Understanding the implications of the EU-LULUCF regulation for the wood supply from EU forests to the EU

Background

In June 2018, the European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopted a legislative regulation for incorporating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (EU-LULUCF) under its 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. The LULUCF regulation aim to incentivise EU Member States to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and increase removals in the LULUCF sector. The regulation, however, does not set a target for increasing the LULUCF carbon sink, but rather includes a ‘no net debit’ target for LULUCF (Forests and Agricultural soils). For Managed Forest Land (MFL) an accounting framework with capped credits for additional mitigation against a set forest reference level (FRL) was agreed for 2021–2030. The FRL gives the projected future carbon sink in the two compliance periods 2021–2025 and 2026–2030 under “continuation of forest management practices as they were in the reference period 2000–2009”. This FRL was disputed by some Member States as it was perceived to put a limit on their future wood harvesting from MFL. Here we simulated with the EFISCEN European forest model the “continuation of forest management practices” and determined the corresponding wood harvest for 26 EU countries under progressing age classes.

Results

The simulations showed that under “continuation of forest management practices” the harvest (wood removals) in the 26 EU countries as a whole can increase from 420 million m³/year in 2000–2009 to 560 million m³/year in 2050 due to progressing age classes. This implies there is a possibility to increase absolute wood harvests without creating debits compared to the forest reference level. However, the manner in which ‘continuation of forest management’ developed with a progressing age class development over time, meant that in some countries the future harvesting exceeded 90% of the increment. Since this generally is considered to be unsustainable we additionally set a harvesting cut-off as max 90% of increment to be harvested for each individual country as a possible interpretation of sustainability criteria that are included in the regulation. Using this additional limit the projected harvest will only increase to 493 million m³/year.

Conclusions

The worry from Member States (MS) that the FRL will prevent any additional harvesting seems unwarranted. Due to differences between Member States concerning the state of their forest resources, the FRL as a baseline for harvesting works out very differently for the different Member States. The FRL may have other unforeseen consequences which we discuss. Under all scenarios the living forest biomass sink shows a decline. This can be counteracted through incentivising measures under Climate Smart Forestry.

     

京津冀及周边一般性降水与短时强降水特征对比

京津冀及周边地区为我国北方强降水的多发区域。基于1966—2021年87个国家级气象站逐小时降水资料对比分析暖季5—9月一般性降水和短时强降水的空间分布及年际变化,并基于1980—2021年298个气象站分析日变化等特征。结果表明：京津冀及周边地区的渤海西侧平原区域存在短时强降水强度极端性显著区域。渤海西侧平原以外区域两类降水平均小时降水量、强度和降水时次百分比均呈增长趋势,但短时强降水的增幅更高,而渤海西侧平原区域趋势则均不明显。渤海西侧平原区域和渤海西侧平原以外区域的一般性降水平均小时降水量和降水时次百分比日变化幅度显著弱于短时强降水;7—9月渤海西侧平原区域降水夜发性更明显,且相比另一区域半峰持续时间多出约2 h。2005年后渤海西侧平原区域和渤海西侧平原以外区域短时强降水平均小时降水量和降水时次百分比下午时段均明显减弱,但午夜后至清晨明显增加。     

GPS automatic monitoring system for outside deformation of Geheyan Dam on the Qingjiang River

In this paper, the background of developing GPS Automatic Monitoring System for outside deformation of Geheyan Dam is described concisely. The framework, precision and features of the system are stated in detail. Finally, the prospective application of the system is introduced.     

钱家营矿首采区断层在剖面上的延伸规律

通 过对 开滦钱 家营 矿首采 区地 质资料 的综 合分析 ,得 出了 该 矿首 采区 断 层在 剖面 上 的变 化特 征 及规 律,并运用这些 规律 ,对未 采区进 行预 测、预报 ,正确 指导了 采掘 工程的 顺利 进行。     

Effect of a thermokarst lake on soil physical properties and infiltration processes in the permafrost region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Changes in the hydrological processes in alpine soil constitute one of the several key problems encountered with studying watershed hydrology and ecosystem stability against the background of global warming. A typically developing thermokarst lake was chosen as a subject for a study using model simulation based on observations of soil physical properties, infiltration processes, and soil moisture. The results showed that the selected thermokarst lake imposed certain changes on the soil infiltration processes and, with the degree of impact intensifying, the initial infiltration rate decreased. The greatest reduction was achieved in the area of moderate impact. However, the stable infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration gradually increased in the surface layer at a depth of 10 and 20 cm, both decreasing initially and then increasing, which is correlated significantly with soil textures. Moreover, the cumulative infiltration changed in line with steady infiltration rate. Based on a comparative analysis, the Horton model helps better understand the effect on the soil infiltration processes of the cold alpine meadow close to the chosen thermokarst lake. In conclusion, the formation of the thermokarst lake reduced the water holding capacity of the alpine meadow soil and caused the hydraulic conductivity to increase, resulting in the reduction of runoff capacity in the area of the thermokarst lake.     

Coupled three-dimensional discrete element–finite difference simulation of dynamic compaction

Discrete element method has been widely adopted to simulate processes that are challenging to continuum-based approaches. However, its computational efficiency can be greatly compromised when large number of particles are required to model regions of less interest to researchers. Due to this, the application of DEM to boundary value problems has been limited. This paper introduces a three-dimensional discrete element–finite difference coupling method, in which the discrete–continuum interactions are modeled in local coordinate systems where the force and displacement compatibilities between the coupled subdomains are considered. The method is validated using a model dynamic compaction test on sand. The comparison between the numerical and physical test results shows that the coupling method can effectively simulate the dynamic compaction process. The responses of the DEM model show that dynamic stress propagation (compaction mechanism) and tamper penetration (bearing capacity mechanism) play very different roles in soil deformations. Under impact loading, the soil undergoes a transient weakening process induced by dynamic stress propagation, which makes the soil easier to densify under bearing capacity mechanism. The distribution of tamping energy between the two mechanisms can influence the compaction efficiency, and allocating higher compaction energy to bearing capacity mechanism could improve the efficiency of dynamic compaction.

     

用CAPPI和PPI资料测定区域降水量精度比较

应用上海中心气象台７１４数字化天气雷达的体积扫描资料所得的不同高度上的ＣＡＰＰＩ资料和低仰角时ＰＰＩ资料。估算区域降水量并得到降水量分布形势。然后采用平均校准法进行了校准，最后又与用雨量计网测量的区域降水量及其分布形势作了比较，得到一些有意义的结果。     

基于离散元方法的落石碰撞破碎研究

落石是山区公路边坡常见的地质灾害。落石撞击破碎是落石灾害中常见的现象,落石破碎致使运动轨迹改变往往会增大落石的危害性,但其通常未被考虑到落石的防护设计中。因此,落石破碎机理的研究对落石防护措施设计有重要的指导意义。本文运用离散元方法（离散元开源软件Esys-Particle）模拟落石铅直撞击地面的过程。在模型中,落石由大量的颗粒组成,并且相邻的颗粒由可断裂的黏结材料黏接;地面由一层固定的颗粒组成,从而模拟地面的摩擦、弹性变形性质。模型模拟出落石反弹、破碎和粉碎等过程,分析黏结材料的杨氏模量、颗粒间凝聚力和内摩擦角对落石撞击地面过程的影响,得出落石撞击过程中破坏率和动能的变化过程。研究发现：当杨氏模量和凝聚力的比值较小时,落石将会发生反弹;当杨氏模量和凝聚力的比值增大到一定程度时,落石将会破碎成不同大小的块体;当杨氏模量和凝聚力的比值超过一定限度时,落石将会破碎成非常细小的块体;内摩擦角的变化对撞击过程影响非常小。     

Automated mapping of rock slope geometry,kinematics and stability with RSS-GIS

A GIS-implemented, deterministic approach for the automated spatial evaluation of geometrical and kinematical properties of rock slope terrains is presented. Based on spatially distributed directional information on planar geological fabrics and DEM-derived topographic attribute data, the internal geometry of rock slopes can be characterized on a grid cell basis. For such computations, different approaches for the analysis and regionalization of available structural directional information applicable in specific tectonic settings are demonstrated and implemented in a GIS environment. Simple kinematical testing procedures based on feasibility criteria can be conducted on a pixel basis to determine which failure mechanisms are likely to occur at particular terrain locations. In combination with hydraulic and strength data on geological discontinuities, scenario-based rock slope stability evaluations can be performed. For conceptual investigations on rock slope failure processes, a GIS-based specification tool for a 2-D distinct element code (UDEC) was designed to operate with the GIS-encoded spatially distributed rock slope data. The concepts of the proposed methodology for rock slope hazard assessments are demonstrated at three different test sites in Germany.     

基础地理信息应用服务研究

本文全面、系统地分析了基础地理信息在地理信息产业中的作用、基础地理信息的各种应用，并在此基础上提出了基础地理信息的服务策略。