AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION IN NORTHERN ALBERTA

ABSTRACT. Since the early 1980s some 40,000 acres of forested land have been cleared and placed under cultivation by Mennonite farmers near the small town of La Crete in northern Alberta's Peace River district. This incipient agriculture has been accompanied by dramatic increases in road building and home construction and by the establishment of churches and schools. The principal force behind the acquisition of land has been a desire of families to have homes in rural areas where they can enjoy lifestyles based on traditional Mennonite values. Because most new farmers cannot earn a living in the district from agriculture alone, they must rely on the wood industries to supplement their incomes. Demand is building for the province to open still more land, but disagreements between the government and the Mennonite community about the most appropriate location for developing new farms has put further expansion on hold until the conflict can be resolved.     

Use of Noise to Augment Training Data: A Neural Network Method of Mineral–Potential Mapping in Regions of Limited Known Deposit Examples

One of the main factors that affects the performance of MLP neural networks trained using the backpropagation algorithm in mineral-potential mapping isthe paucity of deposit relative to barren training patterns. To overcome this problem, random noise is added to the original training patterns in order to create additional synthetic deposit training data. Experiments on the effect of the number of deposits available for training in the Kalgoorlie Terrane orogenic gold province show that both the classification performance of a trained network and the quality of the resultant prospectivity map increasesignificantly with increased numbers of deposit patterns. Experiments are conducted to determine the optimum amount of noise using both uniform and normally distributed random noise. Through the addition of noise to the original deposit training data, the number of deposit training patterns is increased from approximately 50 to 1000. The percentage of correct classifications significantly improves for the independent test set as well as for deposit patterns in the test set. For example, using ±40% uniform random noise, the test-set classification performance increases from 67.9% and 68.0% to 72.8% and 77.1% (for test-set overall and test-set deposit patterns, respectively). Indices for the quality of the resultant prospectivity map, (i.e. D/A, D × (D/A), where D is the percentage of deposits and A is the percentage of the total area for the highest prospectivity map-class, and area under an ROC curve) also increase from 8.2, 105, 0.79 to 17.9, 226, 0.87, respectively. Increasing the size of the training-stop data set results in a further increase in classification performance to 73.5%, 77.4%, 14.7, 296, 0.87 for test-set overall and test-set deposit patterns, D/A, D × (D/A), and area under the ROC curve, respectively.     

Use of Fuzzy Membership Input Layers to Combine Subjective Geological Knowledge and Empirical Data in a Neural Network Method for Mineral-Potential Mapping

Use of GIS layers, in which the cell values represent fuzzy membership variables, is an effective method of combining subjective geological knowledge with empirical data in a neural network approach to mineral-prospectivity mapping. In this study, multilayer perceptron (MLP), neural networks are used to combine up to 17 regional exploration variables to predict the potential for orogenic gold deposits in the form of prospectivity maps in the Archean Kalgoorlie Terrane of Western Australia. Two types of fuzzy membership layers are used. In the first type of layer, the statistical relationships between known gold deposits and variables in the GIS thematic layer are used to determine fuzzy membership values. For example, GIS layers depicting solid geology and rock-type combinations of categorical data at the nearest lithological boundary for each cell are converted to fuzzy membership layers representing favorable lithologies and favorable lithological boundaries, respectively. This type of fuzzy-membership input is a useful alternative to the 1-of-N coding used for categorical inputs, particularly if there are a large number of classes. Rheological contrast at lithological boundaries is modeled using a second type of fuzzy membership layer, in which the assignment of fuzzy membership value, although based on geological field data, is subjective. The methods used here could be applied to a large range of subjective data (e.g., favorability of tectonic environment, host stratigraphy, or reactivation along major faults) currently used in regional exploration programs, but which normally would not be included as inputs in an empirical neural network approach.     

信息产业发展对宁波城市内部结构的影响

该文从信息产业的概念和分类人手，着重分析信息产业发展对城市产业结构、社会结构和空间结构的影响。对宁波市信息产业与城市产业结构的内在关系进行了量化研究；探讨信息产业对城市内部社会结构分异的变化趋势；提出了信息产业对城市内部空间结构功能置换的两种模式和地域扩张的促动机制。     

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。     

设备树在路灯AM/FM/GIS系统中的应用研究

该文提出了AM／FM／GIS中基于“设备树”的设备设施管理模式，运用“设备树”来组织路灯电力网络中的设备设施对象；阐述了如何从设备设施的物理模型抽象出具有树状层次结构的逻辑网络模型，并根据该逻辑模型设计相应的数据结构来构建“设备树”；并介绍了设备树在南京市路灯AM／FM／GIS系统中的设计与实现。     

郴州市农业结构战略性调整的思考

文章以郴州市为例，首先对市域农业结构战略调整的必要性进行了分析，然后对结构调整的基本原则作了较为深刻地论述，最后系统地阐述了产业结构要实现优化升级，产品结构要突出优质品牌，区域结构应以专业化特色化为目标等市域农业结构调整的重要内容。     

长效钾肥产业化与农业可持续发展

我国钾肥需求量逐年增加，80％需要进口，但同时又有大量的低品位非水溶性钾矿资源没有利用，利用非水溶性钾矿生产长效钾肥既能缓解钾肥短缺的矛盾，又可以解决普通钾肥对环境的污染和破坏。长效钾肥原料分布广，生产和施用技术简单，成本低，易于推广普及形成产业化，其对农业可持续发展将会产生重要的促进作用。     

多维植被信息系统及其应用前景

3S(地理信息系统GIS、遥感RS、全球定位系统GPS)及其相关技术的发展，使得植被信息系统的构建和应用成为可能。早期的植被图没有涉及到高度维和时间维，其应用受到很大的限制。因此有必要建立一种基于时空的多维植被信息系统，它的组成包括地理信息系统GIS、数据处理模块DPM、数据存取模块DAM、植被分析模块VAM和交互显示模块IDM，可用于植被的时空分析、三维景观显示、植被—地形—气候关系研究以及植被综合管理等方面，特别适合于山地植被的研究。多维植被信息系统具备立体直观的用户友好界面和强大的时空数据处理能力，并可通过数据库和网络进行资源共享，使植被研究和管理自动化、无纸化，其应用前景广阔。     

云南省防洪空间信息系统构建

通过讨论应用地理信息系统（GIS）技术，立足现实对相关空间数据进行集成和整合处理，实现防洪空间信息的数字化、标准化，为优化防汛指挥工作手段提供基础。系统数据库饭知不同比例尺精度的空间基础数据以满足不同目的的需求，对相关水文、防洪设施、全省洪涝风险和重点区风险图、土地利用等图件进行系统整合。系统有较强的管理功能和分析功能，可提高云南省防洪空间信息的共享度和系统有效管理，为政府统一组织和指挥抗洪救灾提供重要的辅助决策支持手段。