Linking vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience science to practice: Pathways, players, and partnerships

Vulnerability, adaptation and resilience are concepts that are finding increasing currency in several fields of research as well as in various policy and practitioner communities engaged in global environmental change science, climate change, sustainability science, disaster risk-reduction and famine interventions. As scientists and practitioners increasingly work together in this arena a number of questions are emerging: What is credible, salient and legitimate knowledge, how is this knowledge generated and how is it used in decision making? Drawing on important science in this field, and including a case study from southern Africa, we suggest an alternative mode of interaction to the usual one-way interaction between science and practice often used. In this alternative approach, different experts, risk-bearers, and local communities are involved and knowledge and practice is contested, co-produced and reflected upon. Despite some successes in the use and negotiation of such knowledge for ‘real’ world issues, a number of problems persist that require further investigation including the difficulties of developing consensus on the methodologies used by a range of stakeholders usually across a wide region (as the case study of southern Africa shows, particularly in determining and identifying vulnerable groups, sectors, and systems); slow delivery of products that could enhance resilience to change that reflects not only a lack of data, and need for scientific credibility, but also the time-consuming process of coming to a negotiated understanding in science–practice interactions and, finally, the need to clarify the role of ‘external’ agencies, stakeholders, and scientists at the outset of the dialogue process and subsequent interactions. Such factors, we argue, all hinder the use of vulnerability and resilience ‘knowledge’ that is being generated and will require much more detailed investigation by both producers and users of such knowledge.     

海进体系域碳氧同位素地球化学响应——以黔西南地区三叠系为例

层序地层研究表明，位于扬子地块西南缘的黔西南地区在中三叠世末期（相当于Ladinian-Carnian期）出现了一次与全球同步的大规模海侵，形成了一个向上变深的碳酸盐岩台地淹没沉积层序。垄头组顶部和竹竿坡组分别是海进体系域（TST）的下、上部分。碳、氧同位素研究表明，垄头组顶部自下而上δ（^18O）持续增大，而δ（^13 C）先逐渐增大，后在顶部界面附近快速下降，反映了垄头组顶部在暴露环境下氧化作用的结果。竹竿坡组δ（^13 C）自下而上逐渐增大，δ（^13 C）总体呈现逐渐减小趋势，反映了海平面变化特征。研究认为，海进体系域的δ（^13 C）和δ（^18 O）演化不但反映了海平面和沉积环境变化，同时对密集段（CS）、层序界面和古暴露面等也有很好的识别作用，在层序地层研究中具有重要的意义。     

Renewable energy strategies in England, Australia and New Zealand

The development of renewable energy sources is of prime interest to many countries seeking to pursue greenhouse gas emission reduction obligations. The increased use of renewables offers the possibility of not only contributing to emission reduction, but at the same time improving energy supply diversity and security, and developing employment and business in related supply industries. Two main mechanisms are in common use, one a quota (quantity) instrument often associated with tradable certificates, and the other a prescribed pricing mechanism. This paper considers the renewable energy development strategies of three countries (the UK, Australia, and New Zealand) all using a variant of the quota/certificate approach as the central instrument in their programs. The regulatory frameworks defining the application of the certificate systems differ notably, and the likely differing outcomes suggest that these regulatory settings may be at least as important as the selection of the basic policy instrument, in determining the overall success of programs of this nature.     

Progressive grain-size sorting along an intertidal energy gradient

Along a 2 km NW-SE transect along the energy gradient of an intertidal sand body of the back-barrier tidal flats of Spiekeroog island (German Wadden Sea, southern North Sea), three sets of closely spaced surface sediment samples were taken at different times to investigate whether the effects of progressive size sorting could be identified in the textural parameters and size-frequency curves of the sediments. Grain-sizes analyses were carried out with a high-resolution settling tube having an internal resolution of 1/50-psi intervals. The settling velocity data were subsequently transformed numerically into equivalent settling diameters on the basis of a quartz sphere standard. At this high resolution, it was possible to visualize subtle changes in textural parameters which would not have been resolved by standard 0.25-phi sieve analyses. The first two sample sets of 1992 and 1994 show similar trends of progressive fining in the sediment, combined with a slight decrease in skewness and sorting in the direction of decreasing energy. Ten years later, in 2003, the sediments were slightly coarser but still reflected the hydrodynamic energy gradient by a distinct fining trend along the transect. However, in contrast to the former data sets, the skewness values now remained constant, whereas the sorting values revealed the existence of two overlapping hydrodynamic energy regimes on the tidal flat. The better sorting in the coarser size fractions and the general coarsening trend in the central part of the tidal flat are interpreted to reflect an increase in the hydrodynamic energy level since the first two sample sets were collected. This observation suggests that some of the finer particles in the grain-size spectrum on the tidal flat were winnowed out by wave action without, however, completely obliterating the former trend. This interpretation is supported by an increase in the frequency and duration of strong winds as recorded by the national weather bureau since the early 1990s. The results of the study demonstrate that the intertidal sediments of the Wadden Sea respond rapidly and sensitively to gradual changes in the hydrodynamic energy regime.     

INTEGRATION OF THE MODELS OF ANNAGNPS AND REMM TO ASSESS RIPARIAN BUFFER SYSTEM FOR SEDIMENT REDUCTION

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution model (AnnAGNPS) is used to help evaluate a watershed response to agricultural management practices to control water quality. However, AnnAGNPS version 3.5 does not contain features to estimate the effect of a riparian buffer (RB) system on water quality. The Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) is used to simulate the impact of riparian buffer systems on water quality. However, frequently the lack of measured upland loadings that are required by REMM simulation limits the application of REMM. To address this data gap, a study was conducted to integrate AnnAGNPS with REMM for RB system simulation. AnnAGNPS was used to simulate water and sediment loadings from an upland field into a three-zone RB system at the Gibbs Farm located in the Georgia coastal plain. These AnnAGNPS outputs were used as the inputs to REMM. REMM was used to simulate water and sediment movement along the riparian buffers. The AnnAGNPS simulated amount of annual runoff at the edge of the field was close to observed amounts (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.92). It is believed that a substantial portion of sand was removed from the runoff one meter into the grass buffer where the samplers were located; therefore, sand was excluded from the AnnAGNPS simulation for comparison with observed sediment. Excluding sand, the AnnAGNPS predicted amount of annual sediment matches the observed amount fairly well (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.46). In addition, based on evaluating the percent reduction of sediment at each zonal interface, the AnnAGNPS/REMM model well simulated the function of the RB system to reduce sediment.     

Preservation of large titanosaur sauropods in overbank fluvial facies: A case study in the Cretaceous of Argentina

Patagonia exhibits a particularly abundant record of Cretaceous dinosaurs with worldwide relevance. Although paleontological studies are relatively numerous, few include taphonomic information about these faunas. This contribution provides the first detailed sedimentological and taphonomical analyses of a dinosaur bone quarry from northern Neuquén Basin. At Arroyo Seco (Mendoza Province, Argentina), a large parautochthonous/autochthonous accumulation of articulated and disarticulated bones that represent several sauropod individuals has been discovered. The fossil remains, assigned to Mendozasaurus neguyelap González Riga, correspond to a large (18–27-m long) sauropod titanosaur collected in the strata of the Río Neuquén Subgroup (late Turoronian–late Coniacian). A taphonomic viewpoint recognizes a two-fold division into biostratinomic and fossil-diagenetic processes. Biostratinomic processes include (1) subaerial biodegradation of sauropod carcasses on well-drained floodplains, (2) partial or total skeletal disarticulation, (3) reorientation of bones by sporadic overbank flows, and (4) subaerial weathering. Fossil-diagenetic processes include (1) plastic deformation of bones, (2) initial permineralization with hematite, (3) fracturing and brittle deformation due to lithostatic pressure; (4) secondary permineralization with calcite in vascular canals and fractures, and (5) postfossilization bone weathering. This type of bone concentration, also present in Rincón de los Sauces (northern Patagonia), suggests that overbank facies tended to accumulate large titanosaur bones. This taphonomic mode, referred to as “overbank bone assemblages”, outlines the potential of crevasse splay facies as important sources of paleontological data in Cretaceous meandering fluvial systems.     

对2005年盛夏十堰市一次连续强降水天气过程的分析

使用2005年8月14～23日各层(850、700、500 hPa等)天气图资料,以及有关物理量场资料、雷达回波资料和卫星云图资料,采取天气诊断分析方法,对2005年盛夏十堰市一次连续强降水天气过程进行了分析。结果表明:此次过程是在西太平洋副热带高压、"珊瑚"台风、东南急流、南支低槽、中低层低涡切变线等系统共同影响下形成的;贝加尔湖低槽持续分裂冷空气与副热带高压边缘暖湿气流对峙是该过程能够维持的基本条件;短带状强回波与新生的强对流窄回波带相叠加并维持较长时间,中-β尺度云团在本地发展为中-α尺度云团且受地形作用维持近5 h,使得灾情更趋严重。     

Modeling errors in upward continuation for INS gravity compensation

Accurate upward continuation of gravity anomalies supports future precision, free-inertial navigation systems, since the latter cannot by themselves sense the gravitational field and thus require appropriate gravity compensation. This compensation is in the form of horizontal gravity components. An analysis of the model errors in upward continuation using derivatives of the standard Pizzetti integral solution (spherical approximation) shows that discretization of the data and truncation of the integral are the major sources of error in the predicted horizontal components of the gravity disturbance. The irregular shape of the data boundary, even the relatively rough topography of a simulated mountainous region, has only secondary effect, except when the data resolution is very high (small discretization error). Other errors due to spherical approximation are even less important. The analysis excluded all measurement errors in the gravity anomaly data in order to quantify just the model errors. Based on a consistent gravity field/topographic surface simulation, upward continuation errors in the derivatives of the Pizzetti integral to mean altitudes of about 3,000 and 1,500 m above the mean surface ranged from less than 1 mGal (standard deviation) to less than 2 mGal (standard deviation), respectively, in the case of 2 arcmin data resolution. Least-squares collocation performs better than this, but may require significantly greater computational resources.     

Practical Experiences with Films, Cameras and Navigation Systems

The first author commenced his experiences with aerial photography in 1945, when he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aerial cameras used at that time were the Williamson F24 and F52, with Ilford HP3 and FP3 panchromatic films. Subsequently the Williamson F95 camera was tested against the USAF Sonne 11 camera. During his final years in the RAF, a variety of film types was employed: colour, monochrome infra-red and false colour infra-red. Additional experience was gained when the author was employed by the International Training Centre (ITC), The Netherlands and he saw the further development of the air camera from the Wild RC8 and Zeiss (Oberkochen) RMK 15/23 to the Wild RC20, Zeiss (Jena) LMK and Zeiss (Oberkochen) RMK TOP. He predicts that the future lies with digital cameras.
The second author started working with aerial photography in the 1950s. Details are given of cameras, visual navigation sights and survey aircraft dating from that period. Overseas operations, carried out mainly by Hunting Surveys and Fairey Surveys, posed particular problems because the majority of the work there was undertaken without the aid of existing maps. The introduction of external navigation systems is described, from the Decca ship navigation system, through the GNS-200 VLF/Omega low frequency radio system to INS, the Inertial Navigation System. The author later joined the ITC, which enabled him to participate in trials of the Computer-controlled Photo Navigation System. Eventually practical experience was gained with differential GPS, particularly in countries in southeast Asia. Aerial photography currently appears to benefit less from financial investment than the photographic, aviation and survey industries. However, the satisfaction of making a significant contribution to major overseas development projects outweighs the frustration of lack of acceptance of plans for the future of the air survey industry.     

MINQUE for block diagonal bordered systems such as those encountered in VLBI data analysis

A sparse matrix method is developed for computing variance factors for block-diagonal, bordered systems of equations using MINQUE (Minimum Norm Quadratic Unbiased Estimation). This method greatly reduces the computational effort required to apply MINQUE, thus making it practical to compute variance factors for some very large systems of equations. The computer implementation of the method is described and applied to the computation of variance factors for a combination of 1609 VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) observing sessions. The purpose of this test was to compute a variance factor for each of the data sets and, perhaps, to obtain more realistic variance estimates to replace those in common use for the analysis of VLBI data. It was found that the method is satisfactory for use with such large problems, and the test served to verify that the variances in current use in VLBI data adjustments are adequate. Received: 26 November 1996 / Accepted: 12 December 1997