Conceptual modelling to assess how the interplay of hydrological connectivity,catchment storage and tracer dynamics controls nonstationary water age estimates

Although catchment storage is an intrinsic control on the rainfall–runoff response of streams, direct measurement remains a major challenge. Coupled models that integrate long‐term hydrometric and isotope tracer data are useful tools that can provide insights into the dynamics of catchment storage and the volumes of water involved. In this study, we use a tracer‐aided hydrological model to characterize catchment storage as a dynamic control on system function related to streamflow generation, which also allows direct estimation of the nonstationarity of water ages. We show that in a wet Scottish upland catchment dominated by runoff generation from riparian peats (histosols) with high water storage, nonstationarity in water age distributions is only clearly detectable during more extreme wet and dry periods. This is explained by the frequency and longevity of hydrological connectivity and the associated relative importance of flow paths contributing younger or older waters to the stream. Generally, these saturated riparian soils represent large mixing zones that buffer the time variance of water age and integrate catchment‐scale partial mixing processes. Although storage simulations depend on model performance, which is influenced by input variability and the degree of isotopic damping in the stream, a longer‐term storage analysis of this model indicates a system that is only sensitive to more extreme hydroclimatic variability. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A GIS-Based Tool for Representing Larval Dispersal for Marine Reserve Selection

Increasing efforts to implement marine protected areas (MPAs) as a means of managing marine ecosystems have created a need for evaluating potential spatial management plans. Almost all marine populations are metapopulations, connected reproductively by the dispersal of pelagic larvae. Models of marine population dynamics must account for larval connectivity, but despite recent advances connectivity patterns are still poorly understood. To allow more informed decision making when complete information on dispersal is lacking, we have developed a method based on geographic information systems (GIS) for representing larval dispersal distributions based on bathymetry and typical flows in the coastal ocean. These distributions reflect (1) generally greater flow in directions along, rather than across, lines of constant bathymetry and (2) lesser flow in shallow near-shore waters. We demonstrate how to parameterize this two-dimensional method for depicting larval dispersal based on comparisons to local oceanographic data. We then compare the predictions of the two-dimensional method to those of a simpler one-dimensional alternative in a population model used to evaluate proposed MPAs along the coast of central California. The method produces reasonable larval dispersal patterns and appears to include the effects of bathymetry on population dynamics better than commonly used one-dimensional methods and without requiring the significantly greater investment of developing particle-tracking circulation models. An important advantage of a two-dimensional approach is more realistic portrayal of the dependence of population persistence on the cross-shelf dimension of available habitat.     

A Street Fit for a King: Naming Places and Commemoration in the American South

The naming of streets after Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) is an importantarena for African Americans as they rewrite the landscape of southern identity and commemoration. While less ornate and ostentatious than museums and monuments, MLK streets are powerful and highly contested cultural geographies because of their potential to connect disparate communities and incorporate a vision of the past into the spatial practices of everyday life. They reveal the importance of location, particularly intra-urban location, to public memorialization. Naming streets for King is a significant part of the nonmetropolitan South as well as larger cities and dependent upon the relative size of a city's African-American population. When estimating the intra-urban character of MLK streets within several southern states, findings suggest that they are located in census areas that are generally poorer and with more African Americans than citywide averages. Analysis reveals a geographic unevenness in the frequency of businesses having an address identified with King. When compared with the stereotypical American thoroughfare of “Main” Street, the address composition of MLK streets appears to be more residential in nature, although there is significant state by state variation.     

GEOGRAPHERS IN GOVERNMENT

Geographers are working in federal, state, and local government agencies in many diverse positions. Historically and presently, geographers have held key policy positions in government agencies. In recent years the employment base for geographers in government has been broadened. Geographers working in government generally must have a pragmattic outlook that enables them to do the tasks assigned regardless of how geographical those assignments may be.     

Integrating landscape connectivity into the evaluation of ecosystem services for biodiversity conservation and its implications for landscape planning

This paper examines the integration of landscape connectivity and ecosystem services. It is based on the assumption that if a habitat within a landscape has a more significant role in connecting with other habitats, it would have a higher ecosystem services value for biodiversity conservation. The Shenzhen River watershed, a cross-border region shared by the city of Shenzhen and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in China, was used as a case study. An area-based functional connectivity index, known as the possibility of connectivity (PC), was implemented to examine the temporal and spatial dynamics of the value of ecosystem services for biodiversity conservation over the period from 1988 to 2008. To evaluate the effectiveness of the PC index, a comparison was made between the conventional assessment method for ecosystem services and the proposed method. Results suggest that our proposed method can identify significant reduction of ecosystem services that was not only due to the decrease of habitat size, but also caused by the damage of connectivity among habitat patches. Also, it can identify sites which should have a high priority in restoring the ecosystem services for biodiversity conservation. In conclusion, this study provides a way to consider landscape connectivity in the evaluation of ecosystem services which is essential for landscape planning and nature conservation.     

Generating hierarchical strokes from urban street networks based on spatial pattern recognition

Strokes are products of a higher-level aggregation of street segments that can reflect functional importance and perceptual significance that is associated with them in human spatial mental conceptualizations, which is of vital importance for network analysis, street selection, and map generalization. Street properties (e.g., street names) and angles between street segments are the two main elements used for generating street strokes according to the continuity principle of perceptual grouping into networks. However, it is difficult to automatically generate strokes with good continuity from street networks with multiple lanes such as dual carriageways or complex street junctions. This article proposes a method for generating street strokes that maintain good continuity across multiple lanes and complex street junctions. The proposed method first detects dual carriageways and complex junctions in street networks and then generates strokes according to the continuity principle of perceptual grouping. Finally, it groups the generated street strokes across the dual carriageways and complex street junctions to maintain good continuity. Moreover, the generated strokes are hierarchically ranked based on stroke length and centrality measurements. Experimental studies demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method. The result shows that the generated street strokes maintain good continuity and reflect well the hierarchical structure of the street networks.     

顾及实体空间关系的地址编码方法研究

地址编码是基于空间定位技术的一种编码方法,它提供了一种把描述性地址信息转换成地理坐标的方式.院落作为城市最基本的地理实体之一,其地址编码的科学性、合理性对地址匹配有着重要意义.该文通过对院落空间特征分析,总结了院落与内部建筑、周围兴趣点及相邻街道间存在的包含、邻近及关联3种空间关系,在此基础上研究了院落相关地理实体的地址编码方法;最后验证了顾及实体空间关系的地址编码方法对地址匹配的精度和效率都有所提升.     

城市道路照明管理规划系统中路灯自动配置算法和照明评价模型

随着城市现代化进程的加快,传统道路照明管理模式已远不能满足现代化的道路照明管理需求,出现了诸如随意建设、高耗能建设和光污染等问题。基于ArcGIS软件设计开发了郑州市道路照明管理规划系统,就该系统的路灯自动配置算法和道路照明评价模型等关键技术进行了研究与实现。路灯自动配置算法可以帮助解决路灯规划建设的难题,道路照明评价模型是照明设施建设是否合理的重要评价手段,这两项技术可有效协助解决道路照明领域存在的无序化、随意性和高耗能的建设做法,对于实现道路照明的科学规范管理和节约能源资源的目的具有一定的参考价值。     

基于街景影像和手机信令数据的城市街道安全性研究

城市化进程加快导致街道安全性问题突出,已有研究利用城市视觉要素刻画街道安全感空间分布,忽略了街道真实安全性与安全感间的差异。该文利用街景影像和手机信令数据,结合K-means聚类算法与笛卡尔积运算模型减少“安全感知差异”,以长沙市主城区为研究案例,得到白天、夜晚及总体城市街道安全性分布:1)长沙市主城区安全感指数随圈层数增加呈波动递减趋势,主要原因是建筑视觉要素占比下降较快以及天空视觉要素占比逐步上升;2)长沙市主城区呈双圈层结构,白天高安全性、夜晚低安全性以及总体安全性最低的区域主要分布在主城区中心,具有明显的聚集现象。该研究通过对城市街道安全性和低安全性街道的分析提出街道优化建议,为城市规划提供参考。     

亚热带4种行道树树干表面CO_2释放速率昼夜动态

采用LI-8100土壤碳通量自动测量系统,与自制的树干呼吸观测气室相连,原位观测亚热带春、秋2个季节4种行道树树干呼吸速率及相关环境因子的昼夜动态.结果表明:在秋季土壤水分较低水平下(VWC平均为11.6%),羊蹄甲、香樟树干呼吸速率昼夜动态呈单峰曲线,和温度变化呈极显著指数函数关系,峰值分别出现在17:00和13:00;芒果和高山榕树干呼吸速率昼夜动态单峰不明显,白天与树干温度变化呈极显著指数函数关系,但芒果白天与夜间的树干呼吸速率差异不显著,而高山榕树干呼吸速率夜间显著高于白天,二者出现"白昼抑制"现象.在春季土壤水分较高水平下(VWC平均为22.1%),羊蹄甲、芒果和高山榕树干呼吸速率昼夜动态呈单峰型曲线,峰值分别出现在11:00、15:00和14:00;而香樟树干呼吸速率单峰不明显,4种树种的树干呼吸速率昼夜动态均与温度变化呈极显著指数函数关系.2个季节中,树干温度与树干呼吸的指数函数关系最好,秋季羊蹄甲、芒果和香樟树干呼吸速率对树干昼夜温度变化的Q10值分别为2.04、2.37和2.18,春季羊蹄甲、芒果、香樟和高山榕树干呼吸速率对树干昼夜温度变化的Q10值分别为2.27、2.58、1.90和1.8...