Splintered networks: The colonial and contemporary waters of Jakarta

This paper queries the relevance of the ‘splintering urbanism’ thesis to postcolonial cities of the South, and responds to calls for the production of a decentered theory of urbanization through a case study of Jakarta. Drawing on archival and interview data, the paper demonstrates that Jakarta has, since its inception, been characterized by a high degree of differentiation of access to water supply, and of fragmentation of water supply networks. We document the origins of this fragmentation in the colonial era, and trace the legacy of the colonial constructions within the postcolonial city. Moreover, we demonstrate that the introduction of private sector management (in 1988) has not significantly disrupted, and certainly not caused, this pattern. In short, we provide evidence to support our claim that Jakarta’s water supply system is ‘splintered’ rather than ‘splintering’, and demonstrate that this phenomenon was not caused by the rise (or fall) of the ‘modern infrastructural ideal’. In order to explain this sustained fragmentation of infrastructure and access, the paper develops a conceptual framework of postcolonial governmentality that emphasizes the interrelationship between materiality, governmentality, identity, and urbanization, in particular through demonstrating how contested and evolving process of social differentiation are linked to the differentiation of water supply infrastructures and of urban spaces. Although we are wary of any simplistic comparisons between the colonial past and present, we argue that the optic of postcolonial governmentality provides a powerful lens for dissecting the power relations that continue to structure access to water supply and urban space in cities in the South.     

Modeling urban expansion by using variable weights logistic cellular automata: a case study of Nanjing,China

Simulation models based on cellular automata (CA) are widely used for understanding and simulating complex urban expansion process. Among these models, logistic CA (LCA) is commonly adopted. However, the performance of LCA models is often limited because the fixed coefficients obtained from binary logistic regression do not reflect the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of transition rules. Therefore, we propose a variable weights LCA (VW-LCA) model with dynamic transition rules. The regression coefficients in this VW-LCA model are based on VW by incorporating a genetic algorithm in a conventional LCA. The VW-LCA model and the conventional LCA model were both used to simulate urban expansion in Nanjing, China. The models were calibrated with data for the period 2000–2007 and validated for the period 2007–2013. The results showed that the VW-LCA model performed better than the LCA model in terms of both visual inspection and key indicators. For example, kappa, accuracy of urban land and figure of merit for the simulation results of 2013 increased by 3.26%, 2.96% and 4.44%, respectively. The VW-LCA model performs relatively better compared with other improved LCA models that are suggested in literature.     

MERIS and the red-edge position

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is a payload component of Envisat-1. MERIS will be operated over land with a standard 15 band setting acquiring images with a 300 m spatial resolution. The red-edge position (REP) is a promising variable for deriving foliar chlorophyll concentration, which plays an important role in ecosystem processes. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to study which factors effect the REP of vegetation, (2) to study whether this REP can be derived from the MERIS standard band setting and (3) to show what REP represents at the scale of MERIS data. Two different data sets were explored for simulating the REP using MERIS bands: (1) simulated data using reflectance models and (2) airborne reflectance spectra of an agricultural area obtained by the airborne visible-infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS). A “linear method”, assuming a straight slope of the reflectance spectrum around the midpoint of the slope, was a robust method for determining the REP and the MERIS bands at 665, 708.75, 753.75 and 778.75 nm could be used for applying the “linear method” for REP estimation. Results of the translation to the scale of MERIS data were very promising for applying MERIS at, for instance, the ecosystem level.     

Theory of anisotropic dynamic ray tracing in ray-centred coordinates

A 4×4-propagator matrix formalism is presented for anisotropic dynamic ray tracing, including the propagation across curved interfaces. The computations are organised in the same way as in ervený's well-known isotropic propagator matrix formalism. Attention is paid to cases where double eigenvalues of the Christoffel matrix result in unstable expressions in the dynamic ray tracing system, but where geometrical spreading is well-behaved.     

Beggiatoa in microbial mats at hydrocarbon vents in the Gulf of Mexico and Warm Mineral Springs,Florida

Microbial mats were collected from a variety of sites near hydrocarbon vents along the slope in the northern Gulf of Mexico and, for comparison, from Warm Mineral Springs, Florida, USA. A predominant microorganism in each of the mats was the giant bacterium,Beggiatoa. Diameters of the bacterial filaments ranged from about 6 µm to approximately 200 µm. The latter organisms are the largest prokaryotic organisms yet found. All filaments over about 10 µm in diameter contained a large central vacuole, producing a cell with the cytoplasm as a cylindrical tube underlying the cytoplasmic membrane. Sulfur globules were confined to this peripheral layer. Push cores often contained pyrite tubules whose appearance is suggestive of aBeggiatoa origin. Determinations of ¹³C inBeggiatoa mats from vents along the Louisiana slope yielded values in the range of –26.6 to –27.9 (PDB), suggesting an unusually high degree of isotope fractionation (–24.9) relative to the carbon source in the ambient seawater, which is typical of sulfur-oxidizing chemoautotrophs. The presence of S^O (elemental sulfur) within cells ofBeggiatoa resulting from oxidation of H₂S supports the importance of bacterial sulfate reduction processes in the underlying vents for the sustenance of theBeggiatoa mats.     

The 1999 Flatfish Symposium: where to go from now?

A summary report of the 1999 Flatfish Symposium is presented. The Symposium was built on the themes of the previous Symposia, whereby the link is through processes related to recruitment. As in the previous Symposia, the papers presented have a strong focus on temperate species and basic information on (sub)tropical species is still lacking. The lack of insight into (sub)stock structure is still a problem and more insight is necessary into the methodologies for determining and describing stock structure. Another important unresolved issue concerns the quantitative understanding of the physical processes that affect the cross-shelf transport and exchange of eggs and larvae. Finally, there is a need for bioenergetic approaches to habitat quality and quantity both at the individual and population level to assess the qualitative and quantitative use of habitats in space and time. Applying global information systems (GIS) might be promising in this respect. With respect to management issues two items are of utmost importance: the collapse and recovery of stocks and the problems relating to re-stocking.     

A comparison of management planning and implementation in three Indonesian marine protected areas

A comparison of three marine protected areas in Indonesia illustrates many of the problems in management planning and implementation. Major factors influencing management are proximity to urban areas, the protected area's economic potential, current uses and the resolution of jurisdictional disputes. Isolation does not prevent resource depletion. Improving the economic conditions of local residents and gaining their commitment to environmentally sustainable commercial and subsistence resource uses within and near protected areas are vital to implementing area management.     

Cenozoic alongslope processes and sedimentation on the NW European Atlantic margin

Based on studies of sediment accumulations deposited from-and erode by-alongslope flowing ocean currents on the European continental margin from Porcupine (Ireland) to Lofoten (Norway), the evolution of the Cenozoic paleocirculation was reconstructed as part of the STRATAGEM project. There is evidence of ocean current-controlled erosion and deposition in the Rockall Trough, in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel and on the Vøring Plateau since the late Eocene, although the circulation pattern remains ambiguous. The late Palaeogene flow in the Rockall Trough was almost probably driven by southerly-derived Tethyan Outflow Water. The extent and strength of any northerly-derived flow is uncertain. From the early Neogene (early-mid-Miocene), there was a massive regional expansion of contourite drift development both in the North Atlantic and in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. This was most probably related to the development of the Faroe Conduit, the opening of the Fram Strait and the general subsidence of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. These may have combined to cause a considerable acceleration in the exchange and overflow of deep waters between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. An early late Neogene (late early Pliocene) regional erosional event has been ascribed to a vigorous pulse of bottom-current activity, most probably the result of a global reorganisation of ocean currents associated with the closure of the Central American Seaway. During the late Neogene, contourites and sediment drifts developed in deep-water basins, between units of glacigenic sediments as well as infill of several paleo-slide scars. These sediments were derived from areas of bottom-current erosion as well as from the development of Plio-Pleistocene prograding sediment wedges, incorporating the extensive sediment supply derived from shelf-wide ice sheets. Presently a profound winnowing prevails along the shelf and upper slope due to the inflowing currents of Atlantic water. Depocentres of sediments derived from the winnowing are located (locally) in lower slope embayments and in slide scars.     

Oblique sand ridges in confined tidal channels due to Coriolis and frictional torques

Ocean Dynamics - The role of the Coriolis effect in the initial formation of bottom patterns in a tidal channel is studied by means of a linear stability analysis. The key finding is that the...     

Radial Dupuit interface flow to assess the aquifer storage and recovery potential of saltwater aquifers

A new accurate numerical solution is presented for aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) systems in coastal aquifers; flow is approximated as radial Dupuit interface flow. The radial velocities of points on the interface are a function of time, the vertical coordinate, and the dimensionless parameter D (the discharge of the well divided by the product of the hydraulic conductivity, the square of the aquifer thickness, and the dimensionless density difference). The recovery efficiency of an ASR system (the ratio of the recovered volume of water divided by the injected volume of water) is determined by D and by the relative lengths of the injection, storage and recovery periods. Graphs are produced for the recovery efficiency as a function of parameter D for ASR operations with and without storage periods and for multiple cycles. The presented solutions and graphs are to be used as screening tools to assess the feasibility of specific injection, storage and recovery scenarios of planned ASR systems in saltwater aquifers without having to run complicated flow and transport models. When the screening tool indicates that recovery efficiencies are acceptable, the consideration of other features such as mixing and chemistry is warranted.