Persistence of Summer Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies in the Midlatitude North Pacific and Its Interdecadal Variability

The present study investigates the persistence of summer sea surface temperature anomalies(SSTAs) in the midlatitude North Pacific and its interdecadal variability. Summer SSTAs can persist for a long time(approximately 8–14 months)around the Kuroshio Extension(KE) region. This long persistence may be strongly related to atmospheric forcing because the mixed layer is too shallow in the summer to be influenced by the anomalies at depths in the ocean. Changes in atmospheric circulation, latent heat flux, and longwave radiation flux all contribute to the long persistence of summer SSTAs. Among these factors, the longwave radiation flux has a dominant influence. The effects of sensible heat flux and shortwave radiation flux anomalies are not significant. The persistence of summer SSTAs displays pronounced interdecadal variability around the KE region, and the variability is very weak during 1950–82 but becomes stronger during 1983–2016. The changes in atmospheric circulation, latent heat flux, and longwave radiation flux are also responsible for this interdecadal variability because their forcings on the summer SSTAs are sustained for much longer after 1982.     

近40年海南岛冷冬气候特征及其成因分析

利用海南岛17个市、县近40年气象观测站逐月气温观测资料,参照《暖冬等级》国家标准,对海南岛异常冷冬事件的时空分布规律进行了分析。在此基础上,利用国家气候中心提供的74项环流指数以及1977—2017年NCEP/NCAR全球再分析格点资料、NOAA ERSST全球海表温度格点资料以及Nino3. 4指数和AO指数,对海南岛冷冬事件形成机制进行了研究。结果表明:海南岛冬季平均气温存在明显的年代际变化特征,近40年海南岛冷冬频发,共出现12次冷冬年。南部市、县发生冷冬的频次大于中部及北部,北部市、县冷冬发生的强度强于南部。海南岛冷冬形成原因主要是对流层大气环流异常,西伯利亚高压增强,东亚冬季风显著偏强,对应副热带高压偏弱、位置偏东,影响海南岛的冷空气更加活跃,使得海南岛冬季气温偏低。另外,南海海温较常年偏低,ENSO冷位相叠加AO指数正位相,有利于进一步诱发大气环流异常,促使海南岛冬季气温偏低,出现异常冷冬事件。     

0920号超强台风“卢碧”引起的强海上大气波导成因分析与数值模拟研究

基于中国台湾地区主持的侵台台风之飞机侦察及下投式探空仪观测实验（Dropwindsonde Observations for Typhoon Surveillance near the Taiwan Region,DOTSTAR）获得的高分辨率下投式探空仪探测资料,分析了2003年9月—2012年8月所有发生在中国台湾地区附近海域的台风型大气波导事件,遴选出一次由0920号超强台风“卢碧”引起的强台风型海上大气波导过程作为研究对象。利用欧洲中期数值预报中心（ECMWF）再分析资料（水平分辨率0.125°×0.125°）,对此次波导的生成原因进行了分析;基于WRF模式比较了不同初始化方法对台风强度、尺度和周围台风型大气波导的模拟能力。结果表明,此次强台风型大气波导发生在台风环流西北侧外围的弱下沉运动区,其形成与850 hPa高度附近北方强干空气平流导致湿度随高度锐减密切相关。在数值模拟中运用台风动力初始化方法,可以有效改进台风强度、路径和尺度的模拟效果,进而有利于改善台风型大气波导尤其是波导层所在高度的模拟效果。台风外围出现的大气波导通常以悬空波导为主,模拟效果与台风螺旋雨带和内核尺度的模拟关系密切,而与台风强度和眼墙结构关系不大。中尺度数值模式WRF具有模拟台风型大气波导的能力,是研究台风型大气波导的有力手段。      

全球贫困国家旅游竞争力与经济发展的耦合协调度及时空变化

基于联合国多维贫困指数、世界经济论坛旅游竞争力报告及国际货币基金组织提供的贫困国家经济数据,构建了旅游竞争力与经济发展评价指标体系,通过信息熵值法确定指标权重,再运用耦合协调度模型测度2008-2017年间贫困国家旅游竞争力与经济发展之间的耦合协调度,研究其时空演变规律及成因机制。研究发现：①贫困国家旅游竞争力与经济发展的的耦合协调现状不容乐观,基本都处于失调或接近失调状态,但从时间发展来看,有向协调方向缓慢发展的趋势,且耦合协调度的区域差异正在缓慢缩小;②从耦合协调类型上看,大部分贫困国家为经济滞后型,其余为旅游—经济同步型,尚无旅游滞后型;③贫困国家旅游竞争力与经济发展的耦合协调度等级分布呈现较明显的空间集聚特征,非洲地区耦合协调度等级相对最低,南美洲及加勒比地区耦合协调状态相对较好,东南亚地区则呈现局部异质性。     

Simulating urban dynamics in China using a gradient cellular automata model based on S-shaped curve evolution characteristics

Cellular automata (CA) have been efficiently used to express the complexity and dynamics of cities at different scales. However, those large-scale simulation models typically use only binary values to represent urbanization states without considering mixed types within a cell. They also ignore differences among the cells in terms of their temporal evolution characteristics at different urbanization stages. This study establishes a gradient CA for solving such problems while considering development differences among the cells. The impervious surface area data was used to detect the urbanization states and temporal evolution trends of the grid cells. Transition rules were determined with the incorporation of urban development theory expressed as an S-shaped curve. China was selected as the case study area to validate the performance of the gradient CA for a national simulation. A comparison was also made to a traditional binary logistic-CA. The results demonstrated that the gradient CA achieved higher accuracies in terms of both spatial patterns and quantitative assessment indices. The simulation pattern derived from the gradient CA can better reflect the local disparity and temporal characteristics of urban dynamics. A national urban expansion for 2050 was also simulated, and is expected to provide important data for ecological assessments.     

Automatic change detection in lane-level road networks using GPS trajectories

Lane-level road network updating is crucial for urban traffic applications that use geographic information systems contributing to, for example, intelligent driving, route planning and traffic control. Researchers have developed various algorithms to update road networks using sensor data, such as high-definition images or GPS data; however, approaches that involve change detection for road networks at lane level using GPS data are less common. This paper presents a novel method for automatic change detection of lane-level road networks based on GPS trajectories of vehicles. The proposed method includes two steps: map matching at lane level and lane-level change recognition. To integrate the most up-to-date GPS data with a lane-level road network, this research uses a fuzzy logic road network matching method. The proposed map-matching method starts with a confirmation of candidate lane-level road segments that use error ellipses derived from the GPS data, and then computes the membership degree between GPS data and candidate lane-level segments. The GPS trajectory data is classified into successful or unsuccessful matches using a set of defuzzification rules. Any topological and geometrical changes to road networks are detected by analysing the two kinds of matching results and comparing their relationships with the original road network. Change detection results for road networks in Wuhan, China using collected GPS trajectories show that these methods can be successfully applied to detect lane-level road changes including added lanes, closed lanes and lane-changing and turning rules, while achieving a robust detection precision of above 80%.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of urban air quality in China and geographic detection of their determinants

Ambient air pollution brought by the rapid economic development and industrial production in China has exerted a significant influence on socio-economic activities and public health, especially in the densely populated urban areas. Therefore, scientific examination of regional variation of urban air quality and its dominant factors is of great importance to regional environmental management. Based on daily air quality index (AQI) datasets spanning from 2014 to 2016, this study analysed the spatiotemporal characteristics of air quality across different regions throughout China and ascertained the determinants of urban air quality in disparate regions. The main findings are as follows: (1) The annual average value of the urban AQI in China decreased from 2014 to 2016, indicating a desirable trend in air quality at the national scale. (2) The attainment rate of the urban AQI exhibited an apparent spatially stratified heterogeneity, wherein North China retained a high AQI value. The increase of Moran’s I Index reported an apparent spillover effect among adjacent regions. (3) Both at the national and regional scales, the seasonal tendency of air quality in each year is similar, wherein good in summer and relatively poor in winter. (4) Results drawn from the Geographic Detector analysis show that dominant factors influencing AQI vary significantly across urban agglomerations. Topographical and meteorological variations in urban areas may lead to complex spatiotemporal variations in pollutant concentration. Whereas given the same natural conditions, the human-dominated factors, such as industrial structure and urban form, exert significant impacts on urban air quality.The spatial spillover effects and regional heterogeneity of urban air quality illustrated in this study suggest the governments and institutions should set priority to the importance of regional cooperation and collaboration in light of environment regulation and pollution prevention.     

Seamount volcanism associated with the Xigaze ophiolite, Southern Tibet

Basaltic lavas at Renbu, Southern Tibet are associated with the Xigaze ophiolite in the Yarlung-Zangbo suture zone. They are alkaline lavas rich in large ion lithophile elements (LILE, Ba, Rb and Sr) and high field strength elements (HFSE, Nb, Ta, Zr and Hf), but poor in Cr, Co and Ni. All of the rocks have chondrite-normalized REE patterns enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE), comparable to modern basalts of the Society Islands, Kerguelen Plateau and Broken Ridge. Abundances of some immobile or moderately immobile elements (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Y, Ti and REE) are also comparable to Kerguelen alkaline basalts. The Renbu basalts are geochemically similar to oceanic island basalts (OIB) and have some elemental ratios, such as Nb/Ta ratios = 15.7–18.1, Th/Nb =  0.06–0.10, La/Nb = 0.59–0.83 and Th/Ta = 1.03–1.52, similar to the primitive mantle. Their ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.70453–0.70602) are relatively high, similar to OIB. In the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr vs. εNd(t) diagram, the Renbu basalts plot along a trend from N-MORB to EMII (enriched mantle II), suggesting the involvement of at least two mantle sources in their generation. The Renbu basalts represent seamount volcanism associated with the Xigaze ophiolite. They formed from an OIB-type mantle source within the Neo-Tethyan Ocean that had a composition similar to the modern Indian Ocean mantle.     

Visible gold in arsenian pyrite at the Shuiyindong Carlin-type gold deposit, Guizhou, China: Implications for the environment and processes of ore formation

Carlin-type gold deposits are best known for the scarcity of visible gold in their ores. It has long been recognized that the majority of gold is “invisible”, such that it cannot be resolved by conventional microscopy, and resides in arsenian pyrite. Shuiyindong differs in that sub-μm to μm-sized native gold is present in arsenian pyrite veinlets and disseminations. It is also the largest (55 tonnes) and highest grade (7 to 18 ppm), stratabound, Carlin-type gold deposit in Guizhou, China and has produced 5 tonnes of gold from sulfide refractory ores extracted by underground mining methods. In this study, an electron microprobe analyzer (EMPA) was used to map the spatial distribution of “invisible” gold and sub-μm to μm-size visible gold particles in arsenian pyrite in high-grade ore samples from the Shuiyindong. The samples studied are hosted in Permian bioclastic ferroan limestone of the Longtan Formation and exhibit evidence of decarbonation, silicification and sulfidation. Arsenian pyrite with detectable Au (> 400 to 3800 ppm) is disseminated in altered limestone and was deposited in two stages separated by an episode of corrosion in a veinlet.The results show that there are two populations of native gold in arsenian pyrite. One is comprised of sub-μm size gold particles (0.1 to 0.2 μm) that are occasionally present in the gold-bearing arsenian pyrite disseminated in the host rocks. This arsenian pyrite is interpreted to have been formed by sulfidation of ferroan calcite and dolomite. Another is comprised of coarser (1 to 6 μm) native gold grains present in the arsenian pyrite veinlet, either on the first stage where it has been corroded or on the second stage. The lack of fluid inclusion or other evidence of boiling and the low iron content of fluid inclusions in quartz, suggest the veinlet formed by sulfidation of another fluid containing Fe. The Fe-bearing fluid may be a depleted ore fluid that gained Fe by dissolution of ferroan limestone after H₂S had been consumed. The association of the largest visible gold grains with an episode of corrosion suggests that fluids episodically became undersaturated with arsenian pyrite while remaining saturated with gold (e.g., pH decrease or an increase in the oxidation state). This may have resulted from incursion of relatively acidic or oxidized fluids that were able to dissolve arsenian pyrite and remain saturated with gold. In this case, sulfidation of iron from the host rock, was the most important depositional mechanism for Au-bearing arsenian pyrite with, or without, grains of native gold.     

Heavy metals and rare earth elements (REEs) in soil from the Nam Co Basin,Tibetan Plateau

Twenty-eight soil samples collected from the Nam Co Basin, Tibetan Plateau, have been analyzed for heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Mn), arsenic (As) and rare earth elements (REEs). In addition, for establishing the basic physio-chemical characteristics of the soil, pH, total organic concentration, electrical conductivity, and effective cation exchange capacity were measured. The results indicate that soil in the Nam Co Basin is still at an early alkaline weathering stage (pH = 7.94). Mean concentrations of heavy metals and As decreased as follows: Mn > Cr > Zn > Pb > Ni > Cu > As > Cd. The values of Cd, Cr, As, Pb and REEs in soil from the Nam Co Basin are higher relative to averaged background values over China. The chondrite-normalized diagrams of REEs suggest high REE(ΣLa → Eu)—enrichment, HREE(ΣGd → Lu)—depletion and Eu—depletion. Vertical profiles indicate that both heavy metals (except As) and REEs primarily exist in the surface soil. However, heavy metals and REEs vary in the surface soil between the southern and the northern bank of Nam Co. These differences are controlled mainly by parent materials.