Spatiotemporal patterns of tropical deforestation and forest degradation in response to the operation of the Tucuruí hydroelectric dam in the Amazon basin

The planned construction of hundreds of hydroelectric dams in the Amazon basin has the potential to provide invaluable ‘clean’ energy resources for aiding in securing future regional energy needs and continued economic growth. These mega-structures, however, directly and indirectly interfere with natural ecosystem dynamics, and can cause noticeable tree loss. To improve our understanding of how hydroelectric dams affect the surrounding spatiotemporal patterns of forest disturbances, this case study integrated remote sensing spectral mixture analysis, GIS proximity analysis and statistical hypothesis testing to extract and evaluate spatially-explicit patterns of deforestation (clearing of entire forest patch) and forest degradation (reduced tree density) in the 80,000 km² neighborhoods of the Brazil's Tucuruí Dam, the first large-scale hydroelectric project in the Amazon region, over a period of 25 years from 1988 to 2013. Results show that the average rates of deforestation were consistent during the first three time periods 1988–1995 (620 km² per year), 1995–2001 (591 km² per year), and 2001–2008 (660 km² per year). However, such rate dramatically fell to half of historical levels after 2008, possibly reflecting the 2008 global economic crisis and enforcement of the Brazilian Law of Environmental Crimes. The rate of forest degradation was relatively stable from 1988 to 2013 and, on average, was 17.8% of the rate of deforestation. Deforestation and forest degradation were found to follow similar spatial patterns across the dam neighborhoods, upstream reaches or downstream reaches at the distances of 5 km–80 km, suggesting that small and large-scale forest disturbances may have been influencing each other in the vicinity of the dam. We further found that the neighborhoods of the Tucuruí Dam and the upstream region experienced similar degrees of canopy loss. Such loss was mainly attributed to the fast expansion of the Tucuruí town, and the intensive logging activities alongside major roads in the upstream reservoir region. In contrast, a significantly lower level of forest disturbance was discovered in the downstream region.     

陕北奥陶纪盐盆马五6时期东、西部盐坳沉积环境对比研究

陕北奥陶纪盐盆位于鄂尔多斯盆地伊陕斜坡东部。研究表明:马五6亚期,盐盆存在"两坳一隆"的构造格局,即东、西部盐坳和中部隆起,东、西部盐坳在钾矿化情况、溴氯系数反映的水体咸化趋势方面初步显示了陕北盐盆东、西部沉积环境的差异。本文通过东、西部盐坳典型钻井马五6层位沉积学分析,揭示了马五6时期东、西部盐坳在水体深度变化、浓缩趋势、含钾量、淡化层段厚度、陆源物质输入方面均存在差异。其中,西部盐坳受海水影响大,水体变浅且持续淡化,泥质分布反映陆源物质贡献少,对钾盐的沉积与保存均十分不利。而东部盐坳受海水影响小,与西部盐坳水体联通性差,在马五6时期环境更为封闭,具体表现为淡化夹层分布数量少、厚度薄的特征;水体持续变深并浓缩咸化;泥质夹层较多,反映了相较于西部,陆源物质对其影响更大,上述特点为钾盐沉积提供了有利的地球化学条件及可容空间。东、西部盐坳沉积环境对比表明东部盐坳对成钾更为有利。     

Interplay between an axial channel belt,slope gullies and overbank deposition in the Puchkirchen Formation in the Molasse Basin,Austria

Deep‐water sediments in the Molasse Basin, Austria, were deposited in a narrow foreland basin dominated by a large channel belt located between the steep Alpine fold and thrust belt to the south and the gentler northern slope off the Bohemian Massif. Several gas fields occur outside the channel belt, along the outer bend of a large meander. Accumulation of these overbank sediments reflects a complicated interplay between slope accommodation and debris‐flow and turbidity‐flow interaction within the channel. The tectonically oversteepened northern slope of the basin (ca 2 to 3°) developed a regionally important erosional surface, the Northern Slope Unconformity, which can be traced seismically for >100 km in an east–west direction and >20 km from the channel to the north. The slope preserves numerous gullies sourced from the north that eroded into the channel belt. These gullies were ca 20 km long, <1 km wide and ca 200 m deep. As the channel aggraded, largely inactive and empty gullies served as entry points into the overbank area for turbidity currents within the axial channel. Subsequently, debris‐flow mounds, 7 km wide and >15 km long, plugged and forced the main channel to step abruptly ca 7 km to the south. This resulted in development of an abrupt turn in the channel pathway that propagated to the east and probably played a role in forming a sinuous channel later. As debris‐flow topography was healed, flows spread out onto narrow area between the main channel and northern slope forming a broad fine‐grained apron that serves as the main gas reservoir in this area. This model of the overbank splay formation and the resulting stratigraphic architecture within the confined basin could be applied in modern and ancient systems or for subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs where three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection data is limited. This study elucidates the geomorphology of the oversteepened slope of the under‐riding plate and its effects on the sedimentation.     

Predicting June Mean Rainfall in the Middle/Lower Yangtze River Basin

We demonstrate that there is significant skill in the GloSea5 operational seasonal forecasting system for predicting June mean rainfall in the middle/lower Yangtze River basin up to four months in advance.Much of the rainfall in this region during June is contributed by the mei-yu rain band.We find that similar skill exists for predicting the East Asian summer monsoon index(EASMI)on monthly time scales,and that the latter could be used as a proxy to predict the regional rainfall.However,there appears to be little to be gained from using the predicted EASMI as a proxy for regional rainfall on monthly time scales compared with predicting the rainfall directly.Although interannual variability of the June mean rainfall is affected by synoptic and intraseasonal variations,which may be inherently unpredictable on the seasonal forecasting time scale,the major influence of equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures from the preceding winter on the June mean rainfall is captured by the model through their influence on the western North Pacific subtropical high.The ability to predict the June mean rainfall in the middle and lower Yangtze River basin at a lead time of up to 4 months suggests the potential for providing early information to contingency planners on the availability of water during the summer season.     

Resonance of baroclinic waves in the tropical oceans: The Indian Ocean and the far western Pacific

The Indian Ocean has a particularity, its width is close to half the wavelength of a Rossby wave of biannual frequency, this coincidence having been capitalized on by several authors to give the observations a physical basis. The purpose of this article is to show that this is not the case since the resonance of tropical baroclinic waves occurs in all three oceans. This is because the westward-propagating Rossby wave is retroflexed at the western boundary to form off-equatorial Rossby waves dragged by countercurrents before receding and turning back as a Kelvin wave. Thus a quasi-stationary baroclinic wave is formed, whose mean period is tuned to the forcing period. Two independent basin modes resonantly forced are highlighted – 1) a nearly symmetric zonal 1/2-yr period Quasi-Stationary Wave (QSW) that is resonantly forced by the biannual monsoon. It is formed from first baroclinic mode equatorial-trapped Rossby and Kelvin waves and off-equatorial Rossby waves at the western antinode. This QSW controls the Equatorial Counter Current at the node. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) results from a subharmonic mode locking resulting from the coupling of this QSW and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th baroclinic modes - 2) a 1-yr period QSW formed from an off-equatorial baroclinic Rossby wave, which is induced from the southernmost current of the Indonesian Throughflow through the Timor passage, propagating in the southern and northern hemispheres: the drivers are south-easterlies in the southern hemisphere and monsoon wind in the northern hemisphere.     

局地蒸发和外部水汽输送对松花江流域夏季降水的贡献

本文基于Brubaker二元模型,采用JRA-55再分析资料定量研究了局地蒸发和外部水汽输送对松花江流域夏季气候态降水及其年际变率的相对贡献,并探讨了相应的物理机制。气候平均而言,外部水汽输送是松花江流域初夏（5～6月）和盛夏（7～8月）降水的最主要水汽源。受西风带影响,初夏自西边界进入松花江流域的水汽贡献占主导,外部水汽输送对当地降水的贡献为78.9%,源自蒸发的水汽贡献为21.1%。较之初夏,由于盛夏来自南边界的水汽输送加倍,外部水汽输送贡献增加,外部水汽输送和蒸发对降水贡献分别为86%和14%。JRA-55再分析资料可以合理再现观测降水演变,1961～2016年JRA-55再分析资料降水与观测在初夏与盛夏的相关系数分别可以达到0.73和0.83。研究发现,初夏,由于西南季风异常导致的南边界进入的水汽输送异常是松花江流域降水年际变率的主要原因,自西边界、北边界进入的水汽输送与降水呈现显著负相关,初夏局地蒸发的贡献不显著,该水汽输送异常对应的环流型易发生在El Ni?o衰减年初夏。盛夏来自南边界的水汽输送起主导作用,局地蒸发贡献与降水变化显著负相关,海温强迫作用对该环流异常的强迫并不显著,中高纬度大气内部变率影响占主导。由于盛夏降水与地表温度在盛夏期间显著负相关,盛夏时期降水偏少时,温度偏高,蒸发偏强,进而蒸发水汽对降水贡献增加。     

气候变化对澜湄流域上下游水资源合作潜力的影响

澜沧江-湄公河（澜湄）流域南北跨越了25个纬度,流域上下游气候差异明显。同时遭遇干旱或湿润通常不利于上下游水资源合作,而水文气象条件正常或上下游间的干湿条件不一样时有利于缓解流域内的竞争性用水状况。为探究气候变化对澜湄流域上下游水资源合作潜力的影响,基于普林斯顿降水数据集与全球气候模型预估数据,利用标准化降水指数（SPI）和Copula函数计算了历史时期（1985—2016年）与未来时期（2021—2090年）澜湄流域上下游同时面临干旱、湿润以及干湿存在差异的发生概率。基于典型浓度路径RCP4.5和RCP8.5情景的预估结果显示与历史时期相比,未来时期澜湄流域在RCP4.5与RCP8.5情景下具有相似的变化趋势,即：遭遇同期湿润的概率在逐渐增大（最大达到199.5%),遭遇同期干旱的概率则在逐渐减少(最小达到-35.9%),而遭遇干湿差异时期的概率在所有时段均大幅减少（-53.1%~-42.5%)。未来澜湄流域上下游同期湿润概率的增加和遭遇干湿差异概率的减少预计将加大上下游面临水资源竞争的可能性,从而对澜湄流域各国家之间的水资源合作产生不利影响。这一研究可以为澜湄流域水资源合作策略的制定提供科学参考和依据。     

1960—2018年辽河流域日降水集中程度分析

基于1960-2018年的日降水资料,计算辽河流域降水集中指数（CI）,分析日降水集中程度的时空特征。结果表明：降水集中指数CI可以有效描述辽河流域降水集中程度,辽河流域年CI指数平均为0.67,降水集中程度总体呈现出东部和西部低、南部和北部高的鞍型空间分布特征;夏季降水集中程度最高,各站点季平均CI指数为0.65,空间分布与年分布较一致,冬季平均CI指数最低,为0.60,由东南向西北递减;研究时段内年CI指数表现为不显著的减小趋势,其中东部区域减小的趋势最大;各子区域年CI指数平均变化周期为3 a左右,其中1985年以前,变化周期较短,在2 a左右,1985年以后,变化周期超过3 a。     

准噶尔盆地西北缘一次大到暴雨天气过程分析

摘要：通过分析2010年6月２8～２9日发生在准噶尔盆地西北缘的一次大到暴雨天气,揭示了形成这次强降水天气的环流背景特点、物理量和雷达回波特征。结果显示：冷暖气团在克拉玛依地区附近相遇产生的中尺度锋生现象触发了本次暴雨天气过程。表现最明显的特征是：高空槽移动缓慢,中层切变线不断南压、低层中尺度系统维持,冷暖气团在区域强烈交汇。暴雨区雷达速度场有明显的风场幅合。对流降水云团强度、移向变化的预测,是此类天气临近预报的关键和难点。     

Comparative application of two mathematical models to predict sedimentation in Yermasoyia Reservoir,Cyprus

The Yermasoyia Reservoir is located northeast of the town of Limassol, Cyprus. The storage capacity of the reservoir is 13·6 × 10⁶ m³. The basin area of the Yermasoyia River, which feeds the reservoir, totals 122·5 km². This study aims to estimate the mean annual deposition amount in the reservoir, which originates from the corresponding basin. For the estimate of the mean annual sediment inflow into the reservoir, two mathematical models are used alternatively. Each model consists of three submodels: a rainfall‐runoff submodel, a soil erosion submodel and a sediment transport submodel for streams. In the first model, the potential evapotranspiration is estimated for the rainfall‐runoff submodel, and the soil erosion submodel of Schmidt and the sediment transport submodel of Yang are used. In the second model, the actual evapotranspiration is estimated for the rainfall‐runoff submodel, and the soil erosion submodel of Poesen and the sediment transport submodel of Van Rijn are used. The deposition amount in the reservoir is estimated by means of the diagram of Brune, which delivers the trap efficiency of the reservoir. Daily rainfall data from three rainfall stations, and daily values of air temperature, relative air humidity and sunlight hours from a meteorological station for four years (1986–89) were available. The computed annual runoff volumes and mean annual soil erosion rate are compared with the respective measurement data. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.