Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Engineering
Numerical modeling of Earth's dynamic surface: a community approach
Published: 2021-02-14
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Stratigraphy
Computational modelling occupies a unique niche in Earth environmental sciences. Models serve not just as scientific technology and infrastructure, but also as digital containers of the scientific community's understanding of the natural world. As this understanding improves, so too must the associated software. This dual nature---models as both infrastructure and hypotheses---means that [...]
Using Landsat and Sentinel Imagery to Monitor Alfalfa and Grass Pastures in Western Colorado
Published: 2021-02-10
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Crop phenology of alfalfa and grass pasture fields on the western slope of Colorado, USA, was tracked using an NDVI time series derived from Landsat 7 (ETM+), Landsat 8 (OLI) and Sentinel 2a MSI to obtain high temporal frequency information of crop growth stages. These perennial pastures, which occupy a majority of irrigated land in the region and typically have more than one growing/cutting [...]
Improving the Robustness of the Comparison Model Method for the Identification of Hydraulic Transmissivities
Published: 2021-02-10
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Comparison Model Method (CMM) is a relatively simple and computationally efficient direct method for the identification of the transmissivity of a confined aquifer by solution of an inverse problem. However, it suffers some of the classical drawbacks related to ill-posedness and ill-conditioning of inverse methods. Effectiveness of the CMM can be improved by some approaches. First of all, the [...]
Urban Running Activity Detected Using a Seismic Sensor duringCOVID-19 Pandemic
Published: 2021-01-30
Subjects: Engineering, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Human foot traffic in urban environments provides essential information for city planners to manage the urban resources and urban residents to plan their activities. Compared to camera or mobile-based solutions, seismic sensors detect human footstep signals with fewer privacy concerns. However, seismic sensors often record signals generated from multiple sources, particularly in an urban outdoor [...]
Upper Mississippi River Flow and Sediment Characteristics and Their Effect on a Harbor Siltation Case
Published: 2021-01-28
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geomorphology, Hydraulic Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Upper Mississippi River flow and sediment characteristics downstream of St. Louis are presented in this study. Available and measured data were used to assess a harbor siltation case and dredging needs. Such data are also useful to researchers and engineers conducting work in the Mississippi River and large rivers in general. Flows were characterized in terms of the mean annual hydrograph, flow [...]
The Rayleigh-Haring-Tayfun distribution of wave heights in deep water
Published: 2021-01-17
Subjects: Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, Hydraulic Engineering, Oceanography, Statistical Models
Regarding wave statistics, nearly every known exceeding probability distribution applied to rogue waves has shown disagreement with its peers. More often than not, models and experiments have shown a fair agreement with the Rayleigh distribution whereas others show that the latter underpredicts extreme heights by almost one order of magnitude. Virtually all previous results seem to be [...]
On the physical constraints for the exceeding probability of deep water rogue waves
Published: 2021-01-16
Subjects: Engineering
Nearly four decades have elapsed since the first efforts to obtain a realistic narrow-banded model for extreme wave crests and heights were made, resulting in a couple dozen different exceeding probability distributions. These models reflect results of numerical simulations and storm records measured off of oil platforms, buoys and more recently satellite data. Nevertheless, no consensus has been [...]
Measurement error analysis of surface-bonded distributed fiber-optic strain sensor subjected to linear gradient strain: Theory and experimental validation
Published: 2021-01-16
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Strain transfer analysis is an important means of assessing the measurement accuracy of embedded or surface-bonded fiber-optic sensors; however, the effect of complex strain fields in substrates has not been well elucidated. Here, a theoretical model was proposed for the analysis of strain transfer mechanisms in surface-bonded distributed fiber-optic sensors due to linear strain gradients. [...]
Modelling cross-shore shoreline change on multiple timescales and their interactions
Published: 2021-01-13
Subjects: Engineering
Understanding and predicting shoreline changes is paramount to coastal managers to anticipate potential threats. These shoreline changes are often driven by complex processes at multiple timescales. In this paper, a new approach to model wave-driven, cross-shore shoreline change incorporating multiple timescales is introduced. As a base we use the equilibrium shoreline prediction model ShoreFor [...]
Determination of vulnerability areas from the simulated deposition of atmospheric pollutants using LOTOS-EUROS chemical transport model in North-West South-America
Published: 2021-01-06
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Sciences, Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Sciences
This work presents the implementation of the LOTOS-EUROS regional atmospheric Chemical Transport Model (CTM) on Northwestern South America. The impact of land use and orography update in the model was analyzed to identify potential vulnerable natural areas by quantifying atmospheric deposition pollutants. CTMs allow simulating the physical dynamics of trace gasses and aerosols, including [...]
2-D P-SV and SH spectral element modelling of seismic wave propagation in non-linear media with pore-pressure effects
Published: 2021-01-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geophysics and Seismology, Geotechnical Engineering
It has long been recognized that the effects of superficial geological layers, or site effects, can play a major role on the seismic ground motion at the free surface. In this study, we compute wave propagation in a 2-D asymmetrical basin considering both soil non-linearity and pore- pressure effects. Equations of elastodynamics of wave propagation are solved using the spectral element method [...]
Spectral element modelling of seismic wave propagation in visco-elastoplastic media including excess-pore pressure development
Published: 2021-01-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geophysics and Seismology, Geotechnical Engineering
Numerical modelling of seismic wave propagation, considering soil nonlinearity, has become a major topic in seismic hazard studies when strong shaking is involved under particular soil conditions. Indeed, when strong ground motion propagates in saturated soils, pore pressure is another important parameter to take into account when successive phases of contractive and dilatant soil behaviour are [...]
Climate change induced effects or maldevelopment: small islands and conflicting attribution of root causes
Published: 2020-12-21
Subjects: Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Adapting to sea level rise, climate change, and associated effects is especially challenging in sensitive small-island environments where false adaptation can lead to adverse impacts on natural and societal dynamics. Framing and interest play a decisive role for the successful implementation of any adaptation measures. An interdisciplinary perspective on the interaction of natural dynamics, [...]
Evidence-based conservation in a changing world: lessons from waterbird individual-based models
Published: 2020-12-16
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Drivers of environmental change are causing novel combinations of pressures on ecological systems. Prediction in ecology often uses understanding of past conditions to make predictions to the future, but such an approach can breakdown when future conditions have not previously been encountered. Individual-based models (IBMs) consider ecological systems as arising from the adaptive behaviour and [...]
Anatomy of Strike Slip Fault Tsunami-genesis
Published: 2020-12-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
Tsunami generation from earthquake induced seafloor deformations has long been recognized as a major hazard to coastal areas. Strike-slip faulting has generally been believed as insufficient for triggering large tsunamis, except through the generation of submarine landslides. Herein, we demonstrate that ground motions due to strike-slip earthquakes can contribute to the emergence of large [...]