Evaluating the suitability of different terrains for sustaining human settlements according to the local elevation range in China using the ASTER GDEM

The topographical suitability assessment of human settlements(SAHS) creates a solid foundation for regional population distribution and socio-economic development. Local elevation range(LER) is an important factor that can be used to assess the suitability of different terrains for sustaining human settlements. However, current digital elevation model(DEM)-based LER products suffer from some challenges typically because of their subjectively selected neighborhood scales and coarser spatial resolution. In this study, we initially determined the optimal statistical window and then calculated the appropriate LER with the finer resolution data of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global DEM(ASTER GDEM) products for China. Then, the appropriate LER was used to evaluate the topographical SAHS and its correlations with the national gridded population distribution(1 km × 1 km) in 2010. The results show that the optimal statistical window for calculating a 1 arc-second(about 30 m) resolution GDEM LER for China can be determined using a 51 × 51 grid unit(width × height) within a rectangular neighborhood, corresponding to an area of about 2.34 km~2. Secondly, the LER values in the southern and western China were greater than those of the north and east, showing a trend which consistently reflects the general spatial features of landforms. Finally, the relationship between GDEM LER and population density was highly correlated with the R~2 value of 0.81. It showed that 85.22% of the Chinese population was located in areas where the LER is lower than 500 m. The topographically suitable area within China decreased from the southeastern coastal zone towards the northwestern inland areas due to transition from plains and basins to plateaus and mountains. The total area of moderate to high suitable level was 423.84 × 10~4 km~2, or 44.15% of the total land area, with 88.17% of the national population. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of appropriate LER in evaluating the topographical SAHS as well as its significant impact on population distribution.     

Application of quantitative PCR method in detection of Lymphocystis disease virus China （LCDV-cn） in Japanese flounder （Paralichthys olivaceus）

Lymphocystis disease causes serious economic losses in the fish farming industry. The causative agent of the disease is Lymphocystis disease virus China (LCDV-cn), which has a wide range of hosts. Based on competitive quantitative PCR technology, we established a method to quantify the LCDV-cn in tissue. Results demonstrate that the average amount of LCDV-cn in the peripheral blood of infected flounder with evident tumors is about 106virions/ml while the average amount in those flounder with no evident tumor but cultured with the flounder with evident tumor is about 104virions/ml. No virus was found in the negative samples of flounder.     

Comprehensive evaluation of ski resort development conditions in northern China

China′s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will promote rapid development of domestic ski tourism. More than 10 provinces in the northern China list ski tourism as a new source of growth in the tourism industry. Formulating a scientific evaluation system is an important foundation for ski resort development. By referring to the conditions of existing international ski resorts, a comprehensive index system for evaluating ski resort development was developed based on natural factors, human factors, athletic sports, and popular ski tourism. The system was composed of one target layer, two indices, seven sub-indices and twenty-five basic indices. Based on data collected during a field investigation in 2012 and on a statistical model, the development conditions of the following ski resorts were quantified: Yabuli Ski Resort in Heilongjiang Province and Beidahu Ski Resort in Jilin Province in Northeast China, Wanlong Ski Resort in Hebei Province and Nanshan Ski Resort in Beijing in the northern China, and Silk Road International Ski Resort in Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang in the northwestern China. The resulting index values of development conditions at Beidahu, Yabuli, Wanlong, Nanshan, and Silk Road International Ski Resorts were 0.304, 0.278, 0.270, 0.214, and –0.025, respectively. Various natural and human factors exert positive and negative effects on the development potential of ski resorts. The development conditions of the five ski resorts were inferior to those of first-class international resorts. Therefore, the development conditions of the five ski resorts should be improved with future construction.     

塔里木河流域径流变化趋势及其对气候变化的响应

This paper has studied the change of streamflow and the impact of climatic variability conditions on regional hydrological cycle in the headwater of the Tarim River Basin. This study investigates possible causes of observed trends in streamflow in an environment which is highly variable in terms of atmospheric conditions, and where snow and ice melt play an important role in the natural hydrological regime. The discharge trends of three head streams have a significant increase trend from 1957 to 2002 with the Mann-Kendall test. Complex time-frequency distributions in the streamflow regime are demonstrated especially by Morlet wavelet analysis over 40 years. The purpose is to ascertain the nature of climatic factors spatial and temporal distribution, involved the use of EOF （Empirical Orthogonal Function） to compare the dominant temperature, precipitation and evaporation patterns from normally climatic records over the Tarim＇s headwater basin. It shows that the first principal component was dominated since the 1990s for temperature and precipitation, which identifies the significant ascending trend of spatial and temporal pattern characteristics under the condition of the global warming. An exponential correlation is highlighted between surface air temperature and mean river discharge monthly, so the regional runoff increases by 10%-16% when surface air temperature rises by 1 ℃. Results suggest that headwater basins are the most vulnerable environments from the point of view of climate change, because their watershed properties promote runoff feeding by glacier and snow melt water and their fundamental vulnerability to temperature changes affects rainfall, snowfall, and glacier and ice melt.     

草地改良对陆地生态系统养分的影响--以福建省建瓯市牛坑龙草地生态系统试验站为例

Both land use/land cover change (LUCC) and the effects of nutrients cycles on terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity are key environmental problems in the 21st century (Yang etal., 2002; Li, 1996; Bai and Bai, 1998). Land cover change is the accumulated result of land use, which includes three types, i.e., deterioration, transition and amelioration of land cover (Cai, 2001). The nutrient cycle is the main functional process to maintain stability and production of an ecosystem. Land cover …     

A basic hypoplastic constitutive model for sand

Hypoplastic constitutive models are based on nonlinear tensor functions and are characterized by simple formulation and few parameters. In its early stage, mainly basic hypoplastic constitutive equations were concerned, where the stress tensor is assumed as the only state variable. There followed some enhanced models based on the basic constitutive equation by including void ratio as an additional state variable. In this paper, we first show that the widely used hypoplastic model by Wolffersdorff is seriously flawed because the underlying basic equation does not perform properly. We proceed to develop a basic hypoplastic constitutive equation by introducing a new tensorial term, which preserves the critical state at large strain. The model performance is demonstrated by parameter study for some element tests. This simple and robust basic equation is well suited to build more sophisticated models.     

Pollution characteristics of alluvial groundwater from springs and bore wells in semi-urban informal settlements of Douala,Cameroon, Western Africa

Alluvial groundwater from springs and bore wells, used as the major source of water for drinking and other domestic purposes in the semi-urban informal settlements of Douala, Cameroon, has been studied. Six representative springs, four bore wells and two hand dug wells, situated in the Phanerozoic basin were selected, from which a total of 72 water samples were analyzed for chemical characteristics and indicators of bacterial contamination. The results showed anthropogenic pollution, evident from high concentrations of organic (up to 94.3 mg NO₃/l nitrate) fecal coliform and fecal streptococcus detected in the springs and bore wells (with values of 2,311 and 1,500 cfu/100 ml, respectively). The pH ranged from 3.4–6.5, which is lower than the guidelines for drinking water. Groundwater samples from background upstream inland natural areas W1 and W2 had low electrical conductivity (54.2 and 74.8 μs/cm, respectively) and major ions, which increased downstream in the valleys, peaking in the more densely settled areas. An acceptable concentration of solutes was observed for the bore wells except for a single sample from B4. The bore-well sample B4 registered the highest microbial content (2,130 cfu/100 ml) and nitrate level(26 mg/l), which could be due to the bottom of this well lying just at or close to the zone of mixing between sewage and groundwater. The absence of a direct correlation between nitrate and fecal matter suggests multiple sources of contamination. The shallow alluvial aquifer consists of unconsolidated deposits of gravel, sand, silt and clay. The springs, therefore, receive direct recharge from the ground surface with limited contaminant attenuation, which leads to water quality deterioration, especially during the rainy season. This shows the urgent need to put basic service infrastructures in place. The local population should be sensitized to the importance of chlorinating and boiling drinking water to prevent health hazards.     

Numerical simulation of bubble plumes and an analysis of their seismic attributes

To study the bubble plume’s seismic response characteristics, the model of a plume water body has been built in this article using the bubble-contained medium acoustic velocity model and the stochastic medium theory based on an analysis of both the acoustic characteristics of a bubble-contained water body and the actual features of a plume. The finite difference method is used for forward modelling, and the single-shot seismic record exhibits the characteristics of a scattered wave field generated by a plume. A meaningful conclusion is obtained by extracting seismic attributes from the pre-stack shot gather record of a plume. The values of the amplitude-related seismic attributes increase greatly as the bubble content goes up, and changes in bubble radius will not cause seismic attributes to change, which is primarily observed because the bubble content has a strong impact on the plume’s acoustic velocity, while the bubble radius has a weak impact on the acoustic velocity. The above conclusion provides a theoretical reference for identifying hydrate plumes using seismic methods and contributes to further study on hydrate decomposition and migration, as well as on distribution of the methane bubble in seawater.     

Preliminary assessment of the ATHENA/WFI non-X-ray background

We present a preliminary assessment of the non-X-ray background for the WFI on board ATHENA conducted at IAAT in the context of the collaborative background and radiation damage working group activities. Our main result is that in the baseline configuration originally assumed for the camera the requirement on the level of non-X-ray background could not be met. In light of the results of Geant4 simulations we propose and discuss a possible optimization of the camera design and pinpoint some open issues to be addressed in the next phase of investigation. One of these concerns the possible contribution to the non-X-ray background from soft protons and ions funneled to the focal plane through the optics. This is not quantified at this stage, here we just briefly report on our ongoing activities aimed at validating the mechanisms of proton scattering at grazing incidence.