Integration of air pollution data collected by mobile sensors and ground-based stations to derive a spatiotemporal air pollution profile of a city

ABSTRACT

Air pollution has become a serious environmental problem causing severe consequences in our ecology, climate, health, and urban development. Effective and efficient monitoring and mitigation of air pollution require a comprehensive understanding of the air pollution process through a reliable database carrying important information about the spatiotemporal variations of air pollutant concentrations at various spatial and temporal scales. Traditional analysis suffers from the severe insufficiency of data collected by only a few stations. In this study, we propose a rigorous framework for the integration of air pollutant concentration data coming from the ground-based stations, which are spatially sparse but temporally dense, and mobile sensors, which are spatially dense but temporally sparse. Based on the integrated database which is relatively dense in space and time, we then estimate air pollutant concentrations for given location and time by applying a two-step local regression model to the data. This study advances the frontier of basic research in air pollution monitoring via the integration of station and mobile sensors and sets up the stage for further research on other spatiotemporal problems involving multi-source and multi-scale information.     

Variations of solar coronal hole area and terrestrial lower tropospheric air temperature from 1979 to mid-1998: astronomical forcings of change in earth''s climate?

The temperature anomaly of the terrestrial lower troposphere, inferred from the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) radiometers, is found to be inversely correlated with the area of the Sun covered by coronal holes. The correlation between the monthly time series of global tropospheric temperature anomaly and total coronal hole area from January 1979 to April 1998 has a Pearson coefficient of −0.46, which is different from zero at a 95% confidence level. Physical reasonings for the explained and unexplained parts of the correlation are discussed. The coronal hole area is a physical proxy for both the global-scale, 22-yr geometrical and shorter-term, dynamical components of the cosmic ray modulation, as well as the corpuscular emission of the Sun. Other solar parameters that may indicate a solar radiative effect on climate are also evaluated. It is concluded that variable fluxes either of solar charged particles or cosmic rays modulated by the solar wind, or both, may influence the terrestrial tropospheric temperature on timescale of months to years.     

Comparative analysis of four stem taper models for Quercus glauca in Mount Halla,Jeju Island,South Korea

This study was conducted to fit the diameter-height data of Quercusglaucain Jeju Island, South Korea to the four commonly used stem taper equations andto evaluate the performance of the four stem taper models using four statistical criteria： Fit index （FI）, root mean square error （RMSE）, bias （）,and absolute mean difference （AMD）. Results showed that the Kozak02stem taper equation provided the best FI（0.9847）, RMSE（1.5745）,（-0.0030 cm） and AMD （1.0990 cm） whileMax and Burkhart model had the poorest performance among the four stem taper models based on the four evaluation statistics （FI ： 0.9793,RMSE ： 1.8272, ： 0.3040 cm and AMD ： 1.3060 cm）. These stem taper equations can serve as a useful tool for forest managers in estimating the diameter outside bark at any given height, merchantable stem volumes and total stem volumesof the standing trees of Quercusglaucain theGotjawal forests located in Mount Halla, Jeju Island, South Korea.     

Temperature variation in Guangdong Province, China

1IntroductionThereisgrowingawarenessofclhatechange,andnumerousresearchonclhatictrendsandvallabilityatglobalorregionalscalehasbenconductedMoStstudieshaveconcen~onthelong-tenntrendsintemperatUI'eandPeripiboonpiousstudiesonhendSPherictempo~bendshavebeenconducted.AngellandKorshover(1977ac1978)StUdiedthetemperatUresinthenodsmhelinSPhereandstatedthattherewasadeClineoftemperatUreSinthe1960sandaslightw~gwasObservedafter197ill;l.OtherauthorssuchasLamb(1982)andJonesetal.(1982and1986a)SUPPOrted…     

Cluster analysis of post-landfall tracks of landfalling tropical cyclones over China

In this paper, we apply finite-mixture-model-based clustering algorithms to cluster post-landfall tracks of tropical cyclones (TCs) making landfall over China. Because existing studies find that landfall surfaces or elevations affect post-landfall TC movements, we also take account of elevations in addition to time orders in this model. Our study reveals three clusters, with cluster 1 making landfall in Hainan province and moving across the western coast of Guangdong province. Most of the TC tracks in cluster 1 move over the ocean and make secondary landfalls over Yunnan province of China and Vietnam. Cluster 1 finally dissipates inland and moves westward as a result of the westward-shift subtropical high, westward steering flow, easterly vertical wind shear and strong mountainous blocking. Cluster 2 makes landfall over Guangdong and Fujian provinces. TCs in cluster 2 subsequently move inland and disappear due largely to westward-shift subtropical high, easterly steering flow, easterly vertical wind shear and relatively strong mountainous blocking. Cluster 3 makes landfall along the Fujian and Zhejiang coast and sustains a long period of time, recurving mostly to the mid-latitude region owing to the surrounding eastward-shift subtropical high, westerly vertical wind shear, weak mountainous blocking and westerly steering flow. Because cluster 2 is significantly associated with La Niña events, TCs more likely make landfall over southeastern China coast and move westward or northwestward without recurving. Cluster 3 sustains a longer time than clusters 1 and 2 in spite of its weak horizontal and vertical water vapor supply. TCs in cluster 3 interact actively with westerlies during the post-landfall period. However, we cannot observe any analogous interactions with the mid-latitude westerlies in clusters 1 and 2. TCs of clusters 1 and 2 are influenced by summer monsoon flows. Moreover, summer monsoon exerts a greater influence on cluster 1 than cluster 2. The composite 200 hPa divergence of cluster 3 is stronger than that of clusters 1 and 2. This explains to some degree why cluster 3 sustains longer than clusters 1 and 2 after making landfall.     

Effects of climate change on the thermal structure of lakes in the Asian Monsoon Area

This research investigates the effect of climate change on the thermal structure of lakes in response to watershed hydrology. We applied a hydrodynamic water quality model coupled to a hydrological model with a future climate scenario projected by a GCM A2 emission scenario to the Yongdam Reservoir, South Korea. In the climate change scenario, the temperature will increase by 2.1°C and 4.2°C and the precipitation will increase by 178.4?mm and 464.4?mm by the 2050 and 2090, respectively, based on 2010. The pattern changes of precipitation and temperature increase due to climate change modify the hydrology of the watershed. The hydrological model results indicate that they increase both surface runoff itself and temperature. The reservoir model simulation with the hydrological model results showed that increasing air temperature is related to higher surface water temperature. Surface water temperature is expected to increase by about 1.2°C and 2.2°C from the 2050 and 2090, respectively, based on the 2010 results. The simulation results of the effects of climate warming on the thermal structure of the Asian Monsoon Area Lake showed consistent results with those of previous studies in terms of greater temperature increases in the epilimnion than in the hypolimnion, increased thermal stratification, and decreasing thermocline depths during the summer and fall. From this study, it was concluded that the hydrodynamic water quality model coupled to the hydrological model could successfully simulate the variability of the epilimnetic temperature, changed depth and magnitude of the thermocline and the changed duration of summer stratification.     

全球化与城市国际化:国际城市的一项实证研究

在当今全球化时代,许多城市被确认为世界城市或全球城市,但本文认为世界上只有少数一些城市真正达到“世界城市”的标准,具有控制世界经济的功能。而许多其他城市,无论是支配或被支配的城市,只显示出国际化的若干特征。本文利用全球264个城市与69家高级生产者服务公司的资料,从国际城市的角度研究世界上的重要城市。研究发现不同的城市有不同的国际化水平,除了少数高度国际化的一流城市达到世界城市的标准,许多其他城市只达到局部国际化,且他们的分布在地域上并无集中的趋势。同时研究发现世界上只有少数高级服务公司拥有全球城市服务网络,大部分公司的服务网络只集中在部分地区。     

Influence of reclamation works on the marine environment in a semi-enclosed bay

1Introduction GamakBay,anegg shapedseasurfaceareaofap proximately112km2,isasemi enclosedshallowwaterareawithameandepthof9mandhasbotheastandsouthchannelstoreceiveseawaterfromoutside(seeFig.1).Similarscalesoftidalwavesalmostsimultane ouslyenterorexitthrough…     

Geotechnical Behavior of Recycled Copper Slag-Cement-Treated Singapore Marine Clay

Copper slag is a by-product obtained from production of copper metal. As copper slag contains silica and alumina, it may exhibit pozzolanic property, and hence it may be re-use in ground improvement applications as a partial replacement of cement. Present study evaluates systematically the possible pozzolanic property of copper slag as well as studies the effect of copper slag on engineering properties of cement-treated clay. X-rays diffraction method was employed to assess the possible pozzolanic property of copper slag. Effect of copper slag on engineering properties (i.e. compressive strength and compressibility) of cement-treated clay was studied with samples prepared with constant water content and workability. The test results showed that with sufficient curing time and at constant workability, the compressive strength of cement-treated clay was found to be increased with increasing amount of copper slag at high cement content but the compressive strength remained the same with increasing amount of copper slag at low cement content. Compressibility of cement-treated clay was found to be unchanged with increasing amount of copper slag. It was concluded that copper slag can be used as partial replacement of cement in treating soft marine clay.