Spatial Planning on the Semantic Web

Land use regulations are an important but often underrated legal domain. In densely populated regions such as the Netherlands, spatial plans have a profound impact on both (local) governments and citizens. This article describes our work on a ‘Legal Atlas’. Using Semantic Web technology we combine distributed geospatial data, textual data and controlled vocabularies to support users in answering questions such as: “What activity is allowed here?” Spatial norms are represented using OWL 2 in a way that enables intuitive visualisation of their effects: map‐based legal case assessment. Users can represent a (simple) case by selecting or drawing an area on the map. Given a designation for that area, the system can assess whether this is allowed or not. The same solution also enables the comparison of two or more sets of spatial norms that govern the same region. We discuss the advantages and drawbacks of a number of alternative solutions for representing and integrating metadata of spatial plans, and the representation of normative conflicts and exceptions between norms.     

High resolution climate simulations over the Arctic

The regional atmospheric climate model HIRHAM has been applied to the Arctic. Simulations for the whole year 1990 and for an ensemble of winter months (January of 1985-1995) have been performed. The comparison of the simulations with observational data analyses shows that the general spatial patterns are in good agreement with the data, in both the vertical structure and the annual cycle. For an additional validation of the model results, a multivariate classification of large-scale circulation patterns has been applied to the January ensemble model simulations.     

On the apparent coupling of neutral hydrogen and dark matter in spiral galaxies

We have studied a mass model for spiral galaxies in which the dark matter surface density is a scaled version of the observed H  i surface density. Applying this mass model to a sample of 24 spiral galaxies with reliable rotation curves, one obtains good fits for most galaxies. The scaling factors cluster around 7, after correction for the presence of primordial helium. For several cases, however, different, often larger, values are found. For galaxies that cannot be fitted well, the discrepancy occurs at large radii and results from a fairly rapid decline of the H  i surface density in the outermost regions. Because of such imperfections and in view of possible selection effects, it is not possible to conclude here that there is a real coupling between H  i and dark matter in spiral galaxies.     

Hydrodynamic control of the supply of reworked terrigenous sediment to coral reefs in the Bay of Banten (NW Java, Indonesia)

The Bay of Banten is an example of a shallow-water reef environment adjacent to an eroding delta system, where corals survive in turbid conditions. This study investigated the hydrodynamic controls over residual fluxes of terrigenous sediment in the bay. Observations of wind, waves, currents and suspended sediment concentrations in 1998 and 1999 revealed contrasting dynamic turbidity conditions influenced by tides, monsoon-driven flows and locally generated waves. The most sediment-rich suspensions originate from the shallow coastal margin of an inactive delta, where waves resuspend sediment and small creeks discharge freshwater and sediment. Because of coupling between monsoonal wind, throughflow in the bay and wave height, when wave-induced resuspension peaks seasonally during the northwest monsoon, an eastward throughflow prevents the nearshore reefs in the bay from being directly exposed to turbid water masses generated in the eroding delta. In inshore waters, tidal asymmetry and the spatial variation of current amplitudes cause residual sediment transport, largely depending on the availability of erodible sediment. In the center of the bay, where there is a patch reef complex, the tidal and subtidal currents are weak and therefore here there is a zone where sediment accumulates.     

The orbiting stellar ultraviolet spectrophotometer S59 in ESRO's TD-1A satellite

The ultraviolet stellar spectrophotometer S59 of the Utrecht Astronomical Institute uses the stabilization properties of the ESRO TD-1A satellite. This spacecraft scans the sky along eliptic meridians with an orbital precession of one degree per day, thus covering the whole celestial sphere in half a year. This property is combined with a tracking system which points the spectrophotometer during four minutes at stars of sufficient brightness. During this time interval the ultraviolet stellar spectrum is scanned with a resolution of 1.7 Å in three bands of about 100 Å, around 2110, 2545 and 2825 Å. The optical, mechanical and electronic properties of the instrument and its tracking system are described in some detail, as well as the optical and technical performance in laboratory tests and in orbit. Some results obtained during the first half year of operation are briefly described.     

‘Modelling the Arctic Boundary Layer: An Evaluation of Six Arcmip Regional-Scale Models using Data from the Sheba Project’

A primary climate change signal in the central Arctic is the melting of sea ice. This is dependent on the interplay between the atmosphere and the sea ice, which is critically dependent on the exchange of momentum, heat and moisture at the surface. In assessing the realism of climate change scenarios it is vital to know the quality by which these exchanges are modelled in climate simulations. Six state-of-the-art regional-climate models are run for one year in the western Arctic, on a common domain that encompasses the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) experiment ice-drift track. Surface variables, surface fluxes and the vertical structure of the lower troposphere are evaluated using data from the SHEBA experiment. All the models are driven by the same lateral boundary conditions, sea-ice fraction and sea and sea-ice surface temperatures. Surface pressure, near-surface air temperature, specific humidity and wind speed agree well with observations, with a falling degree of accuracy in that order. Wind speeds have systematic biases in some models, by as much as a few metres per second. The surface radiation fluxes are also surprisingly accurate, given the complexity of the problem. The turbulent momentum flux is acceptable, on average, in most models, but the turbulent heat fluxes are, however, mostly unreliable. Their correlation with observed fluxes is, in principle, insignificant, and they accumulate over a year to values an order of magnitude larger than observed. Typical instantaneous errors are easily of the same order of magnitude as the observed net atmospheric heat flux. In the light of the sensitivity of the atmosphere–ice interaction to errors in these fluxes, the ice-melt in climate change scenarios must be viewed with considerable caution.     

Adapting to climate change: a comparison of two strategies for dike heightening

In the Netherlands the current dike design policy is to design flood defence structures corresponding to an agreed flooding probability with an extra safety board of at least 0.5 m. For river dikes a return period of 1,250 years is used to determine the design water levels. A problem with this strategy is that it builds on assumptions with regard to the intrinsically uncertain probability distributions for the peak discharges. The uncertainty is considerable and due to (1) the measuring records that are limited to about 100 years and (2) the changing natural variability as a result of climate change. Although the probability distributions are regularly updated based on new discharge data the nature of the statistics is such that a change in the natural variability of the peak discharge affects the probability distribution only long after the actual change has happened. Here we compare the performance of the probabilistic dike design strategy with the older strategy, referred to as the ‘self-learning dike’. The basic principle of the latter strategy is that the dike height is kept at a level equal to the highest recorded water level plus a certain safety margin. The two flood prevention strategies are compared on the basis of the flooding safety over a 100-year period. The Rhine gauge station at Lobith serves as case study. The results indicate that the self-learning dike performs better than the probabilistic design in terms of safety and costs, both under current and climate change conditions.     

虚拟水贸易在我国粮食安全问题中的应用

借助虚拟水的概念,分析以粮食为载体的虚拟水国际、区际流量关系,以勾勒我国虚拟水贸易的基本格局。通过对未来我国在不同粮食发展战略下的粮食供需情况,确定我国粮食进口基本规模,对未来我国虚拟水贸易格局进行展望。分析结果表明,1999年我国北方通过粮食贸易向南方地区输出的虚拟水量达到184亿m3。我国北方地区以有限的水资源在支持其他区域发展、确保国家粮食安全方面发挥了不可替代的作用。未来30年中国将面临新增粮食需求1.4亿~2.0亿t的巨大压力,在保持较高自给水平的前提下,我国虚拟水贸易的格局不会发生重大变化。外流域调水工程是保障国家粮食安全,维护社会稳定,促进可持续发展和造福中国人民的重大举措。虚拟水战略可作为跨流域调水的补充,在保障缺水地区水安全方面发挥重要作用。