Effects of detailed soil spatial information on watershed modeling across different model scales

Hydro-ecological modelers often use spatial variation of soil information derived from conventional soil surveys in simulation of hydro-ecological processes over watersheds at mesoscale (10–100 km²). Conventional soil surveys are not designed to provide the same level of spatial detail as terrain and vegetation inputs derived from digital terrain analysis and remote sensing techniques. Soil property layers derived from conventional soil surveys are often incompatible with detailed terrain and remotely sensed data due to their difference in scales. The objective of this research is to examine the effect of scale incompatibility between soil information and the detailed digital terrain data and remotely sensed information by comparing simulations of watershed processes based on the conventional soil map and those simulations based on detailed soil information across different simulation scales. The detailed soil spatial information was derived using a GIS (geographical information system), expert knowledge, and fuzzy logic based predictive mapping approach (Soil Land Inference Model, SoLIM). The Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) is used to simulate two watershed processes: net photosynthesis and stream flow. The difference between simulation based on the conventional soil map and that based on the detailed predictive soil map at a given simulation scale is perceived to be the effect of scale incompatibility between conventional soil data and the rest of the (more detailed) data layers at that scale. Two modeling approaches were taken in this study: the lumped parameter approach and the distributed parameter approach. The results over two small watersheds indicate that the effect does not necessarily always increase or decrease as the simulation scale becomes finer or coarser. For a given watershed there seems to be a fixed scale at which the effect is consistently low for the simulated processes with both the lumped parameter approach and the distributed parameter approach.     

A multidisciplinary multi-scale framework for assessing vulnerabilities to global change

Terrestrial ecosystems provide a number of vital services for people and society, such as food, fibre, water resources, carbon sequestration, and recreation. The future capability of ecosystems to provide these services is determined by changes in socio-economic factors, land use, atmospheric composition, and climate. Most impact assessments do not quantify the vulnerability of ecosystems and ecosystem services under such environmental change. They cannot answer important policy-relevant questions such as 'Which are the main regions or sectors that are most vulnerable to global change?’ 'How do the vulnerabilities of two regions compare?’ 'Which scenario is the least harmful for a sector?’This paper describes a new approach to vulnerability assessment developed by the Advanced Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis and Modelling (ATEAM) project. Different ecosystem models, covering biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, hydrology, and carbon sequestration are fed with the same Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios based on the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). Each model gives insights into specific ecosystems, as in traditional impact assessments. Moreover, by integrating the results in a vulnerability assessment, the policy-relevant questions listed above can also be addressed. A statistically derived European environmental stratification forms a key element in the vulnerability assessment. By linking it to other quantitative environmental stratifications, comparisons can be made using data from different assessments and spatial scales.     

平凉地区对流风暴地闪活动与环境层结因子相关性分析

利用1997年和1998年6－8月间在甘肃平凉地区的3站闪电定位系统所取得的地闪资料与当天早晨探空资料进行了初步的统计分析。分析结果，对流风暴中地闪活动与环境层结因子之间有较好的相关性，不稳定度、余额不稳定度5℃处的环境温度、温度层结中（中层）平均相对湿度是影响对流风暴中地闪活动的重要因子，对流风暴的地闪活动可通过这些因子进行预报。     

长江三角洲环境地质调查评价GIS管理系统建设初探

长江三角洲是一个人口稠密、经济高度发达的地区 ,该区地质结构复杂、环境地质条件十分脆弱 ,长期以来因过量开采地下水 ,形成大面积区域性水位降落漏斗 ,诱发了相当严重的地面沉降、地裂缝等地质灾害 ,给当地经济可持续发展带来严重威胁。本文从开展长江三角洲环境地质调查评价的现实意义出发 ,探讨了长江三角洲环境地质调查评价GIS管理系统的系统目标、开发模式以及实现步骤 ,概括介绍了系统所应具有的功能 ,为长江三角洲项目信息系统建设提出了一条可行性思路。     

The fall and rise of metropolitan government in Copenhagen

In this paper it is argued that the re-establishment of a metropolitan government in the Greater Copenhagen Area in 2000 (Greater Copenhagen Authority) is not to be seen as a return to the kind of regional, coordinative authority (Greater Copenhagen Council) that was abolished in the Thatcherite climate of the 1980s. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s new forms of urban governance, entrepreneurialism and a higher national priority to the capital region were introduced, which changed the conditions under which the new metropolitan government is operating. This `contextualization' of the analysis of the two generations of metropolitan government points to the fact that typologies of metropolitan government, such as the one put forward by Sharpe (1995), often lacks analytical cogency. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Milan: The city of constant renewal

Traditional models of urban development are no longer adequate to describe current metropolitan transformations. These are now at the centre of a debate concerning management and administration. In Italy, delays in resolving problems of urban and metropolitan government, despite the legal framework provided by Law 142/90, have weighed heavily on the larger urban areas of the country: Rome, Naples, Milan, which have not been able to tackle the issue of metropolitan government. Recent legislation, while not providing a pre-defined institutional solution, allows separate administrative districts to collectively establish metropolitan institutions of `variable geometry'. The Milan urban area is not one city, but a system of mutually-dependent cities, linked to each other and the rest of the world by a transport network still requiring much investment. The vitality of its economic structure (especially its small firms) is held back by seriously inadequate infrastructure and low external economic efficiency. The provincial capital may boast `historic centrality' but the most interesting potential for development is to be found on the periphery and in the administrative districts immediately surrounding it, in the recovery of derelict industrial areas and dormitory towns established in the 1950s and 1960s, especially to the north. Recovery of derelict areas, green areas, and better transport links within the urban area and with the outside world are the key elements in the reorganization of `Greater Milan'. In this situation of rapid transformation the most appropriate political strategies involve negotiated planning. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Isotope variations in a Sierra Nevada snowpack and their relation to meltwater

Isotopic variations in melting snow are poorly understood. We made weekly measurements at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, California, of snow temperature, density, water equivalent and liquid water volume to examine how physical changes within the snowpack govern meltwater δ¹⁸O. Snowpack samples were extracted at 0.1 m intervals from ground level to the top of the snowpack profile between December 1991 and April 1992. Approximately 800 mm of precipitation fell during the study period with δ¹⁸O values between −21.35 and −4.25‰. Corresponding snowpack δ¹⁸O ranged from −22.25 to −6.25‰. The coefficient of variation of δ¹⁸O in snowpack levels decreased from −0.37 to −0.07 from winter to spring, indicating isotopic snowpack homogenization. Meltwater δ¹⁸O ranged from −15.30 to −8.05‰, with variations of up to 2.95‰ observed within a single snowmelt episode, highlighting the need for frequent sampling. Early snowmelt originated in the lower snowpack with higher δ¹⁸O through ground heat flux and rainfall. After the snowpack became isothermal, infiltrating snowmelt displaced the higher δ¹⁸O liquid in the lower snowpack through a piston flow process. Fractionation analysis using a two-component mixing model on the isothermal snowpack indicated that δ¹⁸O in the initial and final half of major snowmelt was 1.30‰ lower and 1.45‰ higher, respectively, than the value from simple mixing. Mean snowpack δ¹⁸O on individual profiling days showed a steady increase from −15.15 to −12.05‰ due to removal of lower δ¹⁸O snowmelt and addition of higher δ¹⁸O rainfall. Results suggest that direct sampling of snowmelt and snow cores should be undertaken to quantify tracer input compositions adequately. The snowmelt sequence also suggests that regimes of early lower δ¹⁸O and later higher δ¹⁸O melt may be modeled and used in catchment tracing studies.     

区域环境变迁与持续发展的互动关系

区域历史进程中持续发展与环境变迁表现出了复杂的互动关系，两种动态过程紧密地交织在一起，通过人类活动互相作用，互相影响，持续发展，环境变迁与人类活动的内容在不同时代表现出不同的主题，并受到自然和人为因素的调节与控制，文中还简要阐明了当代可持续发展的主题，指出解决PRED问题要注意控制人口数量，提高人口素质；消除贫困，达到全球环境共有共治共保共享。     

Placing geographies of public health

Following the move to a 'post–medical' geography, a large amount of research has come to focus on public health issues. This paper explores these current geographies of public health and argues for the development of a more critical perspective. In particular, it draws on commentary that has emerged out of debates that have taken place within a body of literature usually identified as the critical 'new' public health. The paper goes on to argue that such scholarship offers crucial insights for the production of a critical geography of public health.     

塔里木河中游天然植被的数量分类与排序研究

通过塔里木河中下游天然植被带的调查研究，应用数量分类(TWINSPAN)和排序(CCA)方法，对塔里木河中下游地区天然植被类型进行了划分，并探讨了决定该地区天然植物群落类型的主要环境因子。该地区天然植被可分为4个植被型组，4个植被型，6种植被亚型，9个群系，15个群丛。通过对8个环境因子的CCA排序分析，结果表明制约塔里木河中下游天然植被组成和结构的主导环境因子为地下水位、地下水矿化度、地下水酸碱度。通过CCA二维排序图将16种植物对干旱、盐碱的适应性划分5类型。21个样地在CCA二维排序图上可聚集成9个植物群落类群，即胡杨(Populus euphratica)群落、铃铛刺(Halimodendron halodendron)群落、库尔勒沙拐枣(Calligonum Kuerlese)群落、多枝柽柳(Tamarix ramosissima)群落、黑果枸杞(Lycium ruthenicum)群落、盐穗木(Halostashys caspica)群落、花花柴(Karelinia caspica)群落、疏叶骆驼剂(Alhagi sparsifolia)群落、罗布麻(Apocynum venetum)群落，与TWINSPAN结果中的群系分类单位一致。CCA连续排序与TWINSPAN分类结果吻合较好。9种植物群落类型中，能耐受最大盐胁迫的为盐穗木群落，能耐受最大干旱胁迫的为铃铛刺群落，能耐受最大地下水碱胁迫的为黑果枸杞群落。