Factors influencing the presence or absence of tributary-junction fans in the Iberian Range, Spain

This paper analyses the factors which influence the presence or absence of tributary-junction fans in the Iberian Range, northern Spain. Two valleys were selected, both characterised by wide variations in lithology, altitude, land use and plant cover. Two groups of factors were studied: those related to the internal characteristics of the drainage basins, which particularly control sediment generation; and those related to the characteristics of the depositional area which control accommodation space and main river power. Among the internal factors, the development of alluvial fans was related to: (i) the capacity of the basin to yield large volumes of sediment, (ii) the occurrence of intense human pressure until recent times, a good indicator of sediment yield, and (iii) the capacity of the basin to quickly increase discharge during rainstorms (discharge density and torrentiality). It is suggested that the areas that were intensively cultivated in the past, and have therefore been affected by intense erosion, have played a decisive role on the development of alluvial fans. This would imply that many of these alluvial fans have a relatively recent origin, perhaps related to the beginning of a widespread deforestation. The basins without alluvial fans are characterised by relatively steep hillslope gradients (that is, slopes that never were subjected to historical cultivation), low drainage densities and dense forest and shrub cover, mostly coinciding with high altitude basins composed of quartzite and shale bedrocks. Regarding the external factors, the shape, size and longitudinal gradient of the main river to which the fans are tributary are the most relevant conditioning factors determining the development of alluvial fans.     

HUMBOLDT AND THE HABITABILITY OF CANADA'S GREAT NORTHWEST*

ABSTRACT. Alexander von Humboldt's influence in British North America during the nineteenth century was filtered mainly through British imperial applications of “Humboldtian” sciences, including geomagnetism and biogeography. The best‐known examples include Edward Sabine and John Henry Lefroy, Royal Artillery officers who, during the 1830s and 1840s, transformed British North American outposts and territories, including Rupert's Land, into Humboldtian sites and regions in Great Britain's imperial “magnetic crusade.” Important groundwork had already been laid by John Richardson, who applied data accrued during John Franklin's overland Arctic expeditions during the 1820s to systematize Humboldtian inquiries into the habitability of Canada's Great Northwest. Despite both the relative decline of Humboldtian sciences by midcentury and Humboldt's own reservations about the political ramifications of his science, his “cosmic” outlook circulated in Canada to refine territorial expansionists' scientistic arguments justifying annexation of Rupert's Land after the monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company expired in 1869.     

Gated communities of the Moscow green belt: newly segregated landscapes and the suburban Russian environment

The transition from the Soviet to the post-Soviet period in and near Moscow manifested itself in increasing production of segregated space both in the urban core and suburban areas outside of the beltway to accommodate the preferences of the new Russian business and governmental elite. This paper focuses on the residential single-family housing inside old and new settlements, which are frequently gated. Approximately 260 of such suburban communities have been developed within 30 km of the beltway during the past few years, of which a majority have some form of exclusion mechanism in place, typically tall solid fences, gates, closed-circuit video surveillance and guarded entry checkpoints. The difference in exclusivity varies from the most exclusive older communities inside Moscow Serebryany Bor enclave and Rublevskoe highway mansions to less exclusive new developments along Novorizkhskoe and Dmitrovskoe highways. Despite high rates of construction, based on sociological surveys in 2003, only about 11% of Russia’s upper class claimed to live in such new “cottages,” with the rest owning condos and luxury apartments in the inner city or older detached homes in villages and small towns. Therefore, not all the needs have been accommodated and more development is certain to take place. The environmental impact of such developments is profound. Based on preliminary LANDSAT image analysis, almost 22% of suburban “green belt” forested land within 30 km zone has been converted to new construction from 1991 to 2001. New construction is now focusing on the remaining fragments of natural vegetation, which will likely lower air quality and water quality available for the city. Ironically, the new developments advertise themselves as “clean and green” with massive investments in unnatural landscaping (seeded lawns, exotic shrubs, river and lake shore “improvements”). This investment highlights the well-known paradox of development in which people move out of town to live near nature, while destroying the wild nature they come to enjoy. “We left city for the weekend It was raining, saw no stars There were fences everywhere Our chiefs behind the bars.” Gennady Shpalikov     

关于国土资源数据共享分类的思考

数据共享分类是制定数据共享政策和数据资源开发利用规划的一项基础性工作。本文 提出国土资源数据共享分类的意义、原则和方法,探讨建立以数据共享分类为核心的 国土资源数据分类体系,以期为全面开展国土资源数据共享分类提供参考。     

存储区域网技术及其在国土资源行业中的应用

本文简要介绍了存储区域网(SAN)的概念、结构及特点,对SAN与DAS、NAS存 储模式在性能、可用性等方面做了比较,并结合具体建设案例,指出了国土资源行业 存储系统建设采用SAN结构的优势。     

土地利用更新调查需要注意的几个问题

以土地利用更新调查生产中的体会．从工作前期准备、技术路线、正射影像图制作、权属界线调查几种特殊情况和表示方法的处理，提出了土地利用更新调查需要注意的几个问题和建议。     

基于目标灰度的土地利用变化信息边界提取

为了提高大区域土地利用变化信息提取效率,本文在变化信息自动发现的基础上,基于目标灰度信息,研究遥感影像中土地利用变化信息的边界提取方法.由于研究对象是大区域中的小目标,无法直接利用灰度直方图寻找分割目标的灰度分布范围.本文提出了一种典型区域法,方法是利用区域中分割目标密集的多个典型小区域的灰度直方图计算所有目标的分割阈值.由于影像中地物众多,为了减少噪声的影响,提高计算速度,先利用双阈值分割法对目标进行粗分割,再对其进行小波变换,利用其模值,以及结合目标灰度信息,可以将目标边界快速地提取出来.     

国土资源行业“3S”技术集成研究及实用技术体系构建

本文面向国土资源信息化建设的实际需求,通过关键技术研究和技术集成,建立基于“3S”的国土资源数据获取、更新、管理、交换与应用的技术体系,通过应用示范研究,形成实用、可推广的技术流程和应用软件。研究结果表明,基于“3S”的技术体系,以其精确的空间定位、快速准确的数据获取、强大的数据管理能力,能够满足国土资源信息化建设的实际需要。     

Exploring the spatial and temporal dynamics of land use in Xizhuang watershed of Yunnan, southwest China

Over the last two decades, China has introduced a series of agricultural and forestland use reforms, aiming to feed the largest population in the world and maintain ecological services locally and nationally. This paper studies the impacts of local government-driven reforestation on land use and land cover change, as well as its further impacts on livelihoods of upland farmers in Xizhuang watershed. An analysis of aerial photographs and ASTER satellite imagery from 1987 to 2002, respectively, showed that the forest has significantly increased at the expense of decreasing farmland. However, the monoculture reforestation of pine has caused both biophysical and socio-economic consequences. This case study also shows forestry decentralization in China remains incomplete. Land use and land cover change is also a political economic issue. Some of the reforms designed to protect forest resources have had a negative impact on rural livelihoods.     

Land-use classification using ASTER data and self-organized neutral networks

Operationally AVHRR and TM/TM+ data were used and a supervised maximum likelihood classification (MLH) was applied to depict land use changes in Beijing, providing basic maps for planning and development. With rapid growth of the city these are helpful to deal with higher resolution data, whereas new classification algorithms produce land use maps more accurate. In the paper, new sensor ASTER data and the Kohonen self-organized neural network feature map (KSOM) were tested.The TSOM classified 7% more accurately than the maximum likelihood algorithm in general, and 50% more accurately for the classes ‘residential area’ and ‘roads’. The results suggest that ASTER data and the Kohonen self-organized neural network classification can be used as an alternative data and method in a land use update operational system.