A comparison of raster-based travel time surfaces against vector-based network calculations as applied in the study of rural food deserts

While the term food insecurity is gaining popularity in contemporary literature, there is debate as to how tenets of this phenomenon can be quantitatively measured. One of these tenets, proximity to food resources, which is used to measure food deserts, can be measured within a digital GIS (Geographic Information System). Metrics such as Euclidean and network distance represent planimetric distance measurements between locations and resources, but do not truly represent the empirical cost that serves as a barrier, most notably time and/or money, to those who must decide to travel to these resources. While the vector data model has been the standard by which these calculations are done within a GIS, raster-based travel time surfaces can serve as a faster, replicable and scalable alternative. However, little research has been done to test the efficacy of these surfaces and their alignment with vector-based network calculations. In this research, we developed two travel-time surfaces for a rural region in southeastern North Carolina. One represented travel times to grocery stores and while the other represented travel time to convenience stores. We found that the travel times derived from this surface were statistically consistent with vector-based counterparts for sample sizes at a 95% confidence. When utilized correctly using an appropriate scale and spatial resolution, these surfaces have the potential to be effective tools in the study of food deserts.     

基于GIS的岷江上游流域土地利用／覆被变化研究

以岷江上游流域为对象,选取3期9景TM/+ETM遥感影像,通过多步骤最大似然监督分类、变化检测,结合空间动态分析测算模型,分析近20年土地利用/覆被变化情况。结果表明:从整个流域分析,林地面积减少,主要转化为未利用地、建设用地和耕地;未利用地在前8年以每年3.7%、后8年以每年0.4%的速度增加;建设用地在1994—2002年以每年34%的速度增加,到2002—2010年增长速度减缓;耕地总面积减少54 431hm2;从县域分析,1994—2002年间,松潘和黑水县大面积林地转为未利用地;2002—2010年间,松潘县未利用地转为林地和建设用地,茂县和汶川县未利用地面积大幅增加。该研究结论不仅为国土资源管理部门优化土地利用结构提供依据,亦为当地政府实现生态资源可持续发展提供数据支撑。     

海洋地理信息系统(MGIS)研究进展

海洋占全球面积的71％,21世纪是海洋开发的时候,其中海岸带及近海为开发利用的重点,海洋产业部门、沿海国家的各级政府及军事部门均需要快速获得有关海洋环境的综合信息和行为的决策依据。最近国际上出现的海洋地理信息系统（MGIS）已成为发展“数字海洋”的核心,通过MGIS的内涵基本功能,决策支持系统及应用实例介绍MGIS的应用前景。     

Citation Impacts of AAG Presidential Addresses

The American Association of Geographers (AAG) president's annual address is considered an important statement about how she or he views the state of the discipline or one's research specialties. Building on previous studies on journal and individual impacts, this study measures the impacts of addresses using Google Scholar data and the Web of Science score. Using these data I classify the addresses into three distinct categories: alpha, beta, and gamma. The results reveal wide and substantial differences in Scholar ratings and Web of Science scores. A few have very high ratings, but many more are in the gamma category. Addresses by women and men presidents that promote new fields of study, extend geographic research to interdisciplinary audiences, and encourage the topics and frameworks of existing fields have higher ratings than those that appeal to more specialized audiences.     

基于唐宋文人足迹集聚性分析的中心文化城市变迁

中国历史文化研究一直是中国文学研究的热点,大量的研究都是基于文学作品本身或文人个体特征进行,缺乏大数据的支持;历史的发展是大量个体共同驱动的结果,文化地理中众多文人的行为潜在影响着古代文化分布和变迁。本文提出基于文人群体运动行为的位置关联和聚合的大数据分析方法,根据唐宋时期文人的移动足迹数据来论证中国历史上的文化中心城市的变迁。文化地理领域中的3次文化中心转移的观点,是基于3次历史事件驱动的定性推理分析,缺乏有效的古代文化方面的数据支撑。本文力图从数据科学、信息科学和GIS分析角度来审视这一结论。从人文领域已经出版的学术研究著作中采集唐宋时期具有代表性作家的11万条足迹数据,利用GIS的位置关联技术形成足迹图,构建了文人迁徙网络图;并采用空间化的PageRank算法计算出唐宋时期各城市的文化吸引力,直观地呈现出了不同时期文人聚集的中心城市,重塑唐宋文化中心变迁。同时,从定量、地理位置变化和时序角度剖析了中国不同时期城市的文化吸引力的分布和变化。为论证中国文化中心的南北变迁,对唐宋时期的城市文化吸引力聚合,以20年间隔来科学计算出南北文化中心的对比和演变,科学表现文化中心的南北随时间的变化,论证了中国文化中心3次南移的后2次,发现中国文化中心南移的时间早在北宋时期就已完成。     

Evaluating digital elevation models for glaciologic applications: An example from Nevado Coropuna, Peruvian Andes

This paper evaluates the suitability of readily available elevation data derived from recent sensors – the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) – for glaciological applications. The study area is Nevado Coropuna (6426 m), situated in Cordillera Ampato of Southern Peru. The glaciated area was 82.6 km² in 1962, based on aerial photography. We estimate the glacier area to be ca. 60.8 km² in 2000, based on analysis of the ASTER L1B scene.We used two 1:50,000 topographic maps constructed from 1955 aerial photography to create a digital elevation model with 30 m resolution, which we used as a reference dataset. Of the various interpolation techniques examined, the TOPOGRID algorithm was found to be superior to other techniques, and yielded a DEM with a vertical accuracy of ± 14.7 m. The 1955 DEM was compared to the SRTM DEM (2000) and ASTER DEM (2001) on a cell-by-cell basis. Steps included: validating the DEM's against field GPS survey points on rock areas; visualization techniques such as shaded relief and contour maps; quantifying errors (bias) in each DEM; correlating vertical differences between various DEM's with topographic characteristics (elevation, slope and aspect) and subtracting DEM elevations on a cell-by-cell basis.The RMS error of the SRTM DEM with respect to GPS points on non-glaciated areas was 23 m. The ASTER DEM had a RMS error of 61 m with respect to GPS points and displayed 200–300 m horizontal offsets and elevation ‘spikes’ on the glaciated area when compared to the DEM from topographic data.Cell-by-cell comparison of SRTM and ASTER-derived elevations with topographic data showed ablation at the toes of the glaciers (− 25 m to − 75 m surface lowering) and an apparent thickening at the summits. The mean altitude difference on glaciated area (SRTM minus topographic DEM) was − 5 m, pointing towards a lowering of the glacier surface during the period 1955–2000. Spurious values on the glacier surface in the ASTER DEM affected the analysis and thus prevented us from quantifying the glacier changes based on the ASTER data.     

Area-level risk factors for heat-related illness in rural and urban locations across North Carolina,USA

An improved understanding of heat vulnerable populations and locations is needed, especially in rural communities. The objective of this study was to identify area-level risk factors for heat-related illness (HRI) at the ZIP code level for urban and rural locations. We aggregated ZIP code-level emergency department visits into rural and urban locations based on population density. Area-level risk factors included previously established heat health risk factors (e.g. poverty, minority) and unexamined area-level risk factors common to rural locations (e.g. mobile homes, agriculture). Due to high spatial autocorrelation, a spatial error regression model was applied to identify risk factors with a significant relationship with HRI. Our results suggest that rural locations are also heat vulnerable, with greater rates of HRI compared to urban locations. Previously unexamined heat-health risk factors, including the number of mobile homes, non-citizens, and the labor-intensity of the agriculture, were all associated with increases of HRI in rural locations. In urban locations, previously established risk factors for heat-related mortality, such as decreased vegetation, living in poverty, and low education attainment were associated with increases in HRI.     

唐山市曹妃甸地区大气降尘矿物学特征及环境意义——以华北理工大学校区为例

大气降尘矿物学特征研究具有重要的环境学意义。文章以华北理工大学校区采集样品为例,应用激光粒度分析仪、扫描电镜、X射线粉末衍射、电感耦合等离子体质谱等对河北省唐山市曹妃甸地区大气降尘矿物学特征进行了初步分析研究。结果表明,曹妃甸地区大气降尘粒径较粗,颗粒物包括块状、柱状、片状、球状及不规则粒状集合体,主要由石英、长石、石膏、云母、绿泥石、角闪石、白云石、方解石和赤铁矿等矿物组成;降尘样品中Cr、Cu、Zn、As、Cd、Pb等重金属元素含量均较高。研究分析表明,降尘样品中硅酸盐矿物主要源自地面扬尘,而石膏、方解石等碳酸盐矿物可能为环境中的次生矿物,样品中重金属污染主要来源于燃煤、工矿企业生产排放和少部分汽车尾气排放。     

景观监测指标体系构建研究

为了进一步研究国家尺度的常态化景观格局变化监测,该文围绕景观监测的内涵、景观建模、指标的逻辑架构和监测尺度等方面探讨构建景观监测系统中应重点关注的问题,并提出一种景观监测指标体系:以地理国情普查成果为主要数据源,基于科学性、易于理解性、数据可获性、应用性的原则甄选了26个指标,涵盖有关景观格局的组成要素和其空间配置的8个监测主题,采用PSR逻辑框架,通过分析各指标及其相互作用关系从生态压力、状况以及响应三个方面对景观格局进行评估、预测。研究结果可为相关领域提供参考。