Winter cover crops in Dutch maize fields: Variability in quality and its drivers assessed from multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery

Planting a cover crop between the main cropping seasons is an agricultural management measure with multiple potential benefits for sustainable food production. In the maize production system of the Netherlands, an effective establishment of a winter cover crop is important for reducing nitrogen leaching to groundwater. Cover crop establishment after maize cultivation is obliged by law for sandy soils and consequently implemented on nearly all maize fields, but the winter-time vegetative ground cover varies significantly between fields. The objectives of this study are to assess the variability in winter vegetative cover and evaluate to what extent this variability can be explained by the timing of cover crop establishment and weather conditions in two growing seasons (2017–2018). We used Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to construct NDVI time series for fields known to be cultivated with maize within the province of Overijssel. We fitted piecewise logistic functions to the time series in order to estimate cover crop sowing date and retrieve the fitted NDVI value for 1 December (NDVI_Dec). We used NDVI_Dec to represent the quality of cover crop establishment at the start of the winter season. The Sentinel-2 estimated sowing dates compared reasonably with ground reference data for eight fields (RMSE = 6.6 days). The two analysed years differed considerably, with 2018 being much drier and warmer during summer. This drought resulted in an earlier estimated cover crop sowing date (on average 19 days) and an NDVI_Dec value that was 0.2 higher than in 2017. Combining both years and all fields, we found that Sentinel-2 retrieved sowing dates could explain 55% of the NDVI_Dec variability. This corresponded to a positive relationship (R² = 0.50) between NDVI_Dec and the cumulative growing degree days (GDD) between sowing date and 1 December until reaching 400 GDD. Based on cumulative GDD derived from two weather stations within Overijssel, we found that on average for the past three decades a sowing date of 19 September (± 7 days) allowed to attain these 400 GDD; this provides support for the current legislation that states that from 2019 onwards a cover crop should be sown before 1 October. To meet this deadline, while simultaneously ascertaining a harvest-ready main crop, in practice implies that undersowing of the cover crop during spring will gain importance. Our results show that Sentinel-2 NDVI time series can assess the effectiveness and timing of cover crop growth for small agricultural fields, and as such has potential to inform regulatory frameworks as well as farmers with actionable information that may help to reduce nitrogen leaching.     

贵州省生态环境和交通发展耦合协调研究

为探究贵州省交通发展水平与生态环境质量的耦合协调关系,以全省9个市(州)为研究对象,基于贵州省统计年鉴、国民经济和社会发展统计公报、高分系列卫星遥感影像等多元数据与GIS空间分析方法,定量分析与评价了2015年与2020年各市(州)的交通发展水平与生态环境质量以及二者之间的耦合协调关系。结果表明：(1)贵州省生态环境质量呈现下降趋势,空间分布特征从东北高西北低向南高北低、东高西低转变;(2)交通发展水平呈现上升趋势,空间分布由东高西低向中心—外围的结构特征转变;(3)耦合协调度的空间分布变化显著,由东部与北部高、西部低转变为中轴高两侧低。为保障贵州省生态环境与交通建设的持续协调发展,应加强生态环境保护,提高区域生态环境质量,同时根据各市(州)实际情况,进一步优化交通基础设施空间布局。     

常德-张家界高速公路某大桥桥基砂土液化评价

结合常德张家界高速公路某大桥桥基工程,在DSD160型电磁式振动三轴试验仪上,通过往返加荷三轴试验,对饱和砂土进行了液化试验研究,探讨了基于动三轴液化试验结果判断饱和砂土液化的方法。并尝试了这种室内研究反应分析的液化可能性估计方法与地震剪应力时程相结合的综合判断方法。在该高速公路大桥桥基的饱和砂土液化评价中,采用这种综合判断方法,对大桥桥基砂土液化进行了判断。在判断场地是否液化后,对其液化危害程度进行了等级划分,给出了该工程场地在未来遭受到不同超越概率下的地震作用时发生液化的危害程度,得到了一些有工程实用意义的结果。     

金秀大瑶山旅游气候资源评估

利用金秀县气象站资料,对金秀大瑶山旅游区的气候特征、旅游气候资源、影响旅游安全的重要天气等方面进行综合分析和定量评估,旨在为全面、合理地开发利用金秀大瑶山旅游气候资源提供科学依据。     

Geography Deserts: State and Regional Variation in the Formal Opportunity to Learn Geography in the United States, 2005–2015

The formal opportunity to learn geography in the United States is unevenly distributed across space, creating possible geography deserts. Data on the number of exams taken in Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) and bachelor’s degrees earned in geography are mapped at the state and regional scales. Normalized rates are ranked and grouped into quintiles. For APHG exams, states in the southeastern region of the United States are in the uppermost quintiles while states in the northeastern region are in the lowermost quintiles. The pattern for bachelor’s degrees in geography is somewhat the spatial inverse of that for APHG.     

张家界旅游企业空间成长对城镇空间形态的影响

运用核密度估计法和标准差椭圆分析法,分析张家界旅游企业空间成长特征及演化过程;选取紧凑度指标,结合城镇空间均衡分布椭圆,分析张家界城镇空间形态演化过程;通过比较不同阶段旅游企业椭圆和城镇空间椭圆的重合面积,剖析旅游企业空间成长对城镇空间形态的影响程度。研究发现：① 张家界旅游企业空间成长过程和特征为：由出现期的“一核多极点”逐渐演变为生成期的“核心-边缘”,最后在发展期形成一个高集聚中心和三个次中心联动的“组团扩展型”格局;② 张家界建成区面积呈现增长态势,城镇空间不断扩展,建成区用地紧凑度逐渐下降;③ 不同阶段,张家界旅游企业空间成长对城镇空间形态的影响程度有一定的差异性,整体呈现出逐渐增强的趋势。研究结论对于重新认识旅游对城镇化建设的作用具有重要的现实意义。     

辽宁省城市人居环境系统耦合协调度时空格局演变及驱动力研究

人居环境系统内部的耦合协调是保证人居环境均衡发展的基础。基于“人类-居住-支撑-自然-社会”5个子系统,构建人居环境系统耦合协调发展评价指标体系,将2个系统间的容量耦合模型扩展运用到人居环境5个子系统中,综合熵值法、GIS空间分析以及地理探测器对辽宁省2005~2016年人居环境系统耦合协调度的时空演化特征与驱动力进行探讨,阐述人居环境系统内部协调性。研究表明:①2005~2016年辽宁省人居环境系统内部的耦合度与耦合协调度整体呈缓慢浮动上升趋势;②辽宁省人居环境耦合协调度呈分散格局,并且呈现从中间向两侧递减的“屋脊”式格局和“双核结构”;东西方向上,空间演变趋势由倒U型逐渐向一字型演变,南北方向上由斜线型向“L”型演变。③全省出现了中耦合低协调区、中耦合过渡协调区、高耦合低协调区、高耦合过渡协调区、高耦合高协调区5种类型区。④空间分异驱动力主要包括人的需求、经济发展、住房、互联网发展等。     

临沂市地质灾害现状及易发程度分区评价

2016年,临沂市地质灾害排查共查明了391处地质灾害隐患点,主要类型为崩塌、滑坡、泥石流、采空塌陷和岩溶塌陷,崩塌数量最多,其次为采空塌陷和岩溶塌陷。地质灾害规模以小型为主。该文详细介绍了临沂市地质环境背景条件,各类地质灾害发育现状及分布特征。在此基础上,采用"地质灾害综合危险性指数法"进行地质灾害易发性评价,运用栅格数据处理方法将临沂市划分成1350个面积相等的单元,对影响地质灾害发育的地质条件、地形地貌条件、气候植被条件、地质灾害隐患点、地质灾害规模、分布密度、活动频次和险情等要素进行量化,根据实际情况对地质灾害易发程度分级进行定性修正,将临沂市地质灾害易发程度划分为高易发区、中易发区、低易发区及不易发区4个区。预测了地质灾害发展趋势,划分了地质灾害防治分区,建议完善地质灾害预警预报系统,为临沂市应急管理局的地质灾害应急救援提供地质灾害基础背景资料。     

水资源约束下的河西走廊城市经济脆弱性时空演变及其影响因素

城市经济脆弱性作为当前脆弱性研究中的重要领域,为人-地系统耦合研究提供了新的视角,并为城市可持续健康发展提供有益的决策支持和管理方法。依据城市经济脆弱性内涵,基于暴露度、敏感性、适应能力构建了城市经济脆弱性评价指标体系,运用熵权TOPSIS法评价河西走廊地区及区域内五市的城市经济脆弱性,并采用障碍度模型识别影响区域城市经济脆弱性变化的因素。结果显示：（1）2006—2015年,河西走廊地区城市经济脆弱性呈现出先曲折下降（2006—2011年）再波动上升趋势（2012—2015年）;（2）河西走廊地区的城市经济脆弱性具有明显的空间特征,经历了东西高、中部低到整体较高的演变过程;（3）阻碍河西走廊地区城市经济脆弱性降低的障碍因子由适应能力逐步转变为暴露度。针对河西走廊地区各市主要障碍因子,提出针对性优化措施。     

Pricing Weather Derivatives Index based on Temperature: The Case of Bahir Dar,Ethiopia

In this paper we present a stochastic model for daily average temperature to calculate the temperature indices upon which temperature-based derivatives are written. We propose a seasonal mean and volatility model that describes the daily average temperature behavior using the mean-reverting Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. We also use higher order continuous-time autoregressive process with lag 3 for modeling the time evolution of the temperatures after removing trend and seasonality. Our model is fitted to 11 years of data recorded, in the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2015, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, obtained from Ethiopia National Meteorological Services Agency. The analytical approximation formulas are used to price heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD) futures. The suggested model is analytically tractable for derivation of explicit prices for CDD and HDD futures and option. The price of the CDD future is calculated, using analytical approximation formulas. Numerical examples are presented to indicate the accuracy of the method. The results show that our model performs better to predict CDD indices.