[1] This paper reports the results of a series of resonant column tests on specimens where gas hydrate has been formed in sands using an ''excess water'' technique. In these specimens the amount of hydrate formed is restricted by the amount of gas in the specimen and with an excess of water being present in the pore space. Results of resonant column tests carried out to determine compressional and shear wave velocities suggest that gas hydrate formed in this way are frame supporting. In contrast, the behavior observed in sands where the hydrate is formed from finite water where the remaining pore space is saturated with methane gas, termed in this paper the ''excess gas'' method, exhibits a cementing behavior, while tetrahydrofuran-hydrate sands or where the hydrate is formed from dissolved methane within the pore water, exhibit a pore-filling behavior for hydrate saturations less than 40%. For sands where the hydrate is formed using the excess water method, much larger volumes of hydrate are required before a significant increase in shear wave velocity occurs, although increases in compressional wave velocity are seen at lower hydrate contents. These results suggest that hydrate interaction with the sediment is strongly dependent on morphology, and that natural hydrate may exhibit contrasting seismic signatures depending upon the geological environment in which it forms.

[1] Remote seismic methods, which measure the compressional wave (P wave) velocity (V p ) and shear wave (S wave) velocity (V s ), can be used to assess the distribution and concentration of marine gas hydrates in situ. However, interpreting seismic data requires an understanding of the seismic properties of hydrate-bearing sediments, which has proved problematic because of difficulties in recovering intact hydrate-bearing sediment samples and in performing valid laboratory tests. Therefore a dedicated gas hydrate resonant column (GHRC) was developed to allow pressure and temperature conditions suitable for hydrate formation to be applied to a specimen with subsequent measurement of both V p and V s made at frequencies and strains relevant to marine seismic investigations. Thirteen sand specimens containing differing amounts of evenly dispersed hydrate were tested. The results show a bipartite relationship between velocities and hydrate pore saturation, with a marked transition between 3 and 5% hydrate pore saturation for both V p and V s . This suggests that methane hydrate initially cements sand grain contacts then infills the pore space. These results show in detail for the first time, using a resonant column, how hydrate cementation affects elastic wave properties in quartz sand. This information is valuable for validating theoretical models relating seismic wave propagation in marine sediments to hydrate pore saturation.Citation: Priest, J. A., A. I. Best, and C. R. I. Clayton (2005), A laboratory investigation into the seismic velocities of methane gas hydrate-bearing sand,

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This paper provides the background to the 50th Rankine Lecture. It considers the growth in emphasis of the prediction of ground displacements during design in the past two decades of the 20th century, as a result of the lessons learnt from field observations. The historical development of the theory of elasticity is then described, as are the constitutive frameworks within which it has been proposed that geotechnical predictions of deformation should be carried out. Factors affecting the stiffness of soils and weak rocks are reviewed, and the results of a numerical experiment, assessing the impact of a number of stiffness parameters on the displacements around a retaining structure, are described. Some field and laboratory methods of obtaining stiffness parameters are considered and critically discussed, and the paper concludes with a suggested strategy for the measurement and integration of stiffness data, and the developments necessary to improve the existing state of the art.

Abstract. Solar radiation reflected by the Earth's surface to satellite sensors is modified by its interaction with the atmosphere. The objective of applying an atmospheric correction is to determine true surface reflectance values and to retrieve physical parameters of the Earth's surface, including surface reflectance, by removing atmospheric effects from satellite images. Atmospheric correction is arguably the most important part of the pre-processing of satellite remotely sensed data. Such a correction is especially important in cases where multi-temporal images are to be compared and analyzed. For agricultural applications, in which several vegetation indices are applied for monitoring purposes, multi-temporal images are used. The integration of vegetation indices from remotely sensed images with other hydrometeorological data is widely used for monitoring natural hazards such as droughts. Indeed, the most important task is to retrieve the true values of the vegetation status from the satellite-remotely sensed data. Any omission of considering the effects of the atmosphere when vegetation indices from satellite images are used, may lead to major discrepancies in the final outcomes. This paper highlights the importance of considering atmospheric effects when vegetation indices, such as DVI, NDVI, SAVI, MSAVI and SARVI, are used (or considered) and presents the results obtained by applying the darkest-pixel atmospheric correction method on ten Landsat TM/ETM+ images of Cyprus acquired from July to December 2008. Finally, in this analysis, an attempt is Correspondence to: D. G. Hadjimitsis (d.hadjimitsis@cut.ac.cy) made to determine evapotranspiration and to examine its dependence on the consideration of atmospheric effects when multi-temporal image data are used. It was found that, without applying any atmospheric correction, the real daily evapotranspiration was less than the one found after applying the darkest pixel atmospheric correction method.

S U M M A R YCompressional wave (P wave) and shear wave (S wave) velocities (V p and V s , respectively) from remote seismic methods have been used to infer the distribution and volume of gas hydrate within marine sediments. Recent advances in seismic methods now allow compressional and shear wave attenuations (Q −1 p and Q −1 s , respectively) to be measured. However, the interpretation of these data is problematic due to our limited understanding of the effects of gas hydrate on physical properties. Therefore, a laboratory gas hydrate resonant column was developed to simulate pressure and temperature conditions suitable for methane gas hydrate formation in sand specimens and the subsequent measurement of both Q −1 p and Q −1 s at frequencies and strains relevant to marine seismic surveys. 13 dry (gas saturated) sand specimens were investigated with different amounts of methane gas hydrate evenly dispersed throughout each specimen. The results show that for these dry specimens both Q −1 p and Q −1 s are highly sensitive to hydrate saturation with unexpected peaks observed between 3 and 5 per cent hydrate saturation. It is thought that viscous squirt flow of absorbed water or free gas within the pore space is enhanced by hydrate cement at grain contacts and by the nanoporosity of the hydrate itself. These results show for the first time the dramatic effect methane gas hydrate can have on seismic wave attenuation in sand, and provide insight into wave propagation mechanisms. These results will aid the interpretation of elastic wave attenuation data obtained using marine seismic prospecting methods.

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