The link between land-use management and fluvial flood risk : a chaotic conception?

There is much policy interest in the possible linkages that might exist between land use and downstream fluvial flood risk. On the one hand, this position is sustained by observations from plot- and field-scale studies that suggest land management does affect runoff. On the other, upscaling these effects to show that land-management activities impact upon flood risk at larger catchment scales has proved to be elusive. This review considers the reasons for why this upscaling is problematic. We argue that, rather than it reflecting methodological challenges associated with the difficulties of modelling hydrological processes over very large areas and during extreme runoff events, it reflects the fact that any linkage between land management and flood risk cannot be generalized and taken out of its specific spatial (catchment) and temporal (flood event) context. We use Sayer's (1992) notion of a `chaotic conception' to describe the belief that there is a simple and general association between land management and downstream flood risk rather than the impacts of land management being spatially and temporally contingent in relation to the particular geographical location, time period and scale being considered. Our argument has important practical consequences because it implies that land-management activities to reduce downstream flood risk will be different to traditional flood-reduction interventions such as levees. The purpose of demonstration projects then needs careful consideration such that conclusions made for one project are not transferred uncritically to other scales of analysis or geographical locations.

Direct numerical simulations of interface dynamics to link capillary pressure and total surface energy

The flow of two immiscible fluids through a porous medium depends on the complex interplay between gravity, capillarity, and viscous forces. The interaction between these forces and the geometry of the medium gives rise to a variety of complex flow regimes that are difficult to describe using continuum models. Although a number of pore-scale models have been employed, a careful investigation of the macroscopic effects of pore-scale processes requires methods based on conservation principles in order to reduce the number of modeling assumptions. In this work we perform direct numerical simulations of drainage by solving Navier-Stokes equations in the pore space and employing the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) method to track the evolution of the fluid-fluid interface. After demonstrating that the method is able to deal with large viscosity contrasts and model the transition from stable flow to viscous fingering, we focus on the macroscopic capillary pressure and we compare different definitions of this quantity under quasi-static and dynamic conditions. We show that the difference between the intrinsic phase-average pressures, which is commonly used as definition of Darcy-scale capillary pressure, is subject to several limitations and it is not accurate in presence of viscous effects or trapping. In contrast, a definition based on the variation of the total surface energy provides an accurate estimate of the macroscopic capillary pressure. This definition, which links the capillary pressure to its physical origin, allows a better separation of viscous effects and does not depend on the presence of trapped fluid clusters.

Heliotropic responses of soybean cultivars at three phenological stages and under two water regimes

The objectives of this work were to determine the heliotropic movements of the upper trifoliates for two soybean cultivars, BR 16 and Embrapa 48, during a daily cycle, in three phenological stages and two water regimes, and to estimate the impact of irrigation and daily leaflet movements on agronomic characteristics and grain yield. Heliotropic movements were studied in three phenological stages: V4-V6, V7-V10, and R5 in irrigated and non-irrigated plots. For each stage, the leaflet elevation and azimuth were measured hourly. Under a low (V4-V6 stage) and mid (V7-V10 stage) leaf area index (LAI) the diaheliotropism was slightly more frequent and intensive in non-irrigated than in irrigated plants, only at early morning and late afternoon hours. At R5 stage (high LAI) the paraheliotropism of superior trifoliates was predominant and more intensive in non-irrigated plants. The heliotropic movements are correlated to carbon gain, but not to environment (light intensity or temperature), for measurements at 11h. 'Embrapa 48' expresses greater paraheliotropism than 'BR 16' at high LAI, while 'BR 16' displays lower heliotropic plasticity under irrigation. In spite of significant heliotropic differences, genotype and water availability treatments did not influence the final grain yield.

Chaotic dynamics and team effectiveness: evidence from professional basketball

Considering teams as complex adaptive systems (CAS) this study deals with changes in team effectiveness over time in a specific context: professional basketball. The sample comprised 23 basketball teams whose outcomes were analysed over a 12-year period according to two objective measures. The results reveal that all the teams showed chaotic dynamics, one of the key characteristics of CAS. A relationship was also found between teams showing low-dimensional chaotic dynamics and better outcomes, supporting the idea of healthy variability in organizational behaviour. The stability of the squad was likewise found to influence team outcomes, although it was not associated with the chaotic dynamics in team effectiveness. It is concluded that studying teams as CAS enables fluctuations in team effectiveness to be explained, and that the techniques derived from nonlinear dynamical systems, developed specifically for the study of CAS, are useful for this purpose.

Produtividade, eficiência de uso da água e qualidade tecnológica de cana‑de‑açúcar submetida a diferentes regimes hídricos

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade de colmos e de açúcar, a eficiência de uso da água e os atributos tecnológicos de cinco variedades de cana-de-açúcar de maturação precoce e seis de maturação média à tardia, submetidas ao regime de sequeiro (1.141,4 mm) e à irrigação plena (1.396,6 mm). Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. A produtividade de colmos das variedades RB92579, RB72454 e SP81-3250 apresentou ganhos superiores a 180%, com uso da irrigação. A irrigação promoveu aumentos na produtividade de açúcar superiores a 200%, nas variedades RB92579 e RB943365. A irrigação plena proporcionou maior eficiência de uso da água, com produção média de 70,2 kg ha-1 mm-1 de colmos a mais em comparação ao regime de sequeiro. Com exceção das variedades RB72454, RB763710 e RB943365, não houve diferença nos atributos tecnológicos entre a irrigação plena e o regime de sequeiro. As variedades RB92579 e SP81-3250 de maturação média à tardia se destacam quanto à produtividade de colmos e de açúcar e à eficiência de uso da água, e são recomendadas para estudos de resposta à irrigação pela cana-de-açúcar.

Leaf miner incidence in coffee plants under different drip irrigation regimes and planting densities

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different drip irrigation regimes and planting densities on the incidence of the leaf miner, Leucoptera coffeella, in arabica coffee plants for one year. The experiment was carried out in 2008, in a complete randomized block design, in a split-plot in time arrangement, with four replicates. The treatments consisted of four drip irrigation regimes - soil water balance, irrigations at 20 and 60 kPa soil tensions, and a nonirrigated treatment -, which were distributed at three plant densities: 2, 500, 5, 000, and 10, 000 plants per hectare. The evaluations were made on a monthly basis between January and December 2008. The highest pest occurrence period was from August to November, a season with low-air relative humidity preceded by a drought period. Irrigated coffee plants showed an incidence of intact mines 2.2 times lower than that of nonirrigated plants. Irrigation and increasing of plant density contribute to the reduction of coffee leaf miner occurrence.

Respostas fisiológicas de cultivares de soja à adubação potássica sob diferentes regimes hídricos

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a interferência da adubação potássica em parâmetros fisiológicos de duas cultivares de soja, sob diferentes regimes hídricos. O experimento foi realizado em condições de casa de vegetação, em Presidente Prudente, SP. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, em arranjo fatorial 2x2x3, com as cultivares BR‑16 (tolerante ao estresse hídrico) e Embrapa 48 (suscetível), regimes hídricos com reposição diária de água de 100% (controle) e de 40% da capacidade de campo, e três níveis de suplementação com K (0, 90 e 180 mg dm‑3). Duas semanas após a imposição da restrição hídrica, foram avaliados: conteúdo relativo de água, potencial fotossintético e rendimento de biomassa. As plantas que se desenvolveram sob restrição hídrica tiveram sua capacidade fotossintética reavaliada após 12 horas de reidratação. Em condições de restrição hídrica, a adubação potássica não interferiu significativamente nos parâmetros fisiológicos e de crescimento avaliados. A suplementação com potássio promoveu melhor eficiência dos parâmetros fisiológicos, no regime sem deficiência hídrica, nas duas cultivares, e as principais variáveis influenciadas pelo nutriente foram: condutância estomática, taxa máxima de carboxilação da Rubisco e assimilação máxima de CO2. A suplementação com K melhora a recuperação fotossintética das plantas após a reidratação, especialmente na cultivar Embrapa 48.

Amplification and displacement of chaotic attractors by means of unidirectional chaotic driving

Chaotic systems, when used to drive copies of themselves (or parts of themselves) may induce interesting behaviors in the driven system. In case the later exhibits invariance under amplification or translation, they may show amplification (reduction), or displacement of the attractor. It is shown how the behavior to be obtained is implied by the symmetries involved. Two explicit examples are studied to show how these phenomena manifest themselves under perfect and imperfect coupling.

Synchronization of symmetric chaotic systems

This paper contains a study of the synchronization by homogeneous nonlinear driving of systems that are symmetric in phase space. The main consequence of this symmetry is the ability of the response to synchronize in more than just one way to the driving systems. These different forms of synchronization are to be understood as generalized synchronization states in which the motions of drive and response are in complete correlation, but the phase space distance between them does not converge to zero. In this case the synchronization phenomenon becomes enriched because there is multistability. As a consequence, there appear multiple basins of attraction and special responses to external noise. It is shown, by means of a computer simulation of various nonlinear systems, that: (i) the decay to the generalized synchronization states is exponential, (ii) the basins of attraction are symmetric, usually complicated, frequently fractal, and robust under the changes in the parameters, and (iii) the effect of external noise is to weaken the synchronization, and in some cases to produce jumps between the various synchronization states available

Amplitude envelope synchronization in coupled chaotic oscillators.

A peculiar type of synchronization has been found when two Van der PolDuffing oscillators, evolving in different chaotic attractors, are coupled. As the coupling increases, the frequencies of the two oscillators remain different, while a synchronized modulation of the amplitudes of a signal of each system develops, and a null Lyapunov exponent of the uncoupled systems becomes negative and gradually larger in absolute value. This phenomenon is characterized by an appropriate correlation function between the returns of the signals, and interpreted in terms of the mutual excitation of new frequencies in the oscillators power spectra. This form of synchronization also occurs in other systems, but it shows up mixed with or screened by other forms of synchronization, as illustrated in this paper by means of the examples of the dynamic behavior observed for three other different models of chaotic oscillators.

Chaotic systems with a null conditional Lyapunov exponent under nonlinear driving.

Control of a chaotic system by homogeneous nonlinear driving, when a conditional Lyapunov exponent is zero, may give rise to special and interesting synchronizationlike behaviors in which the response evolves in perfect correlation with the drive. Among them, there are the amplification of the drive attractor and the shift of it to a different region of phase space. In this paper, these synchronizationlike behaviors are discussed, and demonstrated by computer simulation of the Lorentz model [E. N. Lorenz, J. Atmos. Sci. 20 130 (1963)] and the double scroll [T. Matsumoto, L. O. Chua, and M. Komuro, IEEE Trans. CAS CAS-32, 798 (1985)].

Impacts of different thinning regimes in the yield of uneven-structured Scots pine stands on drained peatland

Abstract

Quasi real-time Raman studies on the growth of Cu-In-S thin films

In this work annealing and growth of CuInS2 thin films is investigated with quasireal-time in situ Raman spectroscopy. During the annealing a shift of the Raman A1 mode towards lower wave numbers with increasing temperature is observed. A linear temperature dependence of the phonon branch of ¿2 cm¿1/100 K is evaluated. The investigation of the growth process (sulfurization of metallic precursors) with high surface sensitivity reveals the occurrence of phases which are not detected with bulk sensitive methods. This allows a detailed insight in the formation of the CuInS2 phases. Independent from stoichiometry and doping of the starting precursors the CuAu ordering of CuInS2 initially forms as the dominating ordering. The transformation of the CuAu ordering into the chalcopyrite one is, in contrast, strongly dependent on the precursor composition and requires high temperatures.

A cultura da manga sob diferentes regimes de profundidades do lençol freático em condições subúmidas

O conhecimento dos critérios agronômicos de drenagem para a cultura da manga é fundamental na elaboração de sistemas de drenagem para áreas com essa cultura e permite antecipar o seu comportamento sob diferentes níveis de drenagem do solo . O trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar as condições de aeração e umidade do perfil de um solo arenoso (areia franca) sob diferentes regimes de profundidades do lençol freático, para determinação de critérios de drenagem para a cultura da manga, cultivar Keitt. O experimento seguiu um delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com quatro tratamentos (regimes de profundidades do lençol freático às distâncias do dreno de 3,5 m; 10,5 m; 17,5 m e sem presença de lençol freático) e cinco repetições. As profundidades do lençol freático e os teores de água no perfil do solo em cada tratamento foram monitorados durante os períodos chuvosos, em três anos consecutivos (1997-1999). Não houve diferença significativa entre as produtividades da cultura nos tratamentos. As diferenças nas profundidades do lençol freático, nos tratamentos com drenagem, não foram suficientes para diferenciar o estado da água no solo nesses tratamentos. O lençol freático, na profundidade média de 1,0 m, durante os cinco ou seis meses de período chuvoso, com recargas temporárias atingindo profundidades próximas da superfície do solo, seguidas de rebaixamento imediato do lençol freático, não foi suficiente para afetar o desenvolvimento e a produtividade da manga.