Integrated geophysical exploration in onshore frontier basins

Faced with the challenge of rapidly screening a huge expanse of frontier exploration acreage, often characterized by sparse vintage data, it is our experience that a combination of appropriate air- and ground-based geophysical techniques contributes positively to the exploration value chain. Airborne gravity gradiometry in conjunction with conventional gravity and magnetic data, as well as geological knowledge, add significant value to the screening process. This combination can subsequently assist in optimizing the location of the more time-consuming and expensive seismic programme. In addition, analysis and inversion of passive seismic data have also proven useful in providing depth to basement estimates, and results derived from all the techniques investigated have been consistent within several study areas. Following initial tests, where the data were independently analysed and cross-checked for consistency (including comparisons with active source seismic data and well data, when available), the company now routinely adopts the integration of these techniques in our frontier exploration acreage to support sedimentary basin delineation and mapping. This allows the optimal positioning and focussing of the higher spend and higher footprint programmes, such as active reflection seismic.     

应用底栖动物完整性指数评价上海市河流健康

据2011-2013年对上海市31条河流底栖动物的调查结果,对31个生物参数进行分布范围、判别能力以及相关性等进行分析,确定构建上海市河流底栖动物完整性指数(B-IBI)的4个参数:(寡毛类动物+蛭纲)数量百分比、耐污类群分类单元数、双翅目数量百分比和集食者分类单元数百分比.采用比值法统一量纲,将各个生物参数分值加和得到上海市河流B-IBI值.利用构建的B-IBI对上海市31条河流健康状况进行评价,结果表明:31条河流中,有4条河流处于健康状态,8条河流处于亚健康状态,9条河流处于一般状态,8条河流处于较差状态,2条河流处于极差状态;远郊河流健康状态最好,近郊次之,市区最差.     

加强综合减灾建设和谐社会实现江西既快又好发展--在全省领导干部减灾管理研讨班上的讲话(摘录)

从综合减灾与资源环境关系的角度,阐述了综合减灾工作在实现江西既快又好发展中的重要性。讲话认为,做好综合减灾工作是实现可持续发展的重要保证,是构建社会主义和谐社会的需要,是实现江西经济建设与生态环境协调发展的需要：全省各级减灾委员会和涉灾单位应紧紧围绕服务于经济建设这个主题,加强综合减灾工作,建立和完善综合减灾机制,制定、推动和落实减灾规划,建立与中央部委、兄弟省市及有关部门联网的综合减灾应急系统。提高自然灾害监测、预警、评估等业务服务技术水平,预防和减少各种自然灾害．以保障江西实现经济的快速发展和社会的和谐稳定．在新的起点上实现既快又好的发展。     

Assessment of future water provisioning and sediment load under climate and LULC change scenarios in a peninsular river basin,India

Assessment of the impact of changes in climate and land use and land cover (LULC) on ecosystem services (ES) is important for planning regional-scale strategies for sustainability and restoration of ES. The Upper Narmada River Basin (UNRB) in peninsular India has undergone rapid LULC change due to recent agricultural expansion. The impact of future climate and LULC change on ES in the UNRB is quantified and mapped using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST 3.3.0) tool. Our results show that water yield is projected to increase under climate change (about 43% for representative concentration pathway 4.5 for 2031–2040), whereas it is projected to decrease under the LULC change scenario. Sediment export is projected to increase (by 54.53%) under LULC change for 2031–2040. Under the combined effect of climate and LULC change, both water yield and sediment export are expected to increase. Climate change has a greater impact on projected water yield than LULC change, whereas LULC has greater impact on sediment export. Spatial analysis suggests a similar trend of variation in relative difference (RD) of ES in adjacent sub-basins. The quantified changes in ES provisioning will benefit future land management, particularly for operation of the Rani Avanti Bai Sagar Reservoir downstream of the UNRB.     

县级海域生态环境质量评价技术方法研究 ——以普陀区海域为例

文章构建了县级海域生态环境质量评价指标体系,建立了县级海域环境质量系数计算模型、县级海域生态质量系数计算模型以及县级海域生态环境质量综合评价模型,定义了县级海域生态环境质量评价流程。以普陀区海域为例,对县级海域生态环境质量进行综合评价,并针对关键问题和主要影响因素,提出实而可行的合理化建议,以及改善县级海域生态环境质量的长效机制。     

一种海滩地表水和地下水的全耦合数学模型

海滩地表水与地下水间的相互作用对于海岸带的物质循环及生态环境有重要的影响。基于控制体的思想推导出了统一形式的地表水和地下水的控制方程,在此基础上不仅实现了地表水和地下水的全耦合模拟,也简化了动边界的处理。对一些经典算例的模拟结果验证了该模型的有效性。     

Assessing the optimal preprocessing steps of MODIS time series to map cropping systems in Mato Grosso,Brazil

The adoption of new cropping practices such as integrated Crop-Livestock systems (iCL) aims at improving the land use sustainability of the agricultural sector in the Brazilian Amazon. The emergence of such integrated systems, based on crop and pasture rotations over and within years, challenges the remote sensing community who needs to implement accurate and efficient methods to process satellite image time series (SITS) in order to come up with a monitoring protocol. These methods generally include a SITS preprocessing step which can be time consuming. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of preprocessing operations such as temporal smoothing and computation of phenological metrics on the mapping of main cropping systems (i.e. pasture, single cropping, double cropping and iCL), with a special emphasis on the iCL class. The study area is located in the state of Mato Grosso, an important producer of agriculture commodities located in the Southern Brazilian Amazon. SITS were composed of a set of 16-day composites of MODIS Vegetation Indices (MOD13Q1 product) covering a one year period between 2014 and 2015. Two widely used classifiers, i.e. Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), were tested using five data sets issued from a same SITS but with different preprocessing levels: (i) raw NDVI; (ii) raw NDVI + raw EVI; (iii) smoothed NDVI; (iv) NDVI-derived phenometrics; (v) raw NDVI + phenometrics. Both RF and SVM classification results showed that the “raw NDVI + raw EVI” data set achieved the highest performance (RF OA = 0.96, RF Kappa = 0.94, SVM OA = 0.95, SVM Kappa = 0.93), followed closely by the “raw NDVI” and the “raw NDVI + phenometrics” datasets. The “NDVI-derived phenometrics” alone achieved the lowest accuracies (RF OA = 0.58 and SVM OA = 0.66). Considering that the implementation of preprocessing steps is computationally expensive and does not provide significant gains in terms of classification accuracy, we recommend to use raw vegetation indices for mapping cropping practices in Mato Grosso, including the integrated Crop-Livestock systems.     

Strengthening regional governance to protect the marine environment in Northeast Asia: From a fragmented to an integrated approach

Northeast Asia is failing in its attempts to protect its regional seas from irreversible ecological damage and contamination. At the policy level, the regional architecture for marine protection has several glaring structural problems that need to be identified and resolved in an expeditious and politically sensitive manner. Although the UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem Project (YS LME) and the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) are the two most likely institutions from which to build the next phase of regional marine cooperation, synergies between the two institutions remain limited. Both institutions are endowed with unique opportunities, challenges and limitations that must be taken into full consideration when planning the next step of coordinated action for regional marine protection. For the purpose of developing a more effective phase of marine cooperation in Northeast Asia, this paper advocates the formation of a Marine Environmental Community based on an integrated approach towards Northeast Asia's regional marine programs. This will facilitate improvements in funding, policy coordination through high level policy dialogue, transparency and efficiency of information sharing systems and full participation of all the coastal states in the region.     

Maintaining a balance between resource utilisation and protection of the marine environment in New Zealand

New Zealand's brief history of human habitation has led to widespread and often irreversible change in the biophysical environment. Most of the wetlands were drained and de-forestation led to major gully and channel erosions and high amounts of sediment yield in the estuarine and marine environments. The scale of land-based effects on marine species is indeterminable. The legislation for managing the land–sea interface is widely acknowledged as having fallen short of its full potential. After the 2008 general election the new government commenced review of this legislation while consideration was given to ‘unlocking New Zealand's energy potential’ as a key component to an export-led economic recovery. The government is promoting oil, gas and mineral exploration on land and at sea. The government is also enacting boundaries that extend continental shelf jurisdiction. These developments may lead to further progress on an integrated system that covers all aspects of marine management that began in 2000. In any case, New Zealanders face important decisions regarding the tradeoffs between further resource utilisation and environmental protection. This article contributes to the discussion on integrated management to maintain a balance between utilisation and protection and does not reflect the view of the Ministry of Fisheries.     

Integrated management of marine biodiversity in Europe: Perspectives from ICZM and the evolving EU Maritime Policy framework

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is high on the international agenda for nature conservation. Marine and coastal ecosystems account for an important share of the biological diversity on Earth. As a consequence many international conventions, European legislation and national laws refer to marine biodiversity. The protection of marine biodiversity is a complex legal issue as it requires consideration of geographic (between land and sea), political (between conservation and exploitation), and economic (between fisheries, tourism, intellectual property and many other sectors) factors. Like Matryoshka dolls, marine biodiversity is a heterogeneous notion difficult to address as one discrete area in the development of policy agendas or juridical frameworks. In the past decade, the EU has been very active in Promoting Integrated Coastal Zone Management and in developing a framework for an Integrated Maritime Policy. This article reviews the status of marine biodiversity in the policy and legal initiatives of the European Union, a challenging issue to both the objectives of conservation and to the concept of integration.