Paleogene mammalian fauna exchanges and the paleogeographic pattern in Asia

Mammals are the most important elements in Cenozoic terrestrial ecosystem. The composition and the character of a mammalian fauna are controlled by evolution time and evolutionary rate. Here we took 50 Asian Paleogene mammalian faunas as representatives and applied Bayesian Tip-dating method to infer the relationships and divergence times among these faunas.Based on the results of Bayesian Tip-dating analyses, we discussed the correlation between the paleogeographic changes and the mammalian fauna turn-overs. Compared with the traditional fauna correlation and sorting, Bayesian Tip-dating analyses revealed more detailed similarities reflected via the divergence times among the 50 faunas. We discovered that the early Eocene mammalian fauna, which firstly appeared in India subcontinent, is similar to the faunas of the same age in other parts of Asia. It is likely that a passage for the mammalian dispersal was formed before early Eocene. Bayesian inferring suggests that the first appearance of the dispersal passage is during 64.8–61.3 Ma. This time window is close to the time estimation for the initial time of India-Asia collision. During 57.1–47.2 Ma, India subcontinent probably had a habitat different from the main part of Asia, as it was reflected from the composition of the mammalian faunas. It is probably correlated with the uplifted Gangdese Mountain and shallow seas and lowlands on both sides of the collision region. The very remote divergence time(64.8 Ma) estimated by Bayesian inferring reflects the mammalian fauna turnover during the Eocene-Oligocene transition, obviously affected by the global cooling. Till the end of Oligocene, the Arabic Peninsula and Asian mainland remained separated and the mammalian faunas did not show clear connection.     

Tree-ring-based winter temperature reconstruction for East Asia over the past 700 years

Almost all proxy-based temperature reconstructions for East Asia have hitherto been designed to resolve summer or annual temperature variability. Reconstruction for the winter temperature is still lacking. Here, we report an annually resolved,winter-season(December-February, DJF) temperature field reconstruction for East Asia covering the period 1300-2000 CE,based on 260 temperature-sensitive tree-ring records. The most striking feature of our new reconstruction is a significant longterm warming trend since the 14th century, which is associated with winter solar insolation at mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere and the global anthropogenic impact. The amplitude of reconstructed winter temperature change over the study period was ～4.7 times greater than that for summer temperature, and the rate of winter temperature increase was ～6 times as much as that of summer temperature. The results from climate model simulations were consistent with the reconstruction,showing that the amplitude and rate of temperature change in winter were greater than those in summer. The reconstruction also suggests the possible influence of volcanic eruptions, anthropogenic activities and winter solar insolation on the winter temperature variations. Our result also suggests a long-term decrease in summer-to-winter temperature difference occurred in 1625(±24 years) CE.     

Clay mineralogy of an Eocene fluvial-lacustrine sequence in Xining Basin,Northwest China,and its paleoclimatic implications

The Eocene was marked by significant cooling during which the global climate was transformed from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. Notable coeval events were the India-Asia collision and the retreat of the Paratethys Sea in Asia. The Eocene section of the long and continuous sedimentary succession of the Xining Basin in Northwest China is characterized by red mudstones with intercalated gypsum and muddy-gypsiferous layers. In this study, we conducted a semi-quantitative analysis of the mineralogy of bulk samples and the clay fraction using X-ray diffraction, with the aim of characterizing the Eocene climatic evolution of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and inland Asia. We used a new pretreatment method to address the problem of extracting sufficient clay particles from the gypsum and gypsiferous layers. The bulk mineralogy is dominated by quartz, feldspar, calcite, gypsum and dolomite; and the clay mineralogy is dominated by illite, chlorite, and smectite(including irregular mixed-layer illite-smectite(I/S)). The variations of the clay mineral assemblages indicate the occurrence of alternations between warm humid conditions and hot dry conditions, with relatively high humidity during ～52–50,～41.5–39 and ～35–34 Ma. Comparison of the results with the timing of Tibetan Plateau uplift, transgressions and regressions of the Paratethys Sea, and the marine oxygen isotope record suggest that the Eocene climatic evolution of the study region was driven fundamentally by global climate change.     

Evaluation of multidecadal and longer-term temperature changes since 850 CE based on Northern Hemisphere proxy-based reconstructions and model simulations

The temperature variability over multidecadal and longer timescales(e.g., the cold epochs in the late 15 th, 17 th, and early 19 th centuries) is significant and dominant in the millennium-long, large-scale reconstructions and model simulations;however, their temporal patterns in the reconstructed and simulated temperature series are not well understood and require a detailed assessment and comparison. Here, we compare the reconstructed and simulated temperature series for the Northern Hemisphere(NH) at multidecadal and longer-term timescales(30 years) by evaluating their covariance, climate sensitivity and amplitude of temperature changes. We found that covariances between different reconstructions or between reconstructions and simulations are generally high for the whole period of 850–1999 CE, due to their similar long-term temporal patterns. However,covariances between different reconstructions or between reconstructions and simulations steadily decline as time series extends further back in time, becoming particularly small during Medieval times. This is related to the large uncetainties in the reconstructions caused by the decreased number of proxy records and sample duplication during the pre-instrumental periods.Reconstructions based solely on tree-ring data show higher skill than multiproxy reconstructions in capturing the amplitude of volcanic cooling simulated by models. Meanwhile, climate models have a shorter recovery(i.e., lag) in response to the cooling caused by volcanic eruptions and solar activity minima, implying the lack of some important feedback mechanisms between external forcing and internal climate processes in climate models. Amplitudes of temperature variations in the latest published tree-ring reconstructions are comparable to those of the multiproxy reconstructions. We found that the temperature difference between the Medieval Climate Anomaly(950–1250 CE) and the Little Ice Age(1450–1850 CE) is generally larger in proxybased reconstructions than in model simulations, but the reason is unclear.     

Evolution of the monsoon and dry climate in East Asia during late Cenozoic: A review

Climate in Eastern Asia is composed of monsoon climate in the east,arid and semi-arid climate in the north and west,and the cold and dry climate of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the southwest.The underlying causes for the evolution of East Asian climate during late Cenozoic have long been investigated and debated,particularly with regards to the role played by the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau uplift and the global cooling.In this paper,we reviewed major research developments in this area,and summarized the important results.Based on a synthesis of data,we propose that the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau uplift alone cannot fully explain the formation of monsoon and arid climates in Eastern Asia during the past 22–25 Ma.Other factors such as the global ice volume and high-latitude temperature changes have also played a vital role.Moreover,atmospheric CO2changes may have modulated the monsoon and dry climate changes by affecting the location of the inter-tropical convergence zone(ITCZ),which controls the monsoon precipitation zone and the track of the East Asian winter monsoon during late Cenozoic.The integration of high-resolution geological record and numerical paleoclimate modeling could make new contributions to understanding the climate evolution and variation in eastern Asia in future studies.It could facilitate the investigation of the regional differences in East Asian environmental changes and the asynchronous nature between the uplift of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and their climatic effects.These would be the keys to understanding underlying driving forces for the evolution of the East Asian climate.     

Simultaneous Denoising and Interpolation of Seismic Data via the Deep Learning Method

Utilizing data from controlled seismic sources to image the subsurface structures and invert the physical properties of the subsurface media is a major effort in exploration geophysics. Dense seismic records with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and high fidelity helps in producing high quality imaging results. Therefore, seismic data denoising and missing traces reconstruction are significant for seismic data processing. Traditional denoising and interpolation methods rarely occasioned rely on noise level estimations, thus requiring heavy manual work to deal with records and the selection of optimal parameters. We propose a simultaneous denoising and interpolation method based on deep learning. For noisy records with missing traces, we adopt an iterative alternating optimization strategy and separate the objective function of the data restoring problem into two sub-problems. The seismic records can be reconstructed by solving a least-square problem and applying a set of pre-trained denoising models alternatively and iteratively.We demonstrate this method with synthetic and field data.     

Tomographic structure of East Asia:I.No fast(slab) anomalies beneath 660 km discontinuity

This is the first of two papers that describes a regional tomography investigation,which combines P-wave arrival times of both regional and teleseismic earthquakes to obtain 3D mantle structures of East Asia up to 1 000 km depth.The most important findings of this tomography study are reported in this paper as follows.(1) No fast P-wave velocity anomalies can be related to subducted oceanic slabs beneath the 660 km discontinuity;instead the subducted oceanic slabs become flattened and stagnant within the transition zone.(2) The high velocity anomalies in the transition zone extend up to 1 500 km to the westward of the active trenches,which is a unique feature in the worldwide subduction systems.(3) Slow P-wave velocity anomalies are visible up to ～250 km underneath most of the East Asia on the east of 115°E,similar to the area of the stagnant slabs.These observations have important implications for the geodynamic process at depths beneath the East Asia,which might in turn control the widespread Cenozoic volcanism and associated extensional tectonics seen at the Earth's surface.     

The Yanshan orogeny and late Mesozoic multi-plate convergence in East Asia—Commemorating 90th years of the “Yanshan Orogeny”

The Yanshan movement/orogeny has been proposed for 90 years, which is of special significance in the history of geological research in China. This study conducted a review by synthesizing major achievements regarding episodic deformation features, sedimentary and magmatic records of the Yanshan orogeny in China, and clarified the episodic tectono-magmatism and its geodynamic origins. The tectonic implications of the Yanshan orogeny are discussed in the context of global plate tectonics and supercontinent reconstruction. Lines of evidence from structural, sedimentary and magmatic data suggest that the Yanshan orogeny represents a regional-scale tectonic event that affected the entire China continent in late Mesozoic period. Numerous age and structural constraints consistently indicate that the Yanshan orogeny was initiated in the Jurassic(at ～170±5 Ma). and was characterized by alternating stages of crustal shortening at ～170–136 Ma, crustal extension at ～135–90 Ma, and weak shortening at ～80 Ma. The 170–136 Ma crustal shortening was reflected in the generation of two regional stratigraphic unconformities(the Tiaojishan and Zhangjiakou unconformities), which were initially named the A and B episodes of "the Yanshan Orogeny" by Mr.Wong Wenhao in 1928. Geodynamically, the Yanshan orogeny in East Asia was associated with nearly coeval oceanic subduction and continental convergence in the Paleo-Pacific, Neo-Tethys, and Mongol-Okhotsk tectonic domains. As a consequence, three giant accretionary-collisional tectonic systems were formed along the continental margins of East Asia, i.e., the Mongol-Okhotsk, Bangonghu-Nujiang, and SE China subduction-and collision-related accretionary systems. The Yanshan orogeny induced widespread crustal-scale folding and thrusting, tectonic reactivation of long-lived zones of crustal weakness,and extensive magmatism and mineralization in intraplate regions. Based on the time principle of supercontinent assembly and break-up, we propose that the mid-Late Jurassic multi-plate convergence in East Asia might represent the initiation of the assembly of the Amasia supercontinent, and the Yanshan orogeny might be the first "stirrings" that is a prerequisite for the birth of the Amasia supercontinent.     

Quality control for ocean observations: From present to future

The quality control(QC) of ocean observational data, essential to establish a high-quality global ocean database, is one of the basic data pre-processing steps in oceanography research, marine monitoring, and forecasting. With the introduction of various advanced instruments in recent decades, oceanographic surveys have expanded from coastal regions to open oceans.However, as ocean in-situ observations are obtained using different instruments that offer heterogeneous data qualities, it is paramount that bad data could be accurately and efficiently identified via QC to provide a reliable global ocean database. In this review, we briefly summarize the latest progress of QC for oceanic in-situ observations, and mainly focus on temperature and salinity data. The similarities and differences between QC schemes developed by various ocean organizations are introduced. We also discuss the performances of the various QC schemes and identify the key challenges. Based on the discussions, several recommendations are proposed for future improvements in the QC for ocean observations.     

Upper Cretaceous trench deposits of the Neo-Tethyan subduction zone: Jiachala Formation from Yarlung Zangbo suture zone in Tibet,China

The history of convergence between the India and the Asia plates, and of their subsequent collision which triggered the Himalayan orogeny is recorded in the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone. Exposed along the southern side of the suture, turbidites of the the Jiachala Formation fed largely from the Gangdese arc have long been considered as post-collisional foreland-basin deposits based on the reported occurrence of Paleocene-early Eocene dinoflagellate cysts and pollen assemblages. Because magmatic activity in the Gangdese arc continued through the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, this scenario is incompatible with U-Pb ages of detrital zircons invariably older than the latest Cretaceous. To solve this conundrum, we carried out detailed stratigraphic, sedimentological, paleontological, and provenance analyses in the Gyangze and Sajia areas of southern Tibet,China. The Jiachala Formation consists of submarine fan deposits that lie in fault contact with the Zongzhuo Formation.Sandstone petrography together with U-Pb ages and Hf isotope ratios of detrital zircons indicate provenance from the Gangdese arc and central Lhasa terrane. Well preserved pollen or dinoflagellate cysts microfossils were not found in spite of careful research, and the youngest age obtained from zircon grain was ～84 Ma. Based on sedimentary facies, provenance analysis and tectonic position, we suggest that the Jiachala Formation was deposited during the Late Cretaceous(~88–84 Ma) in the trench formed along the southern edge of Asia during subduction of Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere.     

Relationship between equatorial pressure oscillations and tropical cyclones landing over China

With daily reanalysis data by NCEP/NCAR and data of tropical cyclones landing over China from 1949 to 2005, the variation of low-frequency oscillations of equatorial pressure and their relationship with tropical cyclones landing over China in the summer half of the years (June through October) are studied for the 57 years, using spectral analysis and correlation analysis. The results show that the summertime equatorial pressure is mainly of periodic oscillations of 5―7 days and 10―30 days and the interannual variation of the intensity of its quasi-biweekly oscillation is significantly positive correlation with the number of tropical cyclones landing over China. The quasi-biweekly oscillation is filtered from daily equatorial pressure in May―November over the 57 years with inverse wavelet transform and the probability for tropical cyclones landing on coastal China within four days before and after the oscillatory valleys of quasi-biweekly pressure at the equator is 59.7% and 73.0% for June to October and July to September respectively. The model of atmospheric circulation for quasi-biweekly oscillatory valleys of equatorial pressure in association with or without tropical cyclones landing over China in July―September is set up with the composite analysis method. When the valleys are associated with (without) landfall, zonal (meridional) circulation prevails in the mid and high latitudes of the Eastern Hemisphere, the high pressure ridge is weak (strong) near the Sea of Okhotsk, the westerly zone is northward (southward), the subtropical high is westward (eastward) in location and strong (weak) in intensity, the cross-equatorial flow is strong (weak) in southeast Asia, Southwest Monsoon is strong (weak) and stronger (weaker) while in the valleys of pressure, being favorable (unfavorable) for tropical cyclones landing over China. The atmospheric circulation model for oscillatory valleys of biweekly equatorial pressure in association with (without) tropical cyclones landing over China, which can reflect the difference of atmospheric circulation between them, is beneficial to medium-term forecasts of tropical cyclones landing over China.     

Investigation of geothermal structure of the Sulawesi,using gravity and magnetic method

The Sulawesi Sea and Sulawesi Island are located in the western Pacific area where volcanic activity,plate subduction,and seismic activity are very active.The Sulawesi basin formed during the Middle Eocene-Late Eocene and nearly half of the Eocene oceanic crust has subducted below the North Sulawesi Trench.The Sulawesi Island was spliced and finalized in the Early Pliocene-Pleistocene during volcanic activity and is recently very active.This area is an optimal location to study volcanic geothermal conditions and subduction initiation mechanisms in the southern part of the western Pacific plate margin,which are important in geothermal and geodynamic research.In this study,we combined 133 heat flow data with gravity and magnetic data to calculate the Moho structure and Curie point depth of the Sulawesi Sea and periphery of the Sulawesi Island,and analyze the distribution characteristics of the geothermal gradient and thermal conductivity.The results show that the average depths of the Moho and Curie surfaces in this area are 18.4 and 14.3 km,respectively,which is consistent with the crustal velocity layer structure in the Sulawesi Basin previously determined by seismic refraction.The average geothermal gradient is 4.96°C(100 m)-1.The oceanic area shows a high geothermal gradient and low thermal conductivity,whereas the land area shows a low geothermal gradient and high thermal conductivity,both of which are consistent with statistical results of the geothermal gradient at the measured heat flow points.The highest geothermal gradient zone occurs in the transition zone from the Sulawesi Sea to Sulawesi Island,corresponding to the spreading ridge of the southward-moving Sulawesi Basin.Comprehensive gravity,magnetic,and geothermal studies have shown a high crustal geothermal gradient in the study area,which is conducive to the subduction initiation.The northern part of the Palu-koro fault on the western side of Sulawesi is likely the location where subduction initiation is occurring.During the process of moving northwest,the northern and eastern branches of Sulawesi Island have different speeds;the former is slow and the latter is fast.These branches also show different deep tectonic dynamic directions;the northern branch tilts north-up and the eastern branch tilts north-down.     

An investigation into the three-dimensional cloud structure over East Asia from the CALIPSO-GOCCP Data

The spatial distribution of clouds and their seasonal variations, and the three-dimensional(3D) cloud structures over East Asia have been analyzed with the CALIPSO-GOCCP data during the period from 2007 to 2012. The results show that there is a large cloud fraction greater than 0.7 over southern China, and the largest cloud fraction appears in southwest China. Besides, a large cloud fraction occurs over the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau. The total and high cloud fractions show notable variations with seasons, while the middle and low cloud fractions vary a little. As for cloud vertical structure, significant differences of the cloud vertical distributions are observed between over land and ocean. Cloud fractions and the height of the maximum cloud fractions decline gradually with the increasing latitude, except for the vertical-latitude profiles over the Tibetan Plateau regions. The longitude-vertical cross sections show similar patterns from the longitude 70° E to 140° E, except the profiles with large cloud fractions over the Tibetan Plateau. From the horizontal distribution patterns and vertical structures of the clouds over East Asia, it is concluded that the huge terrain of the Tibetan Plateau has significant impacts on the cloud formation over the Tibetan Plateau region and the areas to the east. At last, the clouds from the CALIPSO-GOCCP observations are compared to those from the ERA-Interim reanalysis data. The results indicate that the ERA-Interim reanalysis data provide reasonable spatial distribution patterns and the vertical structures in terms of the total cloud fraction over East Asia. However, the total cloud fraction was underestimated about 20% by the ERA-Interim reanalysis data over most parts of East Asia, especially over the neighboring areas east of the Tibetan Plateau. Additionally, the ERA-interim reanalysis data overestimate the cloud fractions at each level in the vertical direction.     

Tree-ring-based reconstruction of the April to September mean temperature since 1826 AD for north-central Shaanxi Province, China

Long-time series of high-resolution temperature record from Chinese Loess Plateau is rare. An April-September mean temperature reconstruction (1826-2004) has been developed for the north-central Shaanxi Province, China, based on tree-ring width analysis. The reconstruction captures 39.3% (p<0.001) of the variance in the instrumental data over the calibration period from 1951 to 2002. The reconstruction shows a high temperature period of 1928-1933, which coincides with the timing of the extreme drought event in 1920s in the entire northern China. The two low temperature periods in reconstruction are 1883-1888 and 1938-1942. With the global warming, the April-September mean temperature in study area has also increased since the 1970s, but has not exceeded the temperature in 1928-1933. Besides the statistical analysis, the reconstruction is also verified by the local dryness/wetness index and other dendroclimatological results.     

Sedimentary and geochemical evidence of Eocene climate change in the Xining Basin,northeastern Tibetan Plateau

The northeastern Tibetan Plateau began to grow during the Eocene and it is important to understand the climatic history of Asia during this period of so-called ‘doubthouse' conditions. However, despite major advances in the last few decades,the evolutionary history and possible mechanisms of Eocene climate change in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau remain unclear.The Xining Basin in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau contains a continuous sequence of Early to Late Eocene non-marine sediments which provides the opportunity to resolve long-term climate changes during this period. In this study, we report the results of analyses of lithofacies, sediment color and geochemistry of bulk samples collected from the Xijigou section of the Xining Basin. An abrupt lithofacies change between the Early(~52–40 Ma) and Late Eocene(~40–34 Ma) indicates a change in the depositional environment from a shallow lake to a playa lake in response to a significant climatic shift. During ~52–40 Ma,higher values of sediment redness(a*), redness/lightness(a*/L*) and higher modified Chemical Index of Weathering(CIW′)indicate a relatively warm and humid climate, while from ~40–34 Ma the lower values of a*, a*/L*and lower CIW′ imply subhumid to semi-arid climatic conditions. The paleoclimatic records indicate a long-term(~52–34 Ma) trend of decreasing chemical weathering, consistent with global climate change. An abrupt sharp excursion of the proxy records during ~42–40 Ma suggests a relatively brief warm interval, corresponding to the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum(MECO). We suggest that global cooling substantially reduced humidity in inner Asia, resulting in sub-humid to semi-arid climatic conditions after 40 Ma in the Xining Basin, which may have been responsible for the long-term trend of decreasing chemical weathering during the Eocene.     

Paleomagnetic dating of the Cenjiawan Paleolithic site in the Nihewan Basin, northern China

It draws much attention of scientists how early hu- mans occupy and adapt to the rigorous climate and environment at high northern latitudes in East Asia after they stepped out of Africa, passed West Asia and finally arrived in East Asia[1-4]. Reliable age determi- nations of Paleolithic sites from northeastern Asia not only help to find out the earliest occupation of early humans in this region, but also relate to the founda- tion of the overall framework of human origin and migration[1-8]…     

A comparative study of the atmospheric circulations associated with rainy-season floods between the Yangtze and Huaihe River Basins

Here we present the results from the composite analyses of the atmospheric circulations and physical quantity fields associated with rainy-season for the selected floods cases over the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins for the 21 years(1990–2010),using the daily rain gauge measurements taken in the 756 stations throughout China and the NCEP/reanalysis data for the rainyseasons(June–July)from 1990 to 2010.The major differences in the atmospheric circulations and physical quantity fields between the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins are as follows:for flooding years of the Yangtze River Basin,the South Asia high center is located further east than normal,the blocking high over the Urals and the Sea of Okhotsk maintains,and the Meiyu front is situated near 30°N whereas for flooding years of the Huaihe River Basin,the South Asia high center is further west than normal,the atmospheric circulations over the mid and high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere are of meridional distribution,and the Meiyu front is situated near 33°N.In addition,there are distinct differences in water vapor sources and associated transports between the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins.The water vapor is transported by southwesterly flows from the Bay of Bengal and monsoon flows over the South China Sea for flooding years of the Yangtze River Basin whereas by southeast monsoons from the eastern and southern seas off China and monsoon flows over the South China Sea for flooding years of the Huaihe River Basin.     

Epicenter and magnitude of large earthquake determined from high-rate GPS observations: A case study of the 2008 M8.0 Wenchuan earthquake

For earthquake and tsunami early warning and emergency response,the earthquake epicenter and magnitude should be determined rapidly and correctly.Using high-rate GPS observations,we can readily obtain precise and high resolution displacement time series and the seismic waveforms during the earthquake.In this paper,a new algorithm is proposed for estimating the earthquake epicenter and magnitude with the seismic waveforms derived from high-rate GPS data during the earthquake.A case study of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake is conducted from 1 Hz GPS data and the epicenter and magnitude are determined.Compared with the results issued by the China Seismological Bureau,the estimation error of the epicenter and the magnitude is about 12 km and 0.1 magnitude unit,respectively.It has shown that high-rate GPS could be a new tool feasible for estimating the earthquake epicenter and magnitude,independent of or combined with seismometers.     

2.5维井间电磁反演在中国东部孤岛油田的应用

In this study, we present a practical technique of transforming cross-hole EM data into the inter-well resistivity distribution. The a priori information constraint is incorporated into an iterative regularized inversion procedure and a variable roughness is added into the inversion process. Finite element approximation based on a two and a half-dimensional （2.5D） model has been developed for the forward problem and the ＂pseudo-forward＂ problem needed for constructing the sensitivity matrix and synthetic data set. The regularized least-squares inversion scheme, constrained with the a priori information obtained from well logs, was adopted to reconstruct the inter-well resistivity profile from two synthetic electromagnetic data sets and field data acquired in the Gudao Oil Field, East China. The partial derivatives of the sensitivity matrix were computed by the adjoint equation based on the reciprocity principle. Inversion results of the synthetic and field data examples suggest that our method is robust and stable in the presence of random noise in the field data and can be used for cross-hole EM field data interpretation.     

Mapping global impervious surface area and green space within urban environments

The mapping of impervious surface area(ISA) and urban green space(UGS) is essential for improving the urban environmental quality toward ecological, livable, and sustainable goals. Currently, accurate ISA and UGS products are lacking in urban areas at the global scale. This study established regression models that estimated the fraction of ISA/UGS in global 30 cities for validation using MODIS NDVI and DMSP/OLS nighttime light imageries. A global dataset of ISA and UGS fraction with a spatial resolution of 250 m×250 m was developed using the regression model, with a mean relative error of 0.19 for its ISA. The results showed the global urban area of 76.29×10~4 km~2, which was primarily distributed in central Europe, eastern Asia,and central and eastern North America. The urban land area in North America, Europe, and Asia was 66.3×10~4 km~2, accounting for 86.91% of the world's urban area; the urban land area of the top 50 countries accounted for 59.32% of the total urban land area in the world. The global ISA of 45.26×10~4 km~2 was mainly distributed in central and southern North America, eastern Asia, and Europe, as well as coastal regions around the world. The proportion of ISA situated in built-up areas on the continental scale followed the order of Africa(70%)South AmericaOceaniaAsia(60%)North AmericaEurope(50%), and these areas were mostly in southeastern North America, southwestern Europe, and eastern and western Asia. North America, Europe, and Asia accounted for 89.44% of the world's total UGS. The cities of developed countries in Europe and North America exposed a dramatic mosaic of ISA and UGS composites in urban construction. Therefore, the proportion of UGS is relatively high in those cities. However, in developing and underdeveloped countries, the proportion of UGS in built-up areas is relatively low, and urban environments need to be improved for livability.