Refining locations of the 2005 Mukacheve,West Ukraine,earthquakes based on similarity of their waveforms

Based on the results of application of correlation analysis to records of the 2005 Mukacheve group of recurrent events and their subsequent relocation relative to the reference event of 7 July 2005, a conclusion has been drawn that all the events had most likely occurred on the same rup-ture plane. Station terms have been estimated for seismic stations of the Transcarpathians, accounting for variation of seismic velocities beneath their locations as compared to the travel time tables used in the study. In methodical aspect, potentials and usefulness of correlation analysis of seismic records for a more detailed study of seismic processes, tectonics and geodynamics of the Carpathian region have been demonstrated.     

Vegetation change of ecotone in west of Northeast China plain using time-series remote sensing data

Multi-temporal series of satellite SPOT-VEGETATION normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) data from 1998 to 2007 were used for analyzing vegetation change of the ecotone in the west of the Northeast China Plain. The yearly and monthly maximal values,anomalies and change rates of NDVI and NDWI were calculated to reveal the interannual and seasonal changes in vegetation cover and vegetation water content. Linear regression method was adopted to characterize the trends in vegetation change. The yearly maximal NDVI decreased from 0.41 in 1998 to 0.37 in 2007,implying the decreasing trend of vegetation activity. There was a significant decrease of maximal NDVI in spring and summer over the study period,while an increase trend was observed in autumn. The vegetation-improved regions and vegetation-degraded regions occupied 17.03% and 20.30% of the study area,respectively. The maximal NDWI over growing season dropped by 0.027 in 1998–2007,and about 15.15% of the study area showed a decreasing trend of water content. Vegetation water stress in autumn was better than that in spring. Vegetation cover and water content variations were sensitive to annual precipitation,autumn precipitation and summer temperature. The vegetation degradation trend in this ecotone might be induced by the warm-drying climate especially continuous spring and summer drought in the recent ten years.     

Land Use Allocation Based on Interval Multi-objective Linear Programming Model： A Case Study of Pi County in Sichuan Province

Adjusting and optimizing land use structure is one of the essential approaches to solve the conflict between land supply and demand. In this study,an uncertain interval multi-objective linear programming model was established and applied to analyzing the suitability of land use structure in Pi County of Sichuan Province. An adjustment scheme for optimizing land use structure was proposed on the basis of development planning drawn up by the local government. The results are summarized as follows: 1) the opti...     

Impacts of climatic change on river runoff in northern Xinjiang of China over last fifty years

The characteristics of climatic change and river runoff, as well as the response of river runoff to climatic change in the northern Xinjiang are analyzed on the basis of the hydrological and meteorological data over the last 50 years by the methods of Mann-Kendall nonparametric test and the nonlinear regression model. The results show that: 1) The temperature and the precipitation increased significantly in the whole northern Xinjiang, but the precipitation displayed no obvious change, or even a decreasing trend in the northern mountainous area of the northern Xinjiang. 2) River runoff varied in different regions in the northern Xinjiang. It significantly increased in the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains and the north of the northern Xinjiang (p=0.05), while slightly increased in the west of the northern Xinjiang. 3) North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) affects river runoff by influencing temperature and precipita-tion. The NAO and precipitation had apparent significant correlations with the river runoff, but the temperature did not in the northern Xinjiang. Since the mid-1990s river runoff increase was mainly caused by the increasing temperature in the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains and the north of the northern Xinjiang. Increased precipitation resulted in increased river runoff in the west of the northern Xinjiang.     

Assimilation of ASAR data with a hydrologic and semi-empirical backscattering coupled model to estimate soil moisture

The most promising approach for studying soil moisture is the assimilation of observation data and computational modeling.However,there is much uncertainty in the assimilation process,which affects the assimilation results.This research developed a one-dimensional soil moisture assimilation scheme based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter(EnKF)and Genetic Algorithm(GA).A two-dimensional hydrologic model-Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model(DHSVM)was coupled with a semi-empirical backscattering model(Oh).The Advanced Synthetic Apertture Radar(ASAR)data were assimilated with this coupled model and the field observation data were used to validate this scheme in the soil moisture assimilation experiment.In order to improve the assimilation results,a cost function was set up based on the distance between the simulated backscattering coefficient from the coupled model and the observed backscattering coefficient from ASAR.The EnKF and GA were used to re-initialize and re-parameterize the simulation process,respectively.The assimilation results were compared with the free-run simulations from hydrologic model and the field observation data.The results obtained indicate that this assimilation scheme is practical and it can improve the accuracy of soil moisture estimation significantly.     

Comprehensive measurement for carrying capacity of resources and environment of city clusters in central China

Studying the carrying capacity of resources and environment of city clusters in the central China has impor-tant practical guidance significance for promoting the healthy,sustainable and stable development of this region.Ac-cording to their influencing factors and reciprocity mechanism,using system dynamics approaches,this paper built a SD model for measuring the carrying capacity of resources and environment of the city clusters in the central China,and through setting different development models,the comprehensive measurement analysis on the carrying capacity was carried out.The results show that the model of promoting socio-economic development under the protection of resources and environment is the optimal model for promoting the harmony development of resources,environment,society and economy in the city clusters.According to this model,the optimum population scale of the city clusters in2020 is 42.80×106 persons,and the moderate economic development scale is 22.055× 1012 yuan(RMB).In 1996-2020,the carrying capacity of resources and environment in the city clusters took on obvious phase-change characteristics.During the studied period,it is basically at the initial development stage,and will come through the development process from slow development to speedup development.     

Response of regeneration diversity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Carex Lasiocarpa</Emphasis> community to different water levels in Sanjiang Plain,China

The species diversity at the regeneration stage, inflenced by different water levels, is important for community composition in the later growing season. Regeneration diversity of Carex lasiocarpa community under different water levels was studied at two stages, recruitment and adult, in the Sanjiang Plain, Heilongjiang Province, China. The results showed that, at the two growing stages, important value of C. lasiocarpa population and species richness of the community decreased with the increasing water level, while the Simpson and Shannon-Wiener diversity indexes and Pielou evenness index increased. Under different water levels, community diversities were higher at the recruitment stage, while population important values of C. lasiocarpa were higher at the adult stage. Indexes in vegetation evaluation must be chosen prudentially for successful restoration and effective management of wetlands, and especially for wetland restoration, the optimal time should be selected according to the restoration objectives and costs.     

Estimation on Aesthetic Value of Tourist Landscapes in a Natural Heritage Site： Kanas National Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China

Most world natural heritage sites are designated partly by reason of their prominent aesthetic values in accordance with Article Ⅶ of World Natural Heritage Convention.In this paper, the aesthetic values of Kanas National Nature Reserve, which has potential for such designation, was analyzed quantitatively using scenic beauty estimation(SBE).The landscapes of 19 representative scenic spots in the Kanas National Nature Reserve in summer and autumn were selected as the objects of evaluation.The contributions of different landscape factors to the aesthetic value of the Kanas National Nature Reserve were revealed using a multivariate quantitative model.The main factors affecting the aesthetic value were waterscapes, vegetation, mountains, folk culture and the tourist environment.The t-test and F-test results are extremely significant.According to the results, some suggestions were given for conserving the landscapes in the Kanas National Nature Reserve.     

Relationship between North Pacific SST anomalies and the atmospheric circulation anomalies in January 2008

Based on the NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) data, the relationship between the Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies (SSTAs) in the North Pacific and the atmospheric circulation anomalies in January 2008 is analyzed in this study. The SSTA mode most correlated with the Geopotential Height anomalies (GHAs) in January 2008 in the North Pacific exhibited a basin-wide horseshoe pattern with a warm center in November 2007. This persistent SSTA pattern would induce positive GHAs in the Aleutian Low area and East Asia and the northward extension of the West Pacific Subtropical High in January 2008 by maximum diabatic heating in the atmosphere over the Kuroshio Oyashio Extension (KOE) area, leading to the occurence of the circumpolar trough-ridge wave train anomaly in January 2008.     

Study on the performance of the micropile-mechanically stabilized earth wall

The Micropile-Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall, specially designed for mountain roads, is proposed to improve the MSE wall local stability, global stability and impact resistance of roadside barriers. Model tests and the corresponding numerical modeling were conducted to validate the serviceability of the Micropile-MSE wall and the reliability of the numerical method. Then, a parametric study of the stress and deformation of Micropile-MSE wall based on the backfill strength and interfacial friction angle between backfill and backslope is conducted to evaluate its performance. The test results indicate that the surcharge-induced horizontal earth pressure, base pressure and lateral displacement of the wall panel of Micropile-MSE wall decrease. The corresponding numerical results are nearly equal to the measured values. The basic failure mode of MSE wall in steep terrain is the sliding of backfill along the backslope, while A-frame style micropiles are capable of preventing the sliding trend. The maximum resultant displacement can be decreased by 6.25% to 46.9% based on different interfacial friction angles, and the displacement can be reduced by 6% ~ 56.1% based on different backfill strengths. Furthermore, the reduction increases when the interfacial friction angle and internal friction angle of backfill decrease. In addition, the lateral displacement of wall panel, the deformation of backfill decrease and the tension strain of geogrid obviously, which guarantees the MSE wall functions and provides good conditions for mountain roads.