Optical Response of the Atmosphere During the Caribbean Total Solar Eclipses of 26 February 1998 and of 3 February 1916 at Falcón state,Venezuela

An investigation of the optical response of the atmosphere before, during, and afterthe total solar eclipse of 26 February 1998 at the Caribbean Peninsula of Paraguaná (Falcón State) in Venezuela, was made by measuring photometrically the intensity of the sky brightness in three strategic directions: zenith, horizon anti-parallel or opposite the umbra path, and horizon perpendicular to this path. From these measurements, and by applying in an inverse way an empirical photometric model, very rough estimations of theextinction coefficient, and also of the average optical depth, were obtained in one of these particular directions. However based on meteorological measurements such as those of relative humidity and temperature, and applying a different model, a better estimation in the visual of the total global extinction coefficient of the sky (except the horizon), were made considering the contribution of each component: atmospheric aerosol, water vapour, ozone and Rayleigh scattering. It is shown that this global coefficient is mostly dependent upon aerosol extinction. In spite of the strong reduction of sky brightness photometrically observed during the totality, the results show that the sky was not dark. This is confirmed by the results obtained for the total global extinction coefficient. Additionally it is estimated that the total solar eclipse that took place also in Falcón State, Venezuela, at the beginning of the last century on 3 February 1916, was 30% darker that the 1998 eclipse, and that atmospheric aerosol played a relevant and similar role in the scattering of sunlight during the totality as it was for 1998's. Visual observations made during each event, which show that at length only one or two bright stars could be seen in the sky, support the results obtained for both eclipses.     

An ecological economics framework for assessing environmental flows: the case of inter-basin water transfers in Lesotho

This paper used the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) that transfers water from the Orange River Basin in Lesotho to the Vaal River Basin in South Africa as a case study to show how environmental sustainability aspects can be integrated into economic development planning. Using the Ecological Social Accounting Matrix (ESAM) for Lesotho that integrates ecological implications of the LHWP with economic benefits of the project, the paper analysed the impact of lost ecological services downstream the LHWP dams in Lesotho on the well-being of households directly affected by the project (riparians) and the general economy of the country. The results revealed that despite significant economic benefits, the project has unintended impacts on ecological resources and services with resultant deleterious well-being implications for riparians. The results from the ESAM analysis indicated that not only the income of riparians is likely to suffer, but also that of other households and social groups, as well as the general economy of Lesotho. While results of the ESAM analysis did not indicate large income impacts on the economy at large, they were significant for riparians. The importance of integrating ecological consequences into impact assessment of IBWT before such transfers can be implemented to ensure sustainable development and considering economy-wide impacts associated with IBWT was proven necessary for a holistic impact assessment of IBWT.     

Reconstruction of fire spread within wildland fire events in Northern Eurasia from the MODIS active fire product

Russian boreal forests have been reshaped by wildland fire for millennia. While fire is a natural component of boreal ecosystems, it impacts various aspects of the environment and affects human well-being. Often fires occur over large remote areas with limited access, which makes their ground-based observation difficult. A significant progress has been made in mapping burned area from satellite imagery, which provides consistent and fairly unbiased estimates of fire impact on areas of interest at multiple scales. Although the information provided by burned area products is highly important, the spatio-temporal dynamics of individual fire events and their impact are less known. In high northern latitudes of Northern Eurasia, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) makes up to four daily observations from each of the Terra and Aqua satellites providing consistent data on fire development with high temporal frequency. Here we introduce an approach to reconstruct the development of fire events based on active fire detections from MODIS. Fire Spread Reconstruction (FSR) provides a means for characterization of fire occurrence over large territories from remotely sensed data. Individual fire detections are clustered within a GIS environment based on a set of rules determining proximity between fire observations in space and time. FSR determines the number of fire events, their approximate size, duration, and fire spread rate and allows for the analysis of fire occurrence and spread as a function of vegetation, fire season, fire weather and other parameters. FSR clusters were compared to burned scars mapped from Landsat7/ETM+ imagery over Yakutia (Russia). While some smaller burn scars were found to be formed through a continuous burning of a single fire event, large burned areas in Siberia were created by a constellation of fire events incorporating over 100 individual fire clusters. Geographic regions were found to have a stronger influence on the rates of fire activity in the area compared to vegetation zones. In addition, fire spread rates do not directly correlate with the intensity of a given fire season. FSR is also used to identify the points of ignition for individual fire events in spatio-temporal domain for fire danger and fire threat modeling. This approach presents another step towards the more complete characterization of fire events from remotely sensed data.     

Atoll island vulnerability to flooding and inundation revealed by historical reconstruction: Fongafale Islet, Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu

The reef islands formed on coral atolls are generally small, low, and flat, with elevations of only a few meters. These islands are thus highly vulnerable to elevated sea levels caused by extreme events and global warming. Such vulnerability was recently evidenced at Fongafale Islet, the capital of Tuvalu, when it flooded during accelerated spring high tides possibly related to sea level rise caused by global warming. Many factors, not only environmental but also economic and social, determine the vulnerability of an island to sea level rise. In this study, we used data spanning 108 yrs to reconstruct changes in topography, land use/cover, population, and the distribution of buildings at Fongafale Islet. The results indicate that the vulnerability of Fongafale Islet relates to its original landform characteristics: the central part of the island was formerly dominated by swampland that flooded at high tides. Fongafale Islet experienced greater population in-migration and centralization beginning in the 1970s following the independence of Tuvalu and Kiribati. Migrants were also responding to declines in overseas mining operations and limited options for paid employment. As the population increased, construction took place in vulnerable swampland areas. Our results clearly demonstrate that examinations of global environmental issues should focus on characteristics specific to the region of interest. These characteristics should be specified using historical reconstruction to understand and address the vulnerability of an area to global environmental changes.     

自然与人文交互作用下的干旱区典型绿洲耕地动态变化驱动力分析——以新疆于田绿洲为例

 绿洲是干旱区独特的自然景观,是人们生产生活的载体。如何在保持经济发展、提高人民生活水平的基础上保护有限的耕地资源,是关系到干旱区绿洲和谐以及可持续发展的重要问题。选取干旱区典型绿洲——于田县1949\_2004年的自然与人文统计资料,首先分析了五十余年来该县耕地变化的情况。然后从自然与人文两个角度对影响耕地面积变化的因子进行分析,结果表明,自然因素往往构成一定区域绿洲发展的基本限制,人为因素在短时期内,对耕地的变化起着决定性作用,这种作用如果顺应自然因素的限制,则对绿洲发展有利,绿洲稳定性增强;反之,绿洲稳定性减弱,由于新疆绿洲外围多为戈壁及沙漠,因此,对绿洲的利用要遵循自然规律,以保护绿洲为前提,合理利用水等自然资源,否则绿洲的面积随时都有可能缩小。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: Boundary Control and Legal Priniciples . Curtis M. Brown , Walter G. Robillard and Donald A. Wilson . Lost Initiatives: Canada's Forest Industries, Forest Policy, and Forest Conservation . R. Peter Gillis and Thomas R. Roach . The Navajo Atlas: Resources, People, and History of the Dine Bikeyah . James M. Goodman . The City and the Sign . M. Gottdiener AND Alexandros Ph . Lagopoulos , EDS. The Comfortable House: North American Suburban Architecture 1890–1930 . Alan Gowans . Arabic-Islamic Cities. Building and Planning Principles . Besim Salim Hakim . Contemporary Climatology . Ann Henderson -Sellers and Peter J. Robinson . A Trace of Desert Waters . Samuel G. Houghton . Geography, Resources and Environment. Vol. 1: Selected Writings of Gilbert F. White. Vol. 2: Themes from the Work of Gilbert F. White . Robert W. Kates AND Ian Burton , ED. Spatial Dimensions of Unemployment and Underemployment (A Case Study of Rural Punjab) . Gopal Krishan . Maps of the Holy Land: Cartobibliography of Printed Maps, 1475–1900 . Compiled by Eran Laor , assisted by Shoshana Klein . The Geography of Third World Cities . Stella Lowder . A Perspective on U.S. Farm Problems and Agricultural Policy . Lance Mc Kinzie , Timothy G. Baker AND Wallace E. Tyner . Soil Erosion and Its Control. R.P.C . Morgan , ED Geopolitics . Patrick O'Sullivan . Landscape, Meanings and Values . Edmund C. Penning -Rowsell AND David Lowenthal , EDS.     

Political Alienation,Rurality and the Symbolic Role of Swedish Wolf Policy

Attitudes towards wolf policy are likely to be driven by perceived differences in political power between urban and rural groups. Using Swedish survey data collected in 2014 and structural equation modeling, I evaluated the effects of political alienation. Political alienation mediated the effect of having an urban or rural place of residence on attitudes towards wolf policy. Politically alienated individuals also preferred more extreme policy options than other respondents, while being less likely to approve of the current wolf policy in Sweden. These findings suggest that political alienation drives attitude polarization in wolf related social conflicts. Awareness of these underlying power asymmetries could possibly increase both policy legitimacy and management efficiency. This highlights the importance of accounting for social context in relation to policy-making and conservation efforts related to wolves.     

潮河流域降水-径流关系变化及驱动因子识别

基于1973-2010年长系列日降水、径流数据,利用降水径流双累积曲线、M-K统计检验和降水集中度等方法,结合HIMS模型模拟结果,分析了潮河流域降水-径流关系的变化及其原因。得到的主要结论如下：（1）近38年来,潮河流域降水变化较小,但径流下降趋势显著,降水-径流关系发生了两次突变,即在1973-1983年、1984-1998年和1999-2010年三个阶段降水-径流关系存在明显差异;（2）大雨日降水总和（P_≥20）与径流深关系较为密切,其变化是导致降水-径流关系在1983年发生突变的主要驱动因子;（3）HIMS模型模拟结果显示,1999-2010年潮河流域下垫面条件较前两阶段变化明显,人类活动引起的减水效应由第二阶段的14.93%增加至第三阶段的25.78%,人类活动是导致降水-径流关系在1998年发生突变的主要驱动因子。     

广东省城镇建设用地经济密度差异时空特征及影响机理

基于广东省21个地级市的城镇建设用地经济密度数据,利用ArcGIS空间分析、泰尔指数、重心模型等方法分析了1996―2008年广东省城镇建设用地经济密度差异的时空特征,并构建面板数据模型对其影响机理进行了探讨。结果表明：1）1996―2008年,广东省城镇建设用地经济密度总体差异波动增大,城镇建设用地经济密度重心向西北偏移;2）广东省各城市之间城镇建设用地经济密度差异显著,空间格局上存在较明显的集聚和峰值效应;3）广东省各城市之间城镇建设用地经济密度的相对发展速度差别较大,按基础水平和提高速度的差异划分为4种类型区,其中基础高密度提高较慢类型区和基础低密度提高较慢类型区涉及城市数量较多;4）随着产业结构的优化、资本与劳动力投入规模的增大、交通区位的改善和科技水平的提升,广东省城镇建设用地的经济效益将会得到不断提高。     

Local meteorology in a northern Himalayan valley near Mount Everest and its response to seasonal transitions

An automatic weather station(AWS) has been installed at the Qomolangma Station of the China Academy of Sciences(QOMS) since 2005, in a northern Himalayan valley near Mount Everest, with an altitude of 4,270 m a.s.l.. Nine years of meteorological records(2006–2014) from the automatic weather station(AWS) were analyzed in this study, aiming to understand the response of local weather to the seasonal transition on the northern slopes of Mount Everest, with consideration of the movement of the subtropical jet(STJ) and the onset of the Indian Summer Monsoon(ISM). We found:(1) Both the synoptic circulation and the orography have a profound influence on the local weather, especially the local circulation.(2) Southwesterly(SW) and southeasterly(SE) winds prevail alternately at QOMS in the afternoon through the year. The SW wind was driven by the STJ during the non-monsoon months, while the SE was induced by the trans-Himalayan flow through the Arun Valley, a major valley to the east of Mount Everest, under a background of weak westerly winds aloft.(3) The response of air temperature(T) and specific humidity(q) to the monsoon onset is not as marked as that of the nearsurface winds. The q increases gradually and reaches a maximum in July when the rainy period begins.(4) The alternation between the SW wind at QOMS and the afternoon SE wind in the pre-monsoon season signals the northward shift of the STJ and imminent monsoon onset. The average interval between these two events is 14 days.