Water Boundary Research Articles

Rhodamine 6G Fluorescence Quenching by an External Heavy Atom and Silver Nanoparticles at the Nanoporous-Silica–Water Boundary

Spectral and kinetic features of rhodamine 6G fluorescence quenching in a heterogeneous system of macroporous silica (silokhrom, S-80) and water caused by the combined influence of an external heavy atom (KI) and resonance-excited surface plasmons on citrate hydrosol silver nanoparticles. Surface plasmon quenching occurred through donor–acceptor interaction in complexes with iodide and silver nanoparticles. The activation energy of dye fluorescence quenching in the heterogeneous system had a minimum that was associated with hindered diffusion during the formation of silver-nanoparticle clusters.

The initial stage of hydrate formation in liquid volume on impurity particles upon contact of gas and water

A concept and appropriate theoretical construction have been proposed to describe initial stage of hydrate layer formation at the interface between water and hydrate-forming gas. The model presented indicates that this stage (or induction period) is accompanied by the dissolution of gas in water, as well as the formation and growth of hydrate in the bulk zone on impurity particles near the contact boundary. An analytical solution was obtained for the characteristic time during which the volume content of the hydrate phase at the contact boundary reaches one and, thus, nuclei form as a film prior to a hydrate layer at the gas–water boundary. This characteristic time is accepted as the induction time. According to the obtained formula, the induction period depends inversely on static pressure and in inverse two-thirds proportion on the number of impurity particles per unit volume of water. The problem of the formation and growth of hydrate at the interface between the hydrate layer and aqueous gas solution has been considered and solved. The temperature fields caused by heat generated during hydrate formation on the contact surface of hydrate massif and gas solution are analyzed.

HEAD-ON COLLISIONS OF TWO SOLITARY WAVES WITH DIFFERENT AMPLITUDES USING IMAGING TECHNIQUES

The behavior of two unequal solitary waves during head-on collision was experimentally studied by optical and particle-tracer methods. Spatial surface profiles were measured using the particle mask correlation method and the image thresholding method, which detects the air–water boundary as a set of locally extreme luminance values. The measured surface displacement of the colliding wave was compared with the corresponding shape of a third-order perturbation approximation. In addition, to estimate the phase shift from the crest at an arbitrary point, the instantaneous surface variations were measured by two wave gauges. The kinetic features of the target and the oncoming and colliding waves were measured by a particle image velocimetry method. To solve the phase shift, we acquired the velocity fields of the colliding waves in a series of experiments and could show our technological advantage over others.

Nitrogen Balance in a Poorly Draining Intensively Cultivated Soil

The increasing use of nitrogen in fertilizers has not only increased the productivity of agricultural crops but also the concern for the effects of high N inputs on the natural environment. Economic, agronomic and environmental concerns have led to greater efforts towards more effective utilization of nitrogenous fertilizers, which can be achieved through a better quantitative understanding of the fate of nitrogen when applied to the soil. So Nitrogen balance was investigated in a poorly draining intensively cultivated soil. Nitrogen inputs and outputs, such as additions by precipitation (Natm), irrigation water (Nirr), commercial fertilizers (Nfert), mineralization (Nmin), denitrification (Ndenitr), volatilization (Ngas), capillary rise (Ncap), uptake (Nupt), residual (Nres) and leaching (Nleac) were studied and quantified during a period of 72 weeks for two growing crops (maize and wheat). Nitrogen excess or deficit at time ‘t’ (Nt) was calculated from the following balance equation: Nt = Nres + Natm + Nirr + Nmin + Nfert + Ncap − Nupt − Ndenitr – Ngas − Nleac. Existing models were used after proper adjustments to calculate these fluxes. Only a single model, based on soil temperature at 60 cm and NO3--N concentration in ground water was developed for the estimation of denitrification at the ground water boundary. The calculated values satisfactorily matched the respective experimental data. The results shown that the greater part of the applied nitrogen fertilizer was lost to ground water during the winter causing considerable environmental concern. For sustainable land use, inputs and outputs of nutrients must be balanced in order to avoid negative impacts on the environment, especially in intensively exploited agricultural ecosystems.

The solution of unconfined water seepage problem in saturated-unsaturated soil using Bathe algorithm and Signorini condition

Bathe algorithm converts problem of determining inner infiltration face into a material nonlinearity problem, and Signorini condition coverts outflow boundary into conventional water boundary. Because an unsaturated seepage problem is also a nonlinear flow problem, through the joint application of this 2 methods, solving variational inequalities is avoided. In conventional material nonlinearity finite element framework with small modification, using NR algorithm, the solving of unconfined water seepage problems including unsteady and unsaturated water seepage problems is realized. The followings are discussed: (1) the improvement of convergence of Bathe method and its generalized form in a three-dimensional model; (2) use Switching Algorithm of Signorini condition to solve water seepage problems; (3) the under-relaxation methods of improving the convergence and mass conservation when solving unsaturated and unsteady water seepage problems. At last, through classic calculation examples, the calculating accuracy and application fields of the proposed methods are evaluated.

Dynamics in a Water Interfacial Boundary Layer Investigated with IR Polarization-Selective Pump-Probe Experiments.

The dynamics of water molecules near the surfactant interface in large Aerosol-OT reverse micelles (RMs) (w0 = 16-25) was investigated with IR polarization-selective pump-probe experiments using the SeCN- anion as a vibrational probe. Linear absorption spectra of RMs (w0 = 25-2) can be decomposed into the weighted sum of the SeCN- spectra in bulk water and the spectrum of the SeCN- anion interacting with the interfacial sulfonate head groups (w0 = 1). The spectra of the large RMs, w0 ≥ 16, are overwhelmingly dominated by the bulk water component. Anisotropy decays (orientational relaxation) of the anion for w0 ≥ 16 displayed bulk water relaxation (1.4 and 4.5 ps) plus an additional slow decay with a time constant of ∼13 ps. The amplitude of the slow decay was too large to be associated with SeCN- in contact with the interface on the basis of the linear spectrum decomposition. The results indicate that the observed slow components arise from SeCN- in a water boundary layer, in which water molecules are perturbed by the interface but are not directly associated with it. This layer is the transition between water in direct contact with the interface and bulk water in the large RM cores. In the boundary layer, the water dynamics is slow compared to that in bulk water.

MBES-CARIS Data Validation for Bathymetric Mapping of Shallow Water in the Kingdom of Bahrain on the Arabian Gulf

Sound navigating and ranging (SONAR) detection systems can provide valuable information for navigation and security, especially in shallow coastal areas. The last few years have seen an important increase in the volume of bathymetric data produced by Multi-Beam Echo-sounder Systems (MBES). Recently, the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) released these MBES dataset preprocessed and processed with Computer Aided Resource Information System (CARIS) for public domain use. For the first time, this research focuses on the validation of these released MBES-CARIS dataset performance and robustness for bathymetric mapping of shallow water at the regional scale in the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabian Gulf). The data were imported, converted and processed in a GIS environment. Only area that covers the Bahrain national water boundary was extracted, avoiding the land surfaces. As the released dataset were stored in a node-grid points uniformly spaced with approximately 923 m and 834 m in north and west directions, respectively, simple kriging was used for densification and bathymetric continuous surface map derivation with a 30 by 30 m pixel size. In addition to dataset cross-validation, 1200 bathymetric points representing different water depths between 0 and −30 m were selected randomly and extracted from a medium scale (1:100,000) nautical map, and they were used for validation purposes. The cross-validation results showed that the modeled semi-variogram was adjusted appropriately assuring satisfactory results. Moreover, the validation results by reference to the nautical map showed that when we consider the total validation points with different water depths, linear statistical regression analysis at a 95% confidence level (p < 0.05) provide a good coefficient of correlation (R2 = 0.95), a good index of agreement (D = 0.82), and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.34 m. However, when we consider only the validation points (~800) with depth lower than −10 m, both R2 and D decreased to 0.79 and 0.52, respectively, while the RMSE increased to 1.92 m. Otherwise, when we consider exclusively shallow water points (~400) with a depth higher than −10 m, the results showed a very significant R2 (0.97), a good D (0.84) and a low RMSE (0.51 m). Certainly, the released MBES-CARIS data are more appropriate for shallow water bathymetric mapping. However, for the relatively deeper areas the obtained results are relatively less accurate because probably the MBSE did not cover the bottom in several deeper pockmarks as the rapid change in depth. Possibly the steep slopes and the rough seafloor affect the integrity of the acquired raw data. Moreover, the interpolation of the missed areas’ values between MBSE acquisition data points may not reflect the true depths of these areas. It is possible also that the nautical map used for validation was not established with a good accuracy in the deeper regions.

Dynamic Assessment of Comprehensive Water Quality Considering the Release of Sediment Pollution

Comprehensive assessment of water quality is an important technological measure for water environmental management and protection. Previous assessment methods tend to ignore the influences of sediment pollutant release and dynamic change of the water boundary. In view of this, this paper explores a new method for comprehensive water quality assessment. Laboratory simulation experiments are conducted to analyze the influences of sediment pollutant release on water quality, and the results are taken as increments, coupled with original samples, to constitute a new set of evaluation samples. Dynamic and comprehensive water quality assessment methods are created based on a principal component analysis (PCA)/analytic hierarchy process (AHP)–variable fuzzy pattern recognition (VFPR) model and adopted to evaluate water quality. A geographic information system (GIS) is applied to visually display the results of water quality assessment and the change of the water boundary. This study takes Biliuhe Reservoir as an engineering example. The results show the change process of the water boundary, during which the water level is reduced from 63.10 m to 54.15 m. The reservoir water quality is fine, of which the water quality level (GB3838-2002) is between level 2 and level 3, and closer to level 2 taking no account of sediment pollutant release. The water quality of Biliuhe Reservoir, overall, is worse in summer and better in winter during the monitoring period. Meanwhile, the water quality shows the tendency of being better from upstream to downstream, and the water quality in the surface layer is better than that in the bottom layer. However, water quality is much closer, or even inferior, to level 3 when considering the release of nitrogen and phosphorus in sediments, and up to 42.7% of the original assessment results of the samples undergo changes. It is concluded that the proposed method is comparatively reasonable as it avoids neglecting sediment pollutant release in the water quality assessment, and the presentation of the evaluation results and change of the water boundary is intuitive with the application of GIS.

The Atlantic Water boundary current north of Svalbard in late summer

AbstractData from a shipboard hydrographic/velocity survey carried out in September 2013 of the region north of Svalbard in the Nansen Basin are analyzed to characterize the Atlantic Water (AW) boundary current as it flows eastward along the continental slope. Eight meridional transects across the current, spanning an alongstream distance of 180 km, allow for a detailed description of the current and the regional water masses. During the survey the winds were light and there was no pack‐ice. The mean section reveals that the boundary current was O(40 km) wide, surface‐intensified, with a maximum velocity of 20 cm/s. Its mean transport during the survey was 3.11 ± 0.33 Sv, of which 2.31 ± 0.29 Sv was AW. This suggests that the two branches of AW entering the Arctic Ocean via Fram Strait—the Yermak Plateau branch and the Svalbard branch—have largely combined into a single current by 30°E. At this location the boundary current meanders with a systematic change in its kinematic structure during offshore excursions. A potential vorticity analysis indicates that the flow is baroclinically unstable, consistent with previous observations of AW anticyclones offshore of the current as well as the presence of a near‐field cyclone in this data set. Our survey indicates that only a small portion of the boundary current is diverted into the Kvitøya Trough (0.17 ± 0.08 Sv) and that the AW temperature/salinity signal is quickly eroded within the trough.

Stability of nanocrystalline cellulose in aqueous KCl solutions

The electrokinetic properties and aggregation stability of nanocrystalline cellulose sols in aqueous KCl solutions have been studied at pH 5.2. Cellulose nanoparticles have been prepared via controlled degradation in a mixture of phosphotungstic and acetic acids. At electrolyte concentrations of <0.01 mol/dm3, the system is stable to aggregation. The experimentally determined threshold of fast coagulation is 0.08 mol/dm3. It has been noted that the structural component of disjoining pressure must be taken into account when considering the aggregation stability of nanocrystalline cellulose sols in terms of the DLVO theory. It has been shown that the sizes of water boundary layers decrease with an increase in the KCl concentration. The effect of medium pH on the electrokinetic potentials and sizes of aggregates has been studied.

Topology Adaptive Water Boundary Extraction Based on a Modified Balloon Snake: Using GF-1 Satellite Images as an Example

Topology adaptive water boundary extraction from satellite images using parametric snakes remains challenging in the domain of image segmentation. This paper proposed a modified balloon snake (MB-Snake) method based on the balloon snake (B-Snake) method, overcoming the B-Snake’s drawbacks of inaccurate positioning, topology inflexibility, and non-automatic contour evolution termination. Six satellite images, acquired by the GF-1 wide field of view sensor and with water bodies of different types, inner land numbers, areas, boundary and background complexities, and digital number value contrasts, were used as experimental images, in which the MB-Snake method, and two comparison methods, the B-Snake and the orthogonal topology adaptive snake (OT-Snake) methods, were applied for water boundary extraction. All the extracted results were first qualitatively assessed and further quantitatively evaluated via three indexes, including correctness, completeness, and area overlap measure. Both of the qualitative and quantitative evaluation results consistently demonstrated that the MB-Snake method can efficiently improve the positioning accuracy, detect and dispose of topology collisions, and perform automatic contour evolution termination, successfully meeting its design objectives, and exhibiting great superiority to the existing topology-flexible parametric snakes. The sensitivity to initial contours, the effects of model parameters, and spatial resolutions of satellite images, and image demands of the MB-Snake method was also analyzed.

A method to account for the effect of hydrodynamics on polar organic compound uptake by passive samplers.

Mass transfer coefficients of the water boundary layer (kw ) were measured using alabaster dissolution kinetics in a diffusion cell that was operated at stirring rates between 90 min-1 and 600 min-1 , aiming to provide a more robust characterization of the effect of hydrodynamics on the uptake of polar compounds by passive samplers, as compared with characterizations in terms of stirring rates and water flow velocities. The measured kw helped to quantitatively understand calcium sulfate transport through a poly(ethersulfone) membrane and 2 water boundary layers (at both sides of the membrane). Alabaster-based kw value were used to understand atrazine transport in the diffusion cell, allowing the conclusion that atrazine transport in the membrane is via the pore space, rather than via the polymer matrix. The merits of measuring alabaster dissolution rates for passive sampler calibration and application in the field are discussed. The authors propose that passive sampler calibrations be carried out under controlled kw conditions, rather than under controlled stirring rates or flow velocities. This would facilitate the interpretation of passive sampler calibration studies and the translation of laboratory-based water sampling rates to flow conditions that apply in the field. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1517-1524. © 2016 SETAC.

MNDWI和NDWI指数提取富营养化湖泊水体边界的对比研究

本研究基于Landsat 8 OLI卫星影像，采用云南省中部地区的5个湖泊，即滇池、抚仙湖、阳宗海、星云湖和杞麓湖作为研究对象，其中滇池、星云湖、杞麓湖是富营养化湖泊，比较了两种水体指数，NDWI和MNDWI提取湖泊水体边界的精确度。结果表明：由于近红外波段能够较好的区分植被和水体，但也带来了藻类覆盖的水域容易被误识别为植被的情况。因此，采用NDWI提取的富营养化湖泊水体面积比实际值偏小，中红外波段对水分含量较为敏感，在富营养化湖泊中采用该指数可以有效的区分陆地和水体，排除藻类的干扰。因此，MNDWI更适合用于富营养化湖泊的水体边界提取。 This study is based on the Landsat 8 OLI satellite images, and uses 5 lakes as sample, which are Dianchi Lake, Fuxian Lake, Yangzonghai Lake, Xingyun Lake and Qilu Lake, there are all located in the central region of Yunnan province, and Dianchi Lake, Xingyun Lake, Qilu Lake are eutrophic lakes. The accuracy of NDWI and MNDWI index for lake water boundary extraction was compared. The results show that the near infrared band can distinguish vegetation and water body better. But it has also brought the algae covered waters that can be mistakenly identified as vegetation. Therefore, the water area of eutrophic lake extracted by NDWI is smaller than the actual value. The infrared band is more sensitive to moisture content. Using this index in eutrophic lakes can effectively distinguish between land and water, eliminate algal interference. Therefore, the MNDWI index is more suitable for water boundary extraction in eutrophic lakes.

Improved balloon snake method for water boundary extraction in remote sensing images

Improved balloon snake method for water boundary extraction in remote sensing images

Laboratory modelling of the wind-wave interaction with modified PIV-method

Laboratory experiments on studying the structure of the turbulent air boundary layer over waves were carried out at the Wind-Wave Flume of the Large Thermostratified Tank of the Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS), in conditions modeling the near water boundary layer of the atmosphere under strong and hurricane winds and the equivalent wind velocities from 10 to 48 m/s at the standard height of 10 m. A modified technique of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to obtain turbulent pulsation averaged velocity fields of the air flow over the water surface curved by a wave and average profiles of the wind velocity. The main modifications are: 1) the use of high-speed video recording (1000-10000 frames/sec) with continuous laser illumination helps to obtain ensemble of the velocity fields in all phases of the wavy surface for subsequent statistical processing; 2) the development and application of special algorithms for obtaining form of the curvilinear wavy surface of the images for the conditions of parasitic images of the particles and the droplets in the air side close to the surface; 3) adaptive cross-correlation image processing to finding the velocity fields on a curved grid, caused by wave boarder; 4) using Hilbert transform to detect the phase of the wave in which the measured velocity field for subsequent appropriate binning within procedure obtaining the average characteristics.

MNDWI和NDWI指数提取富营养化湖泊水体边界的对比研究

MNDWI和NDWI指数提取富营养化湖泊水体边界的对比研究

Authigenic Nd isotope record of North Pacific Intermediate Water formation and boundary exchange on the Bering Slope

Abstract The Bering Sea is a potential location for the formation of the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW), which drives the global ocean circulation as a counterpart to the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). To evaluate the NPIW-NADW seesaw hypothesis, we reconstructed the long-term variation of the bottom water Nd isotopic composition at site U1345 on the Bering Slope by extracting authigenic Fe-Mn oxyhydroxide from bulk sediments. We examined six different extractions in order to ensure that authentic seawater composition is recovered. For Bering Slope sediments whose typical carbonate content is less than 5% (average 2%), the most reliable results are obtained if the decarbonation step is omitted and a low reagent-to-sediment ratio is adopted. The reconstructed authigenic eNd record for the last 520 kyr exhibits large temporal variations depending on whether the NPIW formation or the boundary exchange process is dominant. Periods of radiogenic eNd can be attributed to NPIW formation triggered by brine rejection, as evidenced by the difference in δ18O of benthic foraminifera between sites (Δδ18Obf), high % sea-ice related diatoms, and low abundance of Bulimina aff. Exilis (low-oxygen deep fauna). Diminished supply of unradiogenic Nd from boundary exchange seems to intensify these radiogenic peaks. On the other hand, the unradiogenic eNd intervals can be attributed to stagnant bottom water conditions, as can be deduced from the Δδ18Obf values, low % sea-ice related diatoms, abundant B. aff. Exilis, and laminations. When there is no NPIW formation, the continental margin sediments are exposed to boundary exchange for a longer period of time, leading to release of unradiogenic Nd. The mid-MIS 6 and mid-MIS 5 are exceptions in that NPIW formation occurred yet the eNd compositions are unradiogenic. NPIW formation and cold climate (closed Bering Strait) are not always correlated. Comparison against eNd records of the South Atlantic suggests only an ambiguous NPIW-NADW seesaw for the last 200 kyr.

Observation of extreme phase transition temperatures of water confined inside isolated carbon nanotubes.

Fluid phase transitions inside single, isolated carbon nanotubes are predicted to deviate substantially from classical thermodynamics. This behaviour enables the study of ice nanotubes and the exploration of their potential applications. Here we report measurements of the phase boundaries of water confined within six isolated carbon nanotubes of different diameters (1.05, 1.06, 1.15, 1.24, 1.44 and 1.52 nm) using Raman spectroscopy. The results reveal an exquisite sensitivity to diameter and substantially larger temperature elevations of the freezing transition (by as much as 100 °C) than have been theoretically predicted. Dynamic water filling and reversible freezing transitions were marked by 2-5 cm-1 shifts in the radial breathing mode frequency, revealing reversible melting bracketed to 105-151 °C and 87-117 °C for 1.05 and 1.06 nm single-walled carbon nanotubes, respectively. Near-ambient phase changes were observed for 1.44 and 1.52 nm nanotubes, bracketed between 15-49 °C and 3-30 °C, respectively, whereas the depression of the freezing point was observed for the 1.15 nm nanotube between -35 and 10 °C. We also find that the interior aqueous phase reversibly decreases the axial thermal conductivity of the nanotube by as much as 500%, allowing digital control of the heat flux.

Quantifying trace element and isotope fluxes at the ocean-sediment boundary: a review.

Quantifying fluxes of trace elements and their isotopes (TEIs) at the ocean's sediment–water boundary is a pre-eminent challenge to understand their role in the present, past and future ocean. There are multiple processes that drive the uptake and release of TEIs, and properties that determine their rates are unevenly distributed (e.g. sediment composition, redox conditions and (bio)physical dynamics). These factors complicate our efforts to find, measure and extrapolate TEI fluxes across ocean basins. GEOTRACES observations are unveiling the oceanic distributions of many TEIs for the first time. These data evidence the influence of the sediment–water boundary on many TEI cycles, and underline the fact that our knowledge of the source–sink fluxes that sustain oceanic distributions is largely missing. Present flux measurements provide low spatial coverage and only part of the empirical basis needed to predict TEI flux variations. Many of the advances and present challenges facing TEI flux measurements are linked to process studies that collect sediment cores, pore waters, sinking material or seawater in close contact with sediments. However, such sampling has not routinely been viable on GEOTRACES expeditions. In this article, we recommend approaches to address these issues: firstly, with an interrogation of emergent data using isotopic mass-balance and inverse modelling techniques; and secondly, by innovating pursuits of direct TEI flux measurements. We exemplify the value of GEOTRACES data with a new inverse model estimate of benthic Al flux in the North Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, we review viable flux measurement techniques tailored to the sediment–water boundary. We propose that such activities are aimed at regions that intersect the GEOTRACES Science Plan on the basis of seven criteria that may influence TEI fluxes: sediment provenance, composition, organic carbon supply, redox conditions, sedimentation rate, bathymetry and the benthic nepheloid inventory.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Biological and climatic impacts of ocean trace element chemistry’.

Data-Driven NPR Illustrations of Natural Flows in Chinese Painting.

Introducing motion into existing static paintings is becoming a field that is gaining momentum. This effort facilitates keeping artworks current and translating them to different forms for diverse audiences. Chinese ink paintings and Japanese Sumies are well recognized in Western cultures, yet not easily practiced due to the years of training required. We are motivated to develop an interactive system for artists, non-artists, Asians, and non-Asians to enjoy the unique style of Chinese paintings. In this paper, our focus is on replacing static water flow scenes with animations. We include flow patterns, surface ripples, and water wakes which are challenging not only artistically but also algorithmically. We develop a data-driven system that procedurally computes a flow field based on stroke properties extracted from the painting, and animate water flows artistically and stylishly. Technically, our system first extracts water-flow-portraying strokes using their locations, oscillation frequencies, brush patterns, and ink densities. We construct an initial flow pattern by analyzing stroke structures, ink dispersion densities, and placement densities. We cluster extracted strokes as stroke pattern groups to further convey the spirit of the original painting. Then, the system automatically computes a flow field according to the initial flow patterns, water boundaries, and flow obstacles. Finally, our system dynamically generates and animates extracted stroke pattern groups with the constructed field for controllable smoothness and temporal coherence. The users can interactively place the extracted stroke patterns through our adapted Poisson-based composition onto other paintings for water flow animation. In conclusion, our system can visually transform a static Chinese painting to an interactive walk-through with seamless and vivid stroke-based flow animations in its original dynamic spirits without flickering artifacts.