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.     

A New Wavelet Method for Identification of Eddies and Assessment of Incidents on Islands of the Eastern Caribbean

Using two dimensional continuous wavelet transforms, a novel method for identification of mesoscale eddies is presented to facilitate extraction of characteristics for area, amplitude, type, and location from maps of sea level anomalies. In comparison with the previously established growing method for eddy identification, it is found that the wavelet method identifies more than twice the number of eddies and is particularly better at resolving small eddies down to the 0.25 degree resolution of the data. Such research into eddy identification and tracking is significant to the assessment of eddies with potential to impact on coastlines of small islands. The method is applied to the identification of eddies on tracks towards islands of the Eastern Caribbean over 23?years. Spatial and temporal variation in rate of occurrence and magnitude is established. For Barbados there is an average of 9 anticyclonic incidents a year with maximum amplitude of typically 0.22?m in the dry seasons and 0.16?m in the wet seasons. Seasonal variation is reversed for the other islands with twice the number of anticyclonic incidents having maximum amplitudes of about 0.20?m annually.     

复杂地形景区三维导览图的设计与实现

为满足复杂地形景区对三维地图导览的需求,构建更为清晰的三维地图模型,提供良好的三维导览地图设计方案显得尤为重要。为了更好地与卫星影像进行贴合,DEM数据的采样密度要与卫星影像的分辨率一致。本文通过对比当下常用的四种空间插值方法的适用范围与运用特点,设置相关阈值及权重,直观比较了四种插值方法产生的插值结果,选择更适合复杂景区DEM插值的插值方法并对其进行精度提升,以此得到符合精度要求的DEM数据。最后利用相应地区的卫星影像进行地图投影及影像贴图,两种数据结合构建复杂景区的三维地图模型,给游客带来更为精确直观的定位信息和空间要素信息。     

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.     

A novel coupled FDM-DEM modelling method for flexible membrane boundary in laboratory tests

Difficulties are involved in discrete element method (DEM) modelling of the flexible boundary, that is, the membranes covering the soil sample, which can be commonly found in contemporary laboratory soil tests. In this paper, a novel method is proposed wherein the finite difference method (FDM) and DEM are coupled to simulate the rubber membrane and soil body, respectively. Numerical plane strain and triaxial tests, served by the flexible membrane, are implemented and analysed later. The effect of the membrane modulus on the measurement accuracy is considered, with analytical formulae derived to judge the significance of this effect. Based on an analysis of stress-strain responses and the grain rotation field, the mechanical performances produced by the flexible and rigid lateral boundaries are compared for the plane strain test. The results show that (1) the effect of the membrane on the test result becomes more significant at larger strain level because the membrane applies additional lateral confining pressure to the soil body; (2) the tested models reproduce typical stress and volumetric paths for specimens with shear bands; (3) for the plane strain test, the rigid lateral boundary derives a much higher peak strength and larger bulk dilatation, but a similar residual strength, compared with the flexible boundary. The latter produces a more uniform (or ‘diffuse') rotation field and more mobilised local kinematics than does the former. All simulations show that the proposed FDM-DEM coupling method is able to simulate laboratory tests with a flexible boundary membrane.     

Revisiting the existence of an effective stress for wet granular soils with micromechanics

A possible effective stress variable for wet granular materials is numerically investigated based on an adapted discrete element method (DEM) model for an ideal three‐phase system. The DEM simulations consider granular materials made of nearly monodisperse spherical particles, in the pendular regime with the pore fluid mixture consisting of distinct water menisci bridging particle pairs. The contact force‐related stress contribution to the total stresses is isolated and tested as the effective stress candidate for dense or loose systems. It is first recalled that this contact stress tensor is indeed an adequate effective stress that describes stress limit states of wet samples with the same Mohr‐Coulomb criterion associated with their dry counterparts. As for constitutive relationships, it is demonstrated that the contact stress tensor used in conjunction with dry constitutive relations does describe the strains of wet samples during an initial strain regime but not beyond. Outside this so‐called quasi‐static strain regime, whose extent is much greater for dense than loose materials, dramatic changes in the contact network prevent macroscale contact stress‐strain relationships to apply in the same manner to dry and unsaturated conditions. The presented numerical results also reveal unexpected constitutive bifurcations for the loose material, related to stick‐slip macrobehavior.     

沉积物中硬质粘土层的研究进展

大量的钻孔资料表明,平原地区及其海域沉积物中普遍有硬质粘土层的存在。硬质粘土层在工程地质、地理学研究等方面具有重要的价值,它不仅是高层建筑的持力层,而且是研究全球环境变化事件、古气候演变的良好载体。该文阐述了硬质粘土层的一般特征、成因以及在粒度、地球化学元素、年代学、沉积环境等方面的研究进展,并展望了硬质粘土层在年代、物质来源和沉积环境等方面的研究方向,认为黄河三角洲硬质粘土层研究较少,需要开展大范围的、系统深入的、多学科的宏观和微观综合分析,挖掘硬质粘土层蕴含的古环境意义和应用价值。     

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。