Mapping transit‐based access: integrating GIS,routes and schedules

Seabed sediment textural parameters such as mud, sand and gravel content can be useful surrogates for predicting patterns of benthic biodiversity. Multibeam sonar mapping can provide near-complete spatial coverage of high-resolution bathymetry and backscatter data that are useful in predicting sediment parameters. Multibeam acoustic data collected across a ～1000 km² area of the Carnarvon Shelf, Western Australia, were used in a predictive modelling approach to map eight seabed sediment parameters. Four machine learning models were used for the predictive modelling: boosted decision tree, random forest decision tree, support vector machine and generalised regression neural network. The results indicate overall satisfactory statistical performance, especially for %Mud, %Sand, Sorting, Skewness and Mean Grain Size. The study also demonstrates that predictive modelling using the combination of machine learning models has provided the ability to generate prediction uncertainty maps. However, the single models were shown to have overall better prediction performance than the combined models. Another important finding was that choosing an appropriate set of explanatory variables, through a manual feature selection process, was a critical step for optimising model performance. In addition, machine learning models were able to identify important explanatory variables, which are useful in identifying underlying environmental processes and checking predictions against the existing knowledge of the study area. The sediment prediction maps obtained in this study provide reliable coverage of key physical variables that will be incorporated into the analysis of covariance of physical and biological data for this area.     

In government we trust? Micro-business adaptation to climate change in four post-colonial and transitional economies of China

Public expectations of government influence private action for managing climate change risks. Institutional neglect or incompetence result in a loss of trust in public institutions, consequently discouraging the public from taking added responsibility for risk management. This has been explained in terms of social contract, but evidence suggests that a politics of distrust can reinforce alternative social drivers of action, rather than displacing action. This is empirically confirmed by the present study, which examines the tendencies for adopting private protective measures across a gradient of institutional trust. Surveys were conducted in four jurisdictions within China that operate under two different political-economic systems, namely, Hong Kong and Macao (liberal market economy), and Zhuhai and Sanya (socialist market economy). Structured interviews were conducted with 569 business operators to explore how their stated adaptation practice is related to institutional trust and social capital. We found that trust predicted action only in Sanya, which is characterized by a high level of public confidence in authorities. In places of lower institutional trust, social capital became a salient and powerful driver of action. The weakening of the social contracts in Hong Kong and Macao turned their people to alternative social mechanisms. We explain the results in terms of the development trajectories, socio-political norms and institutional settings of these jurisdictions. This study provides insights into how adaptation practice can be mediated by the consequences of a change in political leadership, policy, or governance arrangements that alters the relationship of trust.     

Public concern about,and desire for research into,the human health effects of marine plastic pollution: Results from a 15-country survey across Europe and Australia

Marine plastic pollution is caused by humans and has become ubiquitous in the marine environment. Despite the widely acknowledged ecological consequences, the scientific evidence regarding detrimental human health impacts is currently debated, and there is no substantive evidence surrounding public opinion with respect to marine plastic pollution and human health. Results from a 15-country survey (n = 15,179) found that both the European and Australian public were highly concerned about the potential human health impacts of marine plastic pollution, and strongly supported the funding of research which aims to better understand its health/wellbeing implications. Multi-level modelling revealed that these perceptions varied across socio-demographic factors (e.g. gender), political orientation, marine contact factors (e.g. marine occupation and engagement in coastal recreation activities) and personality traits (e.g. openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness). Quantifying attitudes, as well as understanding how individual-level differences shape risk perception will enable policy makers and communicators to develop more targeted communications and initiatives that target a reduction in marine plastic pollution.     

Rethinking urban water management: Experimentation as a way forward?

There is widespread acceptance regarding the need to transition towards more sustainable urban water practices. Supporting such a transition requires new governance frameworks that can accommodate complexity and uncertainty, and organisational cultures that embrace experimentation and learning. This empirically focused research paper examines how eleven, alternative local-scale experiments were initiated while operating in an unsympathetic regime. Furthermore, the perceptions of more than 150 urban water practitioners across Australia are presented, regarding the importance of and difficulty in undertaking experimentation in the urban water sector, and the necessary mechanisms for influencing a step change to sustainable urban water management practices. Interviewees revealed perceived limitations in experimenting with new technologies and practices when operating within a hierarchical and market-based governance paradigm. Also, industry conservatism and the dominant risk-based management approach both operate as significant constraints to promoting an experimentation culture, and are closely related to concerns about public health and financial implications. Overall, the research highlights the Australian urban water sector is willing to embrace learning-by-doing; however, a stronger emphasis on promoting an organisational and industry-wide culture of experimentation and learning is required. Policy implications for future water governance are discussed.     

县级气象综合业务工作平台本地化

根据县级气象综合业务工作平台建设的需求,以县级气象综合业务工作平台为基础,从县级气象业务工作实际出发,利用Visual Basic 6.0程序语言编程,研制出辽宁省县级气象综合业务工作平台本地化软件,并投入县级气象综合业务应用。经业务运行表明,软件的开发和使用,达到了实时业务系统高效运行的目的,使县级气象业务向集约化方向发展。     

公共财政应急支持体系构建——以云南大姚地震为例

通过对2003年云南大姚地震中财政应急支持过程的回顾,分析了财政应对地震类突发事件中存在的一系列问题,并结合当前财政应急支持的现状,参照日本灾害救助的经验,提出了完善我国财政应急支持体系的对策建议.     

GIS的社会化及公众GIS

GIS(地理信息系统 )的发展继专业化和行业化阶段之后 ,正处于社会化发展阶段。在该阶段 ,GIS的主要作用是为公众提供信息服务。文章在分析了GIS的这种发展趋势的基础上提出了“公众GIS”的概念 ,即 :直接面向公众 ,为公众提供信息服务和辅助公众进行行为决策的地理信息系统。与传统GIS相比 ,公众GIS更具有信息服务业的特点。公众GIS的建设应该突出信息的全面性、现势性和准确性、系统的友好性以及数据的易维护性等原则。公众GIS的关键技术包括数据采集、网络、数据库、多媒体以及系统的友好性设计等技术。公众GIS在建设全国城市公众信息服务网、全国交通旅游信息网以及汽车导航信息系统等方面具有广阔的应用前景。文章对公众GIS的实例———“今日武汉”公众查询系统作了简要介绍。     

Views and Visions of Land Use in the United Kingdom

As part of a national study aimed at surveying the land use and landscape of the United Kingdom, 1287 surveyors recorded their views and visions of one-kilometre grid squares in which they conducted fieldwork. This study, which took place in 1996, has links to previous national land-use surveys by L. Dudley Stamp (1950) and Alice Coleman (1976, 1977). Of the total sample, 1037 reports are from the observations of school children. Their views relate to six key questions which have been analysed using qualitative research techniques to identify categories of shared responses. Reported in frequency counts, the results highlight a degree of communality in the perceptions of the majority of young people and adults involved. They show their hopes and dreams for a cleaner and varied landscape in the future with more green space, greater provision for well-planned low density housing, and recreation facilities. At the same time their expressed concerns for the management of the environment, housing development, green space provision, recreation and leisure activities indicate a disquiet about the future. This apparent pessimism is most notable in the views for urban locations. For rural locations there is a higher expectation that things will remain more-or-less the same in 20 years time.     

游客原真性感知与世界遗产资源原真性内涵集合式关系研究(英文)

游客原真性感知对于世界遗产资源的未来发展具有重要价值。本文基于原真性学说针对游客感知与世界遗产资源旅游发展内涵之间的关系进行了探讨。通过对世界遗产故宫博物院实证研究的结果表明:数学集合理论模型能够很好地模拟游客原真性感知与遗产资源发展内涵之间的内在联系,继而5种集合式关系被建立起来,即"相离关系"、"相交关系"、"包含关系I"、"包含关系II"和"重合关系"。根据调查样本的分配规律5种集合式关系可以被进一步分为主要集合式关系和次要集合式关系。使用双因素方差分析法从被调研游客的人口统计学特征(性别、年龄、受教育程度、游览频率和已有感知程度)出发,针对集合式关系进行研究的结果进一步显示:游客对于5种集合式关系类别的感知具有差异性。本论文研究成果对于基于原真性视角下的世界遗产资源发展成效评判以及从游客原真性感知出发提出世界遗产资源发展未来策略均具有实际意义。