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Finite elements in water resources
BOOK REVIEWS
Workshop on Verification of Water Quality Models J. A. Mueller and Elin Vinci et al. ORD
Publications, Cincinatti, (EPA-600/9-80-016)
Groundwater Hydrology David Keith Todd J o h n W i l e y , C h i c h e s t e r a n d N e w Y o r k , 1980, 2 n d E d n , 535 p p . The purported purpose of this monograph is the presentation of the 'fundamentals of groundwater hydrology in a manner understandable to.those most concerned with such knowledge'. The author achieves this objective in a nicely prepared book that should adorn the shelf of anyone actively working in the field of groundwater hydrology. The material is presented at an elementary level and should be readily understood by anyone with a modest exposure to elementary courses in geology and calculus. The book presents a comprehensive overview of groundwater hydrology. It is replete with an extraordinary list of references which are appropriately cited in the text. The book is subdivided into fourteen chapters. The subjects considered are: groundwater occurrence and movement, well construction and hydraulics, water table fluctuations, groundwater investigations and management, groundwater quality, and artificial recharge. The material is presented primarily from a qualitative perspective but the author does consider some fundamental theory when it is necessary such as in his discussion of well hydraulics. Because of the scope of the monograph the treatment of each subject is necessarily somewhat limited. Thus, this book would be useful to anyone interested in an overview of the subject but of lesser utility to the specialist. This work compliments more theoretical texts and could be used as supplementary reading in a course in groundwater hydrology.
Georqe F. Pinder
Estuarine and Wetland Processes Edited by Peter Hamilton and Keith B. Macdonald Plenum
P r e s s , N e w Y o r k , 1980, 653 p p .
This volume originated from a workshop held in June 1979 in New Orleans, sponsored by the Environmental Laboratory of the Waterways Experimental Station, Vicksburg. The stated objective is to describe the ecology of estuaries and their surrounding wetlands with particular emphasis given to the numerical modelling of the fundamental hydrodynamics, mixing processes, sediment transport and biological and chemical processes. Although the 25 separate contributions include several stateof-the-art reviews, the majority of the contributions deal with specific case-histories. The orientation of the latter is directed towards their original presentation and, in consequence, the applications deal almost exclusively with locations along the south-east coast of the USA. Furthermore, about 75~o of the studies are confined to the modelling of hydrodynamics and mixing processes only. Interest in these case-histories will generally be limited to fellow-practitioners and, even then, the narrow geographic confines considered limit the usefulness of these contributions. The review articles are to be recommended, particularly as they start from a most basic level before proceeding to the finer points of current research. The subjects of these review papers include: (i) turbulent processes in estuaries, (ii) hydrodynamic modelling of estuaries, and (iii) the ecology of salt marshes. The book is notably well-bound and the presentations, in a uniform type, are sensibly free from minor errors. In summary, this is not a volume to be read from cover to cover but a reference manual for anyone engaged in, or contemplating, studies of this nature.
D. Prandle
96
Adv. Water Resources, 1981, Volume 4, June
The substance of this compendium is the result o f a US Environmental Protection Agency sponsored workshop which was organized to evaluate the state of the science {or rather the art) of water quality modelling, and to make specific recommendations for future efforts. A cross-section of experts from government, academia, industry, and private practice were assembled in West Point, New York on 7-9 March, 1979. The list of particiPants could easily provide a basis for a 'Who's Who in Water Quality Modeling'. In the same vein as society has coined expressions such as "a gentleman's gentleman', one might label this manuscript as one produced by "the modelers' modelers'. Anyone who has worked with water quality models should be interested in reviewing this report. This event provided the opportunity for some of the foremost modellers to take time out for a bit of soul searching and self-analysis. As expected such an occasion might adjourn with more questions than were evident at the outset, but equally true is that the science and the profession are undoubtedly the better for it. Basic issues discussed include models in decision-making, model data bases, modelling framework [including time and space scales, kinetic detail and cost effectiveness), parameter estimation, measures of verification and use of models as projection tools. Workshop committee reports present the state of the art and recommendations in the areas of wasteload generation, transport systems, salinity.TDS, dissolved oxygen,/ temperature, bacteria/visur, eutrophication, and hazardous substances. In addition, twenty-five papers on various issues related to the committee reports are presented by individuals. The workshop recommendations stressed the need for greater communication between decision making, modelling and data collection, particularly for post-audit data collection programs and subsequent model studies to verify previous model projections.
Raymond A. Ferrara
NEW BOOKS This section lists b o o k s within the field of w a t e r resources that have recently been published and the d e s c r i p t i o n s given are those supplied by the b o o k publishers. C o m p r e h e n s i v e reviews of these b o o k s will a p p e a r in future issues.
Finite Elements in Water Resources CML
Publications, Southampton,
1980, £ 3 5 . 0 0
This book contains the edited proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Finite Elements in Water Resources held at the University of Mississippi, in May 1980. The book contains approximately 90 papers presented at the conference. Topics covered include: groundwater and seepage, transport phenomena; viscous flows: river, lake and ocean modelling; sedimentation processes: finite element techniques. The finite element method has become, because of its versatility, one of the most important tools for modelling physical problems - - particularly those with true irregular geometries and heterogeneous physical properties which are common to all realistic water resources systems. The conference attempted to present a state of the art of finite elements in water resources and consequently 40 of the papers contained in the proceedings were presented by distinguished invited speakers. The other 50 papers were carefully selected to
complement the invited papers and to make the proceedings an essential requirement for anyone working in the field of numerical methods in water resources. The Conference follows the successful first and second International Conferences held at Princeton University (1976) and Imperial College London (1978).
Reliability Engineering and Risk Assessment Ernest J. Henley and Hiromitsu Kumamoto Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, 1981, £25.35
With this comprehensive and easy-to-understand volume, Ernest J. Henley and Hiromitsu Kumamoto build on their successful work in conducting short courses and seminars to disseminate, quite clearly, the new reliability and risk assessment technology. Their self-contained treatment includes chapters on risk analysis, fault tree and decision table construction, qualitative aspects of system analysis, quantification of basic events, confidence limits for reliability parameters, databases, quantitative aspects of system analysis, system quantification for dependent basic events, component and cut-set importance, storage tanks, control and protective systems, Markov and Monte Carlo methods, and case studies and applications.
Power from Sea Waves Edited by Brian Count A c a d e m i c P r e s s . L o n d o n . 1980, 4 5 0 p p . £ 2 3 . 6 0 ($57) The dramatic rise in the price of fuel since the early seventies and the realization that the age of cheap abundant energy had gone forever, has led to a renewed interest in the so-called alternative resources - - geothermal, solar, wave, wind and tidal power. Ocean wave power attracted interest for a number of reasons. First. estimates of the resource size indicated that the average power available off the Atlantic coastline was greater than the maximum demand for electrical power. The United Kingdom as a small island with a large coastline and high energy requirements is well placed to exploit this resource. Secondly, in 1974 new devices were invented which were capable of extracting wave energy at higher efficiencies than was previously thought possible and in the same year an energy.~programme was initiated to encourage research and broaden our knowledge of the subject. Despite problems during the past five years, good progress has been made with increasing support and interest from the mathematical community. Consequently, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications sponsored a conference entitled 'Power from Sea Waves" at Edinburgh in June 1979. It brought together people actively engaged in theoretical aspects of wave energy research and this book contains the carefully edited proceedings of that conference. The book is divided into three major sections. The first series of papers examines the global energy scene and then discusses the overall problems of wave power technology and measurement of ocean waves. The second section is devoted to ocean wave measurement and prediction, and the third consists of a series of papers on the problems of analysing the behaviour of devices in waves. A final paper attempts to examine the possible future of wave energy. This innovative work will be of interest to those involved in research into wave power and general hydrodynamics. It will also serve as a useful reference for university courses covering hydrodynamic theory and related topics.
Engineering Software I I Edited by R. A. Adey CML
Publications, Southampton,
1981, £ 3 5 . 0 0
As with the first, the Second International Conference on Engineering Software has focused on the use and applications of computers in engineering. A special theme of this conference was the impact of microcomputer systems. The book is divided into the following sections: techniques, mechanical engineering analysis and design, graphics, computer-aided design, civil and structural engineering, hydraulics and water resources, electrical and electronic engineering, geometric design, applications of microcomputer systems, finite element analysis.
Statistical Pattern Classification Using Contextual Information K. S. Fu and T. S. Yu J o h n W i l e y , C h i c h e s t e r , 1981, 2 0 8 p p . £ 1 4 . 5 0 In the past decade there have been numerous attempts to develop systems for automatic interpretation of digital image data. None of the systems developed for this purpose have made extensive use of context information. This book is the outcome of a conclusive investigation into the feasibility of applying a spatial stochastic model to analyse digital satellite data. The effectiveness of this model is demonstrated by the reasonable increase in computation time and significantly improved classification results.
Use of Microprocessors G. L. Simons National
Computing
Centre, Manchester, £12.50
Microprocessors are rapidly encroaching on an ever growing number of activities. This book highlights these main areas focusing on the business world, manufacturing, communications, education, medicine, transport, entertainment and the domestic environment.
Eurographics 80 Proceedings of the International Conference and Exhibition, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 3-5 S e p t e m b e r 1980. U S $ 4 6 . 2 5 (Dfl. 95.00) This important publication coincides with the establishment of the European Association for Computer Graphics (Eurographics Associationt. Here is a subject range as wide as computer graphics itself, caused by the desire to reflect the interest of all computer graphics professionals. Quintessential aspects of computer graphics are represented here, both of theoretical progress and of practical applications. The main subjects covered are: Man-machine interactive systems based on CORE standards - - Special algorithms for computer graphics - - Special purpose and general purpose graphics packages: Distributed graphics: Raster graphics systems and Interdisciplinary applications. Summaries of industrial seminars related to existing graphic products are also included.
Adv. Water Resources, 1981, Volume 4, June
97
Workshop on Verification of Water Quality Models J. A. Mueller and Elin Vinci et al. ORD
Publications, Cincinatti, (EPA-600/9-80-016)
Groundwater Hydrology David Keith Todd J o h n W i l e y , C h i c h e s t e r a n d N e w Y o r k , 1980, 2 n d E d n , 535 p p . The purported purpose of this monograph is the presentation of the 'fundamentals of groundwater hydrology in a manner understandable to.those most concerned with such knowledge'. The author achieves this objective in a nicely prepared book that should adorn the shelf of anyone actively working in the field of groundwater hydrology. The material is presented at an elementary level and should be readily understood by anyone with a modest exposure to elementary courses in geology and calculus. The book presents a comprehensive overview of groundwater hydrology. It is replete with an extraordinary list of references which are appropriately cited in the text. The book is subdivided into fourteen chapters. The subjects considered are: groundwater occurrence and movement, well construction and hydraulics, water table fluctuations, groundwater investigations and management, groundwater quality, and artificial recharge. The material is presented primarily from a qualitative perspective but the author does consider some fundamental theory when it is necessary such as in his discussion of well hydraulics. Because of the scope of the monograph the treatment of each subject is necessarily somewhat limited. Thus, this book would be useful to anyone interested in an overview of the subject but of lesser utility to the specialist. This work compliments more theoretical texts and could be used as supplementary reading in a course in groundwater hydrology.
Georqe F. Pinder
Estuarine and Wetland Processes Edited by Peter Hamilton and Keith B. Macdonald Plenum
P r e s s , N e w Y o r k , 1980, 653 p p .
This volume originated from a workshop held in June 1979 in New Orleans, sponsored by the Environmental Laboratory of the Waterways Experimental Station, Vicksburg. The stated objective is to describe the ecology of estuaries and their surrounding wetlands with particular emphasis given to the numerical modelling of the fundamental hydrodynamics, mixing processes, sediment transport and biological and chemical processes. Although the 25 separate contributions include several stateof-the-art reviews, the majority of the contributions deal with specific case-histories. The orientation of the latter is directed towards their original presentation and, in consequence, the applications deal almost exclusively with locations along the south-east coast of the USA. Furthermore, about 75~o of the studies are confined to the modelling of hydrodynamics and mixing processes only. Interest in these case-histories will generally be limited to fellow-practitioners and, even then, the narrow geographic confines considered limit the usefulness of these contributions. The review articles are to be recommended, particularly as they start from a most basic level before proceeding to the finer points of current research. The subjects of these review papers include: (i) turbulent processes in estuaries, (ii) hydrodynamic modelling of estuaries, and (iii) the ecology of salt marshes. The book is notably well-bound and the presentations, in a uniform type, are sensibly free from minor errors. In summary, this is not a volume to be read from cover to cover but a reference manual for anyone engaged in, or contemplating, studies of this nature.
D. Prandle
96
Adv. Water Resources, 1981, Volume 4, June
The substance of this compendium is the result o f a US Environmental Protection Agency sponsored workshop which was organized to evaluate the state of the science {or rather the art) of water quality modelling, and to make specific recommendations for future efforts. A cross-section of experts from government, academia, industry, and private practice were assembled in West Point, New York on 7-9 March, 1979. The list of particiPants could easily provide a basis for a 'Who's Who in Water Quality Modeling'. In the same vein as society has coined expressions such as "a gentleman's gentleman', one might label this manuscript as one produced by "the modelers' modelers'. Anyone who has worked with water quality models should be interested in reviewing this report. This event provided the opportunity for some of the foremost modellers to take time out for a bit of soul searching and self-analysis. As expected such an occasion might adjourn with more questions than were evident at the outset, but equally true is that the science and the profession are undoubtedly the better for it. Basic issues discussed include models in decision-making, model data bases, modelling framework [including time and space scales, kinetic detail and cost effectiveness), parameter estimation, measures of verification and use of models as projection tools. Workshop committee reports present the state of the art and recommendations in the areas of wasteload generation, transport systems, salinity.TDS, dissolved oxygen,/ temperature, bacteria/visur, eutrophication, and hazardous substances. In addition, twenty-five papers on various issues related to the committee reports are presented by individuals. The workshop recommendations stressed the need for greater communication between decision making, modelling and data collection, particularly for post-audit data collection programs and subsequent model studies to verify previous model projections.
Raymond A. Ferrara
NEW BOOKS This section lists b o o k s within the field of w a t e r resources that have recently been published and the d e s c r i p t i o n s given are those supplied by the b o o k publishers. C o m p r e h e n s i v e reviews of these b o o k s will a p p e a r in future issues.
Finite Elements in Water Resources CML
Publications, Southampton,
1980, £ 3 5 . 0 0
This book contains the edited proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Finite Elements in Water Resources held at the University of Mississippi, in May 1980. The book contains approximately 90 papers presented at the conference. Topics covered include: groundwater and seepage, transport phenomena; viscous flows: river, lake and ocean modelling; sedimentation processes: finite element techniques. The finite element method has become, because of its versatility, one of the most important tools for modelling physical problems - - particularly those with true irregular geometries and heterogeneous physical properties which are common to all realistic water resources systems. The conference attempted to present a state of the art of finite elements in water resources and consequently 40 of the papers contained in the proceedings were presented by distinguished invited speakers. The other 50 papers were carefully selected to
complement the invited papers and to make the proceedings an essential requirement for anyone working in the field of numerical methods in water resources. The Conference follows the successful first and second International Conferences held at Princeton University (1976) and Imperial College London (1978).
Reliability Engineering and Risk Assessment Ernest J. Henley and Hiromitsu Kumamoto Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, 1981, £25.35
With this comprehensive and easy-to-understand volume, Ernest J. Henley and Hiromitsu Kumamoto build on their successful work in conducting short courses and seminars to disseminate, quite clearly, the new reliability and risk assessment technology. Their self-contained treatment includes chapters on risk analysis, fault tree and decision table construction, qualitative aspects of system analysis, quantification of basic events, confidence limits for reliability parameters, databases, quantitative aspects of system analysis, system quantification for dependent basic events, component and cut-set importance, storage tanks, control and protective systems, Markov and Monte Carlo methods, and case studies and applications.
Power from Sea Waves Edited by Brian Count A c a d e m i c P r e s s . L o n d o n . 1980, 4 5 0 p p . £ 2 3 . 6 0 ($57) The dramatic rise in the price of fuel since the early seventies and the realization that the age of cheap abundant energy had gone forever, has led to a renewed interest in the so-called alternative resources - - geothermal, solar, wave, wind and tidal power. Ocean wave power attracted interest for a number of reasons. First. estimates of the resource size indicated that the average power available off the Atlantic coastline was greater than the maximum demand for electrical power. The United Kingdom as a small island with a large coastline and high energy requirements is well placed to exploit this resource. Secondly, in 1974 new devices were invented which were capable of extracting wave energy at higher efficiencies than was previously thought possible and in the same year an energy.~programme was initiated to encourage research and broaden our knowledge of the subject. Despite problems during the past five years, good progress has been made with increasing support and interest from the mathematical community. Consequently, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications sponsored a conference entitled 'Power from Sea Waves" at Edinburgh in June 1979. It brought together people actively engaged in theoretical aspects of wave energy research and this book contains the carefully edited proceedings of that conference. The book is divided into three major sections. The first series of papers examines the global energy scene and then discusses the overall problems of wave power technology and measurement of ocean waves. The second section is devoted to ocean wave measurement and prediction, and the third consists of a series of papers on the problems of analysing the behaviour of devices in waves. A final paper attempts to examine the possible future of wave energy. This innovative work will be of interest to those involved in research into wave power and general hydrodynamics. It will also serve as a useful reference for university courses covering hydrodynamic theory and related topics.
Engineering Software I I Edited by R. A. Adey CML
Publications, Southampton,
1981, £ 3 5 . 0 0
As with the first, the Second International Conference on Engineering Software has focused on the use and applications of computers in engineering. A special theme of this conference was the impact of microcomputer systems. The book is divided into the following sections: techniques, mechanical engineering analysis and design, graphics, computer-aided design, civil and structural engineering, hydraulics and water resources, electrical and electronic engineering, geometric design, applications of microcomputer systems, finite element analysis.
Statistical Pattern Classification Using Contextual Information K. S. Fu and T. S. Yu J o h n W i l e y , C h i c h e s t e r , 1981, 2 0 8 p p . £ 1 4 . 5 0 In the past decade there have been numerous attempts to develop systems for automatic interpretation of digital image data. None of the systems developed for this purpose have made extensive use of context information. This book is the outcome of a conclusive investigation into the feasibility of applying a spatial stochastic model to analyse digital satellite data. The effectiveness of this model is demonstrated by the reasonable increase in computation time and significantly improved classification results.
Use of Microprocessors G. L. Simons National
Computing
Centre, Manchester, £12.50
Microprocessors are rapidly encroaching on an ever growing number of activities. This book highlights these main areas focusing on the business world, manufacturing, communications, education, medicine, transport, entertainment and the domestic environment.
Eurographics 80 Proceedings of the International Conference and Exhibition, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 3-5 S e p t e m b e r 1980. U S $ 4 6 . 2 5 (Dfl. 95.00) This important publication coincides with the establishment of the European Association for Computer Graphics (Eurographics Associationt. Here is a subject range as wide as computer graphics itself, caused by the desire to reflect the interest of all computer graphics professionals. Quintessential aspects of computer graphics are represented here, both of theoretical progress and of practical applications. The main subjects covered are: Man-machine interactive systems based on CORE standards - - Special algorithms for computer graphics - - Special purpose and general purpose graphics packages: Distributed graphics: Raster graphics systems and Interdisciplinary applications. Summaries of industrial seminars related to existing graphic products are also included.
Adv. Water Resources, 1981, Volume 4, June
97