The importance of plant root characteristics in controlling concentrated flow erosion rates

While it has been demonstrated in numerous studies that the aboveground characteristics of the vegetation are of particular importance with respect to soil erosion control, this study argues the importance of separating the influence of vegetation on soil erosion rates into two parts: the impact of leaves and stems (aboveground biomass) and the influence of roots (belowground biomass). Although both plant parameters form inseparable constituents of the total plant organism, most studies attribute the impact of vegetation on soil erosion rates mainly to the characteristics of the aboveground biomass. This triggers the question whether the belowground biomass is of no or negligible importance with respect to soil erosion by concentrated flow. This study tried to answer this question by comparing cross‐sectional areas of concentrated flow channels (rills and ephemeral gullies) in the Belgian Loess Belt for different cereal and grass plant densities. The results of these measurements highlighted the fact that both an increase in shoot density as well as an increase in root density resulted in an exponential decrease of concentrated flow erosion rates. Since protection of the soil surface in the early plant growth stages is crucial with respect to the reduction of water erosion rates, increasing the plant root density in the topsoil could be a viable erosion control strategy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

数字城市规划系统关键技术分析

分析了数字城市规划系统的业务需求，介绍了其基础数据更新、工作流、无纸化办公、历史空间信息管理等主要关键技术，并对其进行了讨论。     

千兆网支持下的城市公众GIS

当前GIS技术的发展已经进入到一个新的阶段,呈现出网络化、专业化、智能化、大众化等特点。公众GIS是近年来新兴的GIS应用领域,它主要的目的是面向公众提供信息服务。介绍了城市公众GIS的基本概念、特点和系统功能,在分析了当前公众GIS存在的问题之后,继而提出一种适合宽带网络(千兆以太网)支持下的公众GIS系统结构,并进一步分析了它的功能和用途。     

Weather as a Chronic Hazard for Road Transportation in Canadian Cities

Inclement weather creates a chronic hazard for Canadian travellers. Past studies indicate that road collision rates increase during precipitation, although the magnitude of theincrease varies from study to study, partly as a result of variations in weather and driving conditions,but also because of differences in methods. The goal of the current study is to improve ourunderstanding of the links between weather and travel risk in mid-sized Canadian cities by using astandardized method for analyzing data from six cities with different climates: Halifax-Dartmouth,Ottawa, Québec, Hamilton, Waterloo Region, and Regina. The study has four interrelated objectives: (1) Toconduct a sensitivity analysis to determine the extent to which risk estimates vary depending onthe criteria used to define precipitation events and `normal' conditions; (2) To compare therelative risk of collision and injury during precipitation relative to `normal' conditions; (3) Todetermine the extent to which weather-related risks vary fordifferent Canadian cities; and (4) To explore any differences in collision characteristics between events and controls, especially as theyvary from city to city. Results are based on a matched-pair analysis, using six-hour time blocks over afour-year period, 1995 to 1998. Results indicate only modest sensitivity to the criteria used to define precipitation events and `normal' conditions. On average, precipitation is associated with a 75 percentincrease in traffic collisions and a 45 percent increase in related injuries, as compared to `normal'seasonal conditions, but risk levels vary depending on the characteristics of the weather event.Both sensitivity to specific weather conditions and weather-related accident profiles vary from city tocity in ways that are not easily explained.     

A statistical approach to evaluating distance metrics and analog assignments for pollen records

The modern analog technique typically uses a distance metric to determine the dissimilarity between fossil and modern biological assemblages. Despite this quantitative approach, interpretation of distance metrics is usually qualitative and rules for selection of analogs tend to be ad hoc. We present a statistical tool, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, which provides a framework for identifying analogs from distance metrics. If modern assemblages are placed into groups (e.g., biomes), this method can (1) evaluate the ability of different distance metrics to distinguish among groups, (2) objectively identify thresholds of the distance metric for determining analogs, and (3) compute a likelihood ratio and a Bayesian probability that a modern group is an analog for an unknown (fossil) assemblage. Applied to a set of 1689 modern pollen assemblages from eastern North America classified into eight biomes, ROC analysis confirmed that the squared-chord distance (SCD) outperforms most other distance metrics. The optimal threshold increased when more dissimilar biomes were compared. The probability of an analog vs no-analog result (a likelihood ratio) increased sharply when SCD decreased below the optimal threshold, indicating a nonlinear relationship between SCD and the probability of analog. Probabilities of analog computed for a postglacial pollen record at Tannersville Bog (Pennsylvania, USA) identified transitions between biomes and periods of no analog.     

基于资源卫星图像对NDVI进行大气修正的一种简单方法

在遥感应用领域，植被指数己被广泛用来定性和定量表征植被覆盖度及其生长状况。由于大气变化的影响，使植被指数未能真实反映地表植被的真实分布状况，造成其应用的局限性。提出了一种简易方法，仅通过中巴资源卫星(CBERS：China Brazil Environment Resoure Satellite)图像的第3、第4波段中的水体，推算卫星接收到的大气程辐射，消除了大气对归一化植被指数(NDVI：Normalized Differece Vege—tation Index)的影响，减小植被指数所受的大气影响。应用结果表明，该方法能使植被指数较好地反映植被的生长及分布状况。     

气象卫星遥感预警福建省森林火灾

应用NOAA卫星遥感资料，研究森林防火期内森林植被的干燥指数的变化，结合分析相应的森林火灾的资料，做出福建省森林火险等级空间分布，应用福建省地理信息系统，根据高火险等级的地理位置，预警该地可能发生森林火灾。     

The Influence of Vegetation Cover on Summer Precipitation in China： a Statistical Analysis of NDVI and Climate Data

This study provides new evidence for the feedback effects of vegetation cover on summer precipitation in different regions of China by calculating immediate (same season), and one-and two-season lagged correlations between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and summer precipitation. The results show that the correlation coefficients between NDVI in spring and the previous winter and precipitation in summer are positive in most regions of China, and they show significant difference between regions. The stronger one-and two-season lagged correlations occur in the eastern arid/semi-arid region, Central China,and Southwest China out of the eight climatic regions of China, and this implies that vegetation cover change has more sensitive feedback effects on summer precipitation in the three regions. The three regions are defined as sensitive regions. Spatial analyses of correlations between spring NDVI averaged over each sensitive region and summer precipitation of 160 stations suggest that the vegetation cover strongly affects summer precipitation not only over the sensitive region itself but also over other regions, especially the downstream region.     

A Laboratory Model for the Flow in Urban Street Canyons Induced by Bottom Heating

Water tank experiments are carried out to investigate the convection flow induced by bottom heating and the effects of the ambient wind on the flow in non-symmetrical urban street canyons based on the PIV (Particle Image Visualization) technique. Fluid experiments show that with calm ambient wind,the flows in the street canyon are completely driven by thermal force, and the convection can reach the upper atmosphere of the street canyon. Horizontal and vertical motions also appear above the roofs of the buildings. These are the conditions which favor the exchange of momentum and air mass between the street canyon and its environment. More than two vortices are induced by the convection, and the complex circulation pattern will vary with time in a wider street canyon. However， in a narrow street canyon， just one vortex appears. With a light ambient wind, the bottom heating and the associated convection result in just one main vortex. As the ambient wind speed increases, the vortex becomes more organized and its center shifts closer to the leeward building.     

植被冠层多角度遥感研究进展

综述了近年来关于植被冠层多角度遥感研究的最新成果，分别讨论了二向性反射的正向模型和参量反演问题在理论和实际应用中的新进展。分析了卫星平台多角度遥感的应用前景及面临的困难，指出了未来多角度遥感研究的新方向。