Building Web-Based Spatial Information Solutions around Open Specifications and Open Source Software

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are moving from isolated, standalone, monolithic, proprietary systems working in a client‐server architecture to smaller web‐based applications and components offering specific geo‐processing functionality and transparently exchanging data among them. Interoperability is at the core of this new web services model. Compliance with Open Specifications (OS) enables interoperability. Web‐GIS software's high costs, complexity and special requirements have prevented many organizations from deploying their data and geo‐processing capabilities over the World Wide Web. There are no‐cost Open Source Software (OSS) alternatives to proprietary software for operating systems, web servers, and Relational Database Management Systems. We tested the potential of the combined use of OS and OSS to create web‐based spatial information solutions. We present in detail the steps taken in creating a prototype system to support land use planning in Mexico with web‐based geo‐processing capabilities currently not present in commercial web‐GIS products. We show that the process is straightforward and accessible to a broad audience of geographic information scientists and developers. We conclude that OS and OSS allow the development of web‐based spatial information solutions that are low‐cost, simple to implement, compatible with existing information technology infrastructure, and have the potential of interoperating with other systems and applications in the future.     

The Air-Coastal Sea Chemical Exchange: A Case Study on the New Jersey Coast

The coastal marine atmosphere adjacent to large urban and industrial centers is in general strongly impacted by pollution emissions, resulting in high loading of pollutants in the ambient air. Among the airborne substances are certain trace elements from a variety of emission sources that can serve as micronutrients to marine organisms in coastal waters. High concentrations of such elements in coastal air can result in enhanced air-to-sea deposition fluxes to coastal waters. They could also be transported over the open ocean, affecting the composition of the remote marine atmosphere and then ocean ecosystems. To provide better understanding of the extent of air-to-sea deposition processes on the New Jersey coast, a heavily polluted coastal region on the US East Coast, a synthesis of observation data was carried out for selected trace elements, including Fe, Cd, Cr and Cu, derived from measurements of both size-segregated and bulk aerosol particles, as well as precipitation around the New Jersey coast. The atmospheric input of Hg was also estimated based on measurement data. Results indicated that the total deposition fluxes of most trace elements were higher in Northern coastal NJ compared to Southern coastal NJ, reflecting the differences in the source strengths of these element emissions between the two coastal regions. Dry deposition processes were more significant for common dust-derived elements, particularly Fe and Al, compared with their wet deposition fluxes. However, the processes of precipitation scavenging appeared to be more important for the elements that were often enriched in fine particles including Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni. The removal of Hg from the ambient air was overwhelmingly dominated by atmospheric wet deposition. In the future, atmospheric measurements at more sites on the NJ coast should be performed simultaneously to reduce the spatial and temporal uncertainties associated with atmospheric deposition fluxes estimated in this study.     

Detection and mapping of bracken fern weeds using multispectral remotely sensed data: a review of progress and challenges

Bracken fern is one of the major invasive plants distributed all over the world currently threatening socio-economic and ecological systems due to its ability to swiftly colonize landscapes. The study aimed at reviewing the progress and challenges in detecting and mapping of bracken fern weeds using different remote sensing techniques. Evidence from literature have revealed that traditional methods such as field surveys and modelling have been insufficient in detecting and mapping the spatial distribution of bracken fern at a regional scale. The applications of medium spatial resolution sensors have been constrained by their limited spatial, spectral and radiometric capabilities in detecting and mapping bracken fern. On the other hand, the availability of most of these data-sets free of charge, large swath width and their high temporal resolution have significantly improved remote sensing of bracken fern. The use of commercial satellite data with high resolution have also proven useful in providing fine spectral and spatial resolution capabilities that are primarily essential to offer precise and reliable data on the spatial distribution of invasive species. However, the application of these data-sets is largely restricted to smaller areas, due to high costs and huge data volumes. Studies on bracken fern classification have extensively adopted traditional classification methods such as supervised maximum likelihood classifier. In studies where traditional methods performed poorly, the combination of soft classifiers such as super resolution analysis and traditional methods of classification have shown an improvement in bracken fern classification. Finally, since high spatial resolution sensors are expensive to acquire and have small swath width, the current study recommends that future research can also consider investigating the utility of the freely available recently launched sensors with a global footprint that has the potential to provide invaluable information for repeated measurement of invasive species over time and space.     

Long-term monitoring of the behavior of a talus-colluvium deposit

Landslides - This article describes the behavior of a talus-colluvium deposit up to 70-m thick located in the Serra dos Orgaos, Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Brazil. The monitoring dataset of 13 years...     

Would different methodologies for assessing carbon leakage exposure lead to different risk levels? A case study of the Brazilian industry

Energy-intensive industries play an important role in low-carbon development, being particularly exposed to climate policies. Concern over possible carbon leakage in this sector poses a major challenge for designing effective carbon pricing instruments (CPI). Different methodologies for assessing carbon leakage exposure are currently used by different jurisdictions, each of them based on different approaches and indicators. This paper aims to analyse the extent to which the use of different methodologies leads to different results in terms of exposure to the risk of carbon leakage, using the Brazilian industry sector as a case study. Results indicate that carbon leakage exposure is an expected outcome of eventual CPI implementation in Brazilian industry. However, results vary according to the chosen methodology, so the definition of the criteria is paramount for assessing sectoral exposure to the risk of carbon leakage.

Key policy insights

• Despite increasing discussion about the implementation of carbon pricing on the Brazilian industrial sector, the evaluation of carbon leakage risks is still neglected.

• Assessments of the risk of carbon leakage are directly related to the indicators and criteria used by each methodology. Thus, a given subsector may present different levels of exposure to carbon leakage depending on the methodological choice.

• More than a purely technical discussion, the methodological definition of carbon leakage risk is a political discussion – it can be well-conducted, leading to the success of a CPI, or even sabotaged, by implicitly subsidizing energy-intensive industries.

     

Biochemical alterations in juvenile carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to zinc: glutathione reductase as a target

The aim of this study was to investigate biochemical changes in juvenile carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to zinc chloride (10, 30 and 100 microM) for a period of 48 h. Zinc exposure caused a concentration-dependent reduction in glutathione reductase (GR) activity in gills, liver and brain. Gill glutathione S-transferase (GST) was reduced when animals were exposed to the highest concentration of 100 microM zinc. The phosphorylation of p38(MAPK) increased in the brain of fish exposed to zinc 100 microM, while phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2) remained unchanged. Expression of proteins HSP60 and HSP70 were not affected by zinc exposure. Considering the significant concentration-dependent inhibition of GR in all tissues analyzed, this enzyme could be a potential biomarker of exposure to zinc, which has to be confirmed.     

Arsenic attenuation in tailings at a former Cu–W–As mine,SW Finland

Nearly half a century after mine closure, release of As from the Ylöjärvi Cu–W–As mine tailings in groundwater and surface water run-off was observed. Investigations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), synchrotron-based micro-X-ray diffraction (μ-XRD), micro-X-ray absorption near edge structure (μ-XANES) and micro-extended X-ray absorption fine structure (μ-EXAFS) spectroscopy, and a sequential extraction procedure were performed to assess As attenuation mechanisms in the vadose zone of this tailings deposit. Results of SEM, EMPA, and sequential extractions indicated that the precipitation of As bearing Fe(III) (oxy)hydroxides (up to 18.4 wt.% As₂O₅) and Fe(III) arsenates were important secondary controls on As mobility. The μ-XRD, μ-XANES and μ-EXAFS analyses suggested that these phases correspond to poorly crystalline and disordered As-bearing precipitates, including arsenical ferrihydrite, scorodite, kaňkite, and hydrous ferric arsenate (HFA). The pH within 200 cm of the tailings surface averaged 5.7, conditions which favor the precipitation of ferrihydrite. Poorly crystalline Fe(III) arsenates are potentially unstable over time, and their transformation to ferrihydrite, which contributes to As uptake, has potential to increase the As adsorption capacity of the tailings. Arsenic mobility in tailings pore water at the Ylöjärvi mine will depend on continued arsenopyrite oxidation, dissolution or transformation of secondary Fe(III) arsenates, and the As adsorption capacity of Fe(III) (oxy)hydroxides within this tailings deposit.     

Experimental solidification of anhydrous latitic and trachytic melts at different cooling rates: The role of nucleation kinetics

Two sets of cooling experiments were run at atmospheric conditions for two anhydrous starting latitic and trachytic melts: 1) five cooling rates (25, 12.5, 3, 0.5, and 0.125 °C/min) between 1300° and 800 °C, and 2) a 0.5 °C/min cooling rate from 1300 °C with quench temperatures at 1200°, 1100°, 1000° and 900 °C. Trachytic run-products are invariably glassy. Nucleation is also suppressed in the latitic run-products at the three highest cooling rates. Conversely, in the 0.5 and 0.125 °C/min runs, latites have a crystal content of  90 vol.%. The phases are: plagioclase, clinopyroxene, glass and iron-bearing oxide (in order of abundance). The variable quench temperatures, investigated by coupling experiments with Pt wire and Pt capsule sample containers in set 2, again did not produce crystallization of trachyte, whereas latitic samples are characterized by  10 vol.% of oxides, pyroxenes and plagioclase (in order of appearance), at temperature < 1000 °C. Effects of (preferential) heterogeneous nucleation on sample holders, of superheating degree, and chemical species loss during cooling are absent for both melt compositions. The difference of solidification paths between these two silicate melts can be ascribed only to their small chemical differences. In comparison with calculated equilibrium conditions all the experimental latitic and trachytic run-products revealed strong kinetic effects, interpretable in the light of the nucleation theory. The glass-forming ability (GFA) of trachyte is higher, whereas their critical cooling rate (Rc) is lower (< 0.125 °C/min), in comparison to latitic melts (Rc > 0.5 °C/min). The experimental results carried out in this study can be applied to lava flows and domes; trachytic lavas are able to flow for longer period with respect to latitic ones in a metastable condition. Glass-rich terrestrial lavas, i.e. obsidians, can be the result of sluggish nucleation kinetics due to the relative high polymerisation of evolved silicate melts.