The Role of Future Orientation in Environmental Behavior: Analyzing the Relationship on the Individual and Cultural Levels

The concept of sustainability includes a personal and societal imperative to assume responsibility for the future outcomes of present actions, to look forward, or in other words, to have a future orientation. Future orientation is both a personality trait and a cultural characteristic that strongly influences behavioral decisions on the personal and societal levels, respectively. This research addresses the relationship between future orientation and pro-environmental behavior on both levels. In a representative sample of the population (n = 1216), we found that individuals with developed future orientation demonstrated more pro-environmental tendencies. On the cross-cultural level we also found that in countries that conduct future-oriented practices in general the environment benefits, because the citizens tend to behave more pro-environmentally. The parallel between factors that affect future orientation and environmental behavior and the implications for promoting pro-environmental practices in the social and personal levels are discussed.     

First order approximation of Broadband Directional Albedo with High Resolution Quickbird Imagery: a case study for arid urban areas

Albedo is a key forcing parameter controlling the planetary radiative energy budget and its partitioning between the surface and the atmosphere. Characterizing and developing high resolution albedo for an urban environment in arid regions is important because of the high urbanization rate in these regions and because of the high land-cover heterogeneity within urban settings. Using a Monte Carlo simulation of a multi-variable regression, we (a) correlate directional solar reflectance (albedo) ground measurements from Phoenix, AZ, with four narrowband reflectance data from QuickBird, and (b) developed a new set of coefficients for converting QuickBird narrowband reflectances to albedo. The albedo models were then applied to a second image over Las Vegas, NV, to assess their feasibility and accuracy. Two wavebands, visible-near infrared (VNIR) and total shortwave albedo, were evaluated for two reflectance models: surface and top-of-atmosphere. Results show that it is possible to accurately estimate directional albedo from high resolution imagery, specifically QuickBird, with the most accurate result from an atmospherically corrected VNIR model. The methodology presented in this paper could thus be applied in other urban areas to obtain a first order estimation of albedo. The new set of coefficients can be applied as first order albedo estimate by researchers, urban planners, developers and city managers interested in the influence of high-resolution albedo on a myriad of urban ecosystem processes.     

Application of kriging technique to areal precipitation mapping in Arizona

The classical methods for interpolating and spatial averaging of precipitation fields fail to quantify the accuracy of the estimate. On the other hand, kriging is an interpolation method for predicting values of regionalized variables at points (punctual kriging) or average values over an area (block kriging).This paper demonstrates the use of the kriging method for mapping and evaluating precipitation data for the State of Arizona. Using 158 rain gauge stations with 30 years or more of record, the precipitation over the state has been modeled as a realization of a two dimensional random field taking into consideration the spatial variability conditions.Three data sets have been used: (1) the mean annual precipitation over the state; (2) the mean summer rainy season; and (3) the mean winter rainy season. Validation of the empirical semi-variogram for a constant drift case indicated that the exponential model was appropriate for all the data sets. In addition to a global kriging analysis, the data have been examined under an anisotropic assumption which reflects the topographic structure of the state.     

Entrepreneurship in the periphery and local growth: the case of northern Israel

Entrepreneurship in the northern periphery in Israel should be viewed as a response to the crisis in rural agriculture during the 1980’s. Most entrepreneurs left their farms for salaried employment for a few years and they took professional courses in order to learn necessary skills before they opened their enterprises. They have developed new small entreprizes using local resources at times informally as means to reduce risks and they specialize mainly in internal tourism and construction related branches. While Jewish entrepreneurs develop mainly tourism activities oriented toward the national market, Arab entrepreneurs develop mainly construction related branches to local and home regional markets. Both represent two styles of peripheral activities. It seems that both styles has only limited potential to overcome their marginality.     

基于MM5模式的精细化MOS温度预报

利用2002年9月到2003年8月MM5模式每隔1 h的站点基本要素预报场和物理量诊断场资料,以及相应时段内宁夏25个测站的温度自记观测资料,同时采用多元线性和逐步回归2种MOS统计方法,预报宁夏25个测站48 h逐时温度。通过对2004年6月至2005年5月的预报效果检验,结果表明:MOS方法对宁夏48 h逐时温度有较强的预报能力,当天气形势变化较平稳时,MOS预报结果稳定,平均绝对误差控制在2℃之内;当有明显的冷空气活动时,误差变率起伏波动较大,预报结果不稳定,但与原MM5模式直接输出结果相比,MOS预报水平有明显提高,24 h极端温度TS评分个别月接近甚至超过预报员。     

Impact of overlying water velocity on ammonium uptake by benthic biofilms

The effect of the overlying water velocity on ammonium (NH₄⁺) uptake by benthic biofilms was studied in a recirculating laboratory flume (260 cm long, 29 cm wide), packed with 5 cm of silica sand arranged into bedforms. NH₄⁺ uptake was determined as the reduction in NH₄⁺ concentration in the water at average overlying water velocities of 0.8, 2, 4 and 8 cm s^?1. NH₄⁺ uptake was relatively constant under laminar flow conditions but increased when the flow regime became turbulent (>4 cm s^?1). This pattern was observed for two biofilms differing in their total biomass and in the abundance of the ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria, thus indicating that NH₄⁺ uptake was strongly controlled by mass‐transfer processes. The near stoichiometric relationship between the rates of NH₄⁺ uptake and nitrate (NO₃^?) accumulation suggests that aerobic nitrification was the main route for NH₄⁺ uptake. Microelectrode measurements showed a sharp decline of oxygen concentrations and pH values within the biofilms, thus supporting strong nitrification activity within the surficial section of the benthic biofilms. The results of this study highlight the key role of hydrodynamic conditions in regulating NH₄⁺ uptake in the transition from laminar to turbulent flow conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting forest structural parameters using the image texture derived from WorldView-2 multispectral imagery in a dryland forest,Israel

Estimation of forest structural parameters by field-based data collection methods is both expensive and time consuming. Satellite remote sensing is a low-cost alternative in modeling and mapping structural parameters in large forest areas. The current study investigates the potential of using WordView-2 multispectral satellite imagery for predicting forest structural parameters in a dryland plantation forest in Israel. The relationships between image texture features and the several structural parameters such as Number of Trees (NT), Basal Area (BA), Stem Volume (SV), Clark-Evans Index (CEI), Diameter Differentiation Index (DDI), Contagion Index (CI), Gini Coefficient (GC), and Standard Deviation of Diameters at Breast Heights (SDDBH) were examined using correlation analyses. These variables were obtained from 30 m × 30 m square-shaped plots. The Standard Deviation of Gray Levels (SDGL) as a first order texture feature and the second order texture variables based on Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) were calculated for the pixels that corresponds to field plots. The results of the correlation analysis indicate that the forest structural parameters are significantly correlated with the image texture features. The highest correlation coefficients were calculated for the relationships between the SDDBH and the contrast of red band (r = 0.75, p < 0.01), the BA and the entropy of blue band (r = 0.73, p < 0.01), and the GC and the contrast of blue band (r = 0.71, p < 0.01). Each forest structural parameter was modeled as a function of texture measures derived from the satellite image using stepwise multi linear regression analyses. The determination coefficient (R²) and root mean square error (RMSE) values of the best fitting models, respectively, are 0.38 and 109.56 ha⁻¹ for the NT; 0.54 and 1.79 m² ha⁻¹ for the BA; 0.42 and 27.18 m³ ha⁻¹ for the SV; 0.23 and 0.16 for the CEI; 0.32 and 0.05 for the DDI; 0.25 and 0.06 for the CI; 0.50 and 0.05 for the GC; and 0.67 and 0.70 for the SDDBH. The leave-one-out cross-validation technique was applied for validation of the best-fitted models (R² > 0.50). In conclusion, cross-validated statistics confirmed that the structural parameters including the BA, SDDBH, and GC can be predicted and mapped with a reasonable accuracy using the texture features extracted from the spectral bands of WorldView-2 image.     

Is the diffuse gamma background radiation generated by Galactic cosmic rays?

We explore the possibility that the diffuse gamma-ray background radiation (GBR) at high Galactic latitudes could be dominated by inverse Compton scattering of cosmic ray (CR) electrons on the cosmic microwave background radiation and on starlight from our own galaxy. Assuming that the mechanisms accelerating Galactic CR hadrons and electrons are the same, we derive simple and successful relations between the spectral indices of the GBR above a few MeV and the CR electrons and CR nuclei above a few GeV. We reproduce the observed intensity and angular dependence of the GBR, in directions away from the Galactic disc and centre, without recourse to hypothetical extragalactic sources.     

Predicting gully initiation: comparing data mining techniques,analytical hierarchy processes and the topographic threshold

Predicting gully initiation at catchment scale was done previously by integrating a geographical information system (GIS) with physically based models, statistical procedures or with knowledge‐based expert systems. However, the reliability and validity of applying these procedures are still questionable. In this work, a data mining (DM) procedure based on decision trees was applied to identify areas of gully initiation risk. Performance was compared with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) expert system and with the commonly used topographic threshold (TT) technique. A spatial database was used to test the models, composed of a target variable (presence or absence of initial points) and ten independent environmental, climatic and human‐induced variables. The following findings emerged: using the same input layers, DM provided better predictive ability of gully initiation points than the application of both AHP and TT. The main difference between DM and TT was the very high overestimation inherent in TT. In addition, the minimum slope observed for soil detachment was 2°, whereas in other studies it is 3°. This could be explained by soil resistance, which is substantially lower in agricultural fields, while most studies test unploughed soil. Finally, rainfall intensity events >62.2 mm h^‐1 (for a period of 30 min) were found to have a significant effect on gully initiation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ISRAEL'S SECURITY LANDSCAPES: THE IMPACT OF MILITARY CONSIDERATIONS ON LAND USES

Political geography in general and military geography in particular have paid little attention to the creation of security landscapes. Distinctive elements of the security landscape are identified at the macro-, the meso- and the microscales and applied to the development of Israel's security landscape since 1948, particularly in the Golan Heights and the Negev. The landscape intensifies from the core toward the periphery, expands with technological advances, and changes most at the micro-level.