Non‐linear system identification of the versatile‐typed structures by a novel signal processing technique

Non‐linear structural identification problems have raised considerable research efforts since decades, in which the Bouc–Wen model is generally utilized to simulate non‐linear structural constitutive characteristic. Support vector regression (SVR), a promising data processing method, is studied for versatile‐typed structural identification. First, a model selection strategy is utilized to determine the unknown power parameter of the Bouc–Wen model. Meanwhile, optimum SVR parameters are selected automatically, instead of tuning manually. Consequently, the non‐linear structural equation is rewritten in linear form, and is solved by the SVR technique. A five‐floor versatile‐type structure is studied to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, in which both power parameter known and unknown cases are investigated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial analysis of instream nitrogen loads and factors controlling nitrogen delivery to streams in the southeastern United States using spatially referenced regression on watershed attributes (SPARROW) and regional classification frameworks

Understanding how nitrogen transport across the landscape varies with landscape characteristics is important for developing sound nitrogen management policies. We used a spatially referenced regression analysis (SPARROW) to examine landscape characteristics influencing delivery of nitrogen from sources in a watershed to stream channels. Modelled landscape delivery ratio varies widely (by a factor of 4) among watersheds in the southeastern United States—higher in the western part (Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi) than in the eastern part, and the average value for the region is lower compared to other parts of the nation. When we model landscape delivery ratio as a continuous function of local‐scale landscape characteristics, we estimate a spatial pattern that varies as a function of soil and climate characteristics but exhibits spatial structure in residuals (observed load minus predicted load). The spatial pattern of modelled landscape delivery ratio and the spatial pattern of residuals coincide spatially with Level III ecoregions and also with hydrologic landscape regions. Subsequent incorporation into the model of these frameworks as regional scale variables improves estimation of landscape delivery ratio, evidenced by reduced spatial bias in residuals, and suggests that cross‐scale processes affect nitrogen attenuation on the landscape. The model‐fitted coefficient values are logically consistent with the hypothesis that broad‐scale classifications of hydrologic response help to explain differential rates of nitrogen attenuation, controlling for local‐scale landscape characteristics. Negative model coefficients for hydrologic landscape regions where the primary flow path is shallow ground water suggest that a lower fraction of nitrogen mass will be delivered to streams; this relation is reversed for regions where the primary flow path is overland flow. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effective typhoon characteristics and their effects on hourly reservoir inflow forecasting

This paper describes the identification of effective typhoon characteristics and the development of a new type of hourly reservoir inflow forecasting model with the effective typhoon characteristics. Firstly, a comparison of support vector machines (SVMs), which is a novel kind of neural networks (NNs), and back-propagation networks (BPNs) is made to select an appropriate NN-based model. The results show that SVM-based models are more appropriate than BPN-based models because of their higher accuracy and much higher efficiency. In addition, effective typhoon characteristics for improving forecasting performance are identified from all the collected typhoon information. Then the effective typhoon characteristics (the position of the typhoon and the distance between the typhoon center and the reservoir) are added to the proposed SVM-based models. Next, a performance comparison of models with and without effective typhoon characteristics is conducted to clearly highlight the effects of effective typhoon characteristics on hourly reservoir inflow forecasting. To reach a just conclusion, the performance is evaluated by cross validation, and the improvement in performance due to the addition of effective typhoon characteristics is tested by paired comparison t-tests at the 5% significance level. The results confirm that effective typhoon characteristics do improve the forecasting performance and the improvement increases with increasing lead-time, especially when the rainfall data are not available. For four- to six-hour ahead forecasts, the improvement due to the addition of effective typhoon characteristics increases from 3% to 18% and from 10% to 113% for Categories I (rainfall data are available) and II (rainfall data are not available), respectively. In conclusion, effective typhoon characteristics are recommended as key inputs for reservoir inflow forecasting during typhoons. The proposed SVM-based models with effective typhoon characteristics are expected to provide more accurate forecasts than BPN-based models. The proposed modeling technique is also expected to be useful to support reservoir operation systems and other disaster warning systems.     

The topographic imprint of a transient climate episode: the western Andean flank between 15·5° and 41·5°S

Mountain‐range topography is determined by the complex interplay between tectonics and climate. However, often it is not clear to what extent climate forces topographic evolution and how past climatic episodes are reflected in present‐day relief. The Andes are a tectonically active mountain belt encompassing various climatic zones with pronounced differences in rainfall, erosion, and glacier extent under similar plate‐boundary conditions. In the central to south‐western Andes, climatic zones range from hyperarid desert with mean annual rainfall of 5 mm/a (22·5°S) to year‐round humidity with 2500 mm/a (40°S). The Andes thus provide a unique setting for investigating the relationship between tectonics, climate, and topography. We present an analysis of 120 catchments along the western Andean watersheds between 15·5° and 41·5°S, which is based on SRTMV3‐90m data and new medium‐resolution rainfall, tropical rainfall measurement mission (TRMM) dataset. For each basin, we extracted geometry, relief, and climate parameters to test whether Andean topography shows a climatic imprint and to analyze how climate influences relief. Our data document that elevation and relief decrease with increasing rainfall and descending snowline elevation. Furthermore, we show that local relief reaches high values of 750 m in a zone between 28°S to 35°S. During Pleistocene glacial stages this region was affected by the northward shifting southern hemisphere Westerlies, which provided moisture for valley‐glacier formation and extended glacial coverage as well as glacial erosion. In contrast, the southern regions between 35°S to 40°S receive higher rainfall and have a lower local relief of 200 m, probably related to an increased drainage density. We distinguish two different, climatically‐controlled mechanisms shaping topography: (1) fluvial erosion by prolonged channel‐hillslope coupling, which smoothes relief, and (2) erosion by valley glaciers that generates relief. Finally, Our results suggests that the catchment‐scale relief of the Andes between 28°S to 35°S is characterized by a pronounced transient component reflecting past climatic conditions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于ALOS数据的乌鲁木齐市绿地景观格局研究

以乌鲁木齐市2009年的ALOS卫星影像为研究数据,在地理信息系统(GIS)及遥感(RS)技术的支持下,提取绿地信息,建立乌鲁木齐市区绿地景观的空间数据库,应用景观生态学的理论和研究方法,选取景观分维数、破碎度、分离度等景观指数来定量分析乌鲁木齐市区的绿地景观格局。结果表明,整个研究区内的绿地类型以公园绿地和单位附属绿地为主,市区绿地景观多样性较低,各类型绿地景观所占比例不均匀,公共绿地数量少,趋于团聚分布,形成许多绿化服务盲区;各类型绿地景观分维数较高,形状较不规则;单位附属绿地和居住绿地的破碎度较高,因为它们受人类的影响较大、形状相对多样、不规则。     

LANDSCAPE PERMANENCE AND NUCLEAR WARNINGS

ABSTRACT. From the perspective of a human lifetime, the hazards of some nuclear wastes are permanent, so the warnings we place at contaminated nuclear sites must be permanent too. I address questions of how best to provide one hundred centuries of public warning at the first facility for permanent disposal, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Scenarios of intrusion developed to guide the design of warning markers predicted that most of the changes in the area will be social and cultural. Because blatant and permanent markers will increase, not reduce, the probability of inadvertent intrusion, the most appropriate warning is a “landscape of illusion.” Such a landscape needs not permanent surface markers but underground warning devices beneath a soft surface marker. No warning can guarantee deterrence for 10,000 years, however.     

基于对象关系数据库的矢栅一体化查询与操作研究

在分析矢量栅格数据特点的基础上,提出一系列矢栅一体化查询函数,基于PostgreSQL/PostGIS数据库,实现了支持栅格数据存储与组织的扩展数据类型,并对栅格数据类型与PostGIS矢量数据一体化查询函数进行了扩展实现。最后,通过实例验证了矢栅一体化查询函数的表达能力和解决实际问题的应用前景。     

农田背景下景观结构对半自然生境生物多样性的多尺度影响

以黄河下游典型农区封丘县为研究区,调查比较了农业景观中半自然生境(包括人工林、树篱和沟渠)与农田生境中植物和地表节肢动物的物种多样性,并应用广义线性模型(GLM)从不同的空间尺度分析半自然生境和农田中的物种多样性与景观变量之间的关系.结果表明:①林地植物多样性最高,且以人工林和沟渠中的植物物种相似度最高;各半自然生境中地表节肢动物的多度和物种丰富度明显高于农田,且以人工林和树篱间地表节肢动物的相似度最高.②在250 m景观范围内的景观变量能更好地解释植物多样性和地表节肢动物多样性,而树篱和沟渠在400 m景观范围上地表节肢动物的尺度效应最显著.③在250 m尺度上植物多样性与景观变量的拟合方面,在人工林和树篱生境中,散布与并列指数(IJI)和植物丰富度呈显著负相关;人工林中IJI和周长面积比(PA-RAMD)对植物香农多样性指数呈负相关;在树篱中,边缘密度(ED)、聚集度指数(AI)与植物香农多样性指数负相关显著,欧几里得最近距离(ENN_MN)与均匀度指数正相关;在沟渠中,ED、AI与植物丰富度显著负相关.④地表节肢动物与景观变量的拟合显示,在250 m景观范围上,人工林生境主要体现在多度与香农多样性指数(SHDI)和土地利用丰富度的负相关,而农田中则是多度与SHDI呈显著负相关,与ED、PARA_ MD、AI和土地利用丰富度(LUR)呈显著正相关;在400m景观范围上,树篱中,IJI与地表节肢动物的多度和丰富度呈显著正相关;沟渠生境中,只有多度与IJI和土地利用丰富度显著负相关,与SHDI显著正相关.     

北京郊区生态安全动态评价与分析

以京郊三个具有不同功能的区(县)为例,基于景观生态学的基本理论,探讨在GIS和RS技术支持下从景观格局角度进行快速城市化地区的生态安全动态评价方法.首先,根据遥感数据解译出1996和2005两期土地利用图;然后计算景观干扰指数和景观脆弱度指数,它们合成景观稳定性指数,在此基础上,构建生态安全指数(ESI);最后,利用空间分析方法对生态安全指数进行空间化,并对生态安全指数的采样结果进行半变异函数分析和空间插值分析.结果表明:(1)1996-2005年研究区的各景观类型呈不同的变化趋势,其主要的景观变化特征为建设用地景观持续增加、耕地景观大量减少,尤其以建设用地景观变化最快;(2)研究区的斑块数量、破碎度、多样性指数和分形维数都表现出增加的趋势;(3)生态安全指数受人为干扰影响较大,局部区域的景观类型从1996年的零散分布发展至2005年的连片分布,整体生态安全强度的空间分布不均匀性增强;(4)生态安全指数值从城市功能拓展区(朝阳区)到远郊城市发展新区(顺义区)和生态涵养发展区(密云县),呈现出由低而高的变化趋势,其低值区域随着城市化进程的加快而逐渐扩大.表明生态安全指数能够定量评价区域生态环境的状况及其演变方向.     

基于遥感影像的哈尔滨市城市热环境变化

以Landsat TM/ETM+为基本数据源,利用遥感和GIS技术定量反演了哈尔滨市1989和2000年的地面亮温和植被指数(NDVI),对标准化地面亮温分级数据进行热力景观指数计算,研究城市热场分布的空间格局、时空变化规律和不同植被指数(NDVI)等级下热环境的变化特征.结果表明:1989和2000年哈尔滨市建成区均存在显著的热岛效应,2000年建成区热岛效应增强,哈尔滨市总体地面亮温升高;热力景观日趋破碎,各景观类型受干扰程度较大,处于很不稳定的状态.NDVI与地面亮温的负相关性随着植被覆盖度的升高而增大;植被覆盖度与地面亮温的空间变异呈负相关.