Estimation of Apollo lunar dust transport using optical extinction measurements

A technique to estimate mass erosion rate of surface soil during landing of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) and total mass ejected due to the rocket plume interaction is proposed and tested. The erosion rate is proportional to the product of the second moment of the lofted particle size distribution N(D), and third moment of the normalized soil size distribution S(D), divided by the integral of S(D)D^2/v(D), where D is particle diameter and v(D) is the vertical component of particle velocity. The second moment of N(D) is estimated by optical extinction analysis of the Apollo cockpit video. Because of the similarity between mass erosion rate of soil as measured by optical extinction and rainfall rate as measured by radar reflectivity, traditional NWS radar/rainfall correlation methodology can be applied to the lunar soil case where various S(D) models are assumed corresponding to specific lunar sites.Comment: Acta Geophysica 201

Runoff-generated debris flows: Observation of initiation conditions and erosion–deposition dynamics along the channel at Cancia (eastern Italian Alps)

In the Dolomitic region, abundant coarse hillslope sediment is commonly found at the toe of rocky cliffs. Ephemeral channels originate where lower permeability bedrock surfaces concentrate surface runoff. Debris flows initiate along such channels following intense rainfall and determine the progressive erosion and deepening of the channels. Sediment recharge mechanisms include rock fall, dry ravel processes and channel-bank failures. Here we document debris flow activity that took place in an active debris flow basin during the year 2015. The Cancia basin is located on the southwestern slope of Mount Antelao (3264 m a.s.l.) in the dolomitic region of the eastern Italian Alps. The 2.5 km2 basin is incised in dolomitic limestone rocks. The data consist of repeated topographic surveys, distributed rainfall measurements, time-lapse (2 s) videos of two events and pore pressure measurements in the channel bed. During July and August 2015, two debris flow events occurred, following similarly intense rainstorms. We compared rainfall data to existing rainfall triggering thresholds and simulated the hydrological response of the headwater catchment with a distributed model in order to estimate the total and peak water discharge. Our data clearly illustrate how debris entrainment along the channel is the main contributor to the overall mobilized volume and that erosion is dominant when the channel slope exceeds 16°. Further downstream, sediment accumulation and depletion occurred alternately for the two successive events, indicating that sediment availability along the channel also influences the flow behaviour along the prevailing-transport reach. The comparison between monitoring data, topographical analysis and hydrological simulation allows the estimation of the average solid concentration of the two events and suggests that debris availability has a significant influence on the debris flow volume. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Passive water control at the surface of a superhydrophobic lichen

Some lichens have a super-hydrophobic upper surface, which repels water drops, keeping the surface dry but probably preventing water uptake. Spore ejection requires water and is most efficient just after rainfall. This study was carried out to investigate how super-hydrophobic lichens manage water uptake and repellence at their fruiting bodies, or podetia. Drops of water were placed onto separate podetia of Cladonia chlorophaea and observed using optical microscopy and cryo-scanning-electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) techniques to determine the structure of podetia and to visualise their interaction with water droplets. SEM and optical microscopy studies revealed that the surface of the podetia was constructed in a three-level structural hierarchy. By cryo-SEM of water-glycerol droplets placed on the upper part of the podetium, pinning of the droplet to specific, hydrophilic spots (pycnidia/apothecia) was observed. The results suggest a mechanism for water uptake, which is highly sophisticated, using surface wettability to generate a passive response to different types of precipitation in a manner similar to the Namib Desert beetle. This mechanism is likely to be found in other organisms as it offers passive but selective water control

TempNet -- Temporal Super Resolution of Radar Rainfall Products with Residual CNNs

The temporal and spatial resolution of rainfall data is crucial for environmental modeling studies in which its variability in space and time is considered as a primary factor. Rainfall products from different remote sensing instruments (e.g., radar, satellite) have different space-time resolutions because of the differences in their sensing capabilities and post-processing methods. In this study, we developed a deep learning approach that augments rainfall data with increased time resolutions to complement relatively lower resolution products. We propose a neural network architecture based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to improve the temporal resolution of radar-based rainfall products and compare the proposed model with an optical flow-based interpolation method and CNN-baseline model. The methodology presented in this study could be used for enhancing rainfall maps with better temporal resolution and imputation of missing frames in sequences of 2D rainfall maps to support hydrological and flood forecasting studies

Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research - Issue 2018

The Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research is a publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC). This bulletin is produced in an effort to share water research relevant to Arkansas water stakeholders in an easily searchable and aesthetically engaging way. This is the second publication of the bulletin and will be published annually. The submission of a paper to this bulletin is appropriate for topics at all related to water resources, by anyone conducting water research or investigations. This includes but is not limited to university researchers, consulting firms, watershed groups, and other agencies. Prospective authors should read the “Introduction to the Arkanasas Bulletin of Water Research” contained within this publication and should refer to the AWRC website for additional infromation. https://arkansas-water-center.uark.edu

Measurements of DSD Second Moment Based on Laser Extinction

Using a technique recently developed for estimating the density of surface dust dispersed during a rocket landing, measuring the extinction of a laser passing through rain (or dust in the rocket case) yields an estimate of the 2nd moment of the particle cloud, and rainfall drop size distribution (DSD) in the terrestrial meteorological case. With the exception of disdrometers, instruments that measure rainfall make in direct measurements of the DSD. Most common of these instruments are the rainfall rate gauge measuring the 1 1/3 th moment, (when using a D(exp 2/3) dependency on terminal velocity). Instruments that scatter microwaves off of hydrometeors, such as the WSR-880, vertical wind profilers, and microwave disdrometers, measure the 6th moment of the DSD. By projecting a laser onto a target, changes in brightness of the laser spot against the target background during rain, yield a measurement of the DSD 2nd moment, using the Beer-Lambert law. In order to detect the laser attenuation within the 8-bit resolution of most camera image arrays, a minimum path length is required, depending on the intensity of the rainfall rate. For moderate to heavy rainfall, a laser path length of 100 m is sufficient to measure variations in optical extinction using a digital camera. A photo-detector could replace the camera, for automated installations. In order to spatially correlate the 2nd moment measurements to a collocated disdrometer or tipping bucket, the laser's beam path can be reflected multiple times using mirrors to restrict the spatial extent of the measurement. In cases where a disdrometer is not available, complete DSD estimates can be produced by parametric fitting of DSD model to the 2nd moment data in conjunction with tipping bucket data. In cases where a disdrometer is collocated, the laser extinction technique may yield a significant improvement to insitu disdrometer validation and calibration strategie

TempNet – Temporal Super-resolution Of Radar Rainfall Products With Residual CNNs

The temporal and spatial resolution of rainfall data is crucial for environmental modeling studies in which its variability in space and time is considered as a primary factor. Rainfall products from different remote sensing instruments (e.g., radar, satellite) have different space-time resolutions because of the differences in their sensing capabilities and post-processing methods. In this study, we developed a deep-learning approach that augments rainfall data with increased time resolutions to complement relatively lower-resolution products. We propose a neural network architecture based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), namely TempNet, to improve the temporal resolution of radar-based rainfall products and compare the proposed model with an optical flow-based interpolation method and CNN-baseline model. While TempNet achieves a mean absolute error of 0.332 mm/h, comparison methods achieve 0.35 and 0.341, respectively. The methodology presented in this study could be used for enhancing rainfall maps with better temporal resolution and imputation of missing frames in sequences of 2D rainfall maps to support hydrological and flood forecasting studies

A viscoelastic deadly fluid in carnivorous pitcher plants

Background : The carnivorous plants of the genus Nepenthes, widely distributed in the Asian tropics, rely mostly on nutrients derived from arthropods trapped in their pitcher-shaped leaves and digested by their enzymatic fluid. The genus exhibits a great diversity of prey and pitcher forms and its mechanism of trapping has long intrigued scientists. The slippery inner surfaces of the pitchers, which can be waxy or highly wettable, have so far been considered as the key trapping devices. However, the occurrence of species lacking such epidermal specializations but still effective at trapping insects suggests the possible implication of other mechanisms. Methodology/Principal Findings : Using a combination of insect bioassays, high-speed video and rheological measurements, we show that the digestive fluid of Nepenthes rafflesiana is highly viscoelastic and that this physical property is crucial for the retention of insects in its traps. Trapping efficiency is shown to remain strong even when the fluid is highly diluted by water, as long as the elastic relaxation time of the fluid is higher than the typical time scale of insect movements. Conclusions/Significance : This finding challenges the common classification of Nepenthes pitchers as simple passive traps and is of great adaptive significance for these tropical plants, which are often submitted to high rainfalls and variations in fluid concentration. The viscoelastic trap constitutes a cryptic but potentially widespread adaptation of Nepenthes species and could be a homologous trait shared through common ancestry with the sundew (Drosera) flypaper plants. Such large production of a highly viscoelastic biopolymer fluid in permanent pools is nevertheless unique in the plant kingdom and suggests novel applications for pest control

Assessing different imaging velocimetry techniques to measure shallow runoff velocities during rain events using an urban drainage physical model

Although surface velocities are key in the calibration of physically based urban drainage models, the shallow water depths developed during non-extreme precipitation and the potential risks during flood events limit the availability of this type of data in urban catchments. In this context, imaging velocimetry techniques are being investigated as suitable non-intrusive methods to estimate runoff velocities, when the possible influence of rain has yet to be analyzed. This study carried out a comparative assessment of different seeded and unseeded imaging velocimetry techniques based on large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) and bubble image velocimetry (BIV) through six realistic but laboratory-controlled experiments, in which the runoff generated by three different rain intensities was recorded. First, the use of naturally generated bubbles and water shadows and glares as tracers allows unseeded techniques to measure extremely shallow flows. However, these techniques are more affected by raindrop impacts, which even lead to erroneous velocities in the case of high rain intensities. At the same time, better results were obtained for high intensities and in complex flows with techniques that use artificial particles. Finally, the study highlights the potential of these imaging techniques for measuring surface velocities in real field applications as well as the importance of considering rain properties to interpret and assess the results obtained. The robustness of the techniques for real-life applications yet remains to be proven by means of further studies in non-controlled environments.The project receives funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under POREDRAIN project RTI2018-094217-B-C33 (MINECO/FEDER-EU)

Geomorphology of icy debris fans: Delivery of ice and sediment to valley glaciers decoupled from icecaps

The pace and volume of mass flow processes contributing ice and sediment to icy debris fans (IDFs) were documented at sites in Alaska and New Zealand by integrating field observations, drone and time-lapse imagery, ground penetrating radar, and terrestrial laser scanning. Largely unstudied, IDFs are supraglacial landforms at the mouths of bedrock catchments between valley glaciers and icecaps. Time-lapse imagery recorded 300–2300 events reaching 15 fans during intervals from nine months to two years. Field observations noted hundreds of deposits trapped within catchments weekly that were later remobilized onto fans. Deposits were mapped on images taken three to four times per day. Most events were ice avalanches (58%–100%). Slush avalanches and/or flows were common in spring and fall (0%–65%). Icy debris flows were \u3c5% of the events, observed only at sites with geomorphically complex catchments. Rockfalls were common within catchments; few directly reached a fan. Site selection provided a spectrum of catchment relationships between icecaps and fans. The largest most active fans occur below hanging glaciers or short chutes between the icecap and glacier and were dominated by ice avalanches, slush avalanches, and slush flows. Larger, complex catchments allowed temporary storage of ice and sediment that were later remobilized into ice and slush avalanches and debris flows. Unlike alluvial settings where larger fans are associated with larger catchments, there are variable relationships between IDF area and catchment area. Exceptionally active and dynamic compared to alluvial fans, the studied IDFs exhibited annual resurfacing rates of 300%–\u3e4000%. Annual contributions by mass flows ranged from 133,200 to 5,200,000 m3, representing 3%–56% of fan volume. Although ablation occurred, mainly during summers, significant ice transfer occurred through fan subsurface areas to adjacent valley glaciers. Icy debris fans annually contributed \u3c1%–~24% of the mass of adjacent valley glaciers. Small glaciers (e.g., McCarthy Glacier, Alaska) showed minor thinning (\u3c1 m/yr) compared to larger glaciers (e.g., La Perouse, Douglas, and Mueller Glaciers, New Zealand) that lost \u3e5–10 m/yr over the hundreds of meters of valley glacier adjacent to the IDFs studied. Some IDFs lengthened in response to thinning of valley glaciers. Icy debris fans supplied significant ice and sediment to valley glaciers, slowing the rate of deglaciation. Results of this study have implications toward managing hazards and predicting glacial mass balance in alpine regions. For example, having quantitative information about the role of ice contribution from IDFs to valley glaciers may result in forecasting a lower rate of deglaciation than traditionally recognized for some glaciers decoupled from icecaps