Ecology of water mite assemblages in Panama – First data on water mites (Acari,Hydrachnidia) as bioindicators in the assessment of biological integrity of neotropical streams

The ecological integrity of freshwater ecosystems is regularly examined through assessment of their macroinvertebrate assemblages. The various methods used in such biomonitoring all have one characteristic in common – the neglect of water mites. Even though this group perfectly fulfills all necessary requisites for successful bioindicators, these invertebrates are either completely ignored or lumped together as “Acari”.This study, for the first time, uses water mites (Hydrachnidia) as bioindicators in the Neotropics to compare the anthropogenic stress in 15 streams at three different levels of contamination (pristine, rural, urban). In total, 4371 water mite specimens, belonging to 31 genera and 14 families, were collected.Diversity, abundance, and richness of water mite assemblages were significantly reduced with increasing levels of contamination. These differences were clearest in the dry season. Atractidella turned out to be, by far, the most tolerant water mite genus, having the greatest abundance at the most contaminated sites. In contrast, Pseudotorrenticola was found only in pristine waters, while Hydrodroma, Limnesia, Koenikea, Torrenticola, Monatractides and the family Aturidae showed clear preferences for pristine waters.Our data show, that water mites, identified to genus level, are well suited for water quality assessment in neotropical lowland streams, clearly distinguishing different levels of contamination/anthropogenic stress.     

Improved performance‐based seismic assessment of buildings by utilizing Bayesian statistics

This paper addresses two important issues of concern to practicing engineers and researchers alike in application of performance‐based seismic assessment (PBSA) methodology on buildings: (i) the number of ground motion records required to exercise PBSA—current practice (FEMA P‐58‐1) requires eleven or more pairs of motions for this purpose, and (ii) the time and effort associated with performing the number of nonlinear response history analyses required to exercise PBSA. We present a method for exercising of PBSA that employs classical linear modal analysis to develop a first estimate (i.e., a priori) of probability distribution of loss, followed by utilizing Bayesian statistics to update this estimate using estimates of loss obtained by utilizing a small number of nonlinear response history analyses of a detailed model of the building (i.e., posterior). The proposed technique is used to assess the distribution of monetary loss of two case studies, a 4‐story reinforced concrete moment‐resisting frame building and a 20‐story steel moment‐resisting frame building, both located in Los Angeles, for a ground motion hazard with 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The efficiency of the proposed PBSA method is demonstrated by showing the similarity between the distribution of monetary loss at each story of case study buildings obtained from the traditional/sophisticated PBSA methodology and the proposed PBSA method in this study. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2013年四川芦山7.0级地震烈度遥感评估

2013年4月20日四川芦山MS7.0级地震发生后,在灾区应急获取了多种高分辨率航空和无人机遥感影像,并快速解译提取了灾区建筑物震害信息.采用地震烈度遥感定量评估方法,利用2008年汶川8.0级地震等震后震害遥感解译和现场调查研究确定的经验震害遥感定量评估模型,获得了芦山地震灾区126个主要居民点的地震烈度遥感评估结果,并据此圈画了地震烈度分布遥感评估图.结果显示,本次地震Ⅸ度区面积约150km2,Ⅷ度区面积约900km2.该结果在第一时间(4月21日晚)提供给了中国地震局地震现场应急指挥部.对比分析显示,地震烈度遥感快速评估结果与中国地震局4月25日公布的地震烈度图,以及与笔者在现场实地进行的建筑物震害详细调查结果基础上评定的地震烈度具有较高的一致性.表明强烈地震发生后,借助于快速获取的灾区高分辨率遥感影像,可以快速估计地震烈度分布,对地震灾区灾情估计和抗震救灾工作具有十分重要的参考意义.     

Quantitative failure metric for gravity dams

Quantitative failure monitoring is a critical tool for safety assessment of concrete dams. This includes damage occurrence, intensity, location, number, size, and propagation pattern. Such an assessment is essential for a quantifiable prioritization of repair and will thus reduce overall cost and improve safety. This paper will address this timely topic through the nonlinear transient analysis of a dam and failure will be ascertained through a multi‐scale damage index. A damage‐plastic model for mass concrete is used, Drucker‐Prager elasto‐plastic one for the foundation, and infinite elements are used for far‐field boundaries. Water‐dam interaction is accounted for through fluid finite elements. It is determined that the proposed damage indices can indeed provide a quantitative metric for the degree of failure in gravity dams in terms of the input dynamic motion. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intensity measures for probabilistic assessment of non‐structural components acceleration demand

A fundamental issue in the framework of seismic probabilistic risk analysis is the choice of ground motion intensity measures (IMs). Based on the floor response spectrum method, the present contribution focuses on the ability of IMs to predict non‐structural components (NSCs) horizontal acceleration demand. A large panel of IMs is examined and a new IM, namely equipment relative average spectral acceleration (E‐ASA_R), is proposed for the purpose of NSCs acceleration demand prediction. The IMs efficiency and sufficiency comparisons are based on (i) the use of a large dataset of recorded earthquake ground motions; (ii) numerical analyses performed on three‐dimensional numerical models, representing actual structural wall and frame buildings; and (iii) systematic statistical analysis of the results. From the comparative study, the herein introduced E‐ASA_R shows high efficiency with respect to the estimation of maximum floor response spectra ordinates. Such efficiency is particularly remarkable in the case of structural wall buildings. Besides, the sufficiency and the simple formulation allowing the use of existing ground motion prediction models make the E‐ASA_R a promising IMs for seismic probabilistic risk assessment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Damage response of multistorey r/c buildings with different structural systems subjected to seismic motion of arbitrary orientation

In the present study the combined influence of seismic orientation and a number of parameters characterizing the structural system of Reinforced Concrete (R/C) buildings on the level of expected damages are examined. For the purposes of the above investigation eight medium‐rise buildings are designed on the basis of the current seismic codes. The structural characteristics examined are the ratio of the base shear received by the structural walls, the ratio of horizontal stiffness in two orthogonal directions and the structural eccentricity. Then, the buildings are analyzed by nonlinear time response analysis using 100 bidirectional earthquake ground motions. The two horizontal accelerograms of each ground motion are applied along horizontal orthogonal axes, forming 72 different angles with the structural axes. The structural damage is expressed in terms of the Park and Ang damage index. The results of the analyses revealed that the damage level of the buildings is strongly affected by the incident angle of the ground motion. The extent at which the orientation of the seismic records influences the damage response depends on the structural system and the distance of the record to the fault rupture. As a consequence, the common practice of applying the earthquake records along the structural axes can lead to significant underestimation of structural damage. Also, it was shown that the structural eccentricity can significantly differentiate the seismic damage level, as well as the impact of the earthquake orientation on the structural damage. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

生态脆弱区资源型城市生态环境影响评价与调控

采用主分量分析评估模型法,对西部生态脆弱区的资源型城市鄂尔多斯市在2003-2011年时间序列内的城市生态环境影响进行了评价与分析。结果表明：鄂尔多斯城市生态系统整体处于不稳定的发展状态,其中生态质量子系统的发展水平一直处于稳步上升、逐步改善的趋势;环境质量子系统的发展水平呈现出先下降、再上升、再下降的整体下降趋势;环境治理子系统的发展水平总体处于稳步上升、中间略有波动的趋势;综合来看,鄂尔多斯城市生态环境影响的总发展水平处于整体上升、中间略有波动的状态。     

近30a甘肃天水气候资源变化对杏产量影响评估

气候变暖导致气候资源配置发生变化,由此而引发的农业气象灾害导致果树作物发育进程、果树产量出现较大波动。利用统计学方法对甘肃天水近30 a气候资源变化对杏树产量影响研究和分析,得出20世纪90年代以来杏树花芽膨大、现蕾、开花期较80年代提前6~7 d,果实成熟期提前10 d左右;由此而引发的农业气象灾害以初秋9月下旬、后冬1月下旬至2月上旬、花前3月上旬温暖干旱气候和花果期4月上中旬低温干旱气候对杏树产量形成影响最大,年际变化除后冬干旱灾害呈明显加重趋势,为本世纪影响杏树产量形成的主要农业气象灾害外,其它灾害在本世纪虽略有减轻,但危害程度仍明显重于80年代;10 a平均气候产量动态相对偏差百分率90年代(与80年代相比)减少29.9个百分点,本世纪减少7.8个百分点。评估有灾17 a,实况(轻、中、中大和大灾) 16 a,评估准确率94%,其中中灾和中大灾害评估准确率均达100%,评估效果比较理想,对农业防灾减灾有一定的指导意义。     

塔里木河流域TRMM降水数据精度评估

利用塔里木河流域24个气象站降水数据,分析了2000-2013年TRMM多卫星降水数据(TRMM 3B43 v7)在塔里木河流域的适用性。检验结果表明:全年来看,TRMM数据对研究区所有站点的年均降水量拟合较好(R²=0.8846),流域内24个站点平均年降水量相对偏差为19.02%,其中60%的站点表现为TRMM年降水量高于地面实测年降水量;月降水方面,除个别站点(于田、且末、乌恰)较差外,大部分站点的拟合度都较好;就季节而言:春季拟合效果最好,夏、秋季的TRMM数据存在低估问题,而冬季则偏高估;流域降水量由东南向西北递增,并在西北部边缘地区增加较显著,形成一个相对丰水带;而向沙漠腹地方向延伸的降水量则呈减少趋势。同时流域最大降水区域在一年中变化存在一定的规律。     

长江经济带开发与保护空间格局构建及其分析路径

长江流域经济—社会—生态系统完整,是中国国土空间开发最重要的东西轴线,在区域发展总体格局中具有重要战略地位。当下,为应对全球经贸格局重组、国家与区域经济社会转型以及资源环境约束趋紧等新形势,国家提出依托长江黄金水道,构建横贯东西、辐射南北、通江达海、经济高效、生态良好的中国经济新支撑带,这就要求长江经济带形成人口资源环境协调的均衡化开发与保护格局。本文基于“点—轴”、分区式与多中心网络式等空间组织结构,明确空间格局的推演逻辑与思路。进而,在区域差异性分析与空间开发适宜性评价基础上,认为长江经济带需重点构建以“一轴两翼,三区六廊”为主体的开发格局、以“六大片区”为主体的农业发展格局、以“五大屏障”为主体的生态安全格局,并提出不同区域差异化发展导向、路径与制度建议,以及今后长江经济带空间结构需进一步研究的主要科学问题。