The Natural Resource Management Planning Portal: Perspectives for NRM Planning and Reporting

Natural Resource Management (NRM) is often conducted as a partnership between government and citizens. In Australia, government agencies formulate policy and fund implementation that may be delivered on-ground by community groups (such as Landcare). Since the late 1980s, over AUS$8b of Commonwealth investment has been made in NRM. However, quantitative evidence of environmental improvements is lacking. The NRM Planning Portal has been developed to (1) provide an online spatial information system for sharing Landcare and agency data; and (2) to facilitate NRM priority setting at local and regional planning scales. While the project successfully federates Landcare NRM activity data, challenges included (1) unstructured, non-standardized data, meaning that quantitative reporting against strategic objectives is not currently possible, and (2) a lack of common understanding about the value proposition for adopting the portal approach. Demonstrating the benefit of technology adoption is a key lesson for digital NRM planning.     

Water quality data for Fall Creek,New York,USA: 1972–1995

The 33 086 ha mixed land use Fall Creek watershed in upstate New York is part of the Great Lakes drainage system. Results from more than 3500 water samples are available in a data set that compiles flow data and measurements of various water quality analytes collected between 1972 and 1995 in all seasons and under all flow regimes in Fall Creek and its tributaries. Data is freely accessible at https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/8148 and includes measurements of suspended solids, pH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, chloride, nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), sulphate sulphur (SO4-S), phosphorus (P) fractions molybdate reactive P (MRP) and total dissolved P (TDP), percent P in sediment, and ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N). Methods, sub-watershed areas, and coordinates for sampling sites are also included. The work represented in this data set has made important scientific contributions to understanding of hydrological and biogeochemical processes that influence loading in mixed use watersheds and that have an impact on algal productivity in receiving water bodies. In addition, the work has been foundational for important regulatory and management decisions in the region.     

Beaver dam analogues drive heterogeneous groundwater–surface water interactions

Beaver dam analogues (BDAs) are a cost-effective stream restoration approach that leverages the recognized environmental benefits of natural beaver dams on channel stability and local hydrology. Although natural beaver dams are known to exert considerable influence on the hydrologic conditions of a stream system by mediating geomorphic processes, nutrient cycling, and groundwater–surface water interactions, the impacts of beaver-derived restoration methods on groundwater–surface water exchange are poorly characterized. To address this deficit, we monitored hyporheic exchange fluxes and streambed porewater biogeochemistry across a sequence of BDAs installed along a central Wyoming stream during the summer of 2019. Streambed fluxes were quantified by heat tracing methods and vertical hydraulic gradients. Biogeochemical activity was evaluated using major ion porewater chemistry and principal component analysis. Vertical fluxes of approximately 1.0 m/day were observed around the BDAs, as was the development of spatially heterogeneous zones of nitrate production, groundwater upwelling, and anaerobic reduction. Strong contrasts in hyporheic zone processes were observed across BDAs of differing sizes. This suggests that structures may function with size-dependent behaviour, only altering groundwater–surface water interactions after a threshold hydraulic step height is exceeded. Patterns of hyporheic exchange and biogeochemical cycling around the studied BDAs resemble those around natural beaver dams, suggesting that BDAs may provide comparable benefits to channel complexity and near-stream function over a 1-year period.     

Fully coupled elastoplastic hydro-mechanical analysis of unsaturated porous media using a meshfree method

This paper presents the first application of an advanced meshfree method, ie, the edge-based smoothed point interpolation method (ESPIM), in simulation of the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated porous media. In the proposed technique, the problem domain is spatially discretised using a triangular background mesh, and the polynomial point interpolation method combined with a simple node selection scheme is adopted for creating nodal shape functions. Smoothing domains are formed on top of the background mesh, and a constant smoothed strain, created by applying the smoothing operation over the smoothing domains, is assigned to each smoothing domain. The deformation and flow models are developed based on the equilibrium equation of the mixture, and linear momentum and mass balance equations of the fluid phases, respectively. The effective stress approach is followed to account for the coupling between the flow and deformation models. Further coupling among the phases is captured through a hysteretic soil water retention model that evolves with changes in void ratio. An advanced elastoplastic constitutive model within the context of the bounding surface plasticity theory is employed for predicting the nonlinear behaviour of soil skeleton. Time discretisation is performed by adopting a three-point discretisation method with growing time steps to avoid temporal instabilities. A modified Newton-Raphson framework is designed for dealing with nonlinearities of the discretised system of equations. The performance of the numerical model is examined through a number of numerical examples. The state-of-the-art computational scheme developed is useful for simulation of geotechnical engineering problems involving unsaturated soils.     

海洋表层沉积物中金属镉的来源解析

利用2015年8月份对长江口及其邻近海域表层沉积物的监测数据,基于主成分分析/绝对主成分分数(PCA/APCS)受体模型定量解析了重金属元素镉(Cd)的可能来源,并结合地统计学插值了Cd的源贡献量的空间分布状况,结果表明沉积物中镉污染主要存在3个可能来源,源头及贡献率分别为工业污染(18.8%)、陆地径流输入(66.0%)、生物活动等自然因素(13.6%),并且各个源头贡献量具有不同的空间分布状况,其中工业污染的高值区主要集中在靠近陆地区域,陆地径流输入的分布呈现由近岸向外海逐减降低的特征,生物活动等自然因素的高值区主要集中在远离陆地的外海区域。     

新疆和田地区耕地面源污染生态风险评价

随着化肥、农膜等在农业生产中的过量投入，耕地面源污染的程度随之加重。文章选取塔里木河流域上游和田地区为研究区域，依据P-S-R框架理论，构建和田地区耕地面源污染生态风险评价指标体系，加入土壤理化数据，使用生态风险评价模型对和田地区1980 年及2016 年耕地面源污染状况进行生态风险评价，运用耕地生态风险模型、生态风险转移矩阵、Arcgis分析和田地区耕地面源污染时空分异状况。研究结论如下：和田地区1980 年耕地生态风险等级均为II级或III级，呈“中间高，两侧低”分布；2016 年耕地生态风险等级上升至IV级或V级，呈“倒W型”分布，各县耕地面源污染程度较1980 年均有较大幅度的上升，其中墨玉县和于田县在2016 年耕地生态风险等级达到最高的V级，而民丰县因自身生态环境的强脆弱性，同样需要提高关注。根据面源污染“从源头治理”的原则，应切实推进和田地区耕地生态环境保护与治理，提高政府重视程度，增强技术指导，开展试点工作，改善和田地区耕地面源污染现状。     

基于ROMS和4DVAR的沿轨与网格化SSH数据同化效果评价

Remote sensing products are significant in the data assimilation of an ocean model. Considering the resolution and space coverage of different remote sensing data, two types of sea surface height(SSH) product are employed in the assimilation, including the gridded products from AVISO and the original along-track observations used in the generation. To explore their impact on the assimilation results, an experiment focus on the South China Sea(SCS) is conducted based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System(ROMS) and the four-dimensional variational data assimilation(4 DVAR) technology. The comparison with EN4 data set and Argo profile indicates that, the along-track SSH assimilation result presents to be more accurate than the gridded SSH assimilation, because some noises may have been introduced in the merging process. Moreover, the mesoscale eddy detection capability of the assimilation results is analyzed by a vector geometry–based algorithm. It is verified that, the assimilation of the gridded SSH shows superiority in describing the eddy's characteristics, since the complete structure of the ocean surface has been reconstructed by the original data merging.     

Assessment of alternative adsorption models and global sensitivity analysis to characterize hexavalent chromium loss from soil to surface runoff

We investigate our ability to assess transfer of hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), from the soil to surface runoff by considering the effect of coupling diverse adsorption models with a two‐layer solute transfer model. Our analyses are grounded on a set of two experiments associated with soils characterized by diverse particle size distributions. Our study is motivated by the observation that Cr(VI) is receiving much attention for the assessment of environmental risks due to its high solubility, mobility, and toxicological significance. Adsorption of Cr(VI) is considered to be at equilibrium in the mixing layer under our experimental conditions. Four adsorption models, that is, the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and linear models, constitute our set of alternative (competing) mathematical formulations. Experimental results reveal that the soil samples characterized by the finest grain sizes are associated with the highest release of Cr(VI) to runoff. We compare the relative abilities of the four models to interpret experimental results through maximum likelihood model calibration and four model identification criteria (i.e., the Akaike information criteria [AIC and AIC_C] and the Bayesian and Kashyap information criteria). Our study results enable us to rank the tested models on the basis of a set of posterior weights assigned to each of them. A classical variance‐based global sensitivity analysis is then performed to assess the relative importance of the uncertain parameters associated with each of the models considered, within subregions of the parameter space. In this context, the modelling strategy resulting from coupling the Langmuir isotherm with a two‐layer solute transfer model is then evaluated as the most skilful for the overall interpretation of both sets of experiments. Our results document that (a) the depth of the mixing layer is the most influential factor for all models tested, with the exception of the Freundlich isotherm, and (b) the total sensitivity of the adsorption parameters varies in time, with a trend to increase as time progresses for all of the models. These results suggest that adsorption has a significant effect on the uncertainty associated with the release of Cr(VI) from the soil to the surface runoff component.     

基于灯光数据的京津冀城市多标度异速分析

城镇体系的时空演化是一个复杂的动力学过程,具有无尺度性,其特征可以采用异速标度指数定量描述。论文以京津冀为例,基于1992—2013年夜间灯光数据的校正结果,提取城镇夜间灯光信息,采用多标度异速分析方法,分析京津冀城镇体系的相对发展特征及其空间分异格局。研究发现：①京津冀大城市的增长空间局限日益显著。虽然大城市如京津唐的绝对发展水平高,但接近环境承载量的极限,22 a间增长快速的是大城市交接地带的小城市(如三河、迁安、廊坊等)。②相对增长速度快的城市从东北到西南呈现带状分布——政府选择发展的“雄安新区”就在这个轴带上。由此可以得出两个结论：其一,京津冀城市演化的趋势相对均衡化,空间结构异质性逐步减弱,整个城镇体系的发展趋于相对平衡状态;其二,大、小城市“两极”贯通或许是增强城镇体系功能的有效途径。京津冀的空间格局优化不能仅仅考虑主要的、规模大的中心城市,而应该基于等级结构协调整个城镇网络体系。     

自然资源一体化政务服务系统及数据融合建设——以南京为例

自然资源部制定的信息化建设总体方案中，要求构建“互联网+自然资源政务服务”应用体系，实现“服务事项标准统一、整体联动、业务协同，自然资源政务服务和共享开放能力全面提高”。一体化政务服务系统作为政务服务应用体系的重点建设内容，也是落实自然资源管理“两统一”职责的重要支撑，如何整合各类数据资源、发挥系统作用，成为亟待研究的问题。本文在分析自然资源业务管理需求后，提出了一体化政务服务系统及数据融合的建设思路。