Hydrological trends and the evolution of catchment research in the Alptal valley,central Switzerland

When the observation of small headwater catchments in the pre-Alpine Alptal valley (central Switzerland) started in the late 1960s, the researchers were mainly interested in questions related to floods and forest management. Investigations of geomorphological processes in the steep torrent channels followed in the 1980s, along with detailed observations of biogeochemical and ecohydrological processes in individual forest stands. More recently, research in the Alptal has addressed the impacts of climate change on water supply and runoff generation. In this article, we describe, for the first time, the evolution of catchment research at Alptal, and present new analyses of long-term trends and short-term hydrologic behaviour. Hydrometeorological time series from the past 50 years show substantial interannual variability, but only minimal long-term trends, except for the ~2°C increase in mean annual air temperature over the 50-year period, and a corresponding shift towards earlier snowmelt. Similar to previous studies in larger Alpine catchments, the decadal variations in mean annual runoff in Alptal's small research catchments reflect the long-term variability in annual precipitation. In the Alptal valley, the most evident hydrological trends were observed in late spring and are related to the substantial change in the duration of the snow cover. Streamflow and water quality are highly variable within and between hydrological events, suggesting rapid shifts in flow pathways and mixing, as well as changing connectivity of runoff-generating areas. This overview illustrates how catchment research in the Alptal has evolved in response to changing societal concerns and emerging scientific questions.     

Terrestrial discharge influences microbioerosion and microbioeroder community structure in coral reefs

Microbioerosion rates and microbioeroder community structure were studied in four Kenyan protected coral-reef lagoons using shell fragments of Tridacna giant clams to determine their response to the influence of terrestrial run-off. Fourteen different microbioeroder traces from seven cyanobacteria, three green algae and four fungi species were identified. The river discharge-impacted reef and ‘pristine’ reef showed similar composition but higher microbioeroder abundance and total cyanobacteria- and chlorophyte-bioeroded areas when compared with the other study reefs. Cyanobacteria dominated during the north-east monsoon (NEM) relative to the south-east monsoon (SEM) season, with algae and cyanobacteria being major microbioeroders in the river-impacted and pristine reefs. The rate of microbioerosion varied between 4.3 g CaCO3 m^?2 y^?1 (SEM) and 134.7 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1 (NEM), and was highest in the river-impacted reef (127.6 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1), which was almost double that in the pristine reef (69.5 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1) and the mangrove-fringed reef (56.2 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1). The microbioerosion rates measured in this study may not be high enough to cause concern with regard to the health and net carbonate production of Kenya’s coral reefs. Nevertheless, predicted increases in the frequency and severity of stresses related to global climate change (e.g. increased sea surface temperature, acidification), as well as interactions with local disturbances and their influence on bioerosion, may be increasingly important in the future.     

A-FPN算法及其在遥感图像船舶检测中的应用

光学遥感图像船舶检测主要面临两个挑战:光学遥感图像背景复杂,船舶检测易受海浪、云雾及陆地建筑等多方面干扰;遥感图像分辨率低,船舶目标小,对于其分类与定位带来很大困难;针对上述问题,在FPN的基础上,提出一种融入显著性特征的卷积神经网络模型A-FPN (Attention-Based Feature Pyramid Networks)。首先,利用卷积提取图像特征金字塔;然后,利用顶层金字塔逐级构建显著特征层,抑制背景信息,通过金字塔顶层的细粒度特征提高浅层特征的表达能力,构建自上而下的多级显著特征映射结构;最后利用Softmax分类器进行多层级船舶检测。A-FPN模型利用显著性机制引导不同感受下的特征进行融合,提高了模型的分辨能力,对遥感图像处理领域具有重要应用价值。实验阶段,利用公开的遥感目标检测数据集NWPU VHR-10中的船舶样本进行测试,准确率为92.8%,表明A-FPN模型适用于遥感图像船舶检测。     

Variations in glacier volume and snow cover and their impact on lake storage in the Paiku Co Basin,in the Central Himalayas

Glaciers and snow cover are important constituents of the surface of the Tibetan Plateau. The responses of these phenomena to global environmental changes are sensitive, rapid and intensive due to the high altitudes and arid cold climate of the Tibetan Plateau. Based on multisource remote sensing data, including Landsat images, MOD10A2 snow product, ICESat, Cryosat-2 altimetry data and long-term ground climate observations, we analysed the dynamic changes of glaciers, snow melting and lake in the Paiku Co basin using extraction methods for glaciers and lake, the degree-day model and the ice and lake volume method. The interaction among the climate, ice-snow and the hydrological elements in Paiku Co is revealed. From 2000 to 2018, the basin tended to be drier, and rainfall decreased at a rate of −3.07 mm/a. The seasonal temperature difference in the basin increased, the maximum temperature increased at a rate of 0.02°C/a and the minimum temperature decreased at a rate of −0.06°C/a, which accelerated the melting from glaciers and snow at rates of 0.55 × 10⁷ m³/a and 0.29 × 10⁷ m³/a, respectively. The rate of contribution to the lake from rainfall, snow and glacier melted water was 55.6, 27.7 and 16.7%, respectively. In the past 18 years, the warmer and drier climate has caused the lake to shrink. The water level of the lake continued to decline at a rate of −0.02 m/a, and the lake water volume decreased by 4.85 × 10⁸ m³ at a rate of −0.27 × 10⁸ m³/a from 2000 to 2018. This evaluation is important for understanding how the snow and ice melting in the central Himalayas affect the regional water cycle.     

Swedish Forests in the Bioeconomy: Stories from the National Forest Program

Abstract

The concept of a bioeconomy has been placed central in formation of a Swedish National Forest Program (NFP). Drawing on Hajer’s conceptual framework of storylines, we present a discourse analysis of the working group reports underlying the establishment of the NFP strategy. We ask what stories about Swedish forests come to dominate the NFP process, how well they reflect the commitment of balancing economic, social and environmental interests, and what role the concept of a bioeconomy, has on the formation of these stories. Storylines of Swedish forests in the bioeconomy unite wider European discourses on the bioeconomy and climate change with historical Swedish forest policy discourses, revitalizing a discourse coalition comprising the state and the industry. Particular to the Swedish discourse is the strong emphasis on creating consensus around a single story of the forest-based bioeconomy.     

The isotopic signature of monsoon conditions,cloud modes,and rainfall type

This work provides a comprehensive physically based framework for the interpretation of the north Australian rainfall stable isotope record (δ¹⁸O and δ²H). Until now, interpretations mainly relied on statistical relationships between rainfall amount and isotopic values on monthly timescales. Here, we use multiseason daily rainfall stable isotope and high resolution (10 min) ground‐based C‐band polarimetric radar data and show that the five weather types (monsoon regimes) that constitute the Australian wet season each have a characteristic isotope ratio. The data suggest that this is not only due to changes in regional rainfall amount during these regimes but, more importantly, is due to different rain and cloud types that are associated with the large scale circulation regimes. Negative (positive) isotope anomalies occurred when stratiform rainfall fractions were large (small) and the horizontal extent of raining areas were largest (smallest). Intense, yet isolated, convective conditions were associated with enriched isotope values whereas more depleted isotope values were observed when convection was widespread but less intense. This means that isotopic proxy records may record the frequency of which these typical wet season regimes occur. Positive anomalies in paleoclimatic records are most likely associated with periods where continental convection dominates and convection is sea‐breeze forced. Negative anomalies may be interpreted as periods when the monsoon trough is active, convection is of the oceanic type, less electric, and stratiform areas are wide spread. This connection between variability of rainfall isotope anomalies and the intrinsic properties of convection and its large‐scale environment has important implications for all fields of research that use rainfall stable isotopes.     

Lidar-aided analysis of boreal forest backscatter at Ku band

This paper analyzes the backscatter of the microwave signal in a boreal forest environment based on a Ku -band airborne Frequency-Modulated Continuous Waveform (FMCW) profiling radar—Tomoradar. We selected a half-managed boreal forest in the southern part of Finland for a field test. By decomposing the waveform collected by the Tomoradar, the vertical canopy structure was achieved. Based on the amplitude of the waveform, the Backscattered Energy Ratio of Canopy-to-Total (BERCT) was calculated. Meanwhile, the canopy fraction was derived from the corresponding point cloud recorded by a Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR mounted on the same platform. Lidar-derived canopy fraction was obtained by counting the number of the first/ the strongest returns versus the total amount of returns. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of radar-derived BERCT on lidar-derived canopy fraction and canopy height are investigated. A fitted model is derived to describe the Ku-band microwave backscatter in the boreal forest to numerically analyze the proportion contributed by four factors: lidar-derived canopy fraction, radar-derived canopy height, the radar-derived distance between trees and radar sensor and other factors, from co-polarization Tomoradar measurements. The Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of the proposed model was 0.0958, and the coefficient of determination R2 was 0.912. The fitted model reveals that the correlation coefficient between radar-derived BERCT and lidar-derived canopy fraction is 0.84, which illustrates that lidar surface reflection explains the majority of the profiling /waveform radar response. Thus, vertical canopy structure derived from lidar can be used for the benefit of radar analysis.     

300 BC-1900 AD无定河流域城镇时空格局演变

通过分析和整理从战国中晚期（约300 BC）至清末（约1900 AD）无定河流域历代县级及以上城址的位置、兴废年代数据,结合行政区划沿革、经济社会发展、政权更迭等资料,分析流域城镇格局的时空演变过程。研究表明：① 受气候周期性波动影响,无定河流域城镇的兴起与衰废具有明显的周期性特征,城镇几何中心的移动轨迹具有明显的“西北—东南”向潮汐性运动特征;② 城址存续年限普遍较短,具有明显的阶段性特征,流域内曾存在过4个阶段性中心城镇,中心城镇移动的方向和过程与城镇几何中心的潮汐性移动过程趋势一致;③ 流域城镇空间格局可分为3种类型,即秦汉与隋唐时期的沿河流谷地分布,宋、明两代的沿边境线与长城分布,以及元、清两代集中于流域下游分布。流域城镇未来的发展布局应重视气候变化对城镇分布的长期影响,关注区域环境的脆弱性,合理安排城镇体系发展规模与布局。     

涉密矢量数字地图中敏感要素几何信息量的测度方法

涉密矢量数字地图中敏感要素几何信息的定量测度,是实现定量化密级评定的基础和前提。如何进行敏感要素几何信息量的计算,目前尚缺乏相关研究。在现有地图信息论研究成果的基础上,论文主要开展了3方面的研究工作：首先,从地理对象的敏感性入手,探讨了地图要素敏感性的定义与要素集合的敏感性表征指标;然后,基于任意发生元的Voronoi构建方法,实现了对点要素集、线要素集、部分覆盖面要素集及综合要素集的信息单元自动化剖分;最后,基于长度系数、面积系数和角度系数,提出了线、面要素图形复杂度的计算方法,并在此基础上形成了涉密矢量数字地图中敏感几何信息量的测度方法。实验表明,该方法的计算结果遵循了信息量的非负性、连续性、可加性等特点,较为合理地反映了相关因素（地图比例尺、要素空间分布、要素图形复杂度、要素敏感系数等）对计算结果的影响。相关成果将支持矢量数字地图的定量化密级评定,并有助于完善地理信息安全监管的理论和方法体系。     

青海湖流域植被盖度时空变化研究

高寒区植被变化一直是气候和生态学领域关注的热点问题。本研究基于MODIS NDVI数据计算的植被覆盖度数据和高分辨率气象数据,分析了青海湖流域2001-2017年植被覆盖度分布格局及动态变化,探讨了其对气候变化、人类活动和冻土退化的响应。结果表明：① 近十几年青海湖流域植被覆盖度整体表现为增加趋势,不同植被类型增幅存在差异性,草地增幅最大,达到6.1%/10a,其它植被类型增幅在2%~3%/10a之间;② 流域局部地区仍存在植被退化现象,研究期植被退化面积表现为先增加后减小的变化趋势。2006-2011年重度退化区集中在青海湖东岸,2011-2017年重度退化区集中在流域的西北部,这些区域是青海湖流域荒漠分布区,植被覆盖度较低,是今后生态恢复需重点关注的区域;③ 气候变化是流域植被覆盖度变化的主导因素,气候变化对青海湖流域主要植被类型覆盖度变化的贡献率为84.21%,对草原、草甸和灌丛植被覆盖度变化的贡献率分别为81.84%、87.47%和75.96%;④ 人类活动对流域主要植被类型覆盖度变化的贡献率为15.79%,对草原、草甸和灌丛植被覆盖度变化的贡献率分别为18.16%、12.53%和24.04%,环青海湖地区人类活动对植被恢复有促进效应,在青海湖流域北部部分地区人类活动的破坏力度仍大于建设力度;⑤ 冻土退化对青海湖流域草甸和灌丛植被覆盖度变化影响很小,主要影响草原植被覆盖度变化,冻土退化造成草原植被覆盖度增长速率减小了1.2%/10a。