Inferring trip purposes and uncovering travel patterns from taxi trajectory data

Global positioning system-enabled vehicles provide an efficient way to obtain large quantities of movement data for individuals. However, the raw data usually lack activity information, which is highly valuable for a range of applications and services. This study provides a novel and practical framework for inferring the trip purposes of taxi passengers such that the semantics of taxi trajectory data can be enriched. The probability of points of interest to be visited is modeled by Bayes’ rules, which take both spatial and temporal constraints into consideration. Combining this approach with Monte Carlo simulations, we conduct a study on Shanghai taxi trajectory data. Our results closely approximate the residents’ travel survey data in Shanghai. Furthermore, we reveal the spatiotemporal characteristics of nine daily activity types based on inference results, including their temporal regularities, spatial dynamics, and distributions of trip lengths and directions. In the era of big data, we encounter the dilemma of “trajectory data rich but activity information poor” when investigating human movements from various data sources. This study presents a promising step toward mining abundant activity information from individuals’ trajectories.     

An improved topographic correction model based on Minnaert

The uneven distribution of solar radiation due to topographic relief can significantly change the correlation between reflectance and other features such as biomass in rugged terrain regions. In this article, we use the transfer theory to improve the Minnaert approach. After comparing topographic correction methods for Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and EO-1 Advanced Land Imager (ALI) imagery acquired from the mountainous region in Beijing, China, we used visual inspection, statistical analysis, and correlation analysis to evaluate the algorithms and performance of the proposed Minnaert-E approach. The results indicate that corrections based on non-Lambertian methods have better performance than those based on the Lambertian assumption. The correction performances can be ranked as the Minnaert-E, followed by the Minnaert and the SCS+C corrections, and, finally, the C-HuangWei correction, which performed the worst. We found that the Minnaert-E approach can effectively weaken the influence of terrain relief on pixels and restore the true reflectance of the pixels in the relief area. Further analysis indicates that the Minnaert-E has a better effect on image processing where the slope gradient is restricted to less than 10° or between 30° and 43°.     

东北哈尼泥炭沼泽中酚酸的组成、酚铁相互作用及其环境意义

大量研究表明,溶解性有机质与铁的螯合对生物可利用性铁的输出有重要影响.然而,对于天然有机质,尤其是泥炭沼泽源的酚类物质,与铁相互作用的地球化学机制仍然缺乏研究.以长白山西麓哈尼泥炭沼泽为研究对象,调查了泥炭沼泽源水体可溶性总铁、亚铁、水溶性总酚等理化指标.同时,测定了泥炭中酚酸的组成及含量,分析对比泥炭与土壤中铁的主要赋存形态.并开展了酚铁相互作用模拟实验,研究了泥炭沼泽源水体中酚铁相互作用机制.结果表明:哈尼泥炭沼泽水体中亚铁浓度与水溶性总酚浓度显著相关,说明水溶性总酚对亚铁的存在及运移有重要影响.哈尼泥炭中含有原儿茶酸、咖啡酸、没食子酸、龙胆酸、丁香酸、阿魏酸、对羟基苯甲酸、对香豆酸、水杨酸、香草酸等多种酚酸.其中,具有儿茶酚或没食子酰基结构的原儿茶酸、咖啡酸和没食子酸能与亚铁形成稳定螯合物,是泥炭沼泽源水体中Fe(Ⅱ)保持稳定并可以远距离迁移的关键.研究还表明,原儿茶酸、咖啡酸、没食子酸和龙胆酸对Fe(Ⅲ)有显着的还原作用,有利于沼泽区水体中的保持较高Fe(Ⅲ)和Fe(Ⅱ)浓度.哈尼泥炭中铁主要以活动态(可交换态、络合态和无定形态)为主,为铁的迁移、转化和循环奠定了基础.鉴于泥炭沼泽在全球的分布面积巨大以及亚铁对海洋生物有促进作用,酚酸对铁的作用机制对陆地系统向海洋输送生物可利用铁具有重要意义,并对碳循环、硫循环以及气候变化有重要影响.      

Tomographic imaging of high seismic activities in underground island longwall face

Anomalous information identification is a key issue for seismic hazard prevention in underground mining. Velocity tomograms can image the stress redistribution around coal face and provide better understanding of strata failure mechanisms. In this paper, based on microseismic events recorded during mining operation, passive tomographic imagings have been presented to assess strong tremor hazard and locate high seismic activity zones around an island coal face under super-thick strata. The zones of high velocity or velocity gradient anomalies have been found to correlate well with the distribution of strong tremors, indicating that velocity tomography is feasible for seismic hazard assessment and risk region division in underground mining.     

Correlation analyses of covering and righting behaviors to fitness related traits of the sea urchin <Emphasis Type="Italic">Glyptocidaris crenularis</Emphasis> in different environmental conditions

Complex marine benthic environments shape a number of ecologically important behaviors in sea urchins, including covering and righting behaviors. The present study correlated covering and righting behaviors to a series of fitness-related traits in sea urchins. Righting response time of Glyptocidaris crenularis was significantly positively correlated with body size, but significantly negatively correlated with food consumption. Covering behavior was not significantly correlated with test diameter, test height or body weight, but covering response time was negatively correlated with body weight. A significantly negative correlation was found between righting response time and covering response time. Glyptocidaris crenularis showed a significantly positive correlation in covering response time with and without exposure to poured sand, but no significance in covering ability (number of shells used to cover). The present study provides new insight into internal mechanisms and evolutionary drives of covering and righting behaviors of sea urchins.     

Effect of earth–air breathing on evaporation of deeply buried phreatic water in extremely arid regions

In extremely arid regions, deeply buried phreatic water evaporates during the daytime from March to November in the northern hemisphere. It has been found that the earth–air undergoes ‘autonomous breathing’ and ‘passive breathing’, respectively caused by the changes of temperature and atmospheric pressure. In this paper, the effects of these breathing modes on phreatic evaporation (PhE) were investigated as well as the responsible mechanisms. Quantitative estimates suggest that the direct contribution from autonomous breathing is only 0.55 g·m⁻²·yr⁻¹. Passive breathing pumps water vapour upwards from the deeply buried phreatic water table. Film water on the soil continuously migrates in pulsation from deep layers to the upper layer. Na₂SO₄ in the shallow soil absorbs moisture from the earth–air at night and decomposes during the day, forming water vapour, which is critical to the occurrence of PhE. The diurnal PhE process can be elucidated in detail by the bimodal variation in the atmospheric pressure. PhE occurs mainly from 10:00 to 17:00 during daytime from March to November, which correlates with passive breathing of the earth–air. The amplitude of atmospheric fluctuation determines the amount of earth–air that outflows, while temperature determines the water vapour concentration. In calculation, PhE is equal to the net absolute humidity (AH) times the amount of earth–air. There is 1.55 mm·year⁻¹ of PhE caused by daily peak→valley differences, and about 2.97 mm·year⁻¹ in estimation caused by numerous atmospheric fluctuations smaller than 2.84 hPa. The results coincide with the actual amount of PhE monitored of 4.52 mm·year⁻¹. Therefore, the amount of PhE is proportional to the range and frequency of fluctuation in external atmospheric pressure, and is also positively related to soil temperature, salt content, water content, porosity, and vadose zone thickness.     

SGR断层封堵性分析及断层圈闭烃柱高度估算 --以中国东部G断块为例

对油气藏中的断层进行封堵或不封堵风险评价的技术中,目前以泥岩断层泥比(SGR)方法最为常用,效果也最好,主要软件有TrapTester5。应用SGR方法对一个具体地区断层的封堵性进行评价,必须用被钻井资料证实了封堵能力的油藏断层对SGR值进行标定。介绍了SGR方法的原理,并以中国东部G断块为例作了烃柱高度估算。运用TrapTester5软件可以对断层封堵性进行定量研究,能降低断层圈闭的勘探风险。     

The comparative study of multi‐site uncertainty evaluation method based on SWAT model

With the recent development of distributed hydrological models, the use of multi‐site observed data to evaluate model performance is becoming more common. Distributed hydrological model have many advantages, and at the same time, it also faces the challenge to calibrate over‐do parameters. As a typical distributed hydrological model, problems also exist in Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) parameter calibration. In the paper, four different uncertainty approaches – Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) techniques, Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE), Sequential Uncertainty Fitting algorithm (SUFI‐2) and Parameter Solution (PARASOL) – are taken to a comparative study with the SWAT model applied in Peace River Basin, central Florida. In our study, the observed river discharge data used in SWAT model calibration were collected from the three gauging stations at the main tributary of the Peace River. Behind these approaches, there is a shared philosophy; all methods seek out many parameter set to fit the uncertainties due to the non‐uniqueness in model parameter evaluation. On the basis of the statistical results of four uncertainty methods, difficulty level of each method, the number of runs and theoretical basis, the reasons that affected the accuracy of simulation were analysed and compared. Furthermore, for the four uncertainty method with SWAT model in the study area, the pairwise correlation between parameters and the distributions of model fit summary statistics computed from the sampling over the behavioural parameter and the entire model calibration parameter feasible spaces were identified and examined. It provided additional insight into the relative identifiability of the four uncertainty methods Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controls of 234Th removal from the oligotrophic ocean by polyuronic acids and modification by microbial activity

To gain new insights into the variability of particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes and to better understand the factors controlling the POC/²³⁴Th ratios in suspended and sinking particulate matter, we investigated the relationships between POC/²³⁴Th ratios and biochemical composition (uronic acids, URA; total carbohydrates, TCHO; acid polysaccharides, APS; and POC) of suspended and sinking matter from the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 and 2006. Our data show that URA/POC in sediment traps (STs), APS/POC in the suspended particles, and turnover times of particulate ²³⁴Th in the water column and those of bacteria in STs inside eddies usually increased with depth, whereas particulate POC/²³⁴Th (10–50 μm) and the sediment-trap parameters (POC flux, POC/²³⁴Th ratio, bacterial biomass, and bacterial production) decreased with depth. However, this trend was not the case for most biological parameters (e.g., phytoplankton and bacterial biomass) or for the other parameters at the edges of eddies or at coastal-upwelling sites.In general, the following relationships were observed: 1) ²³⁴Th/POC ratios in STs were correlated with APS flux, and these ratios in the 10–50 μm suspended particles also correlated with URA/POC ratios; 2) neither URA fluxes nor URA/POC ratios were significantly related to bacterial biomass; 3) the sum of two uronic acids (G2, glucuronic, and galacturonic acid, which composed most of the URA pool) was positively related to bacterial biomass; and 4) the POC/²³⁴Th ratios in intermediate-sized particles (10–50 μm) were close to those in sinking particles but much lower than those in > 50 μm particles. The results indicate that acid polysaccharides, though a minor fraction (~ 1%) of the organic carbon, act more likely as proxy compound classes that might contain the more refractory ²³⁴Th-binding biopolymer, rather than acting as the original ²³⁴Th “scavenger” compound. Moreover, these acid polysaccharides, which might first be produced by phytoplankton and then modified by bacteria, also influence the on-and-off “piggy-back” processes of organic matter and ²³⁴Th, thus causing additional variability of the POC/²³⁴Th in particles of different sizes.