Adaptive geo-information processing service evolution: Reuse and local modification method

Geo-information (GI) service automated composition according to user demands is a crucial task in spatial data infrastructures. State-of-the-art GI service composition approaches face serious limitations in terms of effectiveness and stability as the general GI processing service chain (GIPSC) must be generated from individual user specifications from scratch. This paper presents a novel approach called an adaptive geo-information service evolution (AgiSE) method which overcomes these limitations by adaptively reusing and modifying previously generated GIPSC. In this method, an influence domain minimisation (IDM) criterion is employed to modify the existing GIPSC to fit the new (changed) user demands through minimum revisions. The correction of local modification is ensured by process and integrity constraints. An innovative algorithm called influence domain pursuit is developed to find the optimised solution through a heuristic backward search based on the defined IDM. Experimental analysis shows the significant improvements of using AgiSE in GI services compared with existing traditional methods. The benefits of AgiSE are the improved efficiency of GI service composition and the improved executing stability of GIPSC which were achieved by reducing the service provider load. The AgiSE presented in this paper is crucial in reusing a general unified framework for GI service composition.     

Orbital effects on Mercury’s escaping sodium exosphere

We present results from coronagraphic imaging of Mercury’s sodium tail over a 7° field of view. Several sets of observations made at the McDonald Observatory since May 2007 show a tail of neutral sodium atoms stretching more than 1000 Mercury radii (R_m) in length, or a full degree of sky. However, no tail was observed extending beyond 120 R_m during the January 2008 MESSENGER fly-by period, or during a similar orbital phase of Mercury in July 2008. Large changes in Mercury’s heliocentric radial velocity cause Doppler shifts about the Fraunhofer absorption features; the resultant change in solar flux and radiation pressure is the primary cause of the observed variation in tail brightness. Smaller fluctuations in brightness may exist due to changing source rates at the surface, but we have no explicit evidence for such changes in this data set. The effects of radiation pressure on Mercury’s escaping atmosphere are investigated using seven observations spanning different orbital phases. Total escape rates of atmospheric sodium are estimated to be between 5 and 13 × 10²³ atoms/s and show a correlation to radiation pressure. Candidate sources of Mercury’s sodium exosphere include desorption by UV sunlight, thermal desorption, solar wind channeled along Mercury’s magnetic field lines, and micro-meteor impacts. Wide-angle observations of the full extent of Mercury’s sodium tail offer opportunities to enhance our understanding of the time histories of these source rates.     

A new gnetalean macrofossil from the Early Cretaceous and its evolutionary significance

Modern gnetophytes consist of three families, i.e. the Ephedraceae, the Gnetaceae, and the Welwitschiaceae, which show diversified morphology. The basal group Ephedraceae possesses an extremely reduced female cone with only the uppermost pair/whorl being fertile, while both the Gnetaceae and the Welwitschiaceae bear female cones/spikes with multiple whorls of fertile bracts. Here, we describe a new ephedroid macrofossil, Liaoningia decussata Yang et Lin, gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning in China. This species has typical ephedroid morphology, e.g. the dichasial branching shoot system, swollen nodes, internodes having many fine longitudinal striations, and decussate phyllotaxy, lengthy linear leaves possessing two parallel veins, and female cones consisting of paired bracts. This new genus is similar to the Ephedraceae in its vegetative organs, but differs from the latter by the female spikes with multiple pairs of fertile bracts. In this respect Liaoningia is similar to both the Gnetaceae and the Welwitschiaceae, but distinctly differs from the latter two genera in its vegetative organs. As a result, our new genus shows intermediate morphology between the Ephedaceae and the other two families of the gnetophytes, and is probably a missing link in the evolutionary process from the Ephedraceae to the clade including the Gnetaceae and the Welwitschiaceae.     

Effect of streamflow forecast uncertainty on real-time reservoir operation

Various hydrological forecast products have been applied to real-time reservoir operation, including deterministic streamflow forecast (DSF), DSF-based probabilistic streamflow forecast (pseudo-PSF, pPSF), and ensemble or probabilistic streamflow forecast (denoted as real-PSF, rPSF). DSF represents forecast uncertainty in the form of deterministic forecast errors, pPSF a conditional distribution of forecast uncertainty for a given DSF, and rPSF a probabilistic uncertainty distribution. Compared to previous studies that treat the forecast products as ad hoc inputs for reservoir operation models, this paper attempts to model the dynamic evolution of uncertainties involved in the various forecast products and explores their effect on real-time reservoir operation decisions. Through a hypothetical example of a single-objective real-time reservoir operation model, the results illustrate that forecast uncertainty exerts significant effects. Reservoir operation efficiency, as measured by a utility function, decreases as the forecast uncertainty increases but the magnitude depends on the forecast products used. In general, the utility of the reservoir operation with rPSF is nearly as high as the utility obtained with a perfect forecast. Meanwhile, the utilities of DSF and pPSF are similar to each other but not as high as rPSF. Moreover, streamflow variability and reservoir capacity can change the magnitude of the effects of forecast uncertainty, but not the relative merit of DSF, pPSF, and rPSF.     

渤海湾盆地临清坳陷东部边界断裂——兰聊断层几何学、形成演化与成因机制

充分利用钻井、测井、分层和地震资料,并结合区域地质背景和前人研究成果对临清坳陷东部地区地震资料进行了详细解释,以此为基础对临清坳陷东部边界—兰聊断层的几何学特征、形成演化及其形成的动力学背景进行了深入分析.研究认为:兰聊断层为—上陡下缓的铲式正断层,在基底发生滑脱;兰聊断层具有多期活动的特征,不同构造阶段断层性质不同;...     

准噶尔盆地北缘侏罗系烃源岩热成熟度分析

准噶尔盆地不同区块烃源岩成熟度指标（主要是Ro值和Tm ax值）有较大差异,烃源岩成熟度也各自不同,但侏罗系烃源岩热成熟度总体处于未成熟-低成熟阶段,故生油能力都较低。     

月球上的"水"

在地球科学的各个领域中,在行星演化学和太空探索中,水都是不可缺少的元素。长久以来,我们一直认为月球是干燥的。然而最新的研究成果推翻了这个观点。近期的遥感探测和撞月实验表明,月球表面不仅含有结构水(OH和H₂O), 而且还有固态冰的存在。对月球火山玻璃和玄武岩的磷灰石重新分析也发现了这些玻璃中的OH,揭示了月球内部有水的存在。这个发现,意味着我们可能需要重新审视现有的月球火山活动和演化的模式。月表水和内部水的存在,还为未来以月球为跳板进行太空探索,提供了重要的资源。这里,我们对月表水和内部水的研究作一总结,并就这些发现的意义展开讨论。     

鲁西北平原深层地下水动力场时空演化

深层地下水是鲁西北平原区特有的含水系统,具有分布范围广、埋藏深和开采恢复能力差等水文地质特征。近30年来的人工开采使天然流场发生了较大改变,形成多个规模不一、形态各异的超采漏斗。利用多年来区域研究成果和实测资料,在研究区域地下水循环系统的基础上,分析开采初期和开采条件下特征年份深层地下水动力场特征,研究鲁西北平原深层地下水演化程度。研究发现,近30年来,区域水头整体下降,地下水动力场发生了显著变化。除黄河三角洲全咸水区、莘县阳谷、嘉祥凸起周围降幅较小外,其余地区均大于20m,其中德州一武城、滨州-博兴、菏泽城区降幅均在60m以上,德州、滨州漏斗中心降幅大于100m。目前已造成德州、滨州、东营、菏泽、济宁等城区不同程度的地面沉降。     

关于盆地分析思想的发展

中国海陆地区内,沉积岩的分布面积达550万平方公里.这些沉积岩所存在的盆地保留着各种地质作用的记录,赋存着石油天然气和煤炭等矿产资源,是探索地质历史的窗口,也是国民经济建设的重要能源基地.因此,盆地的分析研究显得格外重要,其分析理论思想经历了直观阶段、发展阶段和深化阶段.目前比较完善的是运用综合地球物理方法研究盆地的一套系统工程理论,并将刘光鼎教授提出的综合地球物理解释方法学进一步深化.本文还讨论了盆地分析的有关理论基础.     

Divergent evolution of Earth and Venus: Influence of degassing,tectonics, and magnetic fields

Knowledge of the earliest evolution of Earth and Venus is extremely limited, but it is obvious from their dramatic contrasts today that at some point in their evolution conditions on the two planets diverged. In this paper we develop a geophysical systems box model that simulates the flux of carbon through the mantle, atmosphere, ocean, and seafloor, and the degassing of water from the mantle. Volatile fluxes, including loss to space, are functions of local volatile concentration, degassing efficiency, tectonic plate speed, and magnetic field intensity. Numerical results are presented that demonstrate the equilibration to a steady state carbon cycle, where carbon and water are distributed among mantle, atmosphere, ocean, and crustal reservoirs, similar to present-day Earth. These stable models reach steady state after several hundred million years by maintaining a negative feedback between atmospheric temperature, carbon dioxide weathering, and surface tectonics. At the orbit of Venus, an otherwise similar model evolves to a runaway greenhouse with all volatiles in the atmosphere. The influence of magnetic field intensity on atmospheric escape is demonstrated in Venus models where either a strong magnetic field helps the atmosphere to retain about 60 bars of water vapor after 4.5 Gyr, or the lack of a magnetic field allows for the loss of all atmospheric water to space in about 1 Gyr. The relative influences of plate speed and degassing rate on the weathering rate and greenhouse stability are demonstrated, and a stable to runaway regime diagram is presented. In conclusion, we propose that a stable climate-tectonic-carbon cycle is part of a larger coupled geophysical system where a moderate surface climate provides a stabilizing feedback for maintaining surface tectonics, the thermal cooling of the deep interior, magnetic field generation, and the shielding of the atmosphere over billion year time scales.