Control of smoothness in non-linear filtering of geomagnetic data by a one-pass method with a piecewise cubic polynomial

A smoother realized by a one-pass method with a piecewise cubic polynomial and a modified Powell criterion is termed a PCP filter. Since its action is data-adaptive, the PCP filter is non-linear. Furthermore, this filler is also non-causal and in practice causes little phase shift in the output and/or residual data as long as the input data has no dominant components with frequencies within its transition band. An average amplitude response of the PCP filter for sinusoidal inputs is determined numerically for each value of the parameter μ, which appears in the modified Powell criterion and controls the smoothness in output of the filter. An objective criterion for the selection of μ in the practical application of the PCP filter is then obtained from this response. Furthermore, the cut-off frequency of the PCP filter is defined as the first frequency at which the attenuation of the average amplitude response becomes 3 dB. It is found that the cut-off frequency is a good measure of the smoothness in output of the PCP filter. This frequency decreases with increasing μ, meaning that the output of the PCP filter becomes smoother and the oscillations with longer periods can be separated as residuals as μ grows large. As μ increases, the average number of sample points between two adjacent knots becomes larger and the computational cost increases for data processing by the PCP filter.     

VIIRS/DNB夜间灯光月度产品插补方法对比——以北京为例

新一代VIIRS/DNB(Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night Band)夜间灯光数据因其具备更精细的时空分辨率、数据不存在饱和现象、不同年份数据可比性强等优点而迅速代替DMSP/OLS(Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System)夜间灯光数据成为新的研究热点。但由于杂散光的污染,VIIRS/DNB夏季数据数值缺失严重,致使数据在空间和时间上不连续,因此,插补缺失数据成为后续应用的前提。鉴于此,论文从插补结果异常值、与参照值对比、计算性能三个方面,系统比较了三次样条插值(样条)、三次Hermite插值(Hermite)、灰色预测模型(GM)、三次指数平滑法(指数)4种插补方法的适用性,以期为插补VIIRS/DNB夜间灯光数据提供方法选择的依据。研究结果表明：①异常值比较方面,Hermite法未出现异常值,另外3种算法仅出现少量异常值(0.02%~1.34%);②与参照值的对比方面,Hermite法与参考值接近程度最高,GM接近程度最低,样条法和指数法介于两者中间;③算法性能比较方面,4种方法都具备计算简单、容易编程的特点,但指数法的算法时长是另外3种方法的10倍以上。因此,综合多方表现,当插补月份前后两侧均有足够长的原始数据时,插补效果好、计算速度快、不会出现过冲现象的Hermite法最适宜,样条法次之;当插补月份仅单侧有足够长的数据时,适宜采用指数法(插补效果好、计算速度较慢)或GM(插补效果偏低、计算速度快)进行插补。     

Exploratory analysis of paleoecological data using the program CanoDraw

This paper attempts to persuade the reader that methods of direct gradient analysis may serve as a basis for more detailed exploration of the data and that these exploration methods can be also used for checking the appropriateness of the assumptions of the applied ordination method. Generalized linear models and generalized loess smoothing together with several ways of data presentation are used to explore a sample data set.     

Assessment of regional geomagnetic field modelling methods using a standard data set: spherical cap harmonic analysis

Various methods that take account of the potential nature of the field have been proposed for modelling geomagnetic data on a regional scale. Several of these have been applied to a standard data set based on annual mean values from observatories in Europe. Here, we examine some of the properties of spherical cap harmonic analysis when applied to this data set, and compare the quality of fit with that of the other models. It is found that, for this data set, rectangular polynomial analysis provides a compact fit to main field data, but that in most other cases, for both main field and anomaly data, spherical cap harmonic analysis provides the better fit. Although relatively insensitive to chosen cap size, spherical cap harmonic analysis deteriorates more rapidly than the other methods when the number of coefficients is reduced.     

A semantic registry using a Feature Type Catalogue instead of ontologies to support spatial data infrastructures

The use of a semantically rich registry containing a Feature Type Catalogue (FTC) to represent the semantics of geographic feature types including operations, attributes and relationships between feature types is required to realise the benefits of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). Specifically, such information provides a more complete representation of the semantics of the concepts used in the SDI, and enables advanced navigation, discovery and utilisation of discovered resources. The presented approach creates an FTC implementation in which attributes, associations and operations for a given feature type are encapsulated within the FTC, and these conceptual representations are separated from the implementation aspects of the web services that may realise the operations in the FTC. This differs from previous approaches that combine the implementation and conceptual aspects of behaviour in a web service ontology, but separate the behavioural aspects from the static aspects of the semantics of the concept or feature type. These principles are demonstrated by the implementation of such a registry using open standards. The ebXML Registry Information Model (ebRIM) was used to incorporate the FTC described in ISO 19110 by extending the Open Geospatial Consortium ebRIM Profile for the Web Catalogue Service (CSW) and adding a number of stored queries to allow the FTC component of the standards‐compliant registry to be interrogated. The registry was populated with feature types from the marine domain, incorporating objects that conform to both the object and field views of the world. The implemented registry demonstrates the benefits of inheritance of feature type operations, attributes and associations, the ability to navigate around the FTC and the advantages of separating the conceptual from the implementation aspects of the FTC. Further work is required to formalise the model and include axioms to allow enhanced semantic expressiveness and the development of reasoning capabilities.     

Measuring urban activities using Foursquare data and network analysis: a case study of Murcia (Spain)

Among social networks, Foursquare is a useful reference for identifying recommendations about local stores, restaurants, malls or other activities in the city. In this article, we consider the question of whether there is a relationship between the data provided by Foursquare regarding users’ tastes and preferences and fieldwork carried out in cities, especially those connected with business and leisure. Murcia was chosen for case study for two reasons: its particular characteristics and the prior knowledge resulting from the fieldwork. Since users of this network establish, what may be called, a ranking of places through their recommendations, we can plot these data with the objective of displaying the characteristics and peculiarities of the network in this city. Fieldwork from the city itself gives us a set of facilities and services observed in the city, which is a physical reality. An analysis of these data using a model based on a network centrality algorithm establishes a classification or ranking of the nodes that form the urban network. We compare the data extracted from the social network with the data collected from the fieldwork, in order to establish the appropriateness in terms of understanding the activity that takes place in this city. Moreover, this comparison allows us to draw conclusions about the degree of similarity between the preferences of Foursquare users and what was obtained through the fieldwork in the city.     

Object-based spatial cluster analysis of urban landscape pattern using nighttime light satellite images: a case study of China

Previous studies have demonstrated urban built-up areas can be derived from nighttime light satellite (DMSP-OLS) images at the national or continent scale. This paper presents a novel object-based method for detecting and characterizing urban spatial clusters from nighttime light satellite images automatically. First, urban built-up areas, derived from the regionally adaptive thresholding of DMSP-OLS nighttime light data, are represented as discrete urban objects. These urban objects are treated as basic spatial units and quantified in terms of geometric and shape attributes and their spatial relationships. Next, a spatial cluster analysis is applied to these basic urban objects to form a higher level of spatial units – urban spatial clusters. The Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) is used to represent spatial proximity relationships among urban objects. An algorithm based on competing propagation of objects is proposed to construct the MST of urban objects. Unlike previous studies, the distance between urban objects (i.e., the boundaries of urban built-up areas) is adopted to quantify the edge weight in MST. A Gestalt Theory-based method is employed to partition the MST of urban objects into urban spatial clusters. The derived urban spatial clusters are geographically delineated through mathematical morphology operation and construction of minimum convex hull. A series of landscape ecologic and statistical attributes are defined and calculated to characterize these clusters. Our method has been successfully applied to the analysis of urban landscape of China at the national level, and a series of urban clusters have been delimited and quantified.     

大都市城乡融合区空间演进及内在关联性测度——基于武汉市夜间灯光数据

大都市城乡融合区时空演变及其内在空间关联性研究对避免城市低效蔓延式发展、实现空间结构协同和精明增长有重大意义。论文以武汉市城乡融合区为研究对象,基于NPP/VIIRS夜间灯光强度表征都市要素配置及运行效率和效益,利用引力模型测度2016—2018年各城乡融合区空间关联强度,分析各城乡融合区空间联系势能时空演变趋势和社会经济区位度变化。研究结果表明：① 武汉市城乡融合区面积在2016—2018年间扩大了28.10%,小斑块区域逐渐整合,区域发展连续性增强,总体向西北方向扩展最为显著;② 武汉市城乡融合区之间的空间联系网络结构整体上趋向“多中心”分布,这一过程源于各城乡融合区的经济发展水平、城镇化发展规模和交通通达性变化,东湖新技术开发区、中法武汉生态示范城、武汉临空经济区等在此过程中是各城乡融合区的区域发展引擎;③ 武汉市城乡融合区空间联系强度整体上逐年上升,空间联系整体格局从武洪区和江夏区的“大小中心”结构过渡到江夏区—武洪区—蔡汉区—江黄区—江硚东区的“外围圈层式”结构,但洪山区和江夏区作为武汉市城乡融合区中心区域,未能形成多方向空间辐射力和吸引力,对其他地区的带动明显不足;④ 各城乡融合区社会经济区位度变化显示,现行武汉市都市发展区规划实施成效在北部、西部和东北部城乡融合区较为显著。