东中国海黑潮海洋锋的季节变化特征及其成因

利用高分辨率海洋和大气再分析资料研究了东中国海黑潮海洋锋的季节变化特征及其成因。研究表明,东海黑潮海洋锋存在明显的季节变化,从冬季到次年春季逐渐增强,并在春季达到最强,初夏以后强度逐渐减弱,9—10月达到全年最弱。通过诊断混合层热流量方程发现,东海黑潮区一年四季均表现为暖的温度平流,有利于海洋锋的形成和维持,该暖平流也存在季节变化并在春季达到最大,对海洋锋在春季达到最强起了重要作用。海气界面净热通量在秋冬季对海洋锋的形成有促进作用,有利于海洋锋增强,而在春夏季则起抑制作用,促进海洋锋消亡。温度垂直输送全年对海洋锋起一定程度的抑制作用。总之,在海温水平平流和海表净热通量的共同作用下导致海洋锋春季达到最强,而夏秋季海表净热通量和温度垂直输送作用的共同作用致使海洋锋减弱并最后消失。因此,海洋的动力和热力共同作用导致了东海黑潮海洋锋的季节变化,其中海温水平平流和海表净热通量对海洋锋的季节变化起主要作用,而温度垂直输送项对海洋锋的发展起抑制作用,但影响相对较小。     

强度尺度分解方法在气候温度场检验中的应用

本文首次将Casati等提出的强度尺度分解方法应用到气候地表温度场的检验中,探讨此方法用于评估气候模拟场误差的详细空间信息的适用性。以新一代气候系统模式模拟的月平均地表温度为例,传统的统计分析方法（较为常用的是空间相关系数和均方根误差、EOF分析等）不能完全反映模拟场误差的空间信息;强度尺度分解方法可计算不同阈值和空间尺度上的均方误差和模拟技巧,评估对应的模拟能力,定量给出模拟场主要误差的空间信息（误差范围即温度阈值及对应的空间尺度）,例如,亚洲东部地区1月单年及多年平均的模拟场在230 K阈值1600 km模拟技巧非常低。本研究表明强度尺度分解方法适用于气候温度场的检验评估,能定量给出误差的空间信息。     

Landscape pattern and transition under natural and anthropogenic disturbance in an arid region of northwestern China

There is a pressing need to determine the relationships between driving variables and landscape transformations. Human activities shape landscapes and turn them into complex assemblages of highly diverse structures. Other factors, including climate and topography, also play significant roles in landscape transitions, and identifying the interactions among the variables is critical to environmental management. This study analyzed the configurations and spatial-temporal processes of landscape changes from 1998 to 2011 under different anthropogenic disturbances, identified the main variables that determine the landscape patterns and transitions, and quantified the relationships between pairs of driver sets. Landsat images of Baicheng and Tekes from 1998, 2006 and 2011 were used to classify landscapes by supervised classification. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and variation partitioning were performed to identify the main driving forces and to quantify the unique, shared, and total explained variation of the sets of variables. The results indicate that the proportions of otherwise identical landscapes in Baicheng and Tekes were very different. The area of the grassland in Tekes was much larger than that of the cropland; however, the differences between the grassland and cropland in Baicheng were not as pronounced. Much of the grassland in Tekes was located in an area that was near residents, whereas most of the grassland in Baicheng was far from residents. The slope, elevation, annual precipitation, annual temperature, and distance to the nearest resident were strong driving forces influencing the patterns and transitions of the landscapes. The results of the variation partitioning indicated complex interrelationships among all of the pairs of driver sets. All of the variable sets had significant explanatory roles, most of which had both unique and shared variations with the others. The results of this study can assist policy makers and planners in implementing sustainable landscape management and effective protection strategies.     

Study on the Global Carbon Assimilation System Based on Multisource Remote Sensing Data

The Paris agreement signed in April, 2016 aims to balance global anthropogenic carbon emissions and terrestrial carbon sinks by the middle of the 21^st century. To fulfill this goal, it is necessary to calculate carbon fluxes of different regions reliably. The global carbon assimilation system is an effective technique for achieving this goal. The Ministry of Science and Technology of China supports the project entitled as study on the global carbon assimilation system based on multisource remote sensing data through the national key research and development programs for global change and adaptation during the thirteen-five period. This project will develop synergic inversion techniques for retrieving key parameters of biological and atmospheric cycles and for assimilating multisource remote sensing and ground based data. Then, the high resolution global carbon assimilation system coupled with an ecological model will be constructed. This system is able to assimilate jointly multisource observation data and to optimize key model parameters, photosynthesis and respiration carbon fluxes of global terrestrial ecosystems, and anthropogenic carbon emission fluxes of key regions. This system will be used to study quantitatively the spatial and temporal patterns of carbon fluxes of global terrestrial ecosystems and anthropogenic carbon emission fluxes of key regions and to identify the mechanisms driving the global terrestrial carbon sinks and sources. The outputs of this study will be helpful for the fulfillment of the key research and development programs for global change and adaptation and provide valuable data and technical support for the decision-making in China.     

Review on Montane Forest Eco-hydrology in Arid Area

Since the forest eco-hydrology of arid area shows a well sensitivity of the global climate change, the relationship between forest and water and the hydrological function has attracted the attention of academic communites and management departments. This paper expounds the research progress in arid mountain forest eco-hydrology, and analyses the formation and stable mechanism of forest patch pattern, the relationship between forest and water yield and the response of forest eco-hydrology to climate change from three aspects: Forest spatial pattern, hydrological process and its response to climate change. In addition, combined with the current research progress, the research emphases in the future are put forward: Strengthening the research on the coupling of vegetation pattern and hydrological process; solving the scale problem by using remote sensing technique and model; enhancing the understanding towards the hydrological function of forest; determining the suitable forest scale which can balance the relationship of ecology and hydrological effect.     

Assessing potential spatial and temporal conflicts in Washington's marine waters

This paper uses spatial, temporal, and use-intensity data for 27 major marine uses in Washington waters to feature a method for assessing potential use conflicts in a variety of scenarios. The study represents a first step towards quantifying potential conflicts within Washington’s Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) study area by using a cumulative analysis to highlight high- and low-use intensity areas and the novel Marine Potential Conflict Index (MPCI), which incorporates space, time, and intensity of use, to quantify pairwise potential conflicts between uses. About 10% of pairs of uses do not overlap spatially and are likely compatible with one another. Temporally, the number of uses peaks in July and August and falls during January and February. Additionally, the MPCI identified three important use types with a substantial degree of potential conflict: commercial fishing, tribal fishing, and shipping. External data were used in three cases to ground-truth the analysis, as a limited test of its utility in managing any potential conflict. This article assesses the extent of Washington’s existing marine uses along spatial, temporal, and intensity axes, and more broadly provides a straightforward way to examine potential conflicts between marine uses.     

Interaction between scale and scheduling choices in simulations of spatial agents

Spatial simulations are a valuable tool in understanding dynamic spatial processes. In developing these simulations, it is often required to make decisions about how to represent features in the environment and how events unfold in time. These spatial and temporal choices have been shown to significantly alter model outcomes, yet their interaction is less well understood. In this paper, we make use of a simple group foraging model and systematically vary how features are represented (cell size of the landscape) as well as how events unfold in time (order in which foragers take action) to better understand their interaction. Our results show similar nonlinear responses to changes in spatial representation found in the literature, and an effect of the order in which agents were processed. There was also a clear interaction between how features are represented and how events unfold in time, where, under certain environmental representations results were found to be more sensitive to the order in which individuals were processed. Furthermore, the effects of feature representation, scheduling of agents, and their interaction were all found to be influenced by the heterogeneity of the spatial surface (food), suggesting that the statistical properties of the underlying spatial variable will additionally play a role. We suggest that navigating these interactions can be facilitated through a better understanding of how these choices affect the decision landscape(s) on which agents operate. Specifically, how changes to representation affect aggregation and resolution of the decision surface, and thereby the degree to which agents interact directly or indirectly. We suggest that the challenges of dealing with spatial representation, scheduling, and their interaction, while building models could also present an opportunity. As explicitly including alternate representations and scheduling choices during model selection can aid in identifying optimal agent–environment representations. Potentially leading to improved insights into the relationships between spatial processes and the environments in which they occur.     

Visualising 30 Years of Population Density Change in Australia’s Major Capital Cities

ABSTRACT

This study uses a novel spatial approach to compare population density change across cities and over time. It examines spatio-temporal change in Australia’s five most populated capital cities from 1981 to 2011, and documents the established and emerging patterns of population distribution. The settlement patterns of Australian cities have changed substantially in the last 30 years. From the doughnut cities of the 1980s, programs of consolidation, renewal and densification have changed and concentrated population in our cities. Australian cities in the 1980s were characterised by sparsely populated, low density centres with growth concentrated to the suburban fringes. ‘Smart Growth’ and the ‘New Urbanism’ movements in the 1990s advocated higher dwelling density living and the inner cities re-emerged, inner areas were redeveloped, and the population distribution shifted towards increased inner city population densities. Policies aimed at re-populating the inner city dominated and the resultant changes are now visible in Australia’s five most populated capital cities. While this pattern has been reported in a number of studies, questions remain regarding the extent of these changes and how to analyse and visualise them across urban space. This paper reports on a spatial method which addresses the limitations of changing statistical boundaries to identify the changing patterns in Australian cities over time and space.