Mapping beach morphodynamics remotely: A novel application tested on South African sandy shores

Sandy beaches have been identified as threatened ecosystems but despite the need to conserve them, they have been generally overlooked. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) has emerged as an efficient method of selecting areas for conservation priority. However, SCP analyses require digital shapefiles of habitat and species diversity. Mapping these attributes for beaches from field data can take years and requires exhaustive resources. This study thus sought to derive a methodology to classify and map beach morphodynamic types from satellite imagery. Since beach morphodynamics is a strong predictor of macrofauna diversity, they could be considered a good surrogate for mapping beach biodiversity. A dataset was generated for 45 microtidal beaches (of known morphodynamic type) by measuring or coding for several physical characteristics from imagery acquired from Google Earth. Conditional inference trees revealed beach width to be the only factor that significantly predicted beach morphodynamic type, giving four categories: dissipative, dissipative-intermediate, intermediate and reflective. The derived model was tested by using it to predict the morphodynamic type of 28 other beaches of known classification. Model performance was good (75% prediction accuracy) but misclassifications occurred at the three breaks between the four categories. For beaches around these breaks, consideration of surf zone characteristics in addition to beach width ameliorated the misclassifications. The final methodology yielded a 93% prediction accuracy of beach morphodynamic type. Overlaying other considerations on this classification scheme could provide additional value to the layer, such that it also describes species’ spatial patterns. These could include: biogeographic regions, estuarine versus sandy beaches and short versus long beaches. The classification scheme was applied to the South African shoreline as a case study. The distribution of the beach morphodynamic types was partly influenced by geography. Most of the long, dissipative beaches are found along the west coast of the country, the south coast beaches are mostly dissipative-intermediate, and the east coast beaches range from short, estuarine pocket and embayed beaches in the former Transkei (south east), to longer intermediate and reflective beaches in KwaZulu-Natal (in the north east). Once combined with the three biogeographic regions, and distinguishing between estuarine and sandy shores, the South African coast comprised 24 different beach types. Representing shorelines in this form opens up potential for numerous spatial analyses that can not only further our understanding of sandy beach ecology at large spatial scales but also aid in deriving conservation strategies for this threatened ecosystem.     

A Boussinesq-type wave driver for a morphodynamical model to predict short-term morphology

The prediction of near-shore morphology on the time scale of a storm event and the length scale of a few surf zone widths is an active area of research. Intense wave breaking drives offshore-directed currents (undertow) carrying sediment seawards, resulting in offshore bar migration. In contrast, higher order nonlinear properties, such as wave asymmetry (velocity skewness) and velocity asymmetry, are drivers for shoreward transport. These wave processes are included in phase-resolving models such as Boussinesq-type wave models (e.g., TRITON). Short-wave averaging in the wave model yields wave-induced forces (e.g., radiation stress gradients) and a wave asymmetry term. The wave-induced forces are used in a hydrostatic model (e.g., Delft3D flow module) to drive the current and undertow, resulting in a 3D velocity profile. The wave model and hydrostatic model are coupled online with a morphodynamic model (e.g., Delft3D morphology module). The latter computes, based on the 3D flow profile and the wave asymmetry term, the sediment transport and performs the bathymetry updates. The updates are transferred directly back to the hydrodynamic models. The coupling of the wave model TRITON and the Delft3D modules is validated by comparing against extensive laboratory data sets (LIP and Boers) and a field case (Duck94), and show a good performance for the hydrodynamics and a reasonable/fair performance for the bar movements.     

东海赤潮异弯藻Heterosigma akashiwo的形态特征及其分子序列分析

将采集自东海南麂列岛海域水样进行分离、纯化,从中得到1株针胞藻,将其初步鉴定为赤潮异弯藻Heterosigma akashiwo(以下称东海藻株),并使用光学和荧光显微镜对其形态特征进行了详尽描述,及通过rDNA ITS序列测定、系统发育进化树构建和Jukes-Cantor距离矩阵分析,研究了其分子进化关系.结果表明:...     

英超球员能力的定量评估和预测

为了对足球运动员的运动能力进行系统且量化的评估,并进一步根据已知资料预测特定球员的能力走向,运用统计学方法进行研究。基于2006—2009这4个赛季英超联赛的统计数据和现场评论,运用定量评估方法,首先综合分析已有数据和球评关键词,建立基于赛季末统计数据的球员能力评估模型1;然后单独考虑球评中球员名出现次数,建立基于球评中球员名出现次数的球员能力评估模型2;定量评估上场球员能力,并将结果与历届获得世界足球先生提名的英超球员进行比较,发现模型1更接近于奖项的评奖标准。最后在二模型的基础上,建立对正在进行的2010赛季内球员能力的预测模型。模型结果具有实际效应,值得在足球球员能力评估与预测中加以运用。     

检测多波束测深异常数据的CUBE算法模型解析

全面深入地剖析了CUBE滤波算法的计算流程及数学模型,论述了CUBE滤波算法与传统加权网格化算法的内在联系和区别,对推动该算法在国内推广应用具有重要意义。     

不同精制方法对鱿鱼（Ommastrephes bartrami）墨黑色素的微观形态、光谱特征及金属元素的影响

采用扫描电镜、光谱分析和元素分析法,进行了胃蛋白酶水解法、高速离心法和酸水解法精制的鱿鱼墨黑色素颗粒形态、紫外可见光谱、红外光谱及金属元素含量的研究。结果表明,酸水解法破坏了鱿鱼墨黑色素的颗粒结构;三种不同精制方法所得的鱿鱼墨黑色素在220nm附近均有强吸收。胃蛋白酶水解和酸水解法有效切除黑色素的氨基基团,但酸水解法下...     

基于主成分回归分析法预测中国铁矿石需求

在论述铁矿石需求预测途径的基础上,选取影响我国铁矿石需求的8个基本因素,采用回归分析方法进行了铁矿石需求的单因素分析.单因素分析结果表明,选取的8个基本因素与铁矿石需求的相关度基本都大于0.9.对8个基本影响因素进行了主成分分析,最终降维为4个主成分.将主成分分析方法与回归分析方法相结合,建立了铁矿石的需求预测模型,并对我国2015年和2020年铁矿石的需求量进行了预测,分别为29.76亿t和26.68亿t.     

基于相位一致性的遥感影像道路特征检测方法

在空间域中进行道路特征检测容易受图像亮度、对比度和噪声的影响,为了克服这一缺点,该文采用在频率域中进行道路特征检测。基于频率域的相位一致性道路特征检测方法具有亮度和对比度不变性,特征在频率域中表现出最大的相位一致性,通过计算影像6个方向的相位一致性值得到相位一致性值之和的灰度图,对灰度图进行二值化,然后使用数学形态学方法进行细化,去除噪声,检测出道路特征。实验表明,该方法对对比度、亮度变化不敏感,能够精确地检测出与人眼视觉相一致的道路特征。     

THE NON‐PENNSYLVANIA TOWN: DIFFUSION OF URBAN PLAN FORMS IN THE AMERICAN WEST*

ABSTRACT. Wilbur Zelinsky's classic 1977 account of the Pennsylvania town as a cultural place type–the urban component of the nationally influential Pennsylvanian culture region–acknowledged that it was not exported intact across the successive western frontiers of the United States. But, aside from Edward Price's specialized study of courthouse squares, we know little that is systematic about how town‐planning ideas diffused across the continent. This investigation offers evidence from the Willamette Valley in Oregon of the eventual variety and geographical distribution of town‐platting conventions that developed in this Pacific Coast “destination’ setting and the possible provenance in the Ohio Valley of certain early Oregonian town‐plan features. The evidence raises questions about the resilience of town‐planning conventions in light of the distance carried, cultural time lags, and changing ideas about best practice and local suitability.     

First Record and Redefinition of the Qingdao Population of Marine Ciliate Cardiostomatella vermiformis （Kahl, 1928） Corliss, 1960 （Protozoa, Ciliophora）

The living morphology and infraciliature of a marine ciliate, Cardiostomatella vermiformis isolated from a sand beach of the Jiaozhou Bay near Qingdao, China, were investigated by live observation, protargol and silver carbonate impregnation methods. Both the morphological and morphometric data largely agree with former records. Based on the data obtained, an improved diagnosis for Cardiostomatella vermiformis is supplied: Large marine Cardiostomatella with cylindrical body shape and several prolonged caudal cilia; cells in vivo about (90–500) μm×(30–120) μm; macronucleus beaded; single contractile vacuole caudally positioned; buccal apparatus conspicuously small, genus typical; three to six postoral kineties; 96-130 somatic kineties. This species is recorded for the first time in China.