylor cone formation phenomena. In our model, both the droplet and dielectric coating were treated as lossy dielectric media (i.e., having finite electrical conductivities and permittivities) contrary to the more common assumption of a perfectly conducting droplet and perfectly insulating dielectric. We used theoretical analysis and numerical simulations to find actual charge distribution on droplet surface, calculate repulsion energy, and minimize energy of the total system as a function of droplet contact angle. Resulting saturation curves were in good agreement with previously reported experimental results. We used this proposed model to predict effect of changing liquid properties, such as electrical conductivity, and system parameters, such as thickness of the dielectric layer, on the saturation angle, which also matched experimental results. PMID:25759748

Repulsion-based model for contact angle saturation in electrowetting.

PubMed

Ali, Hassan Abdelmoumen Abdellah; Mohamed, Hany Ahmed; Abdelgawad, Mohamed

2015-01-01

We introduce a new model for contact angle saturation phenomenon in electrowetting on dielectric systems. This new model attributes contact angle saturation to repulsion between trapped charges on the cap and base surfaces of the droplet in the vicinity of the three-phase contact line, which prevents these surfaces from converging during contact angle reduction. This repulsion-based saturation is similar to repulsion between charges accumulated on the surfaces of conducting droplets which causes the well known Coulombic fission and Taylor cone formation phenomena. In our model, both the droplet and dielectric coating were treated as lossy dielectric media (i.e., having finite electrical conductivities and permittivities) contrary to the more common assumption of a perfectly conducting droplet and perfectly insulating dielectric. We used theoretical analysis and numerical simulations to find actual charge distribution on droplet surface, calculate repulsion energy, and minimize energy of the total system as a function of droplet contact angle. Resulting saturation curves were in good agreement with previously reported experimental results. We used this proposed model to predict effect of changing liquid properties, such as electrical conductivity, and system parameters, such as thickness of the dielectric layer, on the saturation angle, which also matched experimental results.

Empirical algorithms to predict aragonite saturation state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turk, Daniela; Dowd, Michael

2017-04-01

Novel sensor packages deployed on autonomous platforms (Profiling Floats, Gliders, Moorings, SeaCycler) and biogeochemical models have a potential to increase the coverage of a key water chemistry variable, aragonite saturation state (ΩAr) in time and space, in particular in the under sampled regions of global ocean. However, these do not provide the set of inorganic carbon measurements commonly used to derive ΩAr. There is therefore a need to develop regional predictive models to determine ΩAr from measurements of commonly observed or/and non carbonate oceanic variables. Here, we investigate predictive skill of several commonly observed oceanographic variables (temperature, salinity, oxygen, nitrate, phosphate and silicate) in determining ΩAr using climatology and shipboard data. This will allow us to assess potential for autonomous sensors and biogeochemical models to monitor ΩAr regionally and globally. We apply the regression models to several time series data sets and discuss regional differences and their implications for global estimates of ΩAr.

Effect of Saturation Pressure Difference on Metal–Silicide Nanopowder Formation in Thermal Plasma Fabrication

PubMed Central

Shigeta, Masaya; Watanabe, Takayuki

2016-01-01

A computational investigation using a unique model and a solution algorithm was conducted, changing only the saturation pressure of one material artificially during nanopowder formation in thermal plasma fabrication, to highlight the effects of the saturation pressure difference between a metal and silicon. The model can not only express any profile of particle size–composition distribution for a metal–silicide nanopowder even with widely ranging sizes from sub-nanometers to a few hundred nanometers, but it can also simulate the entire growth process involving binary homogeneous nucleation, binary heterogeneous co-condensation, and coagulation among nanoparticles with different compositions. Greater differences in saturation pressures cause a greater time lag for co-condensation of two material vapors during the collective growth of the metal–silicide nanopowder. The greater time lag for co-condensation results in a wider range of composition of the mature nanopowder. PMID:28344300

Saturation of energetic-particle-driven geodesic acoustic modes due to wave-particle nonlinearity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biancalani, A.; Chavdarovski, I.; Qiu, Z.; Bottino, A.; Del Sarto, D.; Ghizzo, A.; Gürcan, Ö.; Morel, P.; Novikau, I.

2017-12-01

The nonlinear dynamics of energetic-particle (EP) driven geodesic acoustic modes (EGAM) is investigated here. A numerical analysis with the global gyrokinetic particle-in-cell code ORB5 is performed, and the results are interpreted with the analytical theory, in close comparison with the theory of the beam-plasma instability. Only axisymmetric modes are considered, with a nonlinear dynamics determined by wave-particle interaction. Quadratic scalings of the saturated electric field with respect to the linear growth rate are found for the case of interest. As a main result, the formula for the saturation level is provided. Near the saturation, we observe a transition from adiabatic to non-adiabatic dynamics, i.e. the frequency chirping rate becomes comparable to the resonant EP bounce frequency. The numerical analysis is performed here with electrostatic simulations with circular flux surfaces, and kinetic effects of the electrons are neglected.

H∞ control for uncertain linear system over networks with Bernoulli data dropout and actuator saturation.

PubMed

Yu, Jimin; Yang, Chenchen; Tang, Xiaoming; Wang, Ping

2018-03-01

This paper investigates the H ∞ control problems for uncertain linear system over networks with random communication data dropout and actuator saturation. The random data dropout process is modeled by a Bernoulli distributed white sequence with a known conditional probability distribution and the actuator saturation is confined in a convex hull by introducing a group of auxiliary matrices. By constructing a quadratic Lyapunov function, effective conditions for the state feedback-based H ∞ controller and the observer-based H ∞ controller are proposed in the form of non-convex matrix inequalities to take the random data dropout and actuator saturation into consideration simultaneously, and the problem of non-convex feasibility is solved by applying cone complementarity linearization (CCL) procedure. Finally, two simulation examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed new design techniques. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

QED cascade saturation in extreme high fields.

PubMed

Luo, Wen; Liu, Wei-Yuan; Yuan, Tao; Chen, Min; Yu, Ji-Ye; Li, Fei-Yu; Del Sorbo, D; Ridgers, C P; Sheng, Zheng-Ming

2018-05-30

Upcoming ultrahigh power lasers at 10 PW level will make it possible to experimentally explore electron-positron (e - e + ) pair cascades and subsequent relativistic e - e + jets formation, which are supposed to occur in extreme astrophysical environments, such as black holes, pulsars, quasars and gamma-ray bursts. In the latter case it is a long-standing question as to how the relativistic jets are formed and what their temperatures and compositions are. Here we report simulation results of pair cascades in two counter-propagating QED-strong laser fields. A scaling of QED cascade growth with laser intensity is found, showing clear cascade saturation above threshold intensity of ~10 24 W/cm 2 . QED cascade saturation leads to pair plasma cooling and longitudinal compression along the laser axis, resulting in the subsequent formation of relativistic dense e - e + jets along transverse directions. Such laser-driven QED cascade saturation may open up the opportunity to study energetic astrophysical phenomena in laboratory.

Interaction of a parabolic-shaped pulse pair in a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Da-Shuai; Wu, Ge; Gao, Bo; Tian, Xiao-Jian

2013-01-01

We numerically investigate the formation and interaction of a parabolic-shaped pulse pair in a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser. Based on a lumped model, the parabolic-shaped pulse pair is obtained by controlling the inter-cavity average dispersion and gain saturation energy, Moreover, pulse repulsive and attractive motion are also achieved with different pulse separations. Simulation results show that the phase shift plays an important role in pulse interaction, and the interaction is determined by the inter-cavity average dispersion and gain saturation energy, i.e., the strength of the interaction is proportional to the gain saturation energy, a stronger gain saturation energy will result in a higher interaction intensity. On the contrary, the increase of the inter-cavity dispersion will counterbalance some interaction force. The results also show that the interaction of a parabolic-shaped pulse pair has a larger interaction distance compared to conventional solitons.