Short-term Climate Characteristics at Ny-(A)lesund over the Arctic Tundra Area

Based on the Germany Koldwey Station's 1994-2003 conventional observation hourly data, this paper conducts a statistical analysis on the short-term climate characteristics for an arctic tundra region (Ny-(A)lesund island) where our first arctic expedition station (Huanghe Station) was located. Affected by the North Atlantic warming current, this area has a humid temperate climate, and the air temperature at Ny-(A)lesund rose above 0 ℃ even during deep winter season during our research period. The wind speed in this area was low and appeared most at southeast direction. We find that the temperature at Ny-(A)lesund rose in the faster rate (0.68 ℃/10 a) than those at the whole Arctic area. Compared with the floating ices where our expedition conducted in the Arctic, Ny-(A)lesund was warmer and more humid and had lower wind speed. Comparison of the near surface air temperature derived by NCEP/NCAR reanalysis to the conventional measurements conducted at the Koldwey site in Ny-(A)lesund area shows a good agreement for winter season and a significant difference for summer season.     

Tests on low‐ductility RC frames under high‐ and low‐frequency excitations

The response of low‐ductility reinforced concrete (RC) frames, designed typically for a non‐seismic region, subjected to two frequencies of base excitations is studied. Five half‐scaled, two‐bay, two‐storey, RC frames, each approximately 5 m wide by 3.3 m high, were subjected to both horizontal and/or vertical base excitations with a frequency of 40 Hz as well as a lower frequency of about 4 Hz (close to the fundamental frequency) using a shake table. The imposed acceleration amplitude ranged from 0.2 to 1.2g. The test results showed that the response characteristics of the structures differed under high‐ and low‐frequency excitations. The frames were able to sustain high‐frequency excitations without damage but were inadequate for low‐frequency excitations, even though the frames exhibited some ductility. Linear‐elastic time‐history analysis can predict reasonably well the structural response under high‐frequency excitations. As the frames were not designed for seismic loads, the reinforcement detailing may not have been adequate, based on the crack pattern observed. The effect of vertical excitation can cause significant additional forces in the columns and moment reversals in the beams. The ‘strong‐column, weak‐beam’ approach for lateral load RC frame design is supported by experimental observations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The temporal and spatial characteristics of the surface air temperature variations over the Antarctic and its surrounding area

The characteristics of the spatial distribution, temporal variations trend and oscillation for the surface air temperature variations during 1957—1993 in the Antarctic and its surrounding area were analyzed. The results show that the short-time climate change in the Antarctic is complex both temporally and spatially. The Antarctic is by no means the strongest responding region to the global greenhouse effect. There is a distinguished difference in the trends of the temperature changes for the Antarctic and global mean, which could not be explained simply by the global greenhouse effect. Project supported by the National Antarctic Key Project of China (85-905).     

Changes in the spatial scale of Beijing UHI and urban development

The seasonal and interannual variations of Beijing urban heat island (UHI) are investigated in this paper using the temperature data from 1960 to 2000 at 20 meteorological stations in the Beijing region, and then the relationship between the intensity and spatial scale of UHI and Beijing urbanization indices is analyzed and discussed. Main conclusions are the followings. First, Beijing UHI shows obvious seasonal variations, and it is strongest in winter, next in spring and autumn, and least in summer. The seasonal variation of the UHI mainly occurs in the urban area. The UHI intensity at the center of Beijing is more than 0.8℃ in winter, and only 0.5℃ in summer. Second, the intensity of Beijing HUI exhibits a clear interannual warming trend with its mean growth rate (MGR) being 0.3088℃/10 a. The MGR of HUI is largest in winter, next in spring and autumn, and least in summer, and the urban temperature increase makes a major contribution to the growth of HUI intensity. Third, since the Reform and Opening, the urbanization indices have grown several ten times or even one hundred times, the intensity of HUI has increased dramatically, and its spatial scale also expanded distinctively along with the expansion of urban architectural complexes. Fourth, the interannual variation of urbanization indices is very similar with that of HUI intensity, and their linear correlation coefficients are significant at a more than 0.001 confidence level.     

Summer weather characteristics on the Grove Mountain of East Antarctica

The summer weather characteristics of the Grove Mountain, East Antarctica, are presented based on the data obtained by Chinese National Antarctic Expedition (CHINARE) in January 1999. The result shows that the pattern of daily variation of temperature and the prevailing wind direction in Grove is similar to that of Zhongshan Station. However, the daily range of temperature and strong wind frequency are much higher than those of Zhongshan Station. The change of wind direction is close to the weather system that impacted the Grove Mountain. The warm and wet air from northern parts often causes the precipitation. The clear weather appears when controlled by eastern winds in January.     

The wavelets and hierarchies of the climate system

Summary Wavelet analysis of global mean temperature data, the drought-flood data of the past 500 years in China, and the temperature time series of Shanghai, highlights the following: (1) the climatic wavelets depend on the hierarchies of a climate system; (2) for different time scales or hierarchies, a climate system may have different catastrophic points and periods; (3) for different time scales or hierarchies, variation of the Southern Hemisphere temperature has an obvious phase-lag compared with that of the Northern Hemisphere and the catastrophe points also lag behind; (4) in a cold-warm period, the cold semi-period of the Northern Hemisphere is obviously longer than the warm one; (5) for different hierarchies or time scales, there exists a phase-lag for the droughtflood variation in China moving gradually with latitude from north to south. Finally, a new technique of climate diagnosis, the phase curve of wavelets, is put forward in this paper.With 6 FiguresSupported by Chinese NKPFR.     

Ecological effects analysis of land use change in coal mining area based on ecosystem service valuing: a case study in Jiawang

Land use change is one of the uppermost driving forces of regional ecosystem change, and has a huge impact on the environmental balance. Mining areas with intensive resources exploitation and utilization have undergone different kinds of environmental influences, such as water pollution and land use cover change. The extensive coal mining in China has led to significant regional land use change resulting in major ecological damage. The objective of this study was to form a clearer picture of the regional ecological environmental situation for promoting ecological protection and improvement by ecosystem service valuing. The case study area was selected at Jiawang town, which has undergone extensive coal mine exploitation for many decades. The study investigated the relationship between land use change and ecological environment, and described the ecosystem service value variations in Jiawang, based on remote sensing and GIS technology. After modification of regional ecosystem service value coefficients, the method was used to evaluate the conditions in the study area from 1990 to 2005 based on the land use/cover information interpreted from TM/ETM+ images. The characters and changes of ecosystem service values were then analyzed both quantitatively and spatially.     

Adsorption of phenanthrene on Al (oxy)hydroxides formed under the influence of tannic acid

Although there has been substantial research done on adsorption of metals/metalloids by Al (oxy)hydroxides, little is known regarding the adsorption of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on Al (oxy)hydroxides, especially those formed in the presence of organic acid. This paper investigated the adsorption of phenanthrene on Al (oxy)hydroxides formed with initial tannate/Al molar ratios (MRs) 0, 0.001, 0.01, and 0.1 (referred to MR0, MR0.001, MR0.01, and MR0.1, respectively) through batch adsorption experiments and FTIR study. The results showed that Al (oxy)hydroxides were important sorbents for phenanthrene. The adsorption kinetic data were fitted well with the pseudo-second-order equation. According to a modified Freundlich model, the adsorption capacities of Al (oxy)hydroxides followed a descending order of MR0.1 > MR0 ≥ MR0.01 > MR0.001, which was inconsistent with the organic carbon content in the Al (oxy)hydroxides. Adsorption capacity correlated with the specific surface area, micropore area, and micropore diameter of Al (oxy)hydroxides, yet the relationships were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). FTIR results showed that physical interaction was essential in phenanthrene adsorption onto the Al (oxy)hydroxides, which could be explained by an entropy-driven process. Surface hydrophobicity of Al (oxy)hydroxides played a key role in phenanthrene adsorption. Additional π–π electron donor–acceptor interaction of phenanthrene (acting as electron donor) with aromatic ring of tannic acid (electron acceptor) could be also important in phenanthrene adsorption by high MR Al (oxy)hydroxides, yet it needs further study. The findings obtained in the present study are of fundamental significance in understanding the mechanism of immobilization of PAHs in low organic matter but oxide-rich soils.     

Influencing domain of peripheral sources in the urban heavy pollution process of Beijing

Multiple cities in a diveloped economic area may consist of a city cluster,and the difusion and mixing of its pollutants result in the effect of pollutants plume between cities and the large-scale regional pollution diffusion phenomenon.The distant transfer and diffusion of pollutants occurs when massive aerosols are affected by the dynamic porcess of large-scale circulations.Research suggesten that the life span of aerosol particles whose diameters are about 1 um is the longest.The longevity …     

Identifying geospatial services across heterogeneous taxonomies

Geospatial services with different functions are assembled together to solve complex problems. Different taxonomies are developed to categorize these services into classes. As differences in granularity and semantics exist among these taxonomies, the identification of services across different taxonomies has become a challenge. In this paper, an approach to identify geospatial services across heterogeneous taxonomies is proposed. Using formal concept analysis, existing heterogeneous taxonomies are decomposed into semantic factors and their various combinations. With these semantic factors, a super taxonomy is established to integrate the original heterogeneous taxonomies. Finally, with the super taxonomy as a cross-referencing system, geospatial services with classes in original taxonomies are identifiable across taxonomies. Experiments in service registries and a social media-based spatial-temporal analysis project are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach.