Using geospatial technology to strengthen data systems in developing countries: The case of agricultural statistics in India

Despite significant progress in the development of quantitative geography techniques and methods and a general recognition of the need to improve the quality of geographic data, few studies have exploited the potential of geospatial tools to augment the quality of available data methods in developing countries. This paper uses data from an extensive deployment of geospatial technology in India to compare crop areas estimated using geospatial technology to crop areas estimated by conventional methods and assess the differences between the methods. The results presented here show that crop area estimates based on geospatial technology generally exceed the estimates obtained using conventional methods. This suggests that conventional methods are unable to respond quickly to changes in cropping patterns and therefore do not accurately record the area under high-value cash crops. This finding has wider implications for commercializing agriculture and the delivery of farm credit and insurance services in developing countries. Significant data errors found in the conventional methods could affect critical policy interventions such as planning for food security. Some research and policy implications are discussed.     

Dune field development,interactions and boundary conditions for crescentic and stellate megadunes of the Al Liwa Basin,the Empty Quarter

Within the greater Ar Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) sand sea lies an internal depocentre, the Al Liwa Basin, which comprises a variety of mega‐scale dune types. Crescentic dunes dominant the north of the basin while megadunes of stellate or star form are a major landform of the south‐eastern reaches. Their development into dune fields is determined by the style and rate of dune–dune interactions, the boundary conditions imposed by a multi‐modal wind regime, fluctuating groundwater levels, and sediment availability under an assortment of climatic conditions throughout the Quaternary. As a result, dune field patterns are a collective response to these perturbations in space, time and environment. The R‐statistic is a collective measure of these responses, and is a metric capable of identifying the degree of pattern maturity or self‐organization of the aeolian system, and the pathways from which patterns evolve. The spatial signature of the southerly located star dunes is characterized by two definitive patterns of organization: the first, one of complete spatial randomness, the second, a low degree of spatial uniformity. In isolation, these results appear to be unrelated to those for crescentic dunes of the region in which a significantly higher degree of pattern dispersion is the norm. However, when spatial statistical measures are integrated with the theoretical understanding of dune–dune interactions and the involvement of environmental agents, the complex morphodynamic pathways and linkages between regional dune fields is better understood. In this case, both constructive (e.g. merging, lateral linking) and regenerative activity (e.g. calving) have played important roles in the development of dune size, and associated adjustments in spacing, and dune numbers, and subsequently dune field patterns. Synergetic patterns are emblematic of this vast dunescape, whereby transitional geographic, morphologic, dimensional and environmental modifications exist between the mega‐crescentic and mega‐stellate dunes of the Empty Quarter. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental regulation and innovation: Evidence from China

The relevance of analyzing effects of environmental regulation on innovation cannot be overemphasized. In this paper, we first develop a theoretical model to predict how command-and-control environmental regulation affects innovation, and then we derive its channels. Using the difference-in-difference-in-differences strategy and a comprehensive dataset at city-industry-year level of manufacturing sectors in China, we found that the more stringent environmental regulations that are faced by cities, measured by the reduction targets of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) during the eleventh Five-Year Plan, are negatively associated with innovation. Thus, the evidence contradicts the Porter Hypothesis. On average, a one standard deviation increase in the reduction targets of COD (SO₂) is associated with a 0.023 (0.016) standard deviation decrease in the innovation index. We controlled carefully for various potential confounders, and the results were supported by robustness and falsification checks. There exists an evident heterogeneity effect across regions and industries with different pollution intensities. The channel analysis shows that stricter environmental regulation also accounts for a sharp decline in labor demand, firm entry, and inbound foreign direct investment. Our findings are also robust to alternative measures for innovation and environmental regulation.     

The Rumuruti chondrite group

Since 1994, the Rumuruti (R) chondrites have been recognized as a new, well-established chondrite group differing from carbonaceous, ordinary, and enstatite chondrites. The first R chondrite, Carlisle Lakes, was found in Australia in 1977. Meanwhile, the number has increased to 107 (December, 2010). This group is named after the Rumuruti meteorite, the first and so far the only R chondrite fall. Most of the R chondrites are breccias containing a variety of different clasts embedded in a clastic matrix. Some textural and mineralogical characteristics can be summarized as follows: (a) the chondrule abundance in large fragments and in unbrecciated rocks is ∼35–50 vol%; (b) Ca,Al-rich inclusions are rare; (c) the olivine abundance is typically 65–78 vol%; (d) the mean chondrule diameter is ∼400 μm; (e) in unequilibrated R chondrites, low-Ca pyroxene is dominating, whereas in equilibrated R chondrites it is Ca-rich pyroxene; (f) the typical olivine in a metamorphosed lithology is ∼Fa_38–40; (g) matrix olivine in unequilibrated, type 3 fragments and rocks has much higher Fa (∼45–60 mol%) compared to matrix olivines in type 4–6 lithologies (∼Fa_38–41); (h) spinels have a high TiO₂ of ∼5 wt%; (i) abundant different noble metal-bearing phases (metals, sulfides, tellurides, arsenides) occur. The exception is the metamorphosed, type 5/6 R chondrite La Paz Icefield 04840 which contains hornblende, phlogopite, and Ca-poor pyroxene, the latter phase typically occurring in low-grade metamorphosed R chondrites only.In bulk composition, R chondrites have some affinity to ordinary chondrites: (a) the absence of significant depletions in Mn and Na in R chondrites and ordinary chondrites is an important feature to distinguish these groups from carbonaceous chondrites; (b) total Fe (∼24 wt%) of R chondrites is between those of H and L chondrites (27.1 and 21.6 wt%, respectively); (c) the average CI/Mg-normalized lithophile element abundances are ∼0.95 × CI, which is lower than those for carbonaceous chondrites (≥1.0 × CI) and slightly higher than those for ordinary chondrites (∼0.9 × CI); (d) trace element concentrations such as Zn (∼150 ppm) and Se (∼15 ppm) are much higher than in ordinary chondrites; (e) the whole rock Δ¹⁷O of ∼2.7 for R chondrites is the highest among all meteorite groups, and the mean oxygen isotope composition is δ¹⁷O = 5.36 ± 0.43, δ¹⁸O = 5.07 ± 0.86, Δ¹⁷O = +2.72 ± 0.31; (f) noble gas cosmic ray exposure ages of R chondrites range between ∼0.1 and ∼70 Ma. More than half of the R chondrites analyzed for noble gases contain implanted solar wind and, thus, are regolith breccias. The 43 R chondrites from Northern Africa analyzed so far for noble gases seem to represent at least 16 falls. Although the data base is still scarce, the data hint at a major collision event on the R chondrite parent body between 15 and 25 Ma ago.     

基于OpenSees的钢筋混凝土桥墩拟静力试验数值分析

以4个呈弯曲破坏形态的圆形钢筋混凝土桥墩的拟静力试验结果为依据,基于OpenSees中的Beamwith Hinges Element单元,建立了相应的桥墩滞回分析纤维单元模型。由模拟结果与试验结果对比可知,所建立的纤维单元模型对桥墩的骨架曲线及滞回曲线都有良好的模拟效果,且能体现桥墩在反复加载过程中刚度、强度退化现象,表明了模型的有效性。     

老挝长山成矿带与花岗岩有关的铜金铁矿床的成矿模式

老挝作为＂特提斯成矿域＂的重要组成部分,具有丰富的矿产资源,尤其是铜、金、铁、铝、钾盐等优势矿产与中国具有很强的互补性。初步论述了老挝的成矿地质背景和近年来发现的与花岗岩类有关的斑岩型铜-金矿床、矽卡岩型铁矿床的矿化地质特征、矿石矿物特征、矿化与岩体的空间关系,在此基础上初步建立了其成矿模式。基于同位素定年数据和Hf-Rb-Ta元素判别图,推测这些花岗岩及与其相关的矿床形成于晚石炭世华南地块向印支地块俯冲产生的火山岛弧环境。     

类锂离子C^3 光电离过程的研究

使用Ｒ－矩阵方法,采用三态密耦图像计算了类锂离子Ｃ＾３＋激发态１ｓ＾２２ｐ＾２Ｐ的光电离截面,并给出了不同过程及不同分波的截面。计算结果揭示了光电离过程中的Ｒｙｄｂｅｒｇ系列共振。     

Star formation in the Cepheus Flare region – II. A-type stars associated with IRAS sources

In order to reveal the star-forming history of the molecular cloud complex we studied the intermediate mass stellar population in the Cepheus Flare region. (Paper I dealt with the distance and the young stellar object candidates of the region.) Correlating the IRAS Point Source Catalogue and Faint Source Catalogue positions with those of 1214 B8–A8 and 1760 F0–F5 type stars brighter than     and classified during an objective prism survey, we identified 19 stars showing far-infrared excess emission in the Cepheus Flare region. In addition to the 16 stars whose counterparts are given in the IRAS catalogues, we found three more stars with infrared excess not recognized before. In order to identify the young medium-mass stars associated with the Cepheus Flare molecular clouds we observed the optical spectra of the IR-excess stars, and using published optical photometry and the IRAS data we examined their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and IRAS two-colour diagram. The observations resulted in the discovery of a new Herbig Ae/Be star, BD +68°1118, coinciding with IRAS 21169+6842. More evolved HAe/Be stars may be SAO 19953, BD +67°1314 and BD +69°1231, whose H α lines showed weak emission components. Possible β Pictoris- or Vega-type stars may be HD 203854, HD 212826 and HD 216486, whereas the far-infrared fluxes at the positions of BD +72°1018, HD 210806 and HD 217903 can be attributed to the heating of the interstellar environment. We used distances and radial velocities of the stars derived from the spectroscopy and published optical photometry as indicators of their relations to the clouds. Information on the environment of the observed stars deduced from the diffuse interstellar band at λ 6613 is briefly discussed.     

Wavelength dependence of angular diameters of M giants: an observational perspective

We discuss the wavelength dependence of angular diameters of M giants from an observational perspective. Observers cannot directly measure an optical-depth radius for a star, despite this being a common theoretical definition. Instead, they can use an interferometer to measure the square of the fringe visibility. We present new plots of the wavelength-dependent centre-to-limb variation (CLV) of intensity of the stellar disc as well as visibility for Mira and non-Mira M giant models. We use the terms 'CLV spectra' and 'visibility spectra' for these plots. We discuss a model-predicted extreme limb-darkening effect (also called the narrow-bright-core effect) in very strong TiO bands which can lead to a misinterpretation of the size of a star in these bands. We find no evidence as yet that this effect occurs in real stars. Our CLV spectra can explain the similarity in visibilities of R Dor (M8IIIe) that have been observed recently, despite the use of two different passbands. We compare several observations with models, and find that the models generally underestimate the observed variation in visibility with wavelength. We present CLV and visibility spectra for a model that is applicable to the M supergiant α Ori.     

刚果(金)地质特征与主要矿产资源概况

刚果(金)主要由刚果盆地和环盆地高原组成,盆地主要由中生代到新生代地层及近现代沉积物组成,沿着盆地内边缘分布有泛非时期的火山沉积物,环盆地高原主要为抬升的前寒武纪基底。刚果(金)优势金属矿产资源主要分布环盆地高原的加丹加新元古代铜-钴多金属成矿带、KIB-KAB中元古代锡-铌-钽-钨多金属成矿带、刚果东北太古代绿岩带型金-铁多金属成矿带上,而金刚石则主要分布开赛及东北部地区中新生代金刚石成矿区内。