Knowledge support in learning operative organisations

The aim of this study is to understand the requirements, critical success factors and outcomes of knowledge support, particularly in learning operative organisations. Initially, the work focused on support of individual employees performing individual work tasks, but it soon became evident that the perspective was too limited. First, it was expanded to cover smaller work units, and later the scope was extended to organisations. This study summarises many years of work, starting in the early 1990s and concluding on present day. It is based on five constructivist case studies, four of which address knowledge support of employees and teams performing light-weight end-assembly tasks, and one which addresses organisational learning and knowledge management in project organisations. The key findings include: Knowledge support system design and development requires system perspective, understanding that the system is an integral part of the work system and the work system may have to be re-engineered to accommodate the support system. User-centered design is essential for a successful knowledge support system, and this approach must include not only reader-users of the system but all the various user groups, particularly the author-users creating and maintaining the support content of the system. Improved organisational flexibility is one of the key goals and observed results of knowledge support systems. But in order to facilitate organisational flexibility, support systems need to be adaptable and tailorable in order to be able to react to rapid changes in the products, markets and the environment. Implementation is a particularly difficult stage of knowledge support system development. In several cases implementation has fully failed or it has had severe side effects. A knowledge support system can act as the technological infrastructure of a learning organisation. But in order to do this, a support system has to capture new knowledge created in the organisation in addition to distributing existing knowledge. While the results of a study consisting of case studies have limited generalisability, the results can be considered mostly valid in the domain of knowledge support of assembly work tasks. The assembly line cases studied had several similar key characteristics. But when it comes to findings concerning knowledge support in learning organisations, one should be more careful. Nevertheless, even those findings were most fascinating and indicate interesting possibilities for further research.reviewe

Impact of Middle Pleistocene (Saalian) glacial lake-outburst floods on the meltwater-drainage pathways in northern central Europe: Insights from 2D numerical flood simulation

The terrestrial margins of the Middle Pleistocene ice sheets in northern central Europe were characterised by the formation of extensive ice-dammed lakes, which were controlled by the blockage of spillways by the ice margin. The largest ice-dammed lake had a volume of similar to 224 km(3) and formed in a late stage of the first Saalian ice advance (MIS 6) in central Germany. The failure of the ice dam in the bedrock-outlet channel triggered a major glacial lake-outburst flood. Flood-related erosional and depositional features include large-scale scours, trench-like channels, streamlined hills, giant bars and run-up deposits, indicating a wide spreading of the outburst flood in an early stage and the incision of trench-like valleys in a later stage. The incision of large valleys in the proximal flood pathway strongly impacted the regional drainage system by providing an efficient drainage network. The trench-like channels initiated by the lake-outburst flood became a crucial part of the ice-marginal drainage and subsequent fluvial system.The reconstructed outlet hydrographs imply peak discharges of 465,000-673,000 m(3)s(-1). The numerical simulation indicates flow depths of up to 87 m, flow velocities of up to 7 ms(-1), peaks of the bed shear stress of 2500 Nm(-2) and the inundation of large parts of northwestern Germany and the northern Netherlands. The numerical simulation of the outburst flood was conducted on both the modem digital elevation model and on palaeotopographic models, representing the palaeotopography prior to the outburst flood and during maximum flood-related incision, respectively.Distally, the outburst flood probably followed an east-west trending route through northwestern Germany and the central Netherlands into the ice-dammed lake in the southern North Sea Basin. The added water volume might have led to the overspill and drainage of the proglacial lakes in the central Netherlands and the North Sea Lake in a chain reaction, eventually opening an east-west trending meltwater-drainage pathway along the southwestern margin of the decaying ice sheet. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Comparison of remote sensing based approaches for mapping bathymetry of shallow, clear water rivers

Shallow rivers provide important habitat for various aquatic and terrestrial species. The bathymetry of such environments is, however, difficult to measure as devices and approaches have been traditionally developedmainly for deeper waters. This study addresses the mapping of shallow water bathymetry with high spatial resolution and accuracy by comparing three remote sensing (RS) approaches: one based on echo sounding (active RS) and two on photogrammetry (passive RS): bathymetric Structure from Motion (SfM) and optical modelling. The tests were conducted on a 500 m long and ~30 m wide reach of sand bedded meandering river: (1) during a rising spring flood (Q=10–15m3/s)withmediumturbidity and highwater color and; (2) during autumn low discharge (Q =4 m3/s) with low turbidity and color. Each method was used to create bathymetric models. The models were compared with high precision field measurements with a mean point spacing of 0.86 m. Echo sounding provided themost accurate (ME~−0.02 m) and precise (SDE=±0.08 m) bathymetricmodels despite the high degree of interpolation needed. However, the echo sounding-based models were spatially restricted to areas deeper than 0.2 m and no small scale bathymetric variability was captured. The quality of the bathymetric SfM was highly sensitive to flow turbidity and color and therefore depth. However, bathymetric SfM suffers less from substrate variability, turbulent flow or large stones and cobbles on the river bed than optical modelling. Color and depth did affect optical model performance, but clearly less than the bathymetric SfM. The optical model accuracy improved in autumn with lower water color and turbidity (ME = −0.05) compared to spring (ME=−0.12). Correlations between the measured and modelled depth values (r=0.96) and the models precision (SDE=0.09–0.11) were close to those achieved with echo sounding. Shadows caused by riparian vegetation restricted the spatial extent of the optical models.</p

Morphological changes and riffle-pool dynamics related to flow in a meandering river channel based on a 5-year monitoring period using close-range remote sensing

The maintenance of riffle-pool sequences and morphological changes in the long-term have received little attention in the literature. The aims of this study are to determine morphological changes and riffle-pool maintenance in relation to flow conditions in a meandering river channel over a 5-yr period. Change detection was focused on riffle and pool maintenance in a river reach covering three successive meander bends. Changes in a meandering river channel were studied utilizing detailed digital terrain models and flow data. The results indicated that riffle-pool sequences are maintained by high discharge events and the development of pools and riffles was linked. During high discharges, the riverbed eroded on the concave sides and the inflexion points aggraded, causing riffle–pool sequences, whereas during low discharges, concave sides aggraded and inflexion points eroded, causing pool filling and riffle erosion. While discharge increased, near-bed flow velocities increased faster on the concave sides of the bends than at the inflexion points, becoming higher at a discharge of 8 m3/s, ~20% of the bankfull discharge. Changes in the three successive meander bends were mainly similar, and the geometry of meandering rivers contributed to the locations of riffles and pools. Pools and riffles were not stable in size and shape, but their longitudinal location remained the same, instead of migrating up and down the channel. Morphological changes occurred in meander bends year-round, but they were non-linear. Annual channel change was not similar from year to year owing to different flow regimes and morphological changes during the previous year. However, seasonal detection revealed similarities between high and low discharge periods between the years. Concave sides of meander bends may act to temporarily store sediment; however, storage is preserved only under the effective hydrological discharge.</p

Sub‐arctic river bank dynamics and driving processes during the open‐channel flow period

There is growing concern that rapidly changing climate in high latitudes may generate significant geomorphological changes that could mobilise floodplain sediments and carbon; however detailed investigations into the bank erosion process regimes of high latitude rivers remain lacking. Here we employ a combination of thermal and RGB colour time‐lapse photos in concert with water level, flow characteristics, bank sediment moisture and temperature, and topographical data to analyse river bank dynamics during the open‐channel flow period (the period from the rise of the spring snowmelt flood until the autumn low flow period) for a subarctic river in northern Finland (Pulmanki River). We show how variations of bank sediment temperature and moisture affect bank erosion rates and locations, how bank collapses relate to fluvial processes, and elucidate the seasonal variations and interlinkages between the different driving processes.We find that areas with high levels of groundwater content and loose sand layers were the most prone areas for bank erosion. Groundwater seeping caused continuous erosion throughout the study period, whereas erosion by flowing river water occurred during the peak of snowmelt flood. However, erosion also occurred during the falling phase of the spring flood, mainly due to mass failures. The rising phase of the spring flood therefore did not affect the river bank as much as its peak or receding phases. This is explained because the bank is resistant to erosion due to the prevalence of still frozen and drier sediments at the beginning of the spring flood. Overall, most bank erosion and deposition occurrences were observed during the low flow period after the spring flood. This highlights that spring melt, while often delivering the highest discharges, may not be the main driver of bank erosion in sub‐arctic meandering rivers