Integrated spatial sampling modeling of geospatial data

Sampling is to, by efficient selection of samples, acquire the accurate information about the population (the research object) at less cost. Spatial sampling is a kind of sampling toward geospatial objects or features with spatial correlation. The differences between effi-cient sampling and completely universal survey lie in quality, time and cost. Sampling provides a kind of economical, prompt and accurate survey[13]. Efficient spatial sampling can be regarded as the optimization of the sampl…     

Variographic analysis of tropical forest cover from multi-scale remotely sensed imagery

Tropical forest mapping is one of the major environmental concerns at global and regional scales in which remote sensing techniques are firmly involved. This study examines the use of the variogram function to analyse forest cover fragmentation at different image scales. Two main aspects are considered here: (1) analysis of the spatial variability structure of the forest cover observed at three different scales using fine, medium and coarse spatial resolution images; and (2) the study of the relationship between rescaled images from the finest spatial resolution and those of the medium and coarse spatial resolutions. Both aspects are analysed using the variogram function as a basic tool to calculate and interpret the spatial variability of the forest cover. An example is presented for a Brazilian tropical forest zone using satellite images of different spatial resolutions acquired by Landsat TM (30 m), Resurs MSU (160 m) and ERS ATSR (1000 m). The results of this study contribute to establishing a suitable spatial resolution of remotely sensed data for tropical forest cover monitoring.     

天目湖热力学状况的监测与分析

根据2001年6月～2002年5月在天目湖进行的每月一次的全湖水温观测以及2002年5月25～26日在1号点的定点24h连续水温观测资料,分析研究了天目湖水温时空分布、垂直分布、温跃层的形成与变化以及湖泊热力学对溶解氧、营养盐的影响,揭示了各自的基本变化规律。结果表明:天目湖水温的日变化、年变化及垂直分布明显,而其水平差异不大;温跃层随着季节的变化而呈现增强-稳定-减弱-消失的周期变化;水温的变化以及温跃层的存在引起了水中溶解氧以及营养盐的变化。     

基于GIS的孔隙水文地质层三维空间离散方法

针对自然界中孔隙水文地质层空间分布的不连续性与厚度分布的不均匀性,研究基于GIS的孔隙水文地质层三维空间离散实现的技术路线,提出基于GIS的孔隙水文地质层不规则六面体元的三维空间离散方法.该法不仅能最大限度地保证不规则六面体元中水文地质层类型的一元性,而且可充分利用GIS的空间分析与数据的自动提取功能,快速提取各个计算结点上空间位置坐标与各类计算参数,大大缩短水文地质模型空间离散与相关数据文件组织所需的时间,提高地下水三维有限差分数值模拟的时效性,具有较高的实用价值.     

区域滑坡泥石流灾害预警理论与方法研究

根据数年来的调查观测研究和工作实践,提出了滑坡泥石流灾害的预警分类体系,包括按物理参量划分的空间、时间与强度预警和按诱发因素参量划分的气象、地震与人类活动预警以及多参数、多因素共同作用下的综合预警。初步创建了区域性滑坡泥石流灾害暴发的两种预警理论方法,一种是基于临界过程降雨量判据图的预警方法;另一种是基于GIS的地质环境空间分析预警理论方法,通过计算预警区的滑坡泥石流灾害"发育度"、"潜势度"、"危险度"和"危害度"来实现。阐述了滑坡泥石流灾害预警的技术和行政工作程序,指出建立临界过程降雨量判据与地质环境空间分析相耦合的滑坡泥石流灾害预警理论方法是研究的新方向。     

澜沧江中游某崩塌堆积体变形空间效应研究

某崩塌堆积体范围内布置有公路、缆机平台、电站进水口等重要建筑物。其变形稳定性直接影响到治理工程设计、施工安全以及电站的运行。因此，文章在对其环境地质条件、物质结构、形成机制分析的基础上，对其变形空间效应作系统的地质分析；并建立了相应的三维地质力学模型，应用FLAC-3D快速拉各朗日差分程序对其空间变形特征进行了详细的分析。结果表明：收口转向及变形收敛特征使得堆积体下部形成一个“支撑拱”，从而阻碍了上部堆积体向下部的变形与位移，利于堆积体的稳定；同时，三维数值模拟结果也表明：堆积体的变形具有明显的空间效应。其位移矢量表现出一定的收敛性，且变形主要分布在1360～1650m高程；变形方式表现出一定的分区特征，表现出后缘压缩固结，中部滑移，前缘受阻压缩的位移特征。纵向具有明显的收口效应；横向上比较来看，也存在变形受阻的收口特征；收口范围主要集中在1330～1440m高程范围。     

湖北省土壤侵蚀景观空间异质性及驱动因子分析

地域分异是地球表层大小不等、内部具有一定相似性地段之间的相互分化以及由此产生的差异。为了研究不同区位土壤侵蚀问题，从土壤生态景观及系统论出发，运用地质学、地理学、景观生态学、环境学的理论和研究方法，研究湖北省土壤侵蚀景观空间格局及其驱动因子，使土壤侵蚀问题研究提高到一个新的水平。湖北省土壤侵蚀景观具有南北分带、东西分区，为一不对称的断块一环组合，土壤流呈现向长江、江汉盆地中心轴带辐聚、单流向特点。景观空间异质性形成的首要驱动因子是大地构造背景，以房县一襄樊一广济断裂带为界，南北两侧地壳物质组成和构造发展史存在较明显的差异，现代气候带、降雨量、温热程度及土地利用等差异，造成了湖北省区域土壤地理、土壤生态的分异，形成湖北省土壤生态带、区具有南北分带，东西分区的宏观格局；其次大兴安岭一武陵山深部构造陡变带两侧新构造运动强度差异、大别造山带构造强烈隆升，导致土壤侵蚀强度的西强东弱、南北强中间弱的态势；成土母岩差异性决定了土壤可蚀性的多变；空间上“土壤侵蚀内城区”分布在湖北省的周边地区，经济贫困、管理落后，这一地区的经济水平与水土流失间形成“自反馈作用”，这一现象在我国水土保持、生态建设工作中应该引起重视。     

Revolution or evolution? New Zealand agriculture since 1984

Agriculture was the primary target of moves to deregulate the New Zealand economy in 1984. Within twelve-months all production subsidies had been removed, including those for fertiliser and other inputs, as well as funding for drought relief, floods and other natural weather disasters. Whereas at the start of 1984, subsidies were estimated to represent as much as 33% of farm income, by 2003 this had fallen to less than 2% with most of this spent on agricultural research. The anticipated shift of thousands of people off the land did not appear to occur, and by conventional measures at least New Zealand agriculture in 2003 is a major success story. At the core of the changes imposed on agriculture was a commitment to remove all state or government distortions from the system and to fully expose the agricultural sector to market forces. This included wide-ranging and fundamental changes in the broad institutional context within which agriculture must operate. All this was achieved at great social cost and with a significant impact on the environment. In many respects New Zealand agriculture is now very different from that in 1984. Some sectors, such as dairying, have grown and become increasingly industrialised. On the other hand, sheep farming, particularly for wool has struggled to maintain its market share, while other enterprises have emerged as significant sources of income, including horticulture, viticulture and fruit. It is argued here that the trends evident in New Zealand agriculture since 1984 pre-existed the reform period and that the apparent success of the reforms evident at a national scale have not addressed or removed the fundamental problems which face New Zealand agriculture, just as they do modern agricultural systems elsewhere. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Researching the South African tourism and development nexus

Under apartheid, tourism was essentially anti-developmental in focus and tourism research largely centred on the recreation of white South Africans. Since the 1994 democratic transition tourism has become recognised as an increasingly important sector for South Africa's economy and for achieving the government's goals for reconstruction and development. In this paper a review and critical analysis is presented of the changing directions and foci of tourism scholarship in South Africa. It is shown that South African scholars are beginning to respond to the challenges posed by tourism as a developmental focus. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Curve-Fitting Schemes for Fragmentation Data

Fragmentation measurements in the form of sieve passing and mass fraction data were used to test the capability of three different distributions to fit the observed data over a wide range in fragment size and mass. These distributions were based on Rosin-Rammler, lognormal and simple sigmoidal (S-shaped) functions, having 2 input parameters for the single-component versions and 5 input parameters for the two-component versions. Provided convergence was achieved in the non-linear curve-fitting technique, the two-component versions always provided superior fits to the observed data. However, these versions were very sensitive to variations in the values chosen for the input parameters. In this particular regard, the two-component sigmoidal function was the most robust. The present results also show that the two-component lognormal function provided the best fit to the fragmentation data in a general sense, and the two-component Rosin-Rammler function provided the worst fit. However, there was not a significant difference between any of the three methods.