Application of participatory principles to investigation of the natural world: An example from Chile

Participatory research in environmental and natural resources-related fields is premised on many of the same notions that underlie participatory processes in decision making. This study examines one instance of participatory research to assess the extent to which the documented benefits of participatory decision-making hold up in the context of research. A survey of Chilean shell-fishers engaged in research with marine biologists assesses the relationships between four variables: fishers’ participation in research, fishers’ opinions of biologists, fishers’ trust in biologists, and fishers’ acquisition of knowledge from biologists. Results illuminate the multidimensionality of these variables and suggest that complex interrelationships between them make the benefits of participatory research more nuanced than those reported for participatory decision-making. For instance, participatory research may provide low benefits when participatory research outcomes differ little from those produced solely by scientists. In addition, high-cost scenarios may result when outcomes of participatory research are inferior to those produced solely by scientists. A third downside may result when participation leads participants to increase their deference to scientific knowledge, thereby defeating the corroborative purpose of their participation. A fourth effect may occur when increased trust by in scientists results from participation, decreasing participants’ perceived need to take part in research.     

Establishment and application of an intelligent treating method for oil spill identification

In the identifying process of an oil spill accident, manual integral and artificial visual comparison are commonly used at present to determine the oil spill sources, these methods are time-consuming and easily affected by human factors. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve the purpose of rapid identification of an oil spill accident. In this paper, an intelligent method of automatic recognition, integration and calculation of diagnostic ratio of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) spectrum are established. Firstly, four hundreds of samples collected around the world were analyzed using a standard method and Retention time locking technology (RTL) was applied to reduce the change of retention time of GC/MS spectrum. Secondly, the automatic identification, integration of n-alkanes, biomarker compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and calculation of the diagnostic ratios were realized by MATLAB software. Finally, a database of oil fingerprints were established and applied successfully in a spill oil accident. Based on the new method and database, we could acquire the diagnostic ratios of an oil sample and find out the suspected oil within a few minutes. This method and database can improve the efficiency in spilled oil identification.     

Participatory artisanal fisheries management in islands: Application to the Canary Islands (Spain)

Socio-economic development of small-island fishing communities is greatly dependent on local coastal and marine resources. However, illegal fishing and aggressive practices in insular ecosystems lead to over-exploitation and environmental deterioration. Moreover, a lack of scientific data increases uncertainty and prevents the adequate monitoring of marine resources. This paper focuses on the integration of local fishing communities into decision-making processes with the aim of promoting artisanal fishing on the Island of Tenerife (the Canary Islands), as a way to preserve the marine ecosystem and socio-economic development of traditional cofradias (fishers' organisations). A qualitative methodological framework, based on participatory problem-solution trees and focus groups, was used to identify the main factors impeding the sustainable development of the artisanal fishing sector on the island and to elaborate collective proposals with policy implications. The fishing community involved identified four main issues that are maintaining an unsustainable island fishery: 1) Over-exploitation; 2) Poor self-management of cofradias and commercialisation problems; 3) Fisher individualism and low co-management strategies, and 4) Illegal fishing increase vs. artisanal fishing decline. Results show the required policy enhancements to tackle them and the need to adapt regulations to the local situation.     

Deltaic soil behavior classification using CPTu records—Proposed approach and applied to fifty-four case histories

For the past four decades, the CPT has played a key role in onshore and offshore soil investigations. One of the main applications of cone penetration test (CPT) is the soil behavioral classification. Most of the developed methods for soil identification using CPT and CPTu (piezocone) data are well categorized for common soils, such as clays, silts, and sands. Soils with low resistance or more compressibility generally involve problems in geotechnical engineering practice and construction projects. Consequently, these unusual deposits require further evaluation and more detailed data. Five major groups of problematic soils including: liquefiable, sensitive, peaty, collapsible, and expansive soils have been considered in this study. One hundred and forty CPT and CPTu test records were collected from fifteen countries. Sixty-one of the records are related to difficult soils. A brief comparison is performed for currently used soil behavioral classification charts, such as by Campanella et al. (1985 Campanella, R. G., P. K. Robertson, D. Gillespie, and J. Greig. 1985. Recent developments in in-situ testing of soils. Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, ICSMFE, San Francisco, Vol. 2, 849–54. [Google Scholar]), Robertson (1990 Robertson, P. K. 1990. Soil classification using the cone penetration test. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 27 (1):151–58. doi:10.1139/t90–014[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Jefferies and Davies (1991 Jefferies, M. G., and M. P. Davies. 1991. Soil classification using the cone penetration test: Discussion. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 28 (1):173–76. doi:10.1139/t91–023[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Eslami and Fellenius (1997 Eslami, A., and B. H. Fellenius. 1997. Pile capacity by direct CPT and CPTu methods applied to 102 case histories. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 34 (6):886–904. doi:10.1139/cgj-34–6-886[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Analysis based on CPT data indicates that a few commonly used charts recognize relatively well problematic deposits. However, further studies are needed to increase the accuracy and capability of methods. Existing charts have some problems due to the limitations of the nature of rectangular charts based on two axes. A new format of classification chart, i.e., triangular form containing cone tip resistance (q_c), sleeve friction (f_s), and pore pressure (u₂) is proposed for soil identification which can be realized in practice. The proposed chart with more accuracy and less scattering of data than the previous charts is able to identify soil types particularly for deltaic soils.     

海洋地球物理数据库设计与实现

在对海洋地球物理数据类型和特点进行分析的基础上,从海洋地球物理元数据、基础数据库和空间数据仓库等几个方面对海洋地球物理数据库进行设计,并基于C/S和B/S架构开发了海洋地球物理数据库管理系统。经应用实践,该系统能够实现海洋地球物理数据的高效化管理和便捷化共享,提高了数据的使用效率,满足海洋调查、科研、管理等工作的需求。     

海洋地质调查数据库数据录入方法

海洋地质调查数据库通常根据已有数据库结构标准创建各数据表和要素类,采用相关软件工具进行数据管理。基于数据的录入实践,探讨了海洋地质调查数据录入的几个关键环节:表空间和用户对应创建、表之间关联的创建、大对象数据加载等。结果表明,合理的创建用户和表空间、适当的创建数据表与公共索引表和空间站位信息表之间的关联、大对象数据采用BLOB格式存储,有助于实现高效、正确的数据录入。     

JOPENS数据库的平滑迁移

由于现使用的测震软件JOPENS系统是建立在MySQL数据库上的,MySQL数据库是面对中小型企业的开源数据库,其性能与稳定性都不及现在主流Oracle。阐述了在MetaMatrix的基础上,实现JOPENS数据库从MySQL到Oracle的平滑迁移。     

地理国情监测技术路线研究

针对目前地理国情监测过程中遇到的信息采集涉及行业广、种类多、工作繁琐等问题,该文提出了一种新的技术路线,并详细探讨了不同部门、不同行业信息的获取方式。对于基础地理信息采集时地理国情及地表覆盖分类中存在的特殊道路、特殊河流、特殊房屋信息难以采集的情况,给出具体采集办法,提高了采集效率和采集精度;规范地理国情监测框架要求的其他部门、行业信息采集标准,并针对数据量大、类型复杂、调用部门多等问题,提出以云数据库存储数据,解决了后期数据库需多次扩展问题。通过分析与研究表明:此技术路线具有良好的可行性,采用此技术路线可有效采集地理信息并进行数据整合。     

浅谈地理国情普查中的遥感解译具体实施方案

遥感解译数据库的建立为地表覆盖自动化操作提供了可参考的数据源,对指导地理国情和省情建设具有指导意义。