Regional comprehensive assessment on environment-health of China

The aim of the study was to assess the environment-health development in different regions of China. 175 indicators, such as average life expectancy at birth, emission intensity of waste gas, GDP etc. were chosen to describe various aspects of the environment, health and development of China. Of all the indicators, life expectancy can sufficiently reflect health situation of population. Consequently,life expectancy was identified as key indicator, and 42 out of 175 indicators were selected for establishing the environment-health indicator framework with three grades of integrative indices to assess the development of environment-health of China. Based on the hierarchical relation between various grades of indices, the comprehensive environment-health index was calculated and contributed to classify the environment-health situation of 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China which were divided into five grades by four predefined limits. Comprehensive assessment indicates that the environment-health situation of the eastern and coastal areas is superior to that of inland which is the western regions with underdeveloped economy and rigorous natural condition.Especially, the Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus in southwestern China are most vulnerable in the environment and population health. These fit in with the pattern of national socio-economic development, which fully shows that socio-economic context plays a dominant role in the improvement of envirnment-health in China     

The key indicators of transboundary water apportionment based on international laws and cases

Transboundary water, more competitive utilization and uncertain availability under the globalization trend, the issue of its apportionment which directly impacts national benefits of each riparian state is becoming one of the important topics in the world. Water is scarce in China, the most important upstream state in Asia, and this task has to be thought over in the coming future. Based on ＂International Freshwater Treaties Database＂ （1820-2007） by Oregon State University, and publications and reports on transboundary water utilization and management since 1999, 28 indicators of water apportionment adopted in 49 international treaties and cases in 1864-2002 are divided into 6 types, the spatial and temporal characteristics of the adopted indicators are analyzed in order to find the key indicator（s） of transboundary water apportionment. The major results include： the major adopted indicators, have significant differences among 5 regions/continents, the indicators at rank first and second place in the developed region （North America and Europe） according to the adopted times are ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂, but in the developing region （Asia, Africa and South America）, the ranking order of the above two indicators is reversed; the major adopted indicators in the watersheds with insufficient water are ＂mean annual runoff＂ and ＂keeping minimum water flow＂, the ones in the watersheds with sufficient water are ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂maximum water intake＂; the international treaties signed from the first phase to the fourth phase, the developing process shows a progress of ＂fewer-increasing a lot-decreasing rapidly-equation basically＂, the regional distribution of the treaties shifts mainly from the developed region to the developing one, especially to Asia and Africa; the major adopted indicators shifts from ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂ in 1864-1945, to ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂maximum water intake＂ in 1946-1971, then to ＂hydraulic facility operation＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂ in 1972-1991, and finally to ＂keeping minimum water flow＂ and ＂mean annual runoff＂ in 1992-2002, the process shows similar a loop. Finally, the key indicator on transboundary water apportionment can be determined as ＂keeping minimum water flow＂.     

山区冰雪变化及其对区域水资源的影响（英文）

Glaciers and snow are major constituents of solid water bodies in mountains; they can regulate the stability of local water sources. However, they are strongly affected by climate change. This study focused on the Tianshan Mountains, using glacier and snow datasets to analyse variations in glaciers, snow, water storage, and runoff. Three typical river basins(Aksu, Kaidou, and Urumqi Rivers) were selected to interpret the impacts of glacier and snow changes on regional water resources in the Tianshan Mountains. The results exhibited a nonlinear functional relationship between glacial retreat rate and area, demonstrating that small glacial retreat is more sensitive under climate change. Further, the glacial retreat rate at the low-middle elevation zone was seen to be faster than that at the high elevation zone. The regional average terrestrial water storage(TWS) decrease rate in the Tianshan Mountains was –0.7±1.53 cm/a during 2003–2015. The highest TWS deficit region was located in the central part of the Tianshan Mountains, which was closely related to sharp glacial retreats. The increases in glacier and snow meltwater led to an increase in runoff in the three typical river basins, especially that of the Aksu River(0.4×10~8 m~3/a). The decreasing and thinning of areas, and increasing equilibrium line altitude(ELV) of glaciers have been the major causes for the decrease in runoff in the three river basins since the mid-1990 s. Therefore, the results reveal the mechanisms causing the impacts of glaciers and snow reduction in mountains on regional water resources under climate change, and provide a reference for water resources management in the mountainous river basins.     

An optimized baseflow separation method for assessment of seasonal and spatial variability of baseflow and the driving factors

Baseflow is an important component of river or streamflow. It plays a vital role in water utilization and management. An improved Eckhardt recursive digital filter(IERDF) is proposed in this study. The key filter parameter and maximum baseflow index(BFImax) were estimated using the minimum smoothing method to improve baseflow estimation accuracy. The generally considered BFImax of 0.80, 0.50 and 0.25 according to the drainage basin's predominant geological characteristics often leads to significant errors in the regions that have complex subsurface and hydrologic conditions. The IERDF improved baseflow estimation accuracy by avoiding arbitrary parameter values. The proposed method was applied for baseflow separation in the upstream of Yitong River, a tributary of the Second Songhua River, and its performance was evaluated by comparing the results obtained using isotope-tracer data. The performance of IERDF was also compared with nine baseflow separation techniques belonging to filter, BFI and HYSEP methods. The IERDF was also applied for baseflow separation and calculation of rainfall infiltration recharge coefficient at different locations along the Second Songhua River's mainstream for the period 2000–2016. The results showed that the minimum smoothing method significantly improved BFImax estimation accuracy. The baseflow process line obtained using IEDRF method was consistent with that obtained using isotope 18 O. The IERDF estimated baseflow also showed stability and reliability when applied in the mainstream of the Second Songhua River. The BFI alone in the river showed an increase from the upstream to the downstream. The proportion of baseflow to total flow showed a decrease with time. The intra-annual variability of BFI was different at different locations of the river due to varying climatic conditions and subsurface characteristics. The highest BFI was observed at the middle reaches of the river in summer due to a water surplus from power generation. The research provided valuable information on baseflow characteristics and runoff mode determination, which can be used for water resources assessment and optimization of economic activity distribution in the region.     

北京城市湿地时空演变及驱动力定量分析(英文)

The decision tree and the threshold methods have been adopted to delineate boundaries and features of water bodies from LANDSAT images. After a spatial overlay analysis and using a remote sensing technique and the wetland inventory data in Beijing, the water bodies were visually classified into different types of urban wetlands, and data on the urban wetlands of Beijing in 1986, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2007 were obtained. Thirteen driving factors that affect wetland change were selected, and gray correlation analysis was employed to calculate the correlation between each driving factor and the total area of urban wetlands. Then, six major driving factors were selected based on the correlation coefficient, and the contribution rates of these six driving factors to the area change of various urban wetlands were calculated based on canonical correlation analysis. After that, this research analyzed the relationship and mechanism between the main driving factors and various types of wetlands. Five conclusions can be drawn. (1) The total area of surface water bodies in Beijing increased from 1986 to 1996, and gradually decreased from 1996 to 2007. (2) The areas of the river wetlands, water storage areas and pool and culture areas gradually decreased, and its variation tendency is consistent with that of the total area of wetlands. The area of the mining water areas and wastewater treatment plants slightly increased. (3) The six factors of driving forces are the annual rainfall, the evaporation, the quantity of inflow water, the volume of groundwater available, the urbanization rate and the daily average discharge of wastewater are the main factors affecting changes in the wetland areas, and they correlate well with the total area of wetlands. (4) The hydrologic indicators of water resources such as the quantity of inflow water and the volume of groundwater are the most important and direct driving forces that affect the change of the wetland area. These factors have a combined contribution rate of 43.94%. (5) Climate factors such as rainfall and evaporation are external factors that affect the changes in wetland area, and they have a contribution rate of 36.54%. (6) Human activities such as the urbanization rate and the daily average quantity of waste-water are major artificial driving factors. They have an influence rate of 19.52%.     

长沙市人居环境与经济协调发展的不确定性评价(英文)

The coordinated development of human settlement environment and economy is of vital significance to urban sustainable development and urban ecosystem health. Urban human settlement and economic systems exist in urban ecosystems, which are a structural complexity. Therefore the research is being challenged by some uncertain factors between human settlements and economic systems. However most of the researches were focused on its determinate objective aspects and qualitative analyses while less concern on the quantitative evaluation of coordinated development of urban human settlement environment and economy, especially little on its uncertain aspect. At present, the urgent task is to study the coordinated development of urban settlement environment and economy in terms of the effect of uncertainty. This study analyzed the uncertain characteristics, which would be confronted at different stages, such as confirming the index categories, their bound values, and their construction rate, etc. According to the actual urban conditions, many construction principles based on uncertainties are put forward and an indicating system for human settlement and economic evaluation is established. Moreover, the application of fuzzy mathematics presents a new method and a calculation model for the comprehensive assessment of the coordinated development of urban human settlement environment and economy. The application of the method and model in Changsha city of China showed that the assessment results can reflect not only the overall coordination degree of the city, but also the mode of interactive mechanism between urban economic system and human settlement environment.     

黄河银川平原段河岸摆动速率变化及其影响因素(英文)

It is important to examine the lateral shift rate variation of river banks in different periods. One of the challenges in this regard is how to obtain the shift rate of river banks, as gauging stations are deficient for the study of river reaches. The present study selected the Yinchuan Plain reach of the Yellow River with a length of 196 km as a case study, and searched each point of intersection of 153 cross-sections(interval between two adjacent cross-sections was 1.3 km) and river banks in 1975, 1990, 2010 and 2011, which were plotted according to remote sensing images in those years. Then the shift rates for the points of intersection during 1975–1990, 1990–2010 and 2010–2011 were calculated, as well as the average shift rates for different sections and different periods. The results show that the left bank of the river reach shifts mostly to the right, with the average shift rates being 36.5 m/a, 27.8 m/a and 61.5 m/a in the three periods, respectively. Contemporarily, the right bank shifts mostly to the right in the first period, while it shifts to the left in the second and third periods, with the average shift rates being 31.7 m/a, 23.1 m/a and 50.8 m/a in the three periods, respectively. The average shift rates for the left and right banks during the period 1975–2011 are 22.3 m/a and 14.8 m/a, respectively. The bank shift rates for sections A, B and C are different. The shift rate ratio of the left bank in the three sections is 1:7.6:4.6 for shift to the left and 1:1.7:3.8 for shift to the right, while that of the right bank is 1:1.8:1.2 for shift to the left and 1:5.6:17.7 for shift to the right during the period 1975–2011. Obviously, the average shift rate is the least in section A, while it is maximum in section B for shift to the left and in section C for shift to the right. The temporal variation of the shift rate is influenced by human activities, while the spatial variation is controlled by the local difference in bank materials.     

长江三角洲水系退化研究（英文）

Evolution of river systems under the background of human activities has been a heated topic among geographers and hydrologists. Spatial and temporal variations of river systems during the 1960s–2010s in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD) were investigated based on streams derived from the topographic maps in the 1960 s, 1980 s and 2010 s. A list of indices, drainage density(Dd), water surface ratio(WSR), ratio of area to length of main streams(R), evolution coefficient of tributaries(K) and box dimension(D), were classified into three types(quantitative, structural, and complex indices) and used to quantify the variations of stream structure. Results showed that:(1) quantitative indices(Dd, WSR) presented decreasing trend in the past 50 years, and Dd in Wuchengxiyu, Hangjiahu and Yindongnan have decreased most, about 20%. Structurally, the Qinhuai River basin was characterized by significant upward R, and K value in Hangjiahu went down dramatically by 46.8% during the 1960s–2010s. Decreasing tendency in D was found dominating across the YRD, and decreasing magnitude in Wuchengxiyu and Hangjiahu peaks for 7.8% and 6.5%, respectively in the YRD.(2) Urbanization affected the spatial pattern of river system, and areas with high level of urbanization exhibited least Dd(2.18 km/km2), WSR(6.52%), K(2.64) and D(1.42), compared to moderate and low levels of urbanization.(3) Urbanization also affected the evolution of stream system. In the past 50 years, areas with high level of urbanization showed compelling decreasing tendency in quantitative(27.2% and 19.3%) and complex indices(4.9%) and trend of enlarging of main rivers(4.5% and 7.9% in periods of the 1960s–1980s and the 1980s–2010s). In the recent 30 years, areas with low level of urbanization were detected with significant downward trend in Dd and K.(4) Expanding of urban land, construction of hydraulic engineering and irrigation and water conservancy activities were the main means which degraded the river system in the YRD.     

Water sources of plants and groundwater in typical ecosystems in the lower reaches of the Heihe River Basin

Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions （δ18O and δD） of soil water and shallow groundwater of a riparian forest, an artificial shrub forest, and Gobi of the lower reaches of the Heihe River Basin are used to study the recharge water sources of those ecosystems. IsoSource software is used to determine the δ180 values for root water of Populous euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima in the riparian forest ecosystem, Haloxylon ammodendron in the artificial shrub forest, and Reaumuria soongorica in the Gobi, as well as for local soil water and groundwater, and precipitation in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin. Our results showed that soil water and shallow groundwater of the riparian forest and the artificial shrub forest were recharged by river water which originated from precipitation in the upper reaches, and strong evaporation occurred in the artificial shrub forest. Soil water of the Gobi was not affected by Heihe River water due to this area being far away from the river channel. The main water sources of Populous euphratica were from 40-60-cm soil water and groundwater, and of Tamarix ramosissima were from 40-80-cm soil water in the riparian forest ecosystem. In the artificial forest, Haloxylon ammodendron used 200-cm saturated-layer soil water and shallow groundwater. The Reaumuria soongorica mainly used soil water from the 175-200-cm depth in the Gobi. Therefore, soil water and groundwater are the main water sources which maintain survival and growth of the plants in the extremely arid regions of the lower reaches of the Heihe River Basin.     

Feasibility analysis of widely accepted indicators as key ones in river health assessment

Index systems on river health assessment are difficult for using in practice, due to the more complex and professional indicators adopted. In the paper, some key indicators which can be applied for river health assessment in general were selected, based on the analysis of 45 assessment index systems with 902 variables within around 150 published papers and documents in 1972-2010. According to the fields covered by the variables, they were divided into four groups: habitat condition, water environment, biotic status and water utilization. The adopted number and the accepted degrees in the above systems of each indicator were calculated after the variables were combined into the indicators, some of the widely accepted indicators which can reflect different aspects of river condition were selected as key indicators in candidate. Under the correlation analysis amongst the key indicators in candidate, 8 indicators were finally suggested as the key indicators for assessing river health, which were: coverage rate of riparian vegetation, reserved rate of wetland, river continuity, the changing rate of water flow, the ratio of reaching water quality standard, fish index of biotic integrity, the ratio of water utilization and land use.     

河流健康评价的主评指标筛选

河流健康是近年来探讨水资源问题的一个热点,其评价指标体系正成为河流管理的目标。为了筛选出一些基本的、易于量化的主要评价指标来揭示河流健康基本状况和变化趋势,通过对1972～2010年约150篇相关文献、45个河流健康评价指标体系902项指标的整理和归纳,应用统计、层次和相关性分析法,确定各指标的被采用率,并同时综合考虑指标的重要性、普遍性、可量化性和易获得性,筛选出揭示河流生境物理、水环境、生物和水资源利用4类特征的主要指标。结果表明,有以下8个指标可作为河流健康的主评指标:河岸植被覆盖率、河流连通性、湿地保留率、径流量变化率、水质达标率、鱼类生物完整性指数、水资源利用率和流域天然植被覆盖率。     

基于河流健康及国际法的跨境水分配关键指标及阈值

基于前期研究中获得的8个河流健康主要评价指标、3个主要跨境水分配指标的结果以及指标之间的相关性,确定了河流健康和跨境水分配的关键指标：多年平均水量、最大取用水量和最小维持水量。跟踪查询《国际淡水条约数据库》内1864-2002年应用3个关键指标的38个国际条约及其所涉及28条国际河流的主要水文信息,通过对条约中水分配指标的标准化计算和分析,得到各指标阈值及其区域性特征：① 最小维持水量指标得到普遍应用,其次是多年平均水量指标,而最大取用水量指标应用率明显低于前两个指标。② 应用多年平均水量指标,在界河上基本确定了平均分配方案,阈值为50%;“内河”属性支流的阈值为100%;跨境河流上产生了较多的差额分配方案和较多的上游国用水多于下游国的方案。③ 最小维持水量指标,其应用有从发达地区向发展中地区扩展、从保证用水向维持生态用水发展的特点;当该指标在跨境和界河的河流尺度上用于保证供水时,该指标阈值平均分别为41.7%和50%,且流域国家实力对其影响极为明显,而在跨境河流河段尺度上阈值平均为36.1%;用于维持河道生态水量时,阈值平均为14.7%,并有逐步增长的趋势。     

吉林省莫莫格湿地生态系统健康评价研究

湿地生态系统健康评价已成为21世纪湿地科学前沿研究领域的热点话题。以莫莫格湿地作为评价对象,基于PSR模型,选取22个评价指标建立指标体系,应用模糊综合评价法对莫莫格湿地生态系统的健康状况进行评价。结果表明:莫莫格湿地生态系统健康综合评价指数为0.7378,处于第Ⅱ等级(健康)状态,制约莫莫格湿地生态系统健康的主要因素是社会经济发展水平、化肥使用强度、湿地补水保证率、湿地水质、环保投资指数等方面。     

城市河道公共休闲的适宜性指标体系构建与评价简

城市河道是集城市生态保育、娱乐游憩、居住生活、景观等多重功能于一体的开放空间。对城市河道公共休闲空间的利用目前存在价值利用与控制难以协调的矛盾,构建城市河道公共休闲价值评价指标对城市河道休闲空间的规划与开发具有重要的现实意义。基于目前公众对城市河道休闲的识别要素,综合国内外学者对休闲空间评价、城市河道生态健康评价等研究,将城市河道公共休闲空间适宜性指标归纳为资源特性、形态特性、功能特性、文化特质、公共特性等5个维度共42项指标;综合考虑指标的代表性和易操作性等特征,在指标权重确定上,使用最常用的关联矩阵法,反映各指标的重要性差异;利用确定的指标体系和权重测度了北京城区已治理的14条河道的公共休闲适宜度。结果表明,北京市城市河道普遍存在生态景观特征较好,但实用性有待加强的现实问题。     

城市河道公共休闲的适宜性指标体系构建与评价——兼论北京河道公共空间休闲价值

城市河道是集城市生态保育、娱乐游憩、居住生活、景观等多重功能于一体的开放空间。对城市河道公共休闲空间的利用目前存在价值利用与控制难以协调的矛盾,构建城市河道公共休闲价值评价指标对城市河道休闲空间的规划与开发具有重要的现实意义。基于目前公众对城市河道休闲的识别要素,综合国内外学者对休闲空间评价、城市河道生态健康评价等研究,将城市河道公共休闲空间适宜性指标归纳为资源特性、形态特性、功能特性、文化特质、公共特性等5个维度共42项指标;综合考虑指标的代表性和易操作性等特征,在指标权重确定上,使用最常用的关联矩阵法,反映各指标的重要性差异;利用确定的指标体系和权重测度了北京城区已治理的14条河道的公共休闲适宜度。结果表明,北京市城市河道普遍存在生态景观特征较好,但实用性有待加强的现实问题。     

河流健康理论初探

健康河流是指在相应一定时期其社会功能与自然功能和谐并能够均衡发挥的河流, 其标志是具有良好的水质、水沙流畅的河床与可维系的河流生态系统。河流健康的指示性因子应是能够基本反映河流自然功能的因子, 包括河床形态、水质、河流生态和河川基流, 但因子的种类和数量因河而异, 其量化标准的确定则要充分考虑河流自然功能和社会功能均衡发挥 的需要和河流水情背景条件的变化。河流健康的核心是有相应足够而洁净的河川径流, 因此 保障河流一定的环境流量对维护河流健康十分重要。人类过多抽取河川径流和开发水电、不当地调控洪水和泥沙、过多向河流排污和过多改变关键物种栖息地水流环境的活动, 均会对河流健康造成严重伤害。本文以黄河为例, 对河流健康指标和低限健康指标的确定方法进行了阐述。     

An integrated method for waterway health assessment: a case in the Jingjiang reach of the Yangtze River,China

More and more importance has been placed on inland navigation due to the low costs, environmental friendliness, low use of energy per ton kilometer, and high degree of safety of this mode of transportation. A river typically serves multiple functions or provides multiple services in addition to inland navigation. River health assessment for waterways requires that the navigation function be developed in harmony with the other river functions. In the case of the Jingjiang waterway in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, river functions or services were analyzed, and an integrated method for waterway health assessment was proposed. Using this method, a hierarchical assessment indicator system was constructed, the weights for those indicators contributing to their parent indicators were obtained via the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the Waterway Health Index (WHIc), a multimetric index reflecting the effect of the cask short board, was proposed alongside the commonly used linearly weighted summation index (WHI). Waterway health changes in the Jingjiang Reach were assessed in the context of a waterway regulation project. The results highlight potential mutual improvement between the ecosystem health and navigation functions using certain waterway regulation approaches.     

湿地水环境安全及其评价指标体系研究

在提出湿地水环境安全内涵的基础上,构建了湿地水环境安全评价指标体系,重点建立了河流型湿地、湖泊型湿地和库塘型湿地水环境安全评价指标体系。     

基于模糊综合评价模型的中亚水资源开发潜力评估

定量评估水资源开发潜力对掌握区域水资源开发现状、提高水资源利用率具有重要意义。通过选取水资源利用率、灌溉率、地表水控制率、人均占有水量、重复利用率、生活用水定额、供水量模数、生态环境用水率等8个重要指标，借助模糊综合评价模型对中亚五国水资源开发潜力进行定量分析。结果表明：中亚地区整体水资源开发利用处于中级阶段，开发潜力综合评分值为0.502 7，表明开发潜力较大。其中，哈萨克斯坦水资源综合评分值最高，为0.712 4，有很大的开发潜力，但要注意摒弃不合理的水资源利用方式；吉尔吉斯斯坦和塔吉克斯坦综合评分值分别为0.591 1、0.488 7，有较大的开发潜力，但应注意由广度开发逐渐向深度开发转变。下游国家土库曼斯坦和乌兹别克斯坦处于开发利用的高级阶段，综合评分值分别为0.352 6、0.315 0，水资源开发潜力较小。今后应注意发展节水型经济，注重水资源综合管理。