Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Hillslope”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

Programming a hillslope water movement model on the MPP

A physically based numerical model was developed of heat and moisture flow within a hillslope on a parallel architecture computer, as a precursor to a model of a complete catchment. Moisture flow within a catchment includes evaporation, overland flow, flow in unsaturated soil, and flow in saturated soil. Because of the empirical evidence that moisture flow in unsaturated soil is mainly in the vertical direction, flow in the unsaturated zone can be modeled as a series of one dimensional columns. This initial version of the hillslope model includes evaporation and a single column of one dimensional unsaturated zone flow. This case has already been solved on an IBM 3081 computer and is now being applied to the massively parallel processor architecture so as to make the extension to the one dimensional case easier and to check the problems and benefits of using a parallel architecture machine.

Devaney, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Estimating water flow through a hillslope using the massively parallel processor

A new two-dimensional model of water flow in a hillslope has been implemented on the Massively Parallel Processor at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Flow in the soil both in the saturated and unsaturated zones, evaporation and overland flow are all modelled, and the rainfall rates are allowed to vary spatially. Previous models of this type had always been very limited computationally. This model takes less than a minute to model all the components of the hillslope water flow for a day. The model can now be used in sensitivity studies to specify which measurements should be taken and how accurate they should be to describe such flows for environmental studies.

Devaney, Judy E.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Landscape Evolution, A Comparison of Form and Process

This project's goals were to collect, analyze and interpret 3-dimensional physiographic data for understanding the processes responsible for landscape modification. The primary landforms to be studied were Neogene cinder cones in Arizona (San Francisco Volcanic Field (SFVF), Coconino and Kaibab National Forests, Arizona). We also obtained and are still analyzing digital topographic data for the Long Valley-White Mountains area of California, which display Quaternary normal fault scarps, as well as extensive evidence of degradation. The work resulted in a large database of measured rates of downslope transport of slope debris. It was hypothesized that the work would increase our understanding of process-response models of hillslope degradation, and of the effects of climate change and other parameters on degradation rates. In greater detail, our primary goal was to compare evolutionary sequences of hillslopes, as exemplified by the topography of landforms of the same type but of different ages, with measurements of the surficial processes active on the landforms. Assuming that other parameters, such as hillslope materials and vegetation are held constant, and that the effects of changing climate are negligible, then the sediment transport rates measured today on the landforms should be the same as those calculated from the inversion of landform topography by use of a diffusion-type model. However, if the effects of changing climate or other factors are not negligible, then the observed transport rates would differ from those which must be invoked to explain the current topography. We hypothesized in fact that because degradation on the event scale is highly transient and localized, we would find a wide divergence between modern, measured transport rates, and rates calculated by global landform inversion or modeling. Because of the length of time involved in collection of sufficient data on current degradation rates, we are still continuing to analyse and interpret the data. Completion of the work will increase our understanding of the potential effects of anthropogenic climate and surficial change on the Earth's solid surface, and possibly allow us to constrain paths of hill-slope evolution following anthropogenic modifications, as well as compare the short-term with the long-term rates of hillslope degradation.

Bursik, Marcus I.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Correspondence of surface temperatures and terrain variables over a tallgrass prairie

The time-dependent correspondence between maps of surface brightness temperature derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper data and mapped terrain variables over a tallgrass prairie in northeastern Kansas is examined. Individual terrain variables including burning treatment, vegetation cover type (agriculture, prairie, woody vegetation), hillslope position, and greenness exhibit varying degrees of association with surface temperature. Burning treatment is most strongly associated with mid-morning surface temperature. Examination of terrain strata based on combinations of terrain variables, notably burning treatment and hillslope position, suggest that terrain variables interact in affecting surface temperature. Interaction between hillslope position, burning treatment, and surface temperature is more important in August than in May.

Friedl, Mark A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Change detection on Alaska's North Slope using repeat-pass ERS-1 SAR images

Measurements of the C-band (wavelength = 5 cm) radar cross section of an area in the Brooks Range foothills on the North Slope of Alaska using images from the ERS-1 satellite show significant temporal changes. These changes are strongly correlated with elevation and hillslope orientation and are greatest on some of the elevated areas and weaker in river drainages. By constructing 'difference images' using various image pairs, and by analyzing climatological and hydrological data from the site, we conclude that the radar backscatter changes are largely due to changes in soil and vegetation liquid water content induced by freeze/thaw events. The correlation with topography in the difference images arises from the dependence of vegetation, organic layer thickness, and volumetric water content on hillslope position and orientation. These results demonstrate the viability of radar backscatter intensity comparisons using repeat-pass images as a means of change detection.

Villasenor, John D.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Ventifact Formation in the Mojave Desert: Field Analogs for Martian Processes

Two field studies in the Mojave Desert, California, shed light on processes of ventifact formation. The field sites are located on a ridge at Little Cowhole Mountain, which lies approximately 12 km south of Baker, and on an unnamed ridge situated along the northern boundary of the Mojave River Sink (Rasor Road site). The rocks at Little Cowhole Mountain are a blue-grey marble/dolomite, whereas those at Rasor Road are Miocene volcanic rocks (basalt). At both sites the abrasive agent is a fine-grained aeolian sand which was probably derived largely from the Mojave River. There are minimal modem inputs of sand to either site: abrasion occurs as a result of unique climatic and topographic conditions which allow pre-existing sand to be recycled from one aspect of the ridge to the other. Climatic conditions are well suited for ventifact formation. Owing, to the dry climate (marked by low average relative humidity, infrequent dew, and low annual rainfall), rates of chemical weathering are low. Where resurfacing of the rocks by sand abrasion proceeds at a rate greater than weathering, the ventifacts are considered "active." Active ventifacts are found atop and straddling the ridge crests, in the zone of maximum wind velocity and sediment supply. Inactive ventifacts occur where modem weathering Processes exceed abrasion rates; principally on the basal two-thirds of the hillslope, where wind velocity and sediment supply are lower. At intermediate locations between the slope base and crest, ventifacts are either active or inactive, depending on local conditions. The presence of relict ventifacts at the study sites, as well as elsewhere in the eastern Mojave Desert, suggests that the conditions for venti fact formation must have been more intense and extensive in the past. Together, the studies illustrate that the processes that interact to form ventifacts are highly complex, and must be studied at many scales. Small-scale effects, such as local topography, plant cover, or even the spatial distribution of boulders, strongly influence the formation of each individual ventifact. Mesoscale effects (hillslope form, total availability of sediment, seasonality of winds, etc.) determine the distribution of overall erosional energy and the location of active and relict forms.

Laity, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Bridging Empirical and Physical Approaches for Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning

Rainfall-triggered landslides typically occur and are evaluated at local scales, using slope-stability models to calculate coincident changes in driving and resisting forces at the hillslope level in order to anticipate slope failures. Over larger areas, detailed high resolution landslide modeling is often infeasible due to difficulties in quantifying the complex interaction between rainfall infiltration and surface materials as well as the dearth of available in situ soil and rainfall estimates and accurate landslide validation data. This presentation will discuss how satellite precipitation and surface information can be applied within a landslide hazard assessment framework to improve landslide monitoring and early warning by considering two disparate approaches to landslide hazard assessment: an empirical landslide forecasting algorithm and a physical slope-stability model. The goal of this research is to advance near real-time landslide hazard assessment and early warning at larger spatial scales. This is done by employing high resolution surface and precipitation information within a probabilistic framework to provide more physically-based grounding to empirical landslide triggering thresholds. The empirical landslide forecasting tool, running in near real-time at http://trmm.nasa.gov, considers potential landslide activity at the global scale and relies on Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation data and surface products to provide a near real-time picture of where landslides may be triggered. The physical approach considers how rainfall infiltration on a hillslope affects the in situ hydro-mechanical processes that may lead to slope failure. Evaluation of these empirical and physical approaches are performed within the Land Information System (LIS), a high performance land surface model processing and data assimilation system developed within the Hydrological Sciences Branch at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. LIS provides the capabilities to quantify uncertainty from model inputs and calculate probabilistic estimates for slope failures. Results indicate that remote sensing data can provide many of the spatiotemporal requirements for accurate landslide monitoring and early warning; however, higher resolution precipitation inputs will help to better identify small-scale precipitation forcings that contribute to significant landslide triggering. Future missions, such as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission will provide more frequent and extensive estimates of precipitation at the global scale, which will serve as key inputs to significantly advance the accuracy of landslide hazard assessment, particularly over larger spatial scales.

Kirschbaum, Dalia↗
NASA NTRS2013

KINEROS2-AGWA: Model Use, Calibration, and Validation

KINEROS (KINematic runoff and EROSion) originated in the 1960s as a distributed event-based model that conceptualizes a watershed as a cascade of overland flow model elements that flow into trapezoidal channel model elements. KINEROS was one of the first widely available watershed models that interactively coupled a finite difference approximation of the kinematic overland flow equations to a physically based infiltration model. Development and improvement of KINEROS continued from the 1960s on a variety of projects for a range of purposes, which has resulted in a suite of KINEROS-based modeling tools. This article focuses on KINEROS2 (K2), a spatially distributed, event-based watershed rainfall-runoff and erosion model, and the companion ArcGIS-based Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (AGWA) tool. AGWA automates the time-consuming tasks of watershed delineation into distributed model elements and initial parameterization of these elements using commonly available, national GIS data layers. A variety of approaches have been used to calibrate and validate K2 successfully across a relatively broad range of applications (e.g., urbanization, pre- and post-fire, hillslope erosion, erosion from roads, runoff and recharge, and manure transport). The case studies presented in this article (1) compare lumped to stepwise calibration and validation of runoff and sediment at plot, hillslope, and small watershed scales; and (2) demonstrate an uncalibrated application to address relative change in watershed response to wildfire.

Erosion↗
NASA NTRS1974

The 1973 Ethiopian-Rift geodimeter survey

Remeasurement of the Adama, Lake Langana, and Arba Minch (Lake Margherita) geodimeter networks in 1973 has enabled Mohr's interpretation concerning possible surface ground deformation in the Ethiopian rift to be considerably developed. Extension appears to have occurred across the Mojjo-Adama horst at a rate of about 1 cm yr/1. The opposing rims of the Adama graben have not moved significantly relative to one another (between 1969 and 1973), but stations on the sliced graben floor show possible movement with a large rift-trend component. In the Wolenchiti quadrilateral, significant movement of station RABBIT is confirmed, but the radical change of vector (that of 1970-1971 to that of 1971-1973) casts doubt on a tectonic cause and seems to indicate that stations on steep hillslopes are liable to be unstable. South of the quadrilateral and east of the Adama graben, alternating rift-trend zones of extension and shortening appear to coexist. In the Lake Langana network, significant movements of the order of 0.5 cm yr/1 are directed perpendicular to the rift floor faulting.

Mohr, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Remote sensing and landslide hazard assessment

Remotely acquired multispectral data are used to improve landslide hazard assessments at all scales of investigation. A vegetation map produced from automated interpretation of TM data is used in a GIS context to explore the effect of vegetation type on debris flow occurrence in preparation for inclusion in debris flow hazard modeling. Spectral vegetation indices map spatial patterns of grass senescence which are found to be correlated with soil thickness variations on hillslopes. Grassland senescence is delayed over deeper, wetter soils that are likely debris flow source areas. Prediction of actual soil depths using vegetation indices may be possible up to some limiting depth greater than the grass rooting zone. On forested earthflows, the slow slide movement disrupts the overhead timber canopy, exposes understory vegetation and soils, and alters site spectral characteristics. Both spectral and textural measures from broad band multispectral data are successful at detecting an earthflow within an undisturbed old-growth forest.

Mckean, J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Escarpment evolution on high-elevation rifted margins: Insights derived from a surface processes model that combines diffusion, advection and reaction

Experiments with a surface processes model of large-scale (1-1000 km) long-term (1-100 m.y.) erosional denudation are used to establish the controls on the evolution of a model escarpment that is related to the rifting of a continent. The mdoel describes changes in topographic form as a result of sumultaneous short- and long-range mass transport representing hillslope (diffusive) processes and fluvial transport (advection), repsectively. Fluvial entrainment is modeled as a first-order kinetic reaction which reflects the erodibility of the substrate, and therefore the fluvial system is not necessarily carrying at capacity. One dimensional and planform models demonstrate that the principal controls on the evolution of an initially steep model escarpment are (1) antecedent topography/drainage; (2) the timesale (or equivalently a length scale) in the fluvial entrainment reaction; (3) the flexural response of the lithosphere to denudation; and (4) the relative efficiencies of the short- and long-range transport processes. When rainfall and substrate lithology are uniform, a significant amount of discharge draining over the escarpment top causes it to degrade. Only when the top of the model escarpment coincides with a drainage divide can escarpment retreat occur for these conditions. An additional requirement for retreat of a model escarpment without decline is a long reaction time scale for fluvial entrainment. This corresponds to a substrate that is hard to detach by flucial erosion, and therefore to fluvial erosion that is not transport limited. Coninuous backtilting of an escarpment due ot flexural isostatic uplift in response to denudational unloading helps maintain the scarp top as a divide. It is essntial if the escarpment gradient is to be preserved during retreat in a uniform lithology. Low flexural rigidieties propote steep and slowly retreating escarpments. For given rainfall and substrate conditions, the morphology of a retraeating model escarpment is determined by the ratio of hte short-range diffusive and long range advective transport efficiencies. A low ration (which is interpreted to correspond to a more humid, temperate climate) produces a convex upper slope, and concave lower slope morphology and only major escarpments are predicted to preserve a high scarp gradient. Lithological contrasts in hte model produce more complex morphologies and predict the formation of scarps crowned by an erosionaly resistant caprock. However, resistant caprocks are not an essential requirement for model scarps to retreat. We conclude that the inferred controls and model behavior are both consistent with the present-day morphology of rifted continental margins and with modern conceptual models of landscape evolution.

Kooi, Henk↗
NASA NTRS1994

Erosional dynamics, flexural isostasy, and long-lived escarpments: A numerical modeling study

Erosional escarpments common features of high-elevation rifted continets. Fission track data suffest that these escarpments form by base level lowering and/or marginal uplift during rifting, followed by lateral retreat of an erosion front across tens to hundreds of kioometers. Previous modeling studies have shown that this characteristic pattern of denudation can have a profound impact upon marginal isostatic uplift and the evolution of offshore sedimentary basins. Yet at present there is only a rudimentary understanding of the geomorphic mechanisms capable of driving such prolonged escarpment retreat. In this study we present a nonlinear, two-dimensional landscape evolution model tha tis used to asses the necessary and sufficient conditions for long-term retreat of a rift-generated escarpment. The model represents topography as a grid of cells, with drainage networkds evolving as water flows across the grid in the direction of steepest descent. The model accounts for sediment production by weathering, fluvial sediment transport, bedrock channel erosion, and hillslope sediment transport by diffusive mechanisms and by mass failure. Numerical experiments presented explore the effects of different combinations of erosion processes and of dynamic coupling between denudation and flexural isostatic uplift. Model results suggest that the necessary and sufficient conditions for long-term escarpment retreat are (1) incising bedrock channels in which the erosion rate increases with increasing drainage area, so that the channels steepen and propagate headward; (2) a low rate of sediment production relative to sediment transport efficiency, which promotes relief-generating processes over diffusive ones; (3) high continental elevation, which allows greater freedom for fluvial dissection; and (4) any process, including flexural isostatic uplift, that helps to maintain a drainage divide near an escarpment crest. Flexural isostatic uplift also facilitates escarpment, thereby increasing channel gradients and accelerating erosion which in turn generates additional isostatic uplift. Of all the above conditions, high continental elevation is common ot most rift margin escarpments and may ultimately be the most important factor.

Tucker, Gregory E.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Soil Moisture: The Hydrologic Interface Between Surface and Ground Waters

A hypothesis is presented that many hydrologic processes display a unique signature that is detectable with microwave remote sensing. These signatures are in the form of the spatial and temporal distributions of surface soil moisture. The specific hydrologic processes that may be detected include groundwater recharge and discharge zones, storm runoff contributing areas, regions of potential and less than potential evapotranspiration (ET), and information about the hydrologic properties of soils. In basin and hillslope hydrology, soil moisture is the interface between surface and ground waters.

Engman, Edwin T.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Microwave Remote Sensing and the Cold Land Processes Field Experiment

The Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX) has been designed to advance our understanding of the terrestrial cryosphere. Developing a more complete understanding of fluxes, storage, and transformations of water and energy in cold land areas is a critical focus of the NASA Earth Science Enterprise Research Strategy, the NASA Global Water and Energy Cycle (GWEC) Initiative, the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX), and the GEWEX Americas Prediction Project (GAPP). The movement of water and energy through cold regions in turn plays a large role in ecological activity and biogeochemical cycles. Quantitative understanding of cold land processes over large areas will require synergistic advancements in 1) understanding how cold land processes, most comprehensively understood at local or hillslope scales, extend to larger scales, 2) improved representation of cold land processes in coupled and uncoupled land-surface models, and 3) a breakthrough in large-scale observation of hydrologic properties, including snow characteristics, soil moisture, the extent of frozen soils, and the transition between frozen and thawed soil conditions. The CLPX Plan has been developed through the efforts of over 60 interested scientists that have participated in the NASA Cold Land Processes Working Group (CLPWG). This group is charged with the task of assessing, planning and implementing the required background science, technology, and application infrastructure to support successful land surface hydrology remote sensing space missions. A major product of the experiment will be a comprehensive, legacy data set that will energize many aspects of cold land processes research. The CLPX will focus on developing the quantitative understanding, models, and measurements necessary to extend our local-scale understanding of water fluxes, storage, and transformations to regional and global scales. The experiment will particularly emphasize developing a strong synergism between process-oriented understanding, land surface models and microwave remote sensing. The experimental design is a multi-sensor, multi-scale (1-ha to 160,000 km ^ {2}) approach to providing the comprehensive data set necessary to address several experiment objectives. A description focusing on the microwave remote sensing components (ground, airborne, and spaceborne) of the experiment will be presented.

Kim, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Evolution of Topography in Glaciated Mountain Ranges

This thesis examines the response of alpine landscapes to the onset of glaciation. The basic approach is to compare fluvial and glacial laudscapes, since it is the change from the former to the latter that accompanies climatic cooling. This allows a detailed evaluation of hypotheses relating climate change to tectonic processes in glaciated mountain belts. Fieldwork was carried out in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, and the Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado, alongside digital elevation model analyses in the western US, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Himalaya of northwestern Pakistan. hypothesis is overstated in its appeal to glacial erosion as a major source of relief production and subsequent peak uplift. Glaciers in the eastern Sierra Nevada and the western Sangre de Cristos have redistributed relief, but have produced only modest relief by enlarging drainage basins at the expense of low-relief topography. Glaciers have lowered valley floors and ridgelines by similar amounts, limiting the amount of "missing mass' that can be generated, and causing a decrease in drainage basin relief. The principal response of glaciated landscapes to rapid rock uplift is the development of towering cirque headwalls. This represents considerable relief production, but is not caused by glacial erosion alone. Large valley glaciers can maintain their low gradient regardless of uplift rate, which supports the "glacial buzzsaw" hypothesis. However, the inability of glaciers to erode steep hillslopes as rapidly can cause mean elevations to rise. Cosmogenic isotope dating is used to show that (i) where plucking is active, the last major glaciation removed sufficient material to reset the cosmogenic clock; and (ii) former glacial valley floors now stranded near the crest of the Sierra Nevada are at varying stages of abandonment, suggesting a cycle of drainage reorganiszation and relief inversion due to glacial erosion similar to that observed in river networks. Glaciated landscapes are quite distinct from their fluvial counterparts in both landforms and processes. Given the scarcity of purely fluvial, active mountain ranges, it is essential that glacial erosion be considered amongst the processes sculpting active orogenic belts.

Brocklehurst, Simon H.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Ridge Orientations of the Ridge-Forming Unit, Sinus Meridiani, Mars-A Fluvial Explanation

Imagery and MOLA data were used in an analysis of the ridge-forming rock unit (RFU) exposed in Sinus Meridiani (SM). This unit shows parallels at different scales with fluvial sedimentary bodies. We propose the terrestrial megafan as the prime analog for the RFU, and likely for other members of the layered units. Megafans are partial cones of fluvial sediment, with radii up to hundreds of km. Although recent reviews of hypotheses for the RFU units exclude fluvial hypotheses [1], inverted ridges in the deserts of Oman have been suggested as putative analogs for some ridges [2], apparently without appreciating The wider context in which these ridges have formed is a series of megafans [3], a relatively unappreciated geomorphic feature. It has been argued that these units conform to the megafan model at the regional, subregional and local scales [4]. At the regional scale suites of terrestrial megafans are known to cover large areas at the foot of uplands on all continents - a close parallel with the setting of the Meridiani sediments at the foot of the southern uplands of Mars, with its incised fluvial systems leading down the regional NW slope [2, 3] towards the sedimentary units. At the subregional scale the layering and internal discontinuities of the Meridiani rocks are consistent, inter alia, with stacked fluvial units [4]. Although poorly recognized as such, the prime geomorphic environment in which stream channel networks cover large areas, without intervening hillslopes, is the megafan [see e.g. 4]. Single megafans can reach 200,000 km2 [5]. Megafans thus supply an analog for areas where channel-like ridges (as a palimpsest of a prior landscape) cover the intercrater plains of Meridiani [6]. At the local, or river-reach scale, the numerous sinuous features of the RFU are suggestive of fluvial channels. Cross-cutting relationships, a common feature of channels on terrestrial megafans, are ubiquitous. Desert megafans show cemented paleo-channels as inverted topography [4] with all these characteristics.

Wilkinson, M. Justin↗