Remote sensing parameterization of the processes of energy and water cycle over desertification areas

In order to understand the processes of land surface-atmosphere interaction over desertification area, it is indispensable to utilize of satellite remote sensing. Two scenes of Landsat TM were used to produce a set of maps of surface reflectance, MSAVI, vegetation coverage, surface temperature, net radiation, soil heat flux, sensible heat flux and latent heat flux. Statistical analysis based on these maps revealed some quantitative significant land surface characteristics. Future developments of the method are also discussed.     

Kosa (yellow sand) components in precipitation collected at central Japan

In east Asia, acidic gases derived from fossil fuel combustion have increased in the past decades. On the other hand, the Asian dust, also called Kosa (yellow sand) is transported following windstorms from arid lands in the Asian continent. Many researchers have been interested in the reaction between acidic aerosols and Kosa aerosols as well as the long-range transport of these emissions. To investigate the characteristics of chemical components in precipitation on a long-term basis over Japan, precipitation was sequentially collected from April 1984 to March 1997 at Kanazawa located near the coast of the Sea of Japan. Precipitation samples were collected at 1 mm intervals for the first 5 mm rainfall and all volume of rainwater after 6 mm for all precipitation events with an automatic wet only precipitation collector. According to the analyses of precipitation including Kosa aerosols during Kosa periods, the reaction in the air between Kosa and acidic components during the long-range transport was discussed.     

Damage and recovery of the Gurbantunggut Desert vegetation following engineering activities

The fragile ecological environment of the Gurbantunggut Desert is damaged/disturbed by human activities relating to the development of oil-gas resources and the constructions of desert road and great engineering in the Jungger Basin. It was mainly represented: soil compaction, vegetation cleaning, burial of vegetation, oil polluting, and soil disturbance. With investigation and experiment, we found that when the way and intensity of engineering activities disturbing the eco-environment does not make its ecological stability disintegrated, the desert vegetation has a capacity of natural recovery. To speed and strengthen the process of vegetation recovery efficient assistant measurements, including stabilizing mobile sands promptly and sowing seeds of shrub and herb plants in good time will be needed.     

Expansion and contraction of Chinese deserts during the Quaternary

Episodic dune formations during the Quaternary are found in many deserts of China. The causes of desert expansions on different time scales are not the same. Desert extension at about 1.1 and 0.9 Ma ago were the response to the active tectonic movements, whereas the desert evolutions on the ten-thousand years time scale were the response to the orbital scale climatic changes. Spatial scale studies on desert evolution indicate that desert margins shifted greatly during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and the Holocene optimum, its changing from 125°E of the LGM to 105°E of the climatic optimum. Historical desertification in the semiarid China is not a response to climate drought but largely associated with the human impacts (mainly over-cultivation) since about 2300 years ago, which leads to the reworking of the underlying LGM sands.     

Utilization of water resources,ecological balance and land desertification in the Tarim Basin,Xinjiang

Because of the human exploitation and utilization of water resources in the Tarim Basin, the water resources consumption has changed from mainly natural ecosystem to artificial oasis ecosystem, and the environment has changed correspondingly. The basic changes are: desertification and oasis development coexist, both “the human being advance and the desert retreat” and “the desert advance and the human being retreat” coexist, but the latter is dominant. In the upper reaches, water volume drawing to irrigated agricultural areas has increased, artificial oases have been enlarging and moving from the deltas in the lower reaches of many rivers to the piedmont plains. In the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River, the stream flow has decreased, old oases have declined, natural vegetations have been degenerating, desertification has been enlarging, and the environment has deteriorated. The transition regions, which consist of forestlands, grasslands and waters between the desert and the oases, have been decreasing continuously, their shelter function to the oases has been weakened, and the desert is threatening the oases seriously.     

Getting ‘holistic’ about land rehabilitation in hot arid regions

The paper describes Western Australian examples and causes of land degradation. It outlines shortcomings in the methodologies used to rehabilitate these areas. From this a protocol is suggested for an ‘holistic’ approach to land rehabilitation.     

The experimental studies on electrical con-ductivities and P-wave velocities of anortho-site at high pressure and high temperature

Introduction The measurements of the compressional wave velocity and electrical conductivity of minerals and rocks are of fundamental importance to look into the earths interior, including composition, geotherm, generation and distribution of fluids and melts. Hydrous minerals formed by metamatu-siom are abundant within the earth. Previous studies have been carried out on the dehydration effect on the electrical conductivity and wave velocity of rocks such as serpentine, amphibole, most of whi…     

河南豫北地震台网地区波速的探讨

为了解决河南豫北地区地震的定位问题 ,对豫北台网内的 10个典型地震 ,使用了 7个地震台站的资料 ,用波速比求出横波速度 ;用和达定位法 (有的同时使用高桥法 )进行了精确定位 ,求出震源深度 ;测量了震中至各台的震中距 ,以此反算出了纵波速度。通过计算 ,确定出了较为适合河南豫北地震台网地区的波速。     

河南郑州台数字化DSQ水管倾斜仪观测精度的评定

选取了河南郑州台数字化 DSQ型水管倾斜仪观测资料较好的 2 0 0 1年 10月 1日至 12月 31日的数据进行了分析处理 ,对该仪器的观测精度进行了评定。经计算 ,其北南向和东西向日飘移分别为 0 .0 0 0 7s和 0 .0 0 2 6 s,M2 的振幅因子为 0 .714 9和 0 .6 4 14 ,振幅因子中误差为 0 .0 0 5 5和0 .0 0 4 4。