Accessibility Measures in Spatial Mismatch Models

Implicit in all spatial mismatch models is the concept of accessibility. However, there is an immense variety of measures utilized in the literature to index the concept, and it is not clear how much of the disparity in findings between studies is attributable to alternative measures. This research note attempts to provide some evidence on the impact of alternative measures of accessibility in employment probability models.     

Alpine medicinal plant trade and Himalayan mountain livelihood strategies

Commercial alpine medicinal plants are collected from the wild by local rural households throughout the Himalaya and sold in order to increase household incomes. Recent studies indicate that this annual trade amounts to thousands of tonnes of roots, rhizomes, tubers, leaves, etc., worth millions of US dollars. The main market is in India. Based on a national survey, including the most commonly traded species, and a village study this paper investigates the importance of the alpine medicinal plant trade at national and local levels in Nepal. The national survey included standardized open-ended interviews with 232 harvesters, 64 local traders, 66 central wholesalers, 47 regional wholesalers, and 16 production companies. The village survey is based on the daily records of household activities in 15 households in a one-year period. The annual Nepalese alpine and sub-alpine medicinal plant trade is conservatively estimated to vary from 480 to 2500 t with a total harvester value of US$0.8–3.3 million; the average harvester value is estimated at US$66.0 ± 99.0. The trade in 1997/98 amounted to 1600 t with a harvester value of US$2.3 million and an export value equivalent to 2.5% of total export from Nepal. Medicinal plant harvesting was found to constitute an integrated part of local livelihood strategies, contributing from 3 to 44% (average of 12%) of the annual household income. Importance at household level depended on land and animal holdings, and the availability of adult male labour. The validity and reliability of methods and analyses is evaluated, and issues of conservation and management of alpine medicinal plant species under the community forestry scheme are discussed.     

Proglacial Sediment—Landform Associations of a Polythermal Glacier: Storglaciären, Northern Sweden

Mapping and laboratory analysis of the sediment—landform associations in the proglacial area of polythermal Storglaciären, Tarfala, northern Sweden, reveal six distinct lithofacies. Sandy gravel, silty gravel, massive sand and silty sand are interpreted as glaciofluvial in origin. A variable, pervasively deformed to massive clast‐rich sandy diamicton is interpreted as the product of an actively deforming subglacial till layer. Massive block gravels, comprising two distinctive moraine ridges, reflect supraglacial sedimentation and ice‐marginal and subglacial reworking of heterogeneous proglacial sediments during the Little Ice Age and an earlier more extensive advance. Visual estimation of the relative abundance of these lithofacies suggests that the sandy gravel lithofacies is of the most volumetric importance, followed by the diamicton and block gravels. Sedimentological analysis suggests that the role of a deforming basal till layer has been the dominant factor controlling glacier flow throughout the Little Ice Age, punctuated by shorter (warmer and wetter climatic) periods where high water pressures may have played a more important role. These results contribute to the database that facilitates discrimination of past glacier thermal regimes and dynamics in areas that are no longer glacierized, as well as older glaciations in the geological record.     

模糊区域拓扑关系模型

拓扑关系是地理信息系统中空间要素之间最基本也是最重要的关系之一，是进行绝大多数空间查询和分析的基础。非模糊空间要素之间的拓扑关系在一般拓扑学等理论的基础上已有相关的模型和描述，并在实践中得到广泛的应用，如何建立模糊空间要素这间的拓扑关系是建立模糊要素地理信息系统的基础。该文在模糊扑扑学的基础上提出了模糊区域的定义，建立了用于分析模糊区域之间拓扑关系的理论和模型，提出了4*4-intersection模型拓扑关系矩阵，并分析了不同拓扑关系矩阵对于非模糊区域之间、模糊区域之间建立拓扑关系的区别和联系，最后采和不同公式对模糊区域之间的关系进行了系统的描述。     

基于网格的空间信息模型与服务技术研究

空间信息基础设施是实现数字城市的核心与基础，现有的万维网已经不能满足空间信息访问与处理的需要。该文对以空间信息为核心和基础的数据网格——空间信息网格的基础理论及网格中的空间信息模型与服务技术：进行研究。提出了空间信息网格的若干关键技术及网格中的空间信息模型的特点与要求，并对空间信息网格服务进行了初步的探讨。     

行播冬小麦热辐射方向性的影响因子

混合像元的热辐射方向性由于受到多种因素的影响而变得极为复杂。该文以行播冬小麦为例，建立矩阵模型，研究混合像元热辐射方向性问题。结果表明，混合像元热辐射方向性主要受到混合像元内部各组分在三维上分布的不均一、像元比辐射率的方向性以及由外界影响造成的各组分温度差异的影响。在这三个主要影响因子中，各组分的比辐射率是地物固有的特征，不随外界条件而发生变化。在同温条件下，像元热辐射方向性完全由像元比辐射率的方向性决定。而各组分温度虽然没有方向性，但可以通过组分空间分布对其产生调制作用。