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The influence of two types of colloids (natural organic matter, NOM), a colloid with high affinity for radionuclides (RN(s)), and hydrophilic synthetic latex (SHL), a colloid with low affinity for RN(s) on the transfer of 60Co and 85Sr in a silica sand column was studied under different physicochemical conditions : pH (4.9), ionic strength (10-3 M and 10-2 M), concentration of colloids (100 mg l-1, 10 mg l-1), flow velocity (12.4 cm h-1 and 3.7 cm h-1), water saturation of the column (100% and 70%). In the absence of colloids, the transfer of 60Co and 85Sr was retarded compared to the transfer of the conservative tracer. In the presence of colloids and according to the specific physicochemical conditions, an acceleration or retardation of 60Co and 85Sr transfer was observed compared to their transfer in the absence of colloids. Our results evidenced that any colloids even with low reactivity could significantly modify the RN transfer. However, the extent to which the transfer was influenced differs according to the colloid type; the NOM exhibiting higher impact than SHL. Batch experiments helped in interpreting of the interactions between the colloids, RN(s) and solid phase observed in column. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monochloramine (MCA) may enter the aquatic environment through three main sources: wastewater treatment plant effluents, industrial effluents and thermal power plant wastes. Up to date, there are no available data about the concentration levels of this chemical in river water due to lack of appropriate analytical methods. Therefore, sensitive and selective analytical methods for monochloramine analysis in river water are required to evaluate its environmental fate and its effects on aquatic ecosystems. Thus, in this study we describe a highly specific and sensitive method for monochloramine determination in river water. This method combines chemical derivatization of monochloramine into indophenol followed by liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis. Two precursor-to-product ion transitions were monitored (200→127 and 200→154) in positive ionisation mode, fulfilling the criteria of selectivity, in accordance with the European Legislation requirements (decision 2002/657/EC). Ion structures and fragmentation mechanisms have been proposed to explain the selected transitions. Linearity range, accuracy and precision of the method have been assessed according to the French method validation standard NF T90-210. Detecting the derivatized monochloramine (indophenol) in Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode provided a limit of quantification of 40 ng L(-1) equivalent monochloramine. Applied to Loire river water (France), the developed method occasionally detected monochloramine at concentrations less than 300 ng L(-1), which could be explained by punctual discharges of water containing active chlorine upstream of the sampling point. Indeed, it is widely reported in the literature that the addition of chlorine to water containing ammonia (e.g., wastewater effluents and river water) may result in the instantaneous formation of monochloramine. The proposed method is a powerful tool that can be used in environmental research (e.g., assessment of environmental fate and generating of ecotoxicological data) as well as in research studies concerning the evaluation of water disinfection efficiency; but it is not currently appropriate for routine use in industrial applications given the complexity of the procedure, the instability of indophenol and the use of certain toxic reagents.

With the mean sea level (MSL) rise, coastal defence structures will be exposed to wave height, which are larger than the design values, in particular for all the structures built in shallow waters where the depth imposes the maximal wave height due to bathymetric breaking. If MSL rise is one meter, the crest of these structures will have to be raised between two and three meters in order to keep the same overtopping volumes. Moreover the structures will have more severe damages and mass of armour units should be doubled. Statistics moderate the first conclusions because it keeps into account the whole set of events, including in particular shoaling waves. Schematically with the increase of damages, according to the severity of changes the stakeholders will adopt one of the following scenarios: a) repairing the structures as it is b) reinforcing the structures c) demolishing and redesigning the structures d) accepting coastal realignment. Three axes of reinforcement of structures are presented: limiting overtopping by modifying for example the crown wall, improving armour stability by adding an armour layer or by using milder armour slope and reducing the incident wave energy by building a detached low-crested breakwater or by sand nourishment. A curved parapet wall is a very efficient solution for impervious structures. This solution must often be completed by an additional armour layer for pervious structures. The front reservoir is also a promising solution. Cost benefice analysis (CBA) applied to the city of Le Havre shows that reinforcement becomes economically justified in district of Malraux when MSL rise is 1 m. Redesign and coastal realignment as far as they are concerned are acceptable when MSL rise exceeds 2 m.

Swimming behavior is increasingly reported as a sensitive and early indicator of toxicant stress in aquatic organisms. However, it remains unclear how to quantify the sensitivity of swimming behavioral endpoints and how to compare these effect thresholds with standard ecotoxicological endpoints used in risk assessment. To date, the systematic assessment of the sensitivity of swimming behavioral endpoints in daphnia is limited because of the restrained test capacity of existing behavioral analysis systems. Hence, we developed a new behavioral analysis multi-cellsystemnamed “Multi-DaphTrack” with a high throughput testing capacity in order to enhance our understanding of swimming behavioral effects in Daphnia magnaunder chemical exposure. Twelve compounds covering different modes oftoxic action were selected and tested in this new system andin a single-cell commercialized biomonitor (DaphToxI®) and with the acute standard test.Our new multi-cellexposure system detectedsignificant and early swimming behavioral effects (i.e.,increase of the average speed) for most of the tested compounds and this, from the first hour of exposure at concentrations near the EC10(48h). Contrastedbehavioral profiles were observed for average speed (i.e., intensity, time of effect onset, effect duration), but no distinct behavioral profiles could be drawn from the chemical mode of action. Despite less sensitive,the DaphToxI®gave similar trends (i.e.,rapid peak increase) compared to our “Multi-DaphTrack” system. To conclude, behavior analysis using our “Multi-DaphTrack”systemcould be used as an alternative or complement to the current acute standard test for toxicity assessment of chemicals. With some additional improvements and validations, it also could be used forquality assessment of waterbodiesand sewages.; Les paramètres comportementaux sont de plus en plus considérés comme étant des indicateurs sensibles et précoces de toxicité chez les organismes aquatiques. Cependant, l’utilisation du comportement natatoire comme critère de toxicité pour l’analyse de risque environnemental ou pour le contrôle de la qualité de l’eau reste pour l’heure encore limitée. En effet, il est actuellement difficile de quantifier la sensibilité des paramètres comportementaux et d’établir un lien entre les seuils d’effets comportementaux et les effets aigus et subaigus classiquement mesurés dans les tests en écotoxicologie. Dans le but d’améliorer notre compréhension des effets comportementaux des polluants sur Daphnia magna, nous avons développé un nouveau système de mesure du comportement multi-cuves baptisé «Multi-DaphTrack ». Douze substances toxiques, couvrant une large gamme de modes d’action différents ont été testées dans ce système. Un test standard d’immobilisation ainsi que des analyses de comportement dans le toximètre DaphToxI®, ont également été effectués pour chaque substance afin de comparer les seuilsd’effets comportementaux avec les paramètres classiques d’immobilisation. Les résultats des expositions aux différentes substances ont démontré que notre nouveau système d’exposition multi-cuves permet de détecter des effets comportementaux (i.e.,augmentation de la vitesse de nage) significatifs et précoces pour l’ensemble des substances testées et ce, à des concentrations proches de la CE10(48 h) du test aigu d’immobilisation dès la première heure d’exposition. Des profils comportementaux différents ont été observés selon les substances testées (i.e., intensité, temps de latence et durée de l’effet) mais ceux-ci ne sont pas spécifiques d’un mode d’action particulier. Les résultats obtenus avec le toximètre DaphToxI®ont révélé des profils d’effet similaires (i.e.,augmentation de la vitesse de nage) bien que ce système soit globalement moins sensible par rapport au système «Multi-DaphTrack». Pour conclure, notre nouveau système d’exposition multi-cuves «Multi-DaphTrack» est un outil plus sensible et précoce que letest standard d’immobilisation pour l’évaluation de la toxicité de substances chimiques. L’utilisation du système «Multi-DaphTrack» pourrait donc être envisagée, après quelques améliorations et validation supplémentaires, pour l’évaluation de la qualité des masses d’eauet des effluents.

Context. The performance of interferometers has largely been increased over the last ten years. But the number of observable objects is still limited due to the low sensitivity and imaging capability of the current facilities. Studies have been done to propose a new generation of interferometers. Aims. The Carlina concept studied at the Haute-Provence Observatory consists in an optical interferometer configured as a diluted version of the Arecibo radio telescope: above the diluted primary mirror made of fixed co-spherical segments, a helium balloon or cables suspended between two mountains and/or pylons, carries a gondola containing the focal optics. This concept does not require delay lines. Methods. Since 2003, we have been building a technical demonstrator of this diluted telescope. The main goals of this project were to find the opto-mechanical solutions to stabilize the optics attached under cables at several tens of meters above the ground, and to characterize this diluted telescope under real conditions. In 2012, we have obtained metrology fringes, and co-spherized the primary mirrors within one micron accuracy. In 2013, we have tested the whole optical train: servo loop, metrology, and the focal gondola. Results. We obtained stellar fringes on Deneb in September 2013. In this paper, we present the characteristics of these observations: quality of the guiding, S /N reached, and possible improvements for a future system. Conclusions. It is an important step that demonstrates the feasibility of building a diluted telescope using cables strained between cliffs or pylons. Carlina, like the MMT or LBT, could be one of the first members of a new class of telescopes named Large Diluted Telescopes. Its optical architecture has many advantages for future projects: Planet Formation Imager, Post-ELTs, Interferometer in space., 8 pages, 7 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics

International audience; This paper describes an approach to assess channel changes of a long anthropogenised river (the Middle Loire River) over decadal timescales. Channel changes are evaluated along geomorphically homogeneous river reaches. The classic geomorphic parameters (active channel width, bed slope, grain size) are complemented with parameters extracted from a 1D hydraulic model: width–depth ratio, effective bed shear stress and specific stream power calculated for the biennial discharge assimilated to bankfull flow conditions. The delineation of reaches is undertaken by combining visual inspection with the implementation of simple statistical tests to corroborate discontinuities in flow and sediment transport. The 450 km long study area has been divided into 167 homogeneous reaches. The general trends observed over the last fifty years are narrowing of the active channel width and incision of the river bed. However, changes in bed level and active channel width are not consistently correlated. Channel changes at the reach scale are mainly controlled by the presence of former sediment extraction sites. Significant incision is observed at the peak of the in-stream sediment mining period. This was followed by channel recovery when extractions stopped. The 1D numerical model provides a more rigorous manner to derive hydraulic parameters. The effective bed shear stress made dimensionless by its critical value and the width–depth ratio helps to explain observed channel responses more effectively by relating patterns to geological units along the Middle Loire.

Assurer de façon durable l’équilibre entre les besoins en eau et les ressources en eau, compte tenu des incertitudes qui pèsent sur leurs évolutions supposées à moyen et long terme, est devenu une préoccupation majeure des pouvoirs publics et des acteurs en charge de la gestion de la ressource.Dans ce projet, il s’agit de simuler les dynamiques spatiales de l’occupation humaine (croissance de la population, choix résidentiel, mobilité) et physique / fonctionnelle des sols (prenant en compte les infrastructures de transport et les activités) à l’horizon 2050 sur un territoire compris dans le triangle Aix en Provence – Manosque et Cavaillon en se fondant sur l’analyse des trajectoires obser-vées dans le passé et des modalités qui ont favorisé les transitions.

International audience; The initial stage of calcium carbonate nucleation and growth, found usually in "natural" precipitation conditions, is still not well understood. The calcium carbonate formation for moderate supersaturation level could be achieved by an original method called the fast controlled precipitation (FCP) method. FCP was coupled with SAXS (small-angle X-ray scattering) measurements to get insight into the nucleation and growth mechanisms of calcium carbonate particles in Ca(HCO3)2 aqueous solutions. Two size distributions of particles were observed. The particle size evolutions of these two distributions were obtained by analyzing the SAXS data. A nice agreement was obtained between the total volume fractions of CaCO3 obtained by SAXS analysis and by pH-resistivity curve modeling (from FCP tests).

[Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]ARCEAU [Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]ARCEAU; International audience; This paper presents a comparison of models for extreme rainfall and flood values. Based on a large set of thousands of rainfall and discharge data, the French ExtraFlo project showed that design estimate of extreme values based on the fitting of a distribution on a limited sample of maximum values is very inaccurate when only a few decades of observation are available. Some interesting alternatives are possible, using a regional approach, or historical data when available, or simulation methods, or sedimentological or geochemical signatures of flood deposits.; Cette communication présente les principaux résultats du projet ExtraFlo sur l'estimation des pluies et crues extrêmes. A partir d'un jeu de données conséquent de plusieurs milliers de stations, une procédure d'inter-comparaison a permis d'évaluer les performances d'une trentaine d'implémentations différentes issues de différentes combinaisons (modèle probabiliste, méthode d'estimation, cadre local / régional / mixte local et régional). Le projet ExtraFlo a permis de mettre en évidence le manque de robustesse des approches basées sur le traitement statistique d'une série de quelques dizaines d'années d'observation. Des alternatives intéressantes existent, basées sur l'exploitation des records de pluie et de débit à l'échelle d'une région, de la collecte de données historiques quand cela est possible, de méthodes de simulation basées sur le couplage d'un générateur d'averses avec un modèle hydrologique pour la transformation des pluies en débit, ou des traces morphologiques laissées par les crues anciennes.

Swimming behavior is increasingly reported as a sensitive and early indicator of toxicant stress in aquatic organisms. However, it remains unclear how to quantify the sensitivity of swimming behavioral endpoints and how to compare these effect thresholds with standard ecotoxicological endpoints used in risk assessment. To date, the systematic assessment of the sensitivity of swimming behavioral endpoints in daphnia is limited because of the restrained test capacity of existing behavioral analysis systems. Hence, we developed a new behavioral analysis multi-cellsystemnamed “Multi-DaphTrack” with a high throughput testing capacity in order to enhance our understanding of swimming behavioral effects in Daphnia magnaunder chemical exposure. Twelve compounds covering different modes oftoxic action were selected and tested in this new system andin a single-cell commercialized biomonitor (DaphToxI®) and with the acute standard test.Our new multi-cellexposure system detectedsignificant and early swimming behavioral effects (i.e.,increase of the average speed) for most of the tested compounds and this, from the first hour of exposure at concentrations near the EC10(48h). Contrastedbehavioral profiles were observed for average speed (i.e., intensity, time of effect onset, effect duration), but no distinct behavioral profiles could be drawn from the chemical mode of action. Despite less sensitive,the DaphToxI®gave similar trends (i.e.,rapid peak increase) compared to our “Multi-DaphTrack” system. To conclude, behavior analysis using our “Multi-DaphTrack”systemcould be used as an alternative or complement to the current acute standard test for toxicity assessment of chemicals. With some additional improvements and validations, it also could be used forquality assessment of waterbodiesand sewages., Les paramètres comportementaux sont de plus en plus considérés comme étant des indicateurs sensibles et précoces de toxicité chez les organismes aquatiques. Cependant, l’utilisation du comportement natatoire comme critère de toxicité pour l’analyse de risque environnemental ou pour le contrôle de la qualité de l’eau reste pour l’heure encore limitée. En effet, il est actuellement difficile de quantifier la sensibilité des paramètres comportementaux et d’établir un lien entre les seuils d’effets comportementaux et les effets aigus et subaigus classiquement mesurés dans les tests en écotoxicologie. Dans le but d’améliorer notre compréhension des effets comportementaux des polluants sur Daphnia magna, nous avons développé un nouveau système de mesure du comportement multi-cuves baptisé «Multi-DaphTrack ». Douze substances toxiques, couvrant une large gamme de modes d’action différents ont été testées dans ce système. Un test standard d’immobilisation ainsi que des analyses de comportement dans le toximètre DaphToxI®, ont également été effectués pour chaque substance afin de comparer les seuilsd’effets comportementaux avec les paramètres classiques d’immobilisation. Les résultats des expositions aux différentes substances ont démontré que notre nouveau système d’exposition multi-cuves permet de détecter des effets comportementaux (i.e.,augmentation de la vitesse de nage) significatifs et précoces pour l’ensemble des substances testées et ce, à des concentrations proches de la CE10(48 h) du test aigu d’immobilisation dès la première heure d’exposition. Des profils comportementaux différents ont été observés selon les substances testées (i.e., intensité, temps de latence et durée de l’effet) mais ceux-ci ne sont pas spécifiques d’un mode d’action particulier. Les résultats obtenus avec le toximètre DaphToxI®ont révélé des profils d’effet similaires (i.e.,augmentation de la vitesse de nage) bien que ce système soit globalement moins sensible par rapport au système «Multi-DaphTrack». Pour conclure, notre nouveau système d’exposition multi-cuves «Multi-DaphTrack» est un outil plus sensible et précoce que letest standard d’immobilisation pour l’évaluation de la toxicité de substances chimiques. L’utilisation du système «Multi-DaphTrack» pourrait donc être envisagée, après quelques améliorations et validation supplémentaires, pour l’évaluation de la qualité des masses d’eauet des effluents.

L'estimation des probabilites d'occurrences des niveaux marins extremes est un enjeu majeur pour les etudes sur les risques de submersion du littoral. Les periodes de retour des niveaux extremes sont estimees ici pour deux sites : un de forte amplitude de maree, Brest, l'autre de faible amplitude de maree, Sete. L'approche directe est testee (sur les niveaux d'eau) ainsi que la methode revisee des probabilites conjointes (RJPM) combinant probabilites associees aux marees et aux surcotes meteorologiques. Nous comparons les resultats des ajustements statistiques des extremes pour deux methodes differentes de selection des evenements : par maxima annuels (AM) et par pics au- dessus d'un seuil (POT). Nous discutons les differentes manieres de traiter l'eustatisme, le choix de la loi d'ajustement, le choix du seuil pour la methode POT, l'influence de la duree des mesures et la dependance temporelle avec l'utilisation de l'indice extremal. Pour les donnees de Sete, nous essayons de quantifier la dependance saisonniere maree / surcote. Les approches directes et RJPM tendent vers un meme resultat pour le site a faible marnage. AM et POT tendent vers un meme resultat pour la longue serie de Brest, et POT est meilleur pour la serie courte. La selection du seuil pour POT est justifiee par un ensemble de tests statistiques complementaires. L'utilisation de l'indice extremal n'apporte pas de changement notable. Le modele de dependance saisonniere utilise presente un premier resultat interessant et pourrait etre teste pour d'autres sites. Nous degageons une methodologie generale et des recommandations eventuellement utiles pour d'autres analyses.

Background: Recent improvements in fixed acoustic monitoring receivers allow the tracking of individual aquatic animals over long periods of time with regular fine-scale positions. The VEMCO Positioning System (VPS) is now widely used, but various methodological issues remain to be clarified. The aim of this study was to analyse the spatial distribution of the probability of location and the positioning error over the entire surface of a hydropower reservoir, prior to analysing fish behaviour. Findings: Filtering the data set by the horizontal position error (HPE) significantly reduced the positioning error. Retaining only the positions with an HPE less than 15 retained 79% of VPS positions and decreased the positioning error by 33% (mean = 3.3 m, SD = 3.3 m). A higher probability of location was observed inside than outside the receiver array (44% and 36%, respectively). Moreover, the positioning error significantly differed inside (n = 243, mean = 2.4 m, SD = 2.1 m) and outside (n = 253, mean = 4.2 m, SD = 4.0 m) the receiver array (P < 0.001). Finally, the lowest positioning errors were detected in the area with the highest receiver density. Conclusions: The VPS measures fish positioning in a reservoir, under suitable conditions, with satisfactory accuracy. We showed that the probability of location and the positioning error differed spatially in accordance with previous results in other conditions. Consequently, these analyses are recommended as a prerequisite to further spatial analyses using VPS-derived data.

Le retour au premier plan de la notion de santé des écosystèmes met en évidence la préoccupation de la société à mettre en oeuvre des mesures pour la protection des milieux anthropisés. Les critères d’évaluation de la santé des peuplements piscicoles mis en oeuvre sont rarement débattus au sein de la communauté scientifique. L’exercice proposé ici devait permettre d’avoir ce débat sur la truite commune (Salmo trutta), espèce phare des cours d’eau situés en tête de bassin, qui représentent la majorité du réseau hydrographique français. La démarche visait à recueillir la conception qu’avait un nombre restreint d’experts, sur le fonctionnement de ces populations et sur les critères d’évaluation de leur fonctionnement. Les paramètres clé régulant chaque stade de développement ont été identifiés et hiérarchisés. Un consensus s’est dégagé sur le fait que, dans l’état actuel des connaissances, le diagnostic peut être établi sur la base de l’analyse des paramètres abiotiques essentiels pour la biologie et, plus difficilement, sur l’analyse des paramètres biotiques. Pour tous les stades de développement, les paramètres identifiés sont liés à l’habitat (qualité du substrat, conditions hydrauliques, température et qualité de l’eau), l’hydrologie et la connectivité. Des connaissances demandent d’être acquises pour définir des critères biologiques. Cela implique de renforcer la surveillance biologique à long terme et les actions de recherche pour caractériser la variabilité des paramètres biologiques et identifier les échelles spatio-temporelles pertinentes et les processus fonctionnels., The renewed emphasis on the concept of ecosystem health highlights society’s interest in taking measures to protect environments affected by human activity. The criteria used for evaluating fish population health are rarely discussed within the scientific community. The present study attempts to discuss these for brown trout (Salmo trutta), a flagship freshwater species typical of headwater streams which represent most of the French hydrographic network. This initiative aimed at gathering ideas from a limited number of experts on the criteria for evaluating trout population health. The main key parameters were identified and organized into a hierarchical framework for each development stage. A consensus emerged on the fact that at the current state of knowledge, a diagnosis can be established based on the analysis of essential abiotic parameters but with more difficulty on the analysis of biotic parameters. For all development stages, the identified parameters are linked to habitat (substrate, hydraulic parameters, temperature and water quality), hydrology and connectivity. Further knowledge is required to identify relevant biological criteria. This implies long-term biological monitoring and research programs to better understand and identify biological parameters and their variability as well as relevant spatiotemporal scales and functional processes.

The depth-dependent attenuation of the secondary cosmic-ray particle flux due to snow cover and its effects on production rates of cosmogenic nuclides constitutes a potential source of uncertainty for studies conducted in regions characterized by frequent seasonal snow burial. Recent experimental and numerical modelling studies have yielded new constraints on the effect of hydrogen-rich media on the production rates of cosmogenic nuclides by low- and high-energy neutrons ( 10(2) MeV, respectively). Here we present long-term neutron-detector monitoring data from a natural setting that we use to quantify the effect of snow cover on the attenuation of fast neutrons (0.1-10 MeV), which are responsible for the production of Ne-21 from Mg and Cl-36 from K. We use data measured between July 2001 and May 2008 at seven stations located throughout the Ecrins-Pelvoux massif (French Western Alps) and its surroundings, at elevations ranging from 200 to 2500 m a.s.l. From the cosmic-ray fluxes recorded during summer, when snow is absent, we infer an apparent attenuation length of 148 g cm(-2) in the atmosphere at a latitude of similar to 45 degrees N and for altitudes ranging from similar to 200 to 2500 m a.s.l. Using snow water-equivalent (SWE) values obtained through snow-coring campaigns that overlap in time the neutron monitoring for five stations, we show that fast neutrons are much more strongly attenuated in snow than predicted by a conventional mass-shielding formulation and the attenuation length estimated in the atmosphere. We suggest that such strong attenuation results from boundary effects at the atmosphere/snow interface induced by the high efficiency of water as a neutron moderator. Finally, we propose an empirical model that allows calculating snow-shielding correction factors as a function of SWE for studies using Ne-21 and Cl-36 analyses in Mg- and K-rich minerals, respectively. This empirical model is of interest for studies with a focus on cosmic-ray exposure dating, particularly if the target rocks are made up of mafic to ultramafic units where seasonal snow-cover is a common phenomenon.

[Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]RIVAGE; International audience; In poorly mobile static armour, sorting is usually considered the result of hiding/exposure effects.We called this effect "static sorting" in opposition to very efficient grain-to-grain mechanisms produced by a mobile mixture, called "kinetic sorting". We hypothesized that kinetic sorting can be an important contributor to the morphodynamics of mountain streams and attempted to demonstrate this with new flume experiments. Two long runs were produced with natural poorly sorted sediments, and with transport stages of the coarse fraction (defined by the ratio between the shear stress and the critical shear stress for transport), smaller and higher than 1, respectively. Both runs produced an efficient transfer downstream of the injected material, but with a major difference: the first run (no kinetic sorting) produced permanent armour figuring clusters, akin to what has already been observed in similar experiments; the second run (with kinetic sorting) also produced bed armouring, but this armour was periodically totally destroyed, leading to substantial bed erosion. This phenomenon was explained by kinetic sorting, the effects of which are to produce an efficient downward migration of fine materials and bed surface armouring. The consequence is that fine materials are hidden to the flow during aggradation, allowing the slope to attain values much steeper than would have been expected at equilibrium for the mixture. However, whereas the surface armouring tends to stabilize the bed, construction of a layer of fine sediments at the subsurface also contributes to making it very unstable. These two contradictory effects explain the complex bed behaviours and the existence of very large bedload and slope fluctuations.

International audience; In headwater catchments, fine sediment transport is a main issue with regard to monitoringerosion, pollutant fluxes, and reservoir siltation. In these environments, suspended sedimentconcentrations exhibit high temporal variations during runoff events and commonly exceed10 g/l. The settling velocity of suspended sediment is a key variable to understand and modelsediment transport. For such concentrated events, hindered settling and flocculation processesincrease the difficulty to model sediment transport. Currently, no automated method for themeasurement of settling velocity and propensity to flocculate within high concentrationsediment environments exists. Methods used to measure individual particle settling velocity(e.g., LISST, video) are limited to low concentrations (

The scaling phenomenon could cause serious economic and technical problems to the cooling circuits of nuclear power plants. The objective of this work is to develop an original method, which allows rapid and in situ evaluation of the scaling potential of water. Such method should play a preventive role for optimal monitoring of the scaling risk. Three methods to test water scaling potential were examined and compared in this study: the method of Fast Controlled Precipitation (FCP), the method of electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance (electrochemical QCM) and an original method of the pre-calcified microbalance (E-QCME). Indicative factors obtained by these three methods, which are representative of waterscaling potential, were analyzed and compared. Based on the results of the experiments on synthetic waters of controlled quality, a relationship was established between water scaling potential and chosen indicative factors for each method. These three methods have also been coupled with X-ray Diffraction measurements, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Infrared Spectroscopy, in order to characterize the deposit formed by different methods and with different synthetic waters. The comparison between these three methods shows that the EQCM-E method possesses advantages over the FCP method and the electrochemical QCM method, which can carry out in situ measurements, on a short time scale, with a nice sensitivity, of the water scaling potential. A first group of experiments was also conducted that coupled the SAXS measurements (SmallAngle X ray Scattering) with the FCP method for finer understanding of the mechanism of calcium carbonate formation and precipitation. During these experiments, in situ calcium carbonate nano clusters in metastable water were observed and characterized, before the homogeneous precipitation, which could probably play an important orle in the scaling phenomenon as precursors.; Le phénomène d’entartrage a des conséquences économiques et techniques défavorables pour le circuit de refroidissement dans les centrales nucléaires de production d'électricité. L’objectif de ce travail est de développer une méthodologie originale, qui permet d’évaluer de manière in situ et rapide, le pouvoir entartrant d’une eau. Une telle méthodologie jouerait un rôle préventif pour permettre une surveillance optimale du circuit vis-à-vis du risque d’entartrage. Pour ce faire, trois méthodes d’évaluation du pouvoir entartrant des eaux ont été examinées et comparées dans cette étude : la méthode de Précipitation Contrôlée Rapide (PCR), la méthode de microbalance à quartz (QCM) électrochimique et une méthode originale de l’Entartrage sur la microbalance pré-Entartrée (E-QCM-E). Les indicateurs représentatifs du pouvoir entartrant d’une eau donnée, obtenus par ces trois méthodes, ont été analysés et comparés. En étudiant les résultats des expériences sur des eaux synthétiques de qualité contrôlée, des relations entre le pouvoir entartrant des eaux et ces indicateurs ont été établies. Ces trois méthodes ont aussi été couplées avec lesmesures de Diffraction des Rayons X, de Microscopie Electronique à Balayage et de Spectroscopie Infrarouge pour caractériser les dépôts formés par chaque méthode et avec différentes qualités d’eau. La comparaison entre ces trois méthodes a montré que la méthode d’E-QCM-E présente des avantages par rapport aux méthodes de PCR et QCM électrochimique, qui permet des mesures in situ, sur une échelle de temps courte(de l’ordre de l’heure) et suffisamment sensibles, pour évaluer le pouvoir entartrant des eaux. Lors de la thèse, des premières expériences du couplage de la mesure de SAXS (diffusion des rayons X aux petits angles) avec la méthode PCR ont également été effectuées, pour des connaissances plus fines sur les mécanismes de formation et de précipitation de carbonate de calcium, constituant majeur du tartre. Ces expériences ont permis d’observer et caractériser in situ les germes de carbonate de calcium de taille nanométrique dans une eau métastable, avant la précipitation homogène, qui jouent très probablement, en tant que précurseurs, un rôle important dans le phénomène d’entartrage.

Since 2006, Électricité de France (EDF) applies a new hydro-climatological approach of extreme rainfall and flood predetermination - the SCHADEX method - for the design of dam spillways. In a context of potential increase of extreme event intensity and frequency due to climate change, the use of the SCHADEX method in non-stationary conditions is a main interest topic for EDF hydrologists. Thus, the scientific goal of this Ph.D. thesis work has been to evaluate the ability of the SCHADEX method to take into account future climate simulations for the estimation of future extreme floods. The recognized inabilities of climate models and downscaling methods to simulate (extreme) rainfall distribution at the catchment-scale have been avoided, by developing and testing new methodological approaches. Moreover, the decomposition of the flood-producing factors proposed by the SCHADEX method has been used for considering different simulated climatic evolutions and for quantifying the relative impact of these factors on the extreme flood estimation. First, the SCHADEX method has been applied in present time over different climatic contexts (France, Austria, Canada and Norway), thanks to several colorations with academic and industrial partners. A sensitivity analysis allowed to quantify the extreme flood estimation sensitivity to rainfall hazard, catchment saturation hazard and rainfall-runoff transformation, independently. The results showed a large sensitivity of SCHADEX flood estimations to the rainfall hazard and to the rainfall-runoff transformation. Using the sensitivity analysis results, tests have been done in order to estimate the future evolution of "key" variables previously identified. New climate model outputs (done within the CMIP5 project) have been analyzed and used for determining future frequency of rainfall events and future catchment saturation conditions. Considering these simulated evolutions within the SCHADEX method lead to a significant decrease of simulated extreme floods. In order to predict the future intensity of rainfall events with air temperature simulated series, tests have been performed on several hundred of French catchment rainfall series, trying to link observed air temperature with observed rainfall event intensity. The results obtained show a mean heavy rainfall intensity increase of 6% per degree of air temperature rise, at the daily timescale. Nevertheless, supplementary tests are needed in order to estimate the timestep and the temperature range at which this rainfall event intensity increase is valid. Finally, these different future evolutions have all been used as inputs of the SCHADEX method. This last test showed the difficulty to quantify the impact of climate change on extreme floods due to a combination of extreme flood decrease factors (extreme flood decrease due both to future rainfall event frequency and catchment saturation condition evolution) and extreme flood increase factor (extreme flood increase due to an increase of future rainfall event intensity ). Even if the extreme flood estimation sensitivity analysis has raised numerous questions about the rainfall-runoff model calibration within the SCHADEX method, quantifying the future rainfall event intensity is the key question for the extreme rainfall and flood predetermination in a climate change context.; Depuis 2006, Électricité de France (EDF) applique une nouvelle approche hydroclimatologique de prédétermination des pluies et crues extrêmes, la méthode SCHADEX, pour le dimensionnement des évacuateurs de crues de ses barrages. Dans un contexte de changement climatique global, potentiellement amplificateur de la fréquence et de l'intensité des événements extrêmes, l'application de la méthode SCHADEX en conditions non-stationnaires est un sujet d'intérêt majeur pour les hydrologues d'EDF. Aussi, l'objectif scientifique des travaux de thèse entrepris a été d'évaluer la capacité de la méthode SCHADEX à prendre en compte l'information contenue dans les simulations du climat futur, pour estimer les crues extrêmes du futur. Les difficultés avérées des modèles climatiques et des méthodes de descente d'échelles à simuler des distributions de pluies courantes et extrêmes à l'échelle d'un bassin versant ont été contournées, en développant et en testant de nouvelles approches méthodologiques. De plus, la décomposition des processus générateurs de crues extrêmes proposée par la méthode SCHADEX a été utilisée afin d'incorporer différentes évolutions climatiques simulées, et de quantifier l'impact relatif de ces processus sur l'estimation de débits extrêmes. La méthode SCHADEX a tout d'abord été appliquée en temps présent dans différents contextes climatiques (France, Autriche, Canada et Norvège), grâce à des collaborations avec plusieurs partenaires académiques et industriels. Une analyse de sensibilité des estimations de crues extrêmes à la variabilité climatique observée a été réalisée sur plusieurs bassins versants. Cette analyse a permis de quantifier, de manière indépendante, le degré de sensibilité des estimations à l'aléa pluie, à la saturation des bassins versants et à la transformation pluie-débit. Les résultats obtenus ont ainsi révélé la grande sensibilité des estimations SCHADEX à l'aléa pluie forte et à la transformation pluie-débit, réalisée par le modèle hydrologique. S'appuyant sur les résultats de l'analyse de sensibilité, des travaux ont ensuite été réalisés afin d'estimer les évolutions futures des variables clés préalablement identifiées. Des sorties récentes de modèles climatiques (réalisées dans le cadre du projet CMIP5) ont été analysées, et ont permis de déterminer des fréquences d'occurrences futures d'épisodes pluvieux, ainsi que des conditions futures de saturation des bassins versants. L'incorporation de ces séries au sein de la méthode SCHADEX entraîne une diminution non négligeable des débits de crues extrêmes estimés. Dans le but de prédire l'intensité des pluies futures à partir de simulations de températures de l'air, des tests ont été entrepris sur plusieurs centaines de pluies de bassin françaises, afin de relier les températures de l'air observées avec les intensités de pluies extrêmes observées. Les résultats obtenus révèlent une augmentation moyenne de 6% des quantiles de pluies extrêmes par degré d'augmentation de la température de l'air, au pas de temps journalier. Néanmoins, des tests supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour déterminer sur quelles gammes de températures, et à quel pas de temps cette augmentation est valable. Enfin, ces différentes évolutions futures ont été toutes incorporées au sein de la méthode SCHADEX. Cet exercice final a montré la difficulté de quantifier l'impact du changement climatique sur les crues extrêmes, du fait de processus qui s'additionnent (diminution des débits extrêmes due à la fois à l'évolution des fréquences d'occurrences d'épisodes pluvieux et à l'évolution des conditions de saturation des bassins versants) et d'autres qui s'opposent (augmentation des débits extrêmes due à l'augmentation de l'intensité future des épisodes pluvieux). Si l'analyse de sensibilité des estimations de crues extrêmes a soulevé de nombreuses questions relatives au calage du modèle hydrologique utilisé dans la méthode SCHADEX, la quantification de l'intensité des épisodes pluvieux futurs constitue l'enjeu clé de la prédétermination des pluies et crues extrêmes en contexte de changement climatique.

Since 2006, Électricité de France (EDF) applies a new hydro-climatological approach of extreme rainfall and flood predetermination - the SCHADEX method - for the design of dam spillways. In a context of potential increase of extreme event intensity and frequency due to climate change, the use of the SCHADEX method in non-stationary conditions is a main interest topic for EDF hydrologists. Thus, the scientific goal of this Ph.D. thesis work has been to evaluate the ability of the SCHADEX method to take into account future climate simulations for the estimation of future extreme floods. The recognized inabilities of climate models and downscaling methods to simulate (extreme) rainfall distribution at the catchment-scale have been avoided, by developing and testing new methodological approaches. Moreover, the decomposition of the flood-producing factors proposed by the SCHADEX method has been used for considering different simulated climatic evolutions and for quantifying the relative impact of these factors on the extreme flood estimation. First, the SCHADEX method has been applied in present time over different climatic contexts (France, Austria, Canada and Norway), thanks to several colorations with academic and industrial partners. A sensitivity analysis allowed to quantify the extreme flood estimation sensitivity to rainfall hazard, catchment saturation hazard and rainfall-runoff transformation, independently. The results showed a large sensitivity of SCHADEX flood estimations to the rainfall hazard and to the rainfall-runoff transformation. Using the sensitivity analysis results, tests have been done in order to estimate the future evolution of "key" variables previously identified. New climate model outputs (done within the CMIP5 project) have been analyzed and used for determining future frequency of rainfall events and future catchment saturation conditions. Considering these simulated evolutions within the SCHADEX method lead to a significant decrease of simulated extreme floods. In order to predict the future intensity of rainfall events with air temperature simulated series, tests have been performed on several hundred of French catchment rainfall series, trying to link observed air temperature with observed rainfall event intensity. The results obtained show a mean heavy rainfall intensity increase of 6% per degree of air temperature rise, at the daily timescale. Nevertheless, supplementary tests are needed in order to estimate the timestep and the temperature range at which this rainfall event intensity increase is valid. Finally, these different future evolutions have all been used as inputs of the SCHADEX method. This last test showed the difficulty to quantify the impact of climate change on extreme floods due to a combination of extreme flood decrease factors (extreme flood decrease due both to future rainfall event frequency and catchment saturation condition evolution) and extreme flood increase factor (extreme flood increase due to an increase of future rainfall event intensity ). Even if the extreme flood estimation sensitivity analysis has raised numerous questions about the rainfall-runoff model calibration within the SCHADEX method, quantifying the future rainfall event intensity is the key question for the extreme rainfall and flood predetermination in a climate change context.; Depuis 2006, Électricité de France (EDF) applique une nouvelle approche hydroclimatologique de prédétermination des pluies et crues extrêmes, la méthode SCHADEX, pour le dimensionnement des évacuateurs de crues de ses barrages. Dans un contexte de changement climatique global, potentiellement amplificateur de la fréquence et de l'intensité des événements extrêmes, l'application de la méthode SCHADEX en conditions non-stationnaires est un sujet d'intérêt majeur pour les hydrologues d'EDF. Aussi, l'objectif scientifique des travaux de thèse entrepris a été d'évaluer la capacité de la méthode SCHADEX à prendre en compte l'information contenue dans les simulations du climat futur, pour estimer les crues extrêmes du futur. Les difficultés avérées des modèles climatiques et des méthodes de descente d'échelles à simuler des distributions de pluies courantes et extrêmes à l'échelle d'un bassin versant ont été contournées, en développant et en testant de nouvelles approches méthodologiques. De plus, la décomposition des processus générateurs de crues extrêmes proposée par la méthode SCHADEX a été utilisée afin d'incorporer différentes évolutions climatiques simulées, et de quantifier l'impact relatif de ces processus sur l'estimation de débits extrêmes. La méthode SCHADEX a tout d'abord été appliquée en temps présent dans différents contextes climatiques (France, Autriche, Canada et Norvège), grâce à des collaborations avec plusieurs partenaires académiques et industriels. Une analyse de sensibilité des estimations de crues extrêmes à la variabilité climatique observée a été réalisée sur plusieurs bassins versants. Cette analyse a permis de quantifier, de manière indépendante, le degré de sensibilité des estimations à l'aléa pluie, à la saturation des bassins versants et à la transformation pluie-débit. Les résultats obtenus ont ainsi révélé la grande sensibilité des estimations SCHADEX à l'aléa pluie forte et à la transformation pluie-débit, réalisée par le modèle hydrologique. S'appuyant sur les résultats de l'analyse de sensibilité, des travaux ont ensuite été réalisés afin d'estimer les évolutions futures des variables clés préalablement identifiées. Des sorties récentes de modèles climatiques (réalisées dans le cadre du projet CMIP5) ont été analysées, et ont permis de déterminer des fréquences d'occurrences futures d'épisodes pluvieux, ainsi que des conditions futures de saturation des bassins versants. L'incorporation de ces séries au sein de la méthode SCHADEX entraîne une diminution non négligeable des débits de crues extrêmes estimés. Dans le but de prédire l'intensité des pluies futures à partir de simulations de températures de l'air, des tests ont été entrepris sur plusieurs centaines de pluies de bassin françaises, afin de relier les températures de l'air observées avec les intensités de pluies extrêmes observées. Les résultats obtenus révèlent une augmentation moyenne de 6% des quantiles de pluies extrêmes par degré d'augmentation de la température de l'air, au pas de temps journalier. Néanmoins, des tests supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour déterminer sur quelles gammes de températures, et à quel pas de temps cette augmentation est valable. Enfin, ces différentes évolutions futures ont été toutes incorporées au sein de la méthode SCHADEX. Cet exercice final a montré la difficulté de quantifier l'impact du changement climatique sur les crues extrêmes, du fait de processus qui s'additionnent (diminution des débits extrêmes due à la fois à l'évolution des fréquences d'occurrences d'épisodes pluvieux et à l'évolution des conditions de saturation des bassins versants) et d'autres qui s'opposent (augmentation des débits extrêmes due à l'augmentation de l'intensité future des épisodes pluvieux). Si l'analyse de sensibilité des estimations de crues extrêmes a soulevé de nombreuses questions relatives au calage du modèle hydrologique utilisé dans la méthode SCHADEX, la quantification de l'intensité des épisodes pluvieux futurs constitue l'enjeu clé de la prédétermination des pluies et crues extrêmes en contexte de changement climatique.

International audience; Stochastic flood simulation methods are typically based on a rainfall probabilistic model (used for simulating continuous rainfall series or for estimating probabilities of random rainfall events) and on a rainfall-runoff model. Usually, both of these models are calibrated over observed hydrometeorological series, which may be subject to significant variability and/or nonstationarity over time. The general aim of this study is thus to propose and test a methodology for performing a sensitivity analysis of extreme flood estimations to observed hydrometeorological variability. The methodology consists of performing a set of blockbootstrap experiments: for each experiment, the data used for calibration of a particular model (e.g., the rainfall probabilistic model) is bootstrapped while the model structure and the calibration process are held constant. The SCHADEX extreme flood estimation method has been applied over six catchments located in different regions of the world. The results show first that the variability of observed rainfall hazard has the most significant impact on the extreme flood estimates. Then, consideration of different rainfall-runoff calibration periods generates a significant spread of extreme flood estimated values. Finally, the variability of the catchment saturation hazard has a nonsignificant impact on the extreme flood estimates. An important point raised by this study is the dominating role played by outliers within the observed records for extreme flood estimation.

National audience; Irstea mesure depuis 2009 les flux de sédiments en suspension sur le bassin versant de l’Arc en Maurienne, très producteur en sédiments, au moyen de quatre stations turbidimétriques chacune associées à une station débitmétrique. La mesure en continu de la turbidité est convertie en concentration en Matières En Suspension (MES) dans le cours d’eau par le biais d’analyses d’échantillons et par l’établissement de courbes d’étalonnage [MES] = f(turbidité) , de même que les hauteurs d’eau sont converties en débit par courbes de tarage Q = f(h) établies par le biais de jaugeages. Il apparaît cependant pour notre site d’étude qu’une relation moyenne n’est pas applicable à l’ensemble des évènements hydrologiques. En effet, pour une même concentration, la sensibilité du capteur de turbidité varie d’un événement à l’autre. L’erreur commise sur les flux événementiels peut ainsi atteindre 30 % typiquement et ponctuellement dépasser 80 % par rapport à un flux calculé avec une relation moyenne, tandis que l’erreur sur le flux annuel moyen reste acceptable (inférieure à 15 % typiquement). Une des hypothèses régulièrement avancées pour expliquer ces changements de relations [MES] = f(turbidité) est la variation de la granulométrie des sédiments. Ce document présente un retour d’expérience sur la mise en évidence de la variation de sensibilité de la sonde turbidimétrique en fonction de la fraction granulométrique étudiée. Celle-ci est trouvée proportionnelle à l’inverse du diamètre médian de la fraction étudiée. La stratégie de gestion des courbes d’étalonnage turbidimétrique revêt donc autant d’importance que celles des courbes de tarage pour l’estimation de flux dont l’incertitude usuelle est moindre surtout à l’échelle évènementielle.

Classifications of atmospheric weather patterns (WPs) are widely used for the description of the climate of a given region and are employed for many applications, such as weather forecasting, downscaling of global circulation model outputs and reconstruction of past climates. WP classifications were recently used to improve the statistical characterisation of heavy rainfall. In this context, bottom-up approaches, combining spatial distribution of heavy rainfall observations and geopotential height fields have been used to define WP classifications relevant for heavy rainfall statistical analysis. The definition of WPs at the synoptic scale creates an interesting variable which could be used as a link between the global scale of climate signals and the local scale of precipitation station measurements. We introduce here a new WP classification centred on the British Columbia (BC) coastal region (Canada) and based on a bottom-up approach. Five contrasted WPs composed this classification, four rainy WPs and one non-rainy WP, the anticyclonic pattern. The four rainy WPs are mainly observed in the winter months (October to March), which is the period of heavy precipitation events in coastal BC and is thus consistent with the local climatology. The combination of this WP classification with the seasonal description of rainfall is shown to be useful for splitting observed precipitation series into more homogeneous sub-samples (i.e. sub-samples constituted by days having similar atmospheric circulation patterns) and thus identifying, for each station, the synoptic situations that generate the highest hazard in terms of heavy rainfall events. El Niño-Southern Oscillations (ENSO) significantly influence the frequency of occurrence of two coastal BC WPs. Within each WP, ENSO seem to influence only the frequency of rainy events and not the magnitudes of heavy rainfall events. Consequently, heavy rainfall estimations do not show significant evolution of heavy rainfall behaviour between Niño and Niña winters. However, the WP approach captures the variability of the probability of occurrences of synoptic situations generating heavy rainfall depending on ENSO and opening interesting perspectives for the analysis of heavy rainfall distribution in a non-stationary context.

International audience; Predicting pollutant transport in coastal ecosystems has become an important topic in many industrial and environmental projects, because of the degradation of water quality and conflicts related to multiple use of coastal resources. Most numerical studies on coastal catchment do not consider flow and pollutant fluxes through wetlands, or simulates theses transfers using “black box” based on linear regressions that greatly simplifies the complexity of the underlying processes.This paper presents a numerical study on the simulation of pesticide transport and degradation in the artificial wetland drainage channels of the Breton-Vendéen marsh (west coast of France). The one-dimensional (1-D), open source MASCARET modelling tool is used. The 1-D unsteady water flow through a network of open channels is represented by the shallow water equations. The water quality module of MASCARET simulates solute transport processes, consisting of advection, dispersion and mass reduction/generation by physical, chemical and biological mechanisms. Results show that the 1-D model is a reliable tool for simulating pollutant transfer through the coastal wetlands drainage channels. Moreover, it is possible to link landward and seaward models to MASCARET, which allows simulating water and pollutant propagation from watershed to coastal sea through wetland drainage channels with a high level of confidence

International audience; Aquatic species living in running waters are widely acknowledged to be vulnerable to climate-induced, thermal and hydrological fluctuations. Climate changes can interact with other environmental changes to determine structural and functional attributes of communities. Although such complex interactions are most likely to occur in a multiple-stressor context as frequently encountered in large rivers, they have received little attention in such ecosystems. In this study, we aimed at specifically addressing the issue of relative long-term effects of global and local changes on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in multistressed large rivers. We assessed effects of hydroclimatic vs. water quality factors on invertebrate community structure and composition over 30years (19792008) in the Middle Loire River, France. As observed in other large European rivers, water warming over the three decades (+0.9 degrees C between 19791988 and 19992008) and to a lesser extent discharge reduction (80m3s1) were significantly involved in the disappearance or decrease in taxa typical from fast running, cold waters (e.g. Chloroperlidae and Potamanthidae). They explained also a major part of the appearance and increase of taxa typical from slow flowing or standing waters and warmer temperatures, including invasive species (e.g. Corbicula sp. and Atyaephyra desmarestii). However, this shift towards a generalist and pollution tolerant assemblage was partially confounded by local improvement in water quality (i.e. phosphate input reduction by about two thirds and eutrophication limitation by almost one half), explaining a significant part of the settlement of new pollution-sensitive taxa (e.g. the caddisfly Brachycentridae and Philopotamidae families) during the last years of the study period. The regain in such taxa allowed maintaining a certain level of specialization in the invertebrate community despite climate change effects.

International audience; The LuminoTox solid phase assay (Lum-SPA), developed to assess the potential ecotoxicity of natural polluted sediments, employs stabilized thylakoids isolated from spinach plant extracts. When thylakoids are exposed to polluted samples, the action of pollutants can interfere with transmission of chlorophyll fluorescence linked to Photosystems I and II, causing a decrease in fluorescence emission. To differentiate between bulk and leachate effects, we developed a complementary assay of the Lum-SPA named the LuminoTox leachate phase assay (Lum-LPA). Twelve natural sediments were selected on the basis of their potential ecotoxicity and different quantities of fines. Results showed that in the Lum-LPA, the IC50s were always lower than those observed in the Lum-SPA. Significant inverse correlations were found between the IC50s obtained with the Lum-SPA and the percentage of fines (silt + clay fraction). In order to identify the cause of the higher ecotoxicity found in the Lum-LPA, we tested the supernatant of the liquid phase recovered after centrifugation (3000g), and it appeared far less toxic than the Lum-LPA filtrates. To confirm the hypothesis that sensitivity in the Lum-LPA could be due to the presence of very fine particles, Photosynthetic Enzyme Complexes (PECs) were exposed to two kinds of clay materials with and without copper (0.6 mg L-1). Similar results were obtained in the Lum-LPA for both cases, revealing the sensitivity of this test to very fine particles.

Autoregressive (AR) models have been widely used in several geophysical applications, as they represent a simple and practical option for modeling stochastic series. In this paper, we show that AR models can be adapted and are useful for the description of skew surge (i.e., a surge occurring at the time of a high tide) series. Namely, seasonal AR models of skew surge series are built on 35 sites located along the coasts of the European Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel and the Southern part of the North Sea. These models are presented and discussed. The estimation of the distribution of the residuals, modeled using a Normal Inverse Gaussian (NIG) distribution, is also discussed. AR models are advantageous for a number of reasons: (i) they provide information on the correlation length of the surge phenomena, (ii) they can be used to forecast short-term surge occurrences based on a limited set of past observations and (iii) they provide plausible information about longer series, which may have larger extremes than what is observed, permitting a statistical description of simulated extremes. These three characteristics and benefits are examined and discussed for a selected site, the Saint-Nazaire harbor (France), with respect to the storm surge that occurred during the Xynthia storm of February 2010.

International audience; This article describes the state of the art of the methods used for analysis of inorganic chloramines in water. After we introduce the physicochemical properties, the use and the toxicity of inorganic chloramines, we describe methods with little or no specificity (e.g., colorimetry, titrimetry and amperometry) and the chemical reagents used in these methods. We also introduce methods involving more specific techniques (e.g., high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry). We compare the performances of all these methods in terms of specificity, selectivity, limits of quantitation, ease of operation and possibility of automation. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

International audience; In an industrial cooling circuit supplied with raw river water, the scaling phenomena can reduce cooling efficiency and even lead to the shutdown of the power plant. During the last twenty years, various methods have been developed in order to estimate the scaling propensity of natural waters, which involve the precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), the main component of scale. The Fast Controlled Precipitation (FCP) is a non-electrochemical method which consists in CO2 degassing from water by a moderated agitation. FCP allows quantifying the scaling propensity for natural water. It could be a useful tool in order to prevent the scaling risk in industrial installations. In this study, efforts have been made in order to make the FCP method controllable and reliable. For the first time, FCP was applied to raw water (raw river from the Seine River) during a long period of time. It gave some insights on the scaling propensity of the Seine water, depending on the water quality and on the season. The FCP method also appeared to be very sensitive. It could be used to assess the efficiency of a humic acid treatment towards scaling. This work showed that natural compounds such as humic acids contained in river waters could have, at low concentration, a great impact on their scaling propensity.

International audience; A two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the macrotidal Gironde estuary (France) is developed and shown to predict the tide propagation with an accuracy of < 10 cm on water level. The 170-km-long computational domain represents, in detail, the central part of the estuary, characterized by a complex multichannel geometry. This model provides an efficient and accurate operational tool by using an optimized finite-element numerical scheme. Particular attention is paid to the offshore boundary conditions and to the calibration procedure. On the offshore boundary, the tidal signal is decomposed into harmonics whose main amplitudes and phases are obtained from a regional tidal model covering the North East Atlantic. Sensitivity studies are conducted to determine the influence of the harmonics number and harmonic constants on tidal prediction at the mouth. Differences up to 20 ∼ 30 cm in water level at the estuary mouth are observed between the scenarios for the tidal forcing. The calibration of the friction coefficient is thus linked to the tidal forcing scenario. A calibration procedure for the friction coefficient is also presented that can be applied to estuarine conditions. The van Rijn method is applied to predict a first set of values for the friction coefficients as a function of grain size and flow parameters. These predicted mean (time-averaged) coefficients are then adjusted with a maximum of 15% to reproduce in a best way water level and velocity measurements.

From 1977 to 2009, more than 600 measurements of organic tritium were performed on fish, aquatic plants and sediments upstream and downstream of the 15 French NPP located along rivers. Examination of the results shows that organic tritium activities have exponentially decreased over the last thirty years, in all components of aquatic ecosystems. Upstream of all NPP, OBT levels in sediments are higher than in plants and fish, themselves larger than HTO in surface water. The magnitude of these differences and the long-term trends depend on the river basin and can be explained by the varying nature of tritium sources. In river catchments, where atmospheric test fallout is the main source of tritium, the observed levels result from the exposure of aquatic organisms to two distinct tritium pools of different ages: atmospheric tritiated water (representing present fallout), and organic tritium from soils (formed over several decades) which supplies particulate matter to surface waters. In the Rhône and Rhine river basins, an additional source of organic tritium of very low bio-availability, probably originating from the luminescent paint industry, is responsible for the spiking of sediment organic matter up to 100 to 100 000 Bq.L-1 combustion water. The comparison of upstream and downstream NPP tritium levels shows that the influence of tritium discharges is detectable only in rivers, with low background OBT activities, i.e in basins other than the Rhône and Rhine. The observed increase in plant and fish OBT is lower than the added HTO activity in water due to discharge, which supports the absence of bioaccumulation for tritium originating from HTO and the absence of highly bio-available tritiated organic molecules in NPP discharges. © 2011 EDP Sciences.; De 1977 à 2009, plus de 600 analyses d’activités en tritium organique ont été réalisées sur les poissons, les végétaux aquatiques et les sédiments, en amont et en aval des 15 CNPE français situés en bord de rivière. L’exploitation de ces résultats montre que les activités en tritium organique ont diminué de façon exponentielle au cours des trente dernières années, dans tous les compartiments des écosystèmes aquatiques. Dans les zones en amont de tout CNPE, les activités en tritium organique dans les sédiments sont supérieures aux activités mesurées dans les poissons et les végétaux, elles-mêmes supérieures aux activités en HTO des eaux de surface. L’ampleur de ces écarts dépend du bassin concerné et s’explique par la nature différente des sources de tritium. Dans les bassins versants où les retombées des essais nucléaires atmosphériques constitue la source principale de tritium, les niveaux observés résultent de l’exposition des organismes aquatiques à deux formes distinctes de tritium d’âges différents : l’eau tritiée de l’atmosphère, image des retombées au moment du prélèvement, et le tritium organique des sols, formé sur plusieurs dizaines d’années, qui alimente le compartiment sédimentaire des cours d’eau. Dans les bassins du Rhône et du Rhin, une source supplémentaire de tritium de très faible biodisponibilité, provenant vraisemblablement de l’industrie des peintures luminescentes, marque la matière organique des sédiments à hauteur de 100 à 100 000 Bq.L-1 d’eau de combustion. La comparaison des niveaux observés en amont et en aval des CNPE montre que l’influence des rejets est détectable seulement dans les cours d’eau où le bruit de fond est faible, c’est-à-dire dans les bassins autres que ceux du Rhône et du Rhin. L’augmentation des activités en tritium organique dans les végétaux et les poissons est inférieure à l’augmentation de l’activité en HTO due aux rejets, ce qui témoigne, d’une part, de l’absence de phénomène de bioaccumulation à partir de l’eau tritiée et, d’autre part, de l’absence de composés organiques bioaccumulables dans les rejets.

International audience; On the basis of a Strouhal number and the definition of the control factor, m, a new routing to calculate the energy slope in the lower and upper alluvial regimes is proposed. The control factor, m, representing the interactions in alluvial rivers, is reckoned as a bed-form index: while the flow evolves through transition, the control factor, m, decreases from m=2, associated with two-dimensional fully developed dunes, to m=1, associated primarily with in-phase waves. The way to predict the value of the control factor, m, is drawn from a previously published criterion for delineating the upper regime and is calibrated with experimental data. On several data from flumes and rivers, the routing is tested and compared with other methods from the literature. It appears that the new routing is the most robust because it allows researchers to obtain low averages of the discrepancy ratio for a wide range of ratios between the water depth and the median sediment diameter. On a selection of contrasted freshet events, the new routing allows for the capture of the primary dynamic of the flow resistance decrease.

International audience; Extensive research has been performed on the use of the DIPS (DGT-Induced Fluxes in Soils and Sediments) model to interpret diffusive gradients in thin-film, or DGT, measurements in soils and sediments. The current report identifies some areas where the DIFS model has been shown to yield poor results and proposes a model to address weaknesses. In particular, two major flaws in the current approaches are considered: (i) many studies of accumulation kinetics in DGT exhibit multiple kinetic stages and (ii) several combinations of the two fitted DIFS parameters can yield identical results, leaving the question of how to select the `best' combination. Previously, problem (i) has been addressed by separating the experimental data sets into distinct time segments. To overcome these problems, a model considering two types of particulate binding sites is proposed, instead of the DIES model which assumed one single particulate pool. A probabilistic approach is proposed to fit experimental data and to determine the range of possible physical parameters using Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs), as opposed to single values without any indication of their uncertainty. The new probabilistic model, called DGT-PROFS, was tested on three different formulated sediments which mainly differ in the presence or absence of iron oxides. It was shown that a good fit can be obtained for the complete set of data (instead of DIFS-2D) and that a range of uncertainty values for each modeling parameter can be obtained. The interpretation of parameter PDFs allows one to distinguish between a variety of geochemical behaviors, providing useful information on metal dynamics in sediments.

[Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]BELCA; International audience; The diffusive gradients technique in thin films (DGT) was used to investigate the kinetic resupply of Cd and Cu to pore water from the solid phase. For the sake of simplification, experiments were performed using formulated sediments that differed in the presence or absence of humic acids (HA) and/or of iron hydroxides (i.e., goethite and ferrihydrite). The effects of the time after the contamination of the solid phase (aging effect) on formulated sediments that were coated with goethite and HA and spiked with Cd were also evaluated. Kinetic DGT results were interpreted using the newly developed, multi-compartmental model DGT-PROFS. Due to Cu humate formation, the addition of HA slightly increased the Cu concentration in the pore water independent of the effect of the iron hydroxide coating on the formulated sediments and slightly decreased that of Cd. The impact of 8-190d of aging resulted in a significant decrease in the Cd concentration of the pore water over an increasing incubation time. Modeling our results with DGT-PROFS led to the following conclusions concerning the impact of HA and iron hydroxides on Cd and Cu availability. First, in the presence of HA and absence of iron hydroxides, Cd is associated mainly with weak sites, while Cu is bound to strong sites. Similarly, in the presence of both iron hydroxides and HA, Cu appeared to be more heavily associated with the strong sites than did Cd. When the incubation time increased from 8 to 190d, a proportion of Cd initially adsorbed onto weak sites transferred to the strong sites, suggesting that the adsorption of Cd on sediments is controlled partially by slow kinetic processes.

International audience; Les travaux présentés concernent le développement d'un code de simulation avancé permettant de décrire le mouvement d'un corps immergé sous l'action des vagues, avec des mouvements de grande amplitude. A terme, cet outil est destiné à modéliser le comportement de certains types de Systèmes Récupérateurs d'Energie des Vagues (SREV) immergés. Dans cette étude on adopte une approche potentielle pour la partie hydrodynamique, dans un cadre 2DV (i.e. dans un plan vertical), correspondant au cas d'un canal à houle numérique. Le modèle utilisé pour la génération et la propagation des vagues est un modèle potentiel complètement non-linéaire, fondé sur une méthode d'éléments de frontières d'ordre élevé, développé par Grilli et ses collaborateurs depuis une vingtaine d'années. Ce modèle, déjà largement validé sur différents types d'applications océaniques et côtières, a été modifié pour prendre en compte la présence d'un corps rigide immergé, fixe ou mobile, avec le calcul des efforts de pression hydrodynamique s'exerçant sur le corps. Une méthodologie spécifique a été développée pour résoudre le problème couplé hydrodynamique/mécanique. Nous présentons deux cas de validation pour lesquels les résultats du modèle numérique sont comparés à des résultats d'autres modèles mathématiques : théorie analytique de WU (1993) sur le cas d'un cylindre en mouvement circulaire imposé et théorie linéaire d'EVANS et al. (1979) sur le cas d'un cylindre soumis à des forces externes (forces de rappel, force représentant l'extraction d'énergie des vagues,...), en plus des efforts hydrodynamiques.

Tritium (3H or T) is one of the major radionuclides released by nuclear power plants (NPP) into rivers. However, tritiated water (HTO) flux from water to air is seldom considered when assessing health effects of such releases. The aim of this paper is to present the result of a research program, called LORA, conducted on the Loire River (France). To improve our understanding of HTO flux from surface water to air, three field campaigns were organised during the NPP’s radioactive releases to measure simultaneously the activity concentrations in air on the riverbank, using an innovative system, and in river water. The measurements showed that during radioactive releases, water vapour was enriched in 3H. These results were used to calibrate exchange velocities. The average of these estimated exchange velocities was more than one order of magnitude higher than those calculated in the literature from indoor experiments. The variability of these values was also larger, showing that outdoor studies cover a wide range of conditions influencing HTO flux. No correlation was observed between exchanges velocities and meteorological conditions. However, there was a significant difference between day and night with a higher value observed during the day. Two approaches used to calculate HTO evaporation from water (i.e. the approach based on water evaporation and the approach considering that HTO follows its own concentration gradient) were included in a hydrodynamic model, which was used to evaluate HTO air activity along the Loire River. In conclusion, only the approach considering that HTO follows its own gradient led to a good agreement between measurements and predictions. A one-year simulation was done to estimate the contribution of this process to the dose. Its contribution can be considered as negligible in this case compared to the other pathways such as ingestion of water or foodstuffs.

Extensive numerical simulations of fetch-limited growth of wind-driven waves are analysed within two approaches: a ‘traditional’ wind-speed scaling first proposed by Kitaigorodskii (Bull. Acad. Sci. USSR, Geophys. Ser., Engl. Transl., vol. N1, 1962, p. 105) in the early 1960s and an alternative weakly turbulent scaling developed recently by Badulin et al. (J. Fluid Mech.591, 2007, 339–378). The latter one uses spectral fluxes of wave energy, momentum and action as physical scales of the problem and allows for advanced qualitative and quantitative analysis of wind-wave growth and features of air–sea interaction. In contrast, the traditional approach is shown to be descriptive rather than proactive. Numerical simulations are conducted on the basis of the Hasselmann kinetic equation for deep-water waves in a wide range of wind speeds from 5 to 30 m s −1 and for the ideal case of fetch-limited growth: permanent wind blowing perpendicularly to a straight coastline. Two different wave input functions, Sin, and two methods for calculating the nonlinear transfer term Snl (Gaussian quadrature method, or GQM, a quasi-exact method based on the use of Gaussian quadratures, and the discrete interaction approximation, or DIA) are used in the simulations. Comparison of the corresponding results firstly shows the relevance of the analysis of wind-wave growth in terms of the proposed weakly turbulent scaling, and secondly, allows us to highlight some critical points in the modelling of wind-generated waves. Three stages of wind-wave development corresponding to qualitatively different balance of the source terms, Sin, Sdiss and Snl, are identified: initial growth, growing sea and fully developed sea. Validity of the asymptotic weakly turbulent approach for the stage of growing wind sea is determined by the dominance of nonlinear transfers, which results in a rigid link between spectral fluxes and wave energy. This stage of self-similar growth is investigated in detail and presented as a consequence of three sub-stages of qualitatively different coupling of air flow and growing wind waves. The key self-similarity parameter of the asymptotic theory is estimated to be αss = 0.68 ± 0.1.Further prospects of wind-wave modelling in the context of the presented weakly turbulent scaling are discussed.

Sediments are an essential component of fluvial ecosystems; in the meantime, they can also disturb these systems and their uses. Management of these perturbations, for instance dredging, may also yield adverse effects on the environment; these adverse effects may be increased as sediments are prone to accumulate metals or hydrophobic organic substances. Several industrialized countries have adopted assessment frameworks for sediments; these frameworks have progressively shifted from hazard to ecological risk assessment. Most frameworks are tiered, and involve increasingly sophisticated approaches at higher tiers. In the context of DIESE, a research project granted by the French national research agency (ANR) and aiming to develop a sediment assessment framework for sediments stored upstream dams; we performed a literature survey, with a focus on risk characterization and uncertainty assessment. The sediment assessment frameworks can be grouped in two categories: (i) some derive from the “triad” concept, where the results of the assessment determine the applicable management option; (ii) in the second group, analyses are tuned as a function of the selected management option. Rather few papers cope with risk characterization; in the case of sediments, the very nature of variables contributing to risk leads to qualitative or semi-quantitative methods. Considering that there are other important sources of uncertainty than measurement errors, again qualitative or semi-quantitative methods are more appropriate. Recent developments, in particular in North America, aim to propose comparative risk assessment approaches, allowing to assess and compare several management options (e.g. dredging followed by either water or land disposal), instead of assessing them successively, if the option selected initially is deemed too risky. Another innovative perspective would be to characterize the risks to ecosystems in terms of the services they provide., Les sédiments sont une composante essentielle des écosystèmes fluviaux, en même temps qu’une source de perturbations de leurs usages. Les mesures correctives de ces perturbations, par exemple le dragage, sont également susceptibles d’impacts environnementaux, d’autant plus que les sédiments sont particulièrement susceptibles d’accumuler des substances chimiques dangereuses telles que métaux ou composés organiques hydrophobes. Plusieurs pays industrialisés ont adopté des démarches d’évaluation, d’abord du danger, puis plus récemment des risques environnementaux engendrés par les sédiments. Beaucoup de ces démarches procèdent par étapes successives, mobilisant si nécessaire des moyens de plus en plus sophistiqués. Dans le cadre du projet ANR-PRECODD DIESE (Outils de DIagnostic de l’Ecotoxicité des SEdiments), dont l’un des objectifs est de développer une démarche d’évaluation applicable aux sédiments de retenue, nous avons procédé à une revue bibliographique de démarches d’évaluation existantes, en concentrant plus particulièrement nos efforts sur la caractérisation des risques et des incertitudes associées, qui restent des points délicats actuellement. Ces démarches peuvent être classées en deux catégories, celles relevant de l’approche « triade » où l’on applique une batterie prédéterminée d’analyses, dont les résultats déterminent l’option de gestion applicable, et celles où l’option de gestion est choisie a priori et les analyses adaptées en conséquence. Peu de publications abordent le sujet de la caractérisation des risques, qui dans le cas des sédiments doit combiner des informations de natures différentes, ce qui conduit à des approches qualitatives ou au mieux semi-quantitatives. Dans la mesure où les sources d’incertitude ne se limitent pas aux erreurs de mesure, une approche semi-quantitative apparaît là aussi plus adaptée. Les développements en cours notamment en Amérique du Nord visent des démarches comparatives d’évaluation des risques, ce qui permettrait de comparer directement plusieurs options de gestion (dragage puis dépôt en eau ou mise à terre par exemple) plutôt que de procéder successivement. Une autre perspective innovante serait de caractériser les risques en termes de « services rendus » par les écosystèmes.

International audience; We present a multilayer Saint-Venant system for the numerical simulation of free surface density-stratified flows over variable topography. The proposed model formally approxi- mates the hydrostatic Navier-Stokes equations with a density that varies depending on the spatial and temporal distribution of a transported quantity such as temperature or salinity. The derivation of the multilayer model is obtained by a Galerkin-type vertical dis- cretization of the Navier-Stokes system with piecewise constant basis functions. In con- trast with classical multilayer models in the literature that assume immiscible fluids, we allow here for mass exchange between layers. We show that the multilayer system admits a kinetic interpretation, and we use this result to formulate a robust finite volume scheme for its numerical approximation. Several numerical experiments are presented, including simulations of wind-driven stratified flows.

L'effet de l'élévation de la température des cours d'eau sur le milieu aquatique a été largement débattu à la fin des années 70 qui ont vu le développement des centrales thermiques de grande puissance. Ces études ont généré de nombreux programmes de recherche sur le sujet. Le réchauffement climatique actuel et en particulier l'épisode caniculaire de 2003 a mis de nouveau ce thème sur le devant de la scène. Le travail de synthèse présenté a consisté à analyser des données historiques et contemporaines présentes dans la littérature, afin de mettre à jour les connaissances de base sur les tolérances thermiques de 19 espèces de poissons d'eau douce. Cette synthèse a ensuite été validée et complétée par des spécialistes européens. Elle s'est appuyée sur plus de 300 références qui détaillent les tolérances thermiques de chacun des stades du cycle de vie des espèces étudiées : la reproduction, les stades embryonnaire, larvaire, juvénile et adulte. Cette mise à jour est essentielle pour comprendre les tendances d'évolution déjà constatées des communautés de poissons et prévoir les futures évolutions selon les scénarios de changement climatique. / The industrial cooling water effects on fish communities were widely debated at the end of the seventies, as large thermal power plants were being developed. This has generated numerous research programs on thermal fish tolerances. The recent warming period and especially the 2003 heat-wave event have placed again the thermal biology at the front of the scene. The work presented has consisted in analyzing historical and contemporary literature to update the basic knowledge on thermal tolerances of 19 riverine fish species. These data were validated and completed by European fish specialists. We finally proposed a synthesis, based on more than 300 references, which detailed thermal tolerances for the entire cycle life: reproduction, embryonic, larval, juvenile and adult life stages. We think that the updated material is of great importance to understand observed trends in fish communities or to forecast future behaviors in scenarios of climate changes.

Research conducted on Brown trout populations downstream of impoundments has showed the influence of several natural constraints. First, population dynamics analysis of 3 Brown trout (Salmo trutta) populations, along with a multiple-sites analysis (53 stations) of relationships between by-passed sections populations and their physical habitat templet, showed several structuring factors. The first filter is stream width. On top of that, natural flood events constrain the populations. Furthermore, habitat fragmentation related to the size of each dam affects juveniles variability, while flow replenishment along the bypassed section parlty determines trout abundance. The second step consisted in characterizing the physical habitat in which the different salmonid regulated reaches are to be found, for the entire hydroelectric EDF (Electricité de France) facilities. 15 types were established, based on their mountain range (Alps, Pyrénées and Massif Central), on the combination of two major hydromorphological variables (stream gradient and mean annual streamflow), and on the flow-sediment regime. Finally, litterature general knowledge on impacts of impoundments on trout populations and specific knowledge from the multiple-sites analysis were combined with the different types of regulated reaches physical habitats. General knowlege on stream habitats sensitivity of a given area can be gained from this combination. Using these results, it is possible to build an ecological risk assessment framework for bypassed reaches trout populations : this framework assess the risk related to a given impoundment, risk which comes on top of preexisting physical natural constraints defined according to the type the reaches belong to., Les recherches menées sur les populations de truite à l'aval des barrages ont mis en évidence l'influence de nombreuses contraintes naturelles. Dans un premier temps, une analyse de la dynamique de 3 populations de truite (Salmo trutta), combinée à une analyse multi-sites (53 sites) des relations entre les populations et leur cadre d'habitat physique en TCC, ont mis en évidence différents éléments structurants. Le premier filtre est la largeur du cours d'eau. A cela se surimpose un forçage par les crues naturelles. En outre, le niveau de fragmentation du réseau hydrographique lié à la taille du barrage influence la variabilité du stade juvénile, tandis que le degré de reconstitution du débit le long du TCC détermine en partie l'abondance de truite. Dans un second temps, le travail a consisté à caractériser pour l'ensemble du parc hydroélectrique EDF le cadre géophysique général dans lequel s'inscrivent les différents types de tronçons de cours d'eau salmonicoles soumis à l'influence d'ouvrages hydroélectriques. 15 types ont ainsi été définis sur la base de leur appartenance à l'un des trois massifs Alpes, Pyrénées et Massif Central, de la combinaison de 2 caractéristiques hydromorphologiques majeures (pente et module), et du régime hydrosédimentaire. Finalement, le croisement des connaissances générales issues de la littérature sur les impacts des ouvrages sur les populations de truite, des connaissances spécifiques acquises via l'analyse multi-sites avec les types de situation ouvrages/milieu permet de tirer des enseignements généraux sur les sensibilités a priori des habitats des cours d'eau d'une région.

International audience

International audience; A modeling approach has been developed to estimate the contribution of atmospheric emissions to the contamination of leaf vegetables by persistent organic pollutants (POPs). It combines an Eulerian chemical transport model for atmospheric processes (Polair3D/Polyphemus) with a fate and transport model for soil and vegetation (Ourson). These two models were specifically adapted for POPs. Results are presented for benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). As expected no accumulation of BaP in leaf vegetables appears during the growth period for each harvest over the 10 years simulated. For BaP and leaf vegetables, this contamination depends primarily on direct atmospheric deposition without chemical transfer from the soil to the plant. These modeling results are compared to available data.

International audience; Since the 12th century, the Loire River (France) has been intensively modified by the construction of flood embankments, navigation structures and the exploitation of sediments in the main channel. Those anthropogenic actions have considerably accelerated the incision of the riverbed. In 1995, granular extractions in the main channel stopped; a different morphodynamic behaviour of the Loire is suspected, which may have a strong impact on some infrastructures such as nuclear power plants and bridges located along the river. The purpose of this study is to better understand the morphological evolution of the "Middle Loire" River, which represents a linear section of about 450 km. Herein we present the definition of homogeneous reaches used to characterize the morphological evolution since the 1950s. For each reach defined evolution in plan, in length and cross sectionnal data are analyzed. The Middle Loire has been partitioned into 174 reaches with an average length of 2.5km. Albeit the general trend observed over the last 50 years is a narrowing of the channel active width and an incision of the river bed, the morphological evolution of some reaches appears to decelerate since granular extractions stopped in 1995.

International audience

International audience

International audience

Summarization: Flash floods are one of the most significant natural hazards in Europe, causing serious risk to life and destruction of buildings and infrastructure. This type of flood, often affecting ungauged watersheds, remains nevertheless a poorly documented phenomenon. To address the gap in available information, and particularly to assess the possible ranges for peak discharges on watersheds with area smaller than 500 km2 and to describe the geography of the hazard across Europe, an intensive data compilation has been carried out for seven European hydrometeorological regions. This inventory is the first step towards an atlas of extreme flash floods in Europe. It contains over 550 documented events. This paper aims at presenting the data compilation strategy, the content of the elaborated data base and some preliminary data analysis results. The initial observations show that the most extreme flash floods are greater in magnitude in the Mediterranean countries than in the inner continental countries and that there is a strong seasonality to flash flood occurrence revealing different climatic forcing mechanisms in each region. Presented on: Journal of Hydrology

During last decades, a number of projects have been launched to validate models for predicting the behaviour of radioactive substances in the environment. The project of the "Aquatic" working group of the project EMRAS (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety) organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was based on the validation and assessment of models for predicting the behaviour of radionuclides in the aquatic ecosystems. The present paper describes a blind test of models aimed at assessing the dispersion of tritium releases in the Loire River (France), on a large domain (∼350 km) and on a period of six months, by comparing the results obtained by operational-to-experimental values of tritium concentration at Angers, a city along the Loire River. The common conclusion is that the models used by the different participants namely 1D models and models based on a schematic hydraulic (box models) are reliable tools for tritium transport modelling. Nevertheless, the importance of proper and detailed hydrological data for the appropriate prediction of pollutant migration in water is demonstrated by the example provided during this study. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The ERICA Integrated Approach requires that a risk assessment screening dose rate is defined for the risk characterisation within Tiers 1 and 2. At Tier 3, no numerical screening dose rate is used, and the risk characterisation is driven by methods that can evaluate the possible effects of ionising radiation on reproduction, mortality and morbidity. Species sensitivity distribution has been used to derive the ERICA risk assessment predicted no-effect dose rate (PNEDR). The method used was based on the mathematical processing of data from FRED (FASSET radiation effects database merged with the EPIC database to form FREDERICA) and resulted in a PNEDR of 10 μGy/h. This rate was assumed to ascribe sufficient protection of all ecosystems from detrimental effects on structure and function under chronic exposure. The value was weighed against a number of points of comparison: (i) PNEDR values obtained by application of the safety factor method, (ii) background levels, (iii) dose rates triggering effects on radioactively contaminated sites and (iv) former guidelines from literature reviews. In Tier 3, the effects analysis must be driven by the problem formulation and is thus highly case specific. Instead of specific recommendations on numeric values, guidance on the sorts of methods that may be applied for refined effect analysis is provided and illustrated. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.