Role of spatial anisotropy in design storm generation: Experiment and interpretation

Rainfall accumulation depths over a given area are strongly dependent on the shape of the storm together with its direction of advection. A method to produce design storms exhibiting anisotropic spatial scaling is presented by combining a state-of-the-art stochastic rainfall generator STEPS with the linear generalized scale invariance (GSI) notation. The enhanced model is used to create ensembles of design storms based on an extreme storm with a distinct rainband shape observed in Melbourne, Australia. Design storms are generated both with and without accounting for anisotropy. Effect of anisotropy on precipitation characteristics is studied using the entire region covered by the radar (radar scale) and at a significantly smaller catchment scale. A rainfall-runoff model is applied to route the rainfall through the catchment into streamflow. Accounting for anisotropy allows for a more realistic description of precipitation features at the radar scale. At the catchment scale, anisotropy increases the probability of high rainfall accumulations, which translates into greater flood volumes. No discernible difference was observed in streamflow characteristics after controlling for the accumulation over the catchment. This could be explained by a lower importance of anisotropy relative to other factors affecting streamflow generation, and by the difficulties in creating representative rainfall temporal properties at the catchment scale when the radar scale is used for model calibration. The proposed method provides a tool to create ensembles of design storms when the anisotropic shape of the fields is of importance.Peer reviewe

Applicability of open rainfall data to event-scale urban rainfall-runoff modelling

Rainfall-runoff simulations in urban environments require meteorological input data with high temporal and spatial resolutions. The availability of precipitation data is constantly increasing due to the shift towards more open data sharing. However, the applicability of such data for urban runoff assessments is often unknown. Here, the feasibility of Finnish Meteorological Institute's open rain gauge and open weather radar data as input sources was studied by conducting Storm Water Management Model simulations at a very small (33.5 ha) urban catchment in Helsinki, Finland. In addition to the open data sources, data were also available from two research gauges, one of them located on-site, and from a research radar. The results confirmed the importance of local precipitation measurements for urban rainfall-runoff simulations, implying the suitability of open gauge data to be largely dictated by the gauge's distance from the catchment. Performance of open radar data with 5 min and 1 km' resolution was acceptable in terms of runoff reproduction, albeit peak flows were constantly and flow volumes often underestimated. Gauge adjustment and advection interpolation were found to improve the quality of the radar data, and at least gauge adjustment should be performed when open radar data are used. Finally, utilizing dual-polarization capabilities of radars has a potential to improve rainfall estimates for high intensity storms although more research is still needed. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Effects of dexmedetomidine, propofol, sevoflurane and S-ketamine on the human metabolome A randomised trial using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

BACKGROUND Pharmacometabolomics uses large-scale data capturing methods to uncover drug-induced shifts in the metabolic profile. The specific effects of anaesthetics on the human metabolome are largely unknown. OBJECTIVE We aimed to discover whether exposure to routinely used anaesthetics have an acute effect on the human metabolic profile. DESIGN Randomised, open-label, controlled, parallel group, phase IV clinical drug trial. SETTING The study was conducted at Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland, 2016 to 2017. PARTICIPANTS One hundred and sixty healthy male volunteers were recruited. The metabolomic data of 159 were evaluable. INTERVENTIONS Volunteers were randomised to receive a 1-h exposure to equipotent doses (EC50 for verbal command) of dexmedetomidine (1.5 ng ml(-1); n = 40), propofol (1.7 mu g ml(-1); n = 40), sevoflurane (0.9% end-tidal; n = 39), S-ketamine (0.75 mu g ml(-1); n = 20) or placebo (n = 20). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Metabolite subgroups of apolipoproteins and lipoproteins, cholesterol, glycerides and phospholipids, fatty acids, glycolysis, amino acids, ketone bodies, creatinine and albumin and the inflammatory marker GlycA, were analysed with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy from arterial blood samples collected at baseline, after anaesthetic administration and 70 min post-anaesthesia. RESULTS All metabolite subgroups were affected. Statistically significant changes vs. placebo were observed in 11.0, 41.3, 0.65 and 3.9% of the 155 analytes in the dexmedetomidine, propofol, sevoflurane and S-ketamine groups, respectively. Dexmedetomidine increased glucose, decreased ketone bodies and affected lipoproteins and apolipoproteins. Propofol altered lipoproteins, fatty acids, glycerides and phospholipids and slightly increased inflammatory marker glycoprotein acetylation. Sevoflurane was relatively inert. S-ketamine increased glucose and lactate, whereasbranched chain amino acids and tyrosine decreased. CONCLUSION A 1-h exposure to moderate doses of routinely used anaesthetics led to significant and characteristic alterations in the metabolic profile. Dexmedetomidine-induced alterations mirror a2-adrenoceptor agonism. Propofol emulsion altered the lipid profile. The inertness of sevoflurane might prove useful in vulnerable patients. S-ketamine induced amino acid alterations might be linked to its suggested antidepressive properties.Peer reviewe

A simple and effective method for quantifying spatial anisotropy of time series of precipitation fields

The spatial shape of a precipitation event has an important role in determining the catchment's hydrological response to a storm. To be able to generate stochastic design storms with a realistic spatial structure, the anisotropy of the storm has to be quantified. In this paper, a method is proposed to estimate the anisotropy of precipitation fields, using the concept of linear Generalized Scale Invariance (GSI). The proposed method is based on identifying the values of GSI parameters that best describe isolines of constant power on the two-dimensional power spectrum of the fields. The method is evaluated using two sets of simulated fields with known anisotropy and a measured precipitation event with an unknown anisotropy from Brisbane, Australia. It is capable of accurately estimating the anisotropy parameters of simulated nonzero fields, whereas introducing the rain-no rain intermittency alters the power spectra of the fields and slightly reduces the accuracy of the parameter estimates. The parameters estimated for the measured event correspond well with the visual observations on the spatial structure of the fields. The method requires minimum amount of decision making and user interaction, making it suitable for analyzing anisotropy of storm events consisting of long time series of fields with a changing spatial structure.Peer reviewe

Towards natural water cycle in urban areas : Modelling stormwater management designs

Urbanization modifies the natural water cycle particularly by reducing the water storage capacity. We analysed the storage capacity of three stormwater management designs in south-western Finland to demonstrate how an urban catchment releases stormwater and how storage contributes to flood resilience. The analysis relies on EPA SWMM5.1 simulations of water balance for a seven-month period including two extreme rain events during the summer and autumn. The enhanced storage capacity provided by the designs increased resilience against flooding and released stormwater with slower rates leading to reduced peak flows. Even the design with the least storage (10% LID coverage) was efficient at regulating floods due to controlled flow in a vegetated swale, whereas the design with the highest storage capacity (60% LID coverage) demonstrated the possibility of restoring nearly natural water cycle in urban catchments. The study suggests storage capacity can act as a flood resilience indicator directly linked with the physical catchment characteristics.Peer reviewe

Lukiosta kohti biologian yliopisto-opintoja

Tiivistelmä Lukio on luonteeltaan yleissivistävä koulu, jonka tavoitteena on opiskelijoiden kasvattamisen lisäksi tukea valmiuksia elinikäiseen oppimiseen. Lisäksi lukion tehtävänä on avata polku korkea-asteen opintoihin. Moni lukiolainen kuitenkin joutuu jo ensimmäisenä opiskeluvuotenaan tekemään ainevalintapäätöksiä, joiden vaikutukset voivat olla kauaskantoisia. Esimerkiksi valinta pitkän ja lyhyen matematiikan välillä voi olla vahva suunnannäyttäjä jatko-opintopyrkimyksissä

Stormflow against streamflow – Can LID-provided storage capacity ensure performance efficiency and maintenance of pre-development flow regime?

Funding Information: This work was funded by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland; Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future, Academy of Finland (no 326787, WaterWorks2017 ERA-NET Cofund) and Maa- ja vesitekniikan Tuki ry. The study was part of the UrbanStormwaterRisk and EviBAN (Evidence based assessment of NWRM for sustainable water management) projects. Elisa Lähde, a landscape architect, designed the alternative stormwater management designs assessed in this study. The rainfall data for design simulations came from a rain gauge operated by the City of Turku. The streamflow data for rural reference watershed (Savijoki) and semi-urban reference watershed (Kuninkoja) came from monitoring stations maintained by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS), respectively. Funding Information: This work was funded by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland; Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future, Academy of Finland (no 326787, WaterWorks2017 ERA-NET Cofund) and Maa- ja vesitekniikan Tuki ry. The study was part of the UrbanStormwaterRisk and EviBAN (Evidence based assessment of NWRM for sustainable water management) projects. Elisa Lähde, a landscape architect, designed the alternative stormwater management designs assessed in this study. The rainfall data for design simulations came from a rain gauge operated by the City of Turku. The streamflow data for rural reference watershed (Savijoki) and semi-urban reference watershed (Kuninkoja) came from monitoring stations maintained by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS), respectively. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)The goal of Low Impact Development (LID) is to restore and maintain the pre-development flow regime. The static storage capacity, which is often used as a parameter in LID designs, provides the maximum capacity of an LID type and is easily quantifiable already at the design phase. However, the static storage approach does not consider the inter-event recovery of storage capacity by infiltration and evapotranspiration. This study investigated dynamic storage capacities of three stormwater management designs with increasing proportions of LID units on a 1.2 ha urban residential block in Southern Finland, to compare their cost-efficiency, as well as their potential in restoring the pre-development flow regime. The cost-efficiency of LID designs was assessed based on their ability to contribute to water losses, and on the additional construction costs required when comparing them to conventional solutions (e.g. asphalt replaced with permeable pavement). The design with a small storage capacity and a large captureratio, i.e., the ratio of contributing area to LID area, was the least efficient albeit its small construction cost. The design with an appropriate balance between the capture ratio and the LID provided storage capacity was the most efficient option. In assessing the potential of stormwater designs in restoring the pre-development flow regime, the sum of infiltration and flow in storm sewer networks was more representative of the catchment total runoff than flow alone. Finally, an extensive simulation of a large set of differently placed LID units proved useful in a priori identification of the most influential units in the treatment train.Peer reviewe

Role of spatial anisotropy in design storm generation

VK: T20702Rainfall accumulation depths over a given area are strongly dependent on the shape of the storm together with its direction of advection. A method to produce design storms exhibiting anisotropic spatial scaling is presented by combining a state-of-the-art stochastic rainfall generator STEPS with the linear generalized scale invariance (GSI) notation. The enhanced model is used to create ensembles of design storms based on an extreme storm with a distinct rainband shape observed in Melbourne, Australia. Design storms are generated both with and without accounting for anisotropy. Effect of anisotropy on precipitation characteristics is studied using the entire region covered by the radar (radar scale) and at a significantly smaller catchment scale. A rainfall-runoff model is applied to route the rainfall through the catchment into streamflow. Accounting for anisotropy allows for a more realistic description of precipitation features at the radar scale. At the catchment scale, anisotropy increases the probability of high rainfall accumulations, which translates into greater flood volumes. No discernible difference was observed in streamflow characteristics after controlling for the accumulation over the catchment. This could be explained by a lower importance of anisotropy relative to other factors affecting streamflow generation, and by the difficulties in creating representative rainfall temporal properties at the catchment scale when the radar scale is used for model calibration. The proposed method provides a tool to create ensembles of design storms when the anisotropic shape of the fields is of importance.Peer reviewe

Impact of alternative land cover descriptions on urban hydrological model simulations

Availability of remotely sensed and openly available land cover datasets is rapidly improving. This opens promising possibilities for utilizing such data in urban hydrological assessments. However, it remains unknown how the performance of readily available land cover data compares with manually collated information when used to construct detailed model parameterizations required in urban hydrological models. In this study, model runs with alternative land cover data are conducted for three small study areas with varying urban densities in Helsinki, Finland. The study demonstrates how different spatial data sources with varying resolutions produce different urban runoff simulation results. The results suggest that an openly available detailed land cover description can perform equally well with a laboriously collated manual land cover description. However, mixed land cover types of the pan-European Urban Atlas dataset are problematic in describing directly connected impervious areas, which leads to poor modelling results in low density urban areas.Peer reviewe

Applicability of open rainfall data to event-scale urban rainfall-runoff modelling

Rainfall-runoff simulations in urban environments require meteorological input data with high temporal and spatial resolutions. The availability of precipitation data is constantly increasing due to the shift towards more open data sharing. However, the applicability of such data for urban runoff assessments is often unknown. Here, the feasibility of Finnish Meteorological Institute’s open rain gauge and open weather radar data as input sources was studied by conducting Storm Water Management Model simulations at a very small (33.5 ha) urban catchment in Helsinki, Finland. In addition to the open data sources, data were also available from two research gauges, one of them located on-site, and from a research radar. The results confirmed the importance of local precipitation measurements for urban rainfall-runoff simulations, implying the suitability of open gauge data to be largely dictated by the gauge’s distance from the catchment. Performance of open radar data with 5 min and 1 km² resolution was acceptable in terms of runoff reproduction, albeit peak flows were constantly and flow volumes often underestimated. Gauge adjustment and advection interpolation were found to improve the quality of the radar data, and at least gauge adjustment should be performed when open radar data are used. Finally, utilizing dual-polarization capabilities of radars has a potential to improve rainfall estimates for high intensity storms although more research is still needed.Peer reviewe