Topographic and spectral data resolve land cover misclassification to distinguish and monitor wetlands in western Uganda

Wetlands provide vital wildlife habitat and ecosystem services, but changes in human land use has made them one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Although wetlands are generally protected by law, growing human populations increasingly drain and clear them to provide agricultural land, especially in tropical Africa. Managing and conserving wetlands requires accurately monitoring their spatial and temporal extent, often using remote sensing, but distinguishing wetlands from other land covers can be difficult. Here, we report on a method to separate wetlands dominated by papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) from spectrally similar grasslands dominated by elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.). We tested whether topographic, spectral, and temperature data improved land cover classification within and around Kibale National Park, a priority conservation area in densely populated western Uganda. Slope and reflectance in the mid-IR range best separated the combined papyrus/elephant grass pixels (average accuracy: 86%). Using a time series of satellite images, we quantified changes in six land covers across the landscape from 1984 to 2008 (papyrus, elephant grass, forest, mixed agriculture/bare soil/short grass, mixed tea/shrub, and water). We found stark differences in how land cover changed inside versus outside the park, with particularly sharp changes next to the park boundary. Inside the park, changes in land cover varied with location and management history: elephant grass areas decreased by 52% through forest regeneration but there was no net difference in papyrus areas. Outside the park, elephant grass and papyrus areas decreased by 61% and 39%, mostly converted to agriculture. Our method and findings are particularly relevant in light of social, biotic, and abiotic changes in western Uganda, as interactions between climate change, infectious disease, and changing human population demographics and distribution are predicted to intensify existing agricultural pressure on natural areas.     

案例推理的地学应用背景和方法

案例推理 (CBR)研究 ,是人类认知的一种合理性模型 ,接近于人类认识、解决问题最原始的思维方式 ,具有在无法获取机理模型、确定规则或统计模型时 ,采用简单的历史相似性推理实现问题的定量求解和预测 ,成为人工智能领域近年来的研究热点。     

国家自然科学基金人文地理学项目研究特征简析

以2007-2011 年国家自然科学基金人文地理学代码(D0102) 的申请书作为样本,对申请代码、重点研究领域以及研究内容进行梳理,分析中国人文地理学近期发展特征。分析认为,科学问题综合与学科间交叉研究的增加使人文地理学学科边界呈现模糊化的趋势;研究方向体现了时代特点且各研究方向之间申请数量比较均衡;研究关键词大量涌现但共识性表述相对较少;选题颇具本土应用特点但学科体系建设意识逐步增强。     

Thirty years(1984–2014) of groundwater science teaching and research in China: A dissertation-based bibliometric survey

In order to track the footprint of groundwater science teaching and research in China during the past years, a bibliometric analysis was conducted based on the database of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), which covered the time span from 1984 to present and included more than 2.6 million master and doctoral dissertations from hundreds of institutions of Mainland China. The bibliometric analysis summarized output, geographical, and institutional patterns, as well as research directions and hotspots in groundwater studies in China in the period of 1984-2014. A total of 1 396 groundwater-related dissertations including 1 161 master dissertations and 235 doctoral dissertations, contributed by 128 institutions distributed in 53 cities nationwide, were searched out in the database. It can be seen obviously that, the groundwater science teaching and research in China has experienced a notable growth in the past three decades especially during 2000-2014. Groundwater modeling, resource, and exploitation were the top three major subject categories; China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Jilin University and Chang’an University were the top three productive institutions together accounting for more than one third of the total dissertations and 50% of the doctoral dissertations, which further prompted the cities (Beijing, Changchun, and Xi’an) to become the top three productive cities. The dissertations generally covered all the international research topics, which indicated that hydrogeologists in China have tracked the international frontier closely during the past decades. The keywords analysis revealed that, (1) numerical modeling was still the hottest topic and PHREEQC, MODFLOW, GMS, and FEFLOW were the four most used softwares; (2) the topics related with groundwater pollution and quality developed steadily and rapidly; (3) environmental isotopes and GIS were frequently used tools for hydrogeological condition analysis, and spatial data processing respectively; and (4) the unsaturated zone as an integral part of aquifers attracted more and more attentions from hydrogeologists focus on saturated zone.     

Chemical and physical properties affecting strontium distribution coefficients of surficial-sediment samples at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho

 The U.S. Geological Survey and Idaho State University, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, conducted a study to determine strontium distribution coefficients (K_ds) of surficial sediments at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Batch experiments using synthesized aqueous solutions were used to determine K_ds, which describe the distribution of a solute between the solution and solid phase, of 20 surficial-sediment samples from the INEEL. The K_ds for the 20 surficial-sediment samples ranged from 36 to 275 ml/g. Many properties of both the synthesized aqueous solutions and sediments used in the experiments also were determined. Solution properties determined were initial and equilibrium concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and strontium, pH and specific conductance, and initial concentrations of potassium and sodium. Sediment properties determined were grain-size distribution, bulk mineralogy, whole-rock major-oxide and strontium and barium concentrations, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. Solution and sediment properties were correlated with strontium K_ds of the 20 surficial sediments using Pearson correlation coefficients. Solution properties with the strongest correlations with strontium K_ds were equilibrium pH and equilibrium calcium concentration correlation coefficients, 0.6598 and –0.6518, respectively. Sediment properties with the strongest correlations with strontium K_ds were manganese oxide (MnO), BET surface area, and the >4.75-mm-grain-size fraction correlation coefficients, 0.7054, 0.7022, and –0.6660, respectively. Effects of solution properties on strontium K_ds were interpreted as being due to competition among similarly charged and sized cations in solution for strontium-sorption sites; effects of sediment properties on strontium K_ds were interpreted as being surface-area related. Multivariate analyses of these solution and sediment properties resulted in r² values of 0.8071 when all five properties were used and 0.8043 when three properties, equilibrium pH, MnO, and BET surface area, were used. Received: 30 November 1998 · Accepted: 16 February 1999     

国家1：50000基础地理信息数据库更新工程及实施

围家1：50000基础地理信息数据库更新工程是我国“十一五”初启动的重点测绘工程,历经5年多实现了对1：50000数据库的全面更新。本文重点介绍了更新工程的背景、主要内容、技术方法、组织实施及其所取得的主要成果。     

基础地理数据中心平台设计

基础地理数据中心建设是实现地理信息的交换与共享关键所在。本文提出了基础地理信息数据中心平台的总体架构,设计平台的基本功能,探讨了需解决和应用的关键技术。     

1985国家高程基准与全球似大地水准面之间的系统差及其分布规律

将由大地高和正常高导出的几何高程异常与由位系数模型计算得到的物理高程异常进行比较,求出1985国家高程基准与全球似大地水准面之间的系统差,并分析其分布特性.为抵制异常值的影响,引入"抗差等价权".利用分布全国大陆范围的GPS网949个点的GPS/水准数据和地球重力场模型EGM96、DQM99A,求出1985国家高程基准点与WGS84定义的似大地水准面之间有35.7 cm的垂直偏差,1985国家高程基准面的系统差自东向西、自南向北明显增大,给出相应的数学模型.     

Could baseline establishment be counterproductive for emissions reduction? Insights from Vietnam’s building sector

This article provides insights into the role of institutions involved in climate governance working towards a future low-carbon society at the national level, within the global climate change governance architecture. Specifically, it contributes to understanding the fragmented governance of energy efficiency policy in developing countries by focussing on Vietnam’s building sector, identifying key institutions related to underlying discourses, national and international power relations, resource distribution and coalitions. It uses the case of baseline setting in developing Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to illustrate institutional dynamics, nationally and transnationally, as well as to question whether demands for baseline setting achieve the ideal trade-off between actual GHG emissions reduction and institutionalized demands for accountability. The analysis reveals that, in addition to domestic efforts and challenges, the international agenda greatly influences the energy efficiency policy arena. The article presents lessons to be learnt about policy processes from the specific Vietnamese case, reflecting on the role of international actors and discourses in it. Finally, it argues for the abolition of baselines in favour of adequate monitoring and evaluation, from the perspective that requirement for deviation from fictitious baselines is unproductive and only serves an international techno-managerial discourse.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Baseline establishment is commonly considered an initial step in developing NAMAs, in order to facilitate the demonstration of a deviation from such baselines. The requirement to produce baselines is traditionally not questioned by policy practitioners. Thus, significant development resources are allocated to the establishment of baselines and the bridging of data gaps, often without consideration as to whether baselines are a necessary instrument for NAMA implementation. We suggest omitting the lengthy and resource-consuming practice of establishing baselines and recommend proceeding forthwith to the planning and implementation of mitigation and energy efficiency policies. As conditions vary significantly in different contexts, it would be more appropriate to measure the initial situation, establishing the ‘base point’, and monitor development from that point. The present article might serve as motivation for policymakers to question traditional approaches to policy development and consider alternatives to maximize the cost efficacy of NAMA programmes and facilitate their implementation.     

国家地震烈度速报与预警工程定制软件总体设计

国家地震烈度速报与预警工程现已建设世界上规模最大的、总数超过15000个台站的地震烈度速报与预警观测站网。定制软件是预警工程的核心内容之一,将实现我国地震观测领域数据处理系统的全面升级。本文结合定制软件项目建设目标、业务功能需求等情况,从设计思路、总体架构、分系统功能、部署方式、性能指标和关键技术指标等方面对定制软件总体设计进行介绍。定制软件的总体设计契合预警业务功能需求,使得预警工程具备高稳定性、低延时、高可靠度、高处理性能的数据处理、紧急地震信息服务、数据综合服务和技术支持与保障能力,使地震预警和烈度速报两大功能得到落实,使工程项目的防震减灾效能得到切实体现。