Tagging-the-triangle algorithm for partitioning features with inconsistent boundaries

In spatial data sets, gaps or overlaps among features are frequently found in spatial tessellations due to the non-abutting edges with adjacent features. These non-abutting edges in loose tessellations are also called inconsistent boundaries or slivers; polygons containing at least one inconsistent boundary are called inconsistent polygons or sliver polygons. The existing algorithms to solve topological inconsistencies in sliver polygons suffer from one or more of three major issues, namely determination of tolerances, excessive CPU processing time for large data sets and loss of vertex history. In this article, we introduce a new algorithm that mitigates these three issues. Our algorithm efficiently searches the features with inconsistent polygons in a given spatial data set and logically partitions them among adjacent features. The proposed algorithm employs the constrained Delaunay triangulation technique to generate labelled triangles from which inconsistent polygons with gaps and overlaps are identified using label counts. These inconsistent polygons are then partitioned using the straight skeleton method. Moreover, each of these partitioned gaps or overlaps is distributed among the adjacent features to improve the topological consistency of the spatial data sets. We experimentally verified our algorithm using the real land cadastre data set. The comparison results show that the proposed algorithm is four times faster than the existing algorithm for data sets with 200,000 edges.     

The effect of the wintertime Arctic Oscillation on springtime vegetation over the northern high latitude region

The winter Arctic Oscillation (AO), a major source of climate variability in the Northern Hemisphere, affects winter and the subsequent spring climate over northern high latitude. Such effects are evident even in the 1st eigenmode of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The impacts of the winter AO is a dipole pattern between Eurasia and North America; positive (negative) values of the winter AO induce warmer (cooler) and high (low) vegetation activity in the following spring over Eurasia (North America). Regarding the time-lagged response of vegetation, the sea surface temperature (SST) and snow cover contribute to maintaining the large-scale circulation anomaly associated with the AO.     

Effects of biochar, cow bone, and eggshell on Pb availability to maize in contaminated soil irrigated with saline water

Toxicity of heavy metals adversely affects environment and human health. Organic materials derived from natural matters or wastes have been applied to soils to reduce the mobility of contaminants such as heavy metals. However, the application of cow bone powder (CB), biochar (BC), and eggshell powder (ES) is rarely investigated for the reduction of Pb bioavailability in soils irrigated with saline water. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of CB, BC, and ES additions as immobilizing substances on Pb bioavailability in shooting range soil irrigated with deionized and saline water. Each additive of CB, BC, and ES at 5 % (w/w) was mixed with soils and then the deionized and saline water were irrigated for 21 days. With deionized water irrigation, the soils treated with CB, BC, and ES exhibited higher pH when compared with saline water irrigation. With saline water irrigation, the electrical conductivity, water-soluble anions, and cations were significantly increased in soils treated with CB, BC, and ES. The water-soluble Pb in soils treated with CB, BC, and ES was significantly decreased with saline water irrigation. On the other hand, the water-soluble Pb in soil treated with CB was increased with deionized water irrigation. Only BC with saline water irrigation decreased the Pb concentration in maize shoots.     

Availability of coastal groundwater discharge as an alternative water resource in a large-scale reclaimed land,Korea

This study was conducted to identify the availability of coastal groundwater discharge (CGD), subsurface fluids flowing from inland through the coastal area to sea, as an alternative water resource for a large-scale reclaimed land. The behaviors of stable isotopes indicated that groundwater originated from inland precipitation and traveled as CGD along the coast line. Most of the groundwater samples collected from domestic wells installed along the old coast line were considered to be relatively fresh from the correlation analysis among chemical constituents. The average electrical conductivity (EC) values of the samples were identified as averaging 1,125–1,297 μS cm^?1, corresponding to appropriate crop growth. A weathered-rock layer in a small catchment within the reclaimed land was proved to be a main CGD pathway, with electrical resistivity anomalies ranging from 7 to 14 Ω m. Five monitoring wells were placed in this catchment to delineate the occurrence of CGD. Long-term vertical EC profiling results for the monitoring wells indicated that CGD occurs within a depth of 30 m below the ground surface. Annual monitoring data for groundwater level and EC demonstrated that the water quality of CGD was improved by introducing fresh terrestrial groundwater. A remarkable improvement in water quality (EC decrease of 900–1,600 μS cm^?1) of CGD was observed during the saline water pumping test that explains how CGD could be an alternative water resource for the reclaimed land.     

Satellite-based assessment of large-scale land cover change in Asian arid regions in the period of 2001–2009

Arid regions in Asia are commonly characterized by rapidly growing populations with limited land resources and varying rainfall frequencies under climatic change. Despite being one of the most important environmental challenges in Asia, the changing aridity in this region, particularly due to large-scale land cover change, has not been well documented. In this study, we used rainfall data and a new land heterogeneity index to identify recent trend in land cover changes in the Asian arid regions. The result indicates a significant decreasing trend of barren lands and an increasing trend of vegetated lands. Although the potential land cover change is commonly believed to be strongly sensitive to rainfall change, such sensitivity has not been observed during the nine-year period (2001–2009) analyzed. Through the analyses of two separate periods (2001–2005 and 2005–2009), the sensitivity of rainfall to land cover change in arid regions is found to be dependent on the initial spatial heterogeneity of vegetated land cover. The approach used and the findings in this study represent an important step toward better understanding of large-scale land cover change in the Asian arid regions, and have the potential to predict future land cover change under various climate change scenarios.     

Characterization of Effective Parameters in Abrasive Waterjet Rock Cutting

The rock cutting performance of an abrasive waterjet is affected by various parameters. In this study, rock cutting tests are conducted with different energy (i.e., water pressure, traverse speed, and abrasive feed rate), geometry (i.e., standoff distance), and material parameters [i.e., uniaxial compressive strength (UCS)]. In particular, experimental tests are carried out at a long standoff distance (up to 60 cm) to consider field application. The effective parameters of the rock cutting process are identified based on the relationships between the cutting performance indices (depth, width, and volume) and parameters. In addition, the cutting efficiency is analyzed with effective parameters as well as different pump types and the number of cutting passes considering the concept of kinetic jet energy. Efficiency analysis reveals that the cutting depth efficiency tends to increase with an increase in the water pressure and traverse speed and with a decrease in the standoff distance and UCS. Cutting volume efficiency strongly depends on standoff distance. High efficiency of cutting volume is obtained at a long standoff distance regardless of the pump type. The efficiency analysis provides a realistic way to optimize parameters for abrasive waterjet rock excavation.     

Double injection events of mafic magma into supersolidus Yucheon granites to produce two types of mafic enclaves in the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin,SE Korea

Petrographic and geochemical features of the Cretaceous Yucheon granites and their mafic microgranular/magmatic enclaves (MMEs), SE Korea, reveal that the MMEs originated from magma mixing. Mesoscopic and microscopic features indicate that mechanical mixing operated heterogeneously to produce the MMEs with a wide range of sizes and textures. Chemical compositions of amphibole, biotite, and plagioclase rims of both the MMEs and host granites are almost identical, indicating that chemical homogenization took place to some extent after the mechanical mixing. Plagioclase cores, however, have various compositions depending on the host rocks and/or sampling locations, suggesting their sluggish re-equilibration. The MMEs are divided into Type A (low TiO₂, very fine-grained, chilled margins) and Type B (high TiO₂, fine- to medium-grained, no chilled margins). The lower TiO₂ MMEs cooled more rapidly and interacted with granitic magma for a shorter period of time than the higher TiO₂ MMEs. Additionally, the former are less enriched in HREEs than the latter. Zoned plagioclase has two zones of increased An content. These features are indicative of double injection events of mafic magma. A previous model explains the magma mixing as resulting from the generation of a slab window due to Kula-Pacific ridge subduction. The model cannot, however, explain the eastward younging of the granites in Korea, necessitating a new, more elaborate model of Cretaceous geodynamics and magmatism in East Asia.     

Ecosystem responses to climate change in a large on-river reservoir, Lake Paldang, Korea

The impact of climate change on a large river reservoir ecosystem was investigated. Long-term meteorological data showed that recent climate change, including warmer winters, increased precipitation intensity and extended dry periods, may have influenced the basin of Lake Paldang, the most downstream reservoir of a series of on-river reservoirs. Extreme hydrologic events and climate warming, acting independently and in combination, appear to be related to changes in the Lake Paldang ecosystem. A significant increase in chlorophyll a concentrations in early spring corresponded to the timing of ice break-up. An increase in winter temperatures, which resulted in a shorter time period of ice-cover and earlier ice break-up, appears to have stimulated phytoplankton growth in winter and early spring. Repeated intensive and extended influxes of turbid water, associated with more frequent extreme rainfall events, have increased concentration of suspended solids and may have influenced the biotic community structure of Lake Paldang. In the mid-2000s, the area vegetated by submerged hydrophytes, the abundance and biomass of the phylum Mollusca, as well as the abundance of fish from the subfamily Acheilognathinae, which spawn in the body of bivalve molluscs, was all smaller than in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Together, these results suggest that climate change may have contributed directly and indirectly to changes in each trophic level of the Lake Paldang ecosystem.