Map-Based Exploratory Evaluation of Non-Medical Determinants of Population Health

Multi‐criteria evaluation (MCE) and decision‐making are increasingly combined with interactive tools to assist users with visual thinking and exploring decision strategies. The interactive control of criterion combination rules and the simultaneous observation of geographic space and criterion space provide a means of investigating the sensitivity of the decision outcome to the decision‐maker's preferences. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is an MCE method that has been successfully implemented in management processes including those addressed by Geographic Information Systems. In this paper, we present a map‐based, interactive AHP implementation, which provides a link between a well‐understood decision support method and exploratory geographic visualization. Using a case study with public health data for the Province of Ontario, Canada, we demonstrate that exploratory map use increases the effectiveness of the AHP‐based evaluation of population health.     

Monitoring agricultural cropping patterns across the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin using MODIS-NDVI data

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) 16-day composite data product (MOD12Q) was used to develop annual cropland and crop-specific map products (corn, soybeans, and wheat) for the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin (GLB). The crop area distributions and changes in crop rotations were characterized by comparing annual crop map products for 2005, 2006, and 2007. The total acreages for corn and soybeans were relatively balanced for calendar years 2005 (31,462 km² and 31,283 km², respectively) and 2006 (30,766 km² and 30,972 km², respectively). Conversely, corn acreage increased approximately 21% from 2006 to 2007, while soybean and wheat acreage decreased approximately 9% and 21%, respectively. Two-year crop rotational change analyses were conducted for the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 time periods. The large increase in corn acreages for 2007 introduced crop rotation changes across the GLB. Compared to 2005–2006, crop rotation patterns for 2006–2007 resulted in increased corn–corn, soybean–corn, and wheat–corn rotations. The increased corn acreages could have potential negative impacts on nutrient loadings, pesticide exposures, and sediment-mediated habitat degradation. Increased in US corn acreages in 2007 were related to new biofuel mandates, while Canadian increases were attributed to higher world-wide corn prices. Additional study is needed to determine the potential impacts of increases in corn-based ethanol agricultural production on watershed ecosystems and receiving waters.     

中国对全球地球观测系统的贡献

进一步认识地球、关注地球发展规律, 保护人类共同家园已成为世界各国政府的共识。共同发展地球观测技术, 提高对地观测能力成为新世纪世界各国的共同要求。2003年发起, 2005年由欧盟组织的地球观测部长级峰会上通过了全球综合地球观测系统(Global Earth Observation System of Systems, GEOSS)十年执行计划, 构成了世界范围内地球观测领域国际科技合作的主流。中国地球观测领域呈现出快速发展的趋势, 并提出了该领域的全球性发展战略, 预示着中国将在国际地球观测领域发挥越来越重要的作用。文章介绍了中国地球观测领域发展现状和趋势, 在分析中国参与全球地球观测领域国际合作现状及目前存在问题的基础上, 提出进一步促进中国参与该领域国际合作, 为中国乃至国际社会发展做出重要贡献的建议。     

On the growth of disturbances to forced and dissipated barotropic flows

Abstract

We consider the growth of disturbances to large-scale zonally-asymmetric steady states in a truncated spectral model for forced and dissipated barotropic flow. A variant of the energy method is developed to optimize the instantaneous disturbance energy growth rate. The method involves solving a matrix eigenvalue problem amenable to standard numerical techniques. Two applications are discussed. (1) The global stability of a family of steady states is assessed in terms of the Ekman damping coefficient r. It is shown that monotonic global stability (i.e., every disturbances energy monotonically decays to zero) prevails when r≥r_c . (2) Initially fastest-growing disturbances are constructed in the r<r_c regime. Particular attention is paid to a subregion of the r<r_c regime where initially-growing disturbances exist despite stability with respect to normal modes. Nonlinear time-dependent simulations are performed in order to appraise the time evolution of various disturbances.     

Preserved organic matter in a fossil Ocean Continent Transition in the Alps: the example of Totalp,SE Switzerland

Evidence from ultraslow spreading mid-ocean ridges and both fossil and present-day Ocean–Continent Transitions (OCT) demonstrates that mantle serpentinization resulting from the interaction of mantle rock and water during tectonic exhumation is widespread. Observations at white smokers in modern ocean settings suggest that methane produced by serpentinization can support methanotrophic bio-systems, which use methane as the only source of carbon. An important question is whether such bio-systems are more generally pervasive in their association with serpentinized mantle in the subsurface. In this study, we examined whether there is evidence for such a methanotrophic system in exhumed serpentinized mantle at a magma-poor rifted continental margin, by probing for characteristic biological markers in these and associated sedimentary rocks in the Totalp unit of SE Switzerland. This unit represents a remnant of the former OCT of the southern Alpine Tethyan margin and was chosen because of its mild Alpine tectonic and low-grade metamorphic overprint during Alpine orogeny, hence giving potential for the preservation of indigenous organic matter (OM). Totalp samples are characterized by low organic carbon contents of 11–647 ppm. The majority of the samples contain hydrocarbons in the form of n-alkanes in the range C₁₇–C₃₆. Some sediments contain isoprenoids, for example pristane and phytane and a suite of steranes that are consistent with a marine origin for the OM preserved in the rocks. Traces of marine planktonic and bacterial OM are preserved in the serpentinized mantle and overlying sediments of this ancient Tethyan OCT, but there is no evidence that the OM has been generated from methanotrophic bio-systems.     

Application of topo-edaphic factors and remotely sensed vegetation indices to enhance biomass estimation in a heterogeneous landscape in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania

Estimating tropical biomass is critical for establishment of conservation inventories and landscape monitoring. However, monitoring biomass in a complex and dynamic environment using traditional methods is challenging. Recently, biomass estimates based on remotely sensed data and ecological variables have shown great potential. The present study explored the utility of remotely sensed data and topo-edaphic factors to improve biomass estimation in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. Twenty-nine vegetation indices were calculated from RapidEye data, while topo-edaphic factors were taken from field measurements. Results showed that using topo-edaphic variables or vegetation indices, biomass could be predicted with an R² of 0.4. A combination of topo-edaphic variables and vegetation indices improved the prediction accuracy to an R² of 0.6. Results further showed a decrease in biomass estimates from 1162 ton ha^?1 in 1980 to 285.38 ton ha^?1 in 2012. This study demonstrates the value of combining remotely sensed data with topo-edaphic variables in biomass estimation.     

Selection and quality assessment of Landsat data for the North American forest dynamics forest history maps of the US

Using the NASA Earth Exchange platform, the North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) project mapped forest history wall-to-wall, annually for the contiguous US (1986–2010) using the Vegetation Change Tracker algorithm. As with any effort to identify real changes in remotely sensed time-series, data gaps, shifts in seasonality, misregistration, inconsistent radiometry and cloud contamination can be sources of error. We discuss the NAFD image selection and processing stream (NISPS) that was designed to minimize these sources of error. The NISPS image quality assessments highlighted issues with the Landsat archive and metadata including inadequate georegistration, unreliability of the pre-2009 L5 cloud cover assessments algorithm, missing growing-season imagery and paucity of clear views. Assessment maps of Landsat 5–7 image quantities and qualities are presented that offer novel perspectives on the growing-season archive considered for this study. Over 150,000+ Landsat images were considered for the NAFD project. Optimally, one high quality cloud-free image in each year or a total of 12,152 images would be used. However, to accommodate data gaps and cloud/shadow contamination 23,338 images were needed. In 220 specific path-row image years no acceptable images were found resulting in data gaps in the annual national map products.     

A User‐centered Design for the Addition of Interactive Masking Capability within an existing Web GIS

This article presents a case study of how a user‐centered design (UCD) approach was utilized during the addition of interactive masking capability to an existing web‐based geographic information system (Web GIS). By analyzing and discussing specific aspects of the user‐developer dialog within the context of a Web GIS software development life cycle, this article presents a case study for similar systems. The results of the UCD methodology is a discussion that presents a shift from an initial design to a new design that, based on user feedback, furthers the utility and usability of interactive masking within the Web GIS.