Regionalization for large area crop estimates by remote sensing

The crop estimates by remote sensing, developing quickly in recent decades, is a up-to-date technique. Regionalization for large area crop estimates by remote sensing, a special applied regionalization, is the foundation of crop estimates in a large area by remote sensing. According to the actual demands of wheat yield estimation by remote sensing and wheat agroclimatic demarcation of China, this paper first puts forward some principles upheld in this regionalization and analyses its main bases. Secondly, it works out the classificatory schemes about the optimum temporal for estimating wheat yield by remote sensing, information sources of space remote sensing and landuse structure in China. Finally, According to the regionalization indices, this study divides the wheat plantable region of China into 14 regions of crop yield estimates and 31 subregions of crop yield estimates.     

Low-cost volcano surveillance from space: case studies from Etna, Krafla, Cerro Negro, Fogo, Lascar and Erebus

 Satellite data offer a means of supplementing ground-based monitoring during volcanic eruptions, especially at times or locations where ground-based monitoring is difficult. Being directly and freely available several times a day, data from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) offers great potential for near real-time monitoring of all volcanoes across large (3000×3000 km) areas. Herein we describe techniques to detect and locate activity; estimate lava area, thermal flux, effusion rates and cumulative volume; and distinguish types of activity. Application is demonstrated using data for active lavas at Krafla, Etna, Fogo, Cerro Negro and Erebus; a pyroclastic flow at Lascar; and open vent systems at Etna and Stromboli. Automated near real-time analysis of AVHRR data could be achieved at existing, or cheap to install, receiving stations, offering a supplement to conventional monitoring methods. Received: 21 January 1997 / Accepted: 3 April 1997     

Deciphering potential groundwater zone in hard rock through the application of GIS

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System has become one of the leading tools in the field of hydrogeological science, which helps in assessing, monitoring and conserving groundwater resources. It allows manipulation and analysis of individual layer of spatial data. It is used for analysing and modelling the interrelationship between the layers. This paper mainly deals with the integrated approach of Remote Sensing and geographical information system (GIS) to delineate groundwater potential zones in hard rock terrain. The remotely sensed data at the scale of 1:50,000 and topographical information from available maps, have been used for the preparation of ground water prospective map by integrating geology, geomorphology, slope, drainage-density and lineaments map of the study area. Further, the data on yield of aquifer, as observed from existing bore wells in the area, has been used to validate the groundwater potential map. The final result depicts the favourable prospective zones in the study area and can be helpful in better planning and management of groundwater resources especially in hard rock terrains.     

A transdisciplinary analysis of water problems in the mountainous karst areas of Morocco

Water management and engineering in the karstic High Atlas of Morocco are difficult tasks under the prevailing geological, hydrogeological, geomorphological, vegetational and climatic conditions. It is important to be able to understand and predict the characteristics and availability of water for future water planning in the region under changing climatic and agricultural conditions. An interdisciplinary analysis of problems and adequate hydrological modelling tools developed by geologists, hydrologists and biologists are necessary. The karst areas of the High Atlas Mountains are characterised by impermeable triassic basalt underlying substantial subsurface reservoirs with high potential discharge rates. The karst groundwater aquifers are extensive but largely unknown in dimension, probably with a hierarchical network of groundwater flow paths. It is estimated that approximately 70% of the surface water is directly lost to groundwater. Steep landslide- and debris flow prone slopes exist next to coarse-grained, highly porous river beds. Infrequent, high intensity rainfall or snowmelt causes a particularly high flood risk to these karst areas. In addition, agriculture and land use changes have degraded the karst areas. The most important driving forces for degradation include permanent overgrazing even during droughts and the use of firewood by a continually growing population. Large scale degradation of vegetation has occurred in the oro-mediterranean (mountainous Mediterranean) zone, between 2600 and 3400 m which coincides with the most important zone for karstic groundwater creation. The combination of high amounts of groundwater flow and rapid surface flow due to sparse vegetation has increased the problems of flood flow.     

过渡季节(6—7月)澳大利亚冷高压对赤道辐合带形成的影响

应用车贝雪夫多项式分析过渡季节(6—7月)澳大利亚冷高压与赤道辐合带的关系,得出了对赤道辐合带北移的主要形势以及过程演变特征,最后用合成方法得到它的演变概念模式,为赤道辐合带的北移影响西太平洋及南海地区提供了中期预报的依据。     

海带几个不同种的雌性克隆对高温的适应力

每几个不同种的雌性克隆对高温(22℃、24℃、26℃)的适应力有所差异。大西洋沿岸的Laminariahyperhoren和L.sacchrina雌性克隆较太平洋沿岸的L.japonica、L.angustata和L.ochotensis雌性克隆明显地不耐高温,遗传性的不同是造成这种差异的主要原因。这种遗传性差异是海带长期自然选择的结果。同一物种L.japonica和L.japonicaCⅡ两种雌性克隆在24℃条件下,在第24天其死亡率分别是40.2％和25.2％,X~2=12.25,P<0.001,差异是高度显著的,说明这种不同是遗传性不同所致,而且属于物种内部的差异。     

Tectonometamorphic evolution of the Bohemian Massif: evidence from high pressure metamorphic rocks

The Variscan orogenic belt, of which the Bohemian Massif is a part, is typically recognized for its characteristic low pressure, high temperature metamorphism and a large volume of granites. However, there are also bodies of high pressure rocks (eclogites, garnet peridotites and high pressure granulites) which are small in size but widely distributed throughtout the Massif. Initially the high pressure rocks were considered to be relicts of a much older orogenic event, but the increasing data derived from isotopic and geochronological investigations show that many of these rocks have Palaeozoic protoliths. Metamorphic ages from the high pressure rocks define no single event. Instead, a number of discrete clusters of ages are found between about 430 Ma and the time of the dominant low pressure event at around 320–330 Ma.Most of the eclogite and granulite facies rocks are assigned to allochthonous nappes that arrived close to the end of the low pressure event, but before final granite intrusion. The nappes contain a mixture of different units and the relationship between rocks with high pressure relicts and host gneisses with no apparent signs of deep burial is still problematic. Some of the high pressure rocks retain evidence of multiple stages of partial re-equilibration during uplift. Moreover, it can be shown in certain instances that host gneisses also endured a multistage metamorphic development but with a peak event convergent with one of the breakdown stages in the enclosed rocks with high pressure relicts. It thus appears that the nappe units are composite bodies probably formed during episodic intracrustal thrusting. Fluids derived from prograde dehydration reactions in the newly under thrusting slab are taken to be the catalysts that drove the partial re-equilibrations.On the scale of the whole Massif it can be seen within the units with high pressure relicts that the temperature at the peak recorded pressure and that during the breakdown are variable in different locations. It is interpreted that regional metamorphic gradients are preserved for given stages in the history and thus the present day dismembered nappe relicts are not too far removed from their original spatial distribution in an original coherent unit. From the temperature information alone it is highly probable that the refrigerating underthrusting slab was situated in the north-west. However, this north-west to south-east underthrusting probably represents the major 380–370 Ma event and is no guide to the final thrusting that emplaced the much thinned nappe pile with high pressure relicts.Granite genesis is attributed to the late stage stacking, during the final Himalayan-type collision stage, of thinned crust covered by young, water-rich, sediments — erosion products of the earlier orogenic stages. Regional metamorphism at shallow depths above the voluminous granites was followed by final nappe emplacement which rejuvenated the granite ascent in places. Correspondence to: P. J. O'Brien     

Ratios of stable carbon isotopes in some High Arctic plants and lake sediments

¹³C/¹²C ratios for a number of High Arctic vascular plants (51 determinations), mosses (11), and freshwater algae (11) show considerable variation, particularly among the freshwater algae (range from-6.9 to -36.3). In some cases the stable carbon ratios on modern and fossil materials provide guidance as to whether marine waters formerly occupied a given pond or lake basin. In other cases the ¹³C values for algae collected along the present-day shore of a pond or lake bear no relation to the values obtained on constituents preserved within the bottom sediments, suggesting that major changes have occurred in the last few thousand years.Geological Survey of Canada Contribution No. 17291. Contribution No. 41 from the Cape Herschel Project.     

Permanent Scatterers for landslide investigations: outcomes from the ESA-SLAM project

Within the SLAM project (Service for Landslide Monitoring), launched in 2003 by the European Space Agency (ESA) the Permanent Scatterers (PS) technique, a multi-image interferometric approach, coupled with the interpretation of aerial-photos and optical satellite images, was carried out for landslide investigations. The PS analysis was applied at a regional scale as support for landslide inventory mapping and at local scale for the monitoring of single well-known slope movements. For the integration of the PS measurements within a landslide inventory the Arno river basin (Italy) was chosen as test site for the presence of a high number of mass movements (to date about 300 areas at high landslide risk and more than 27,000 individual landslides mapped by the institutional authorities). About 350 SAR images have been interferometrically processed by means of the PS technique, with the detection of about 600,000 PS. The use of optical images contributed spatial meaning to the point-wise information provided by the PS, making it easier to identify terrain features related to slope instability and the landslide boundaries. Here we describe the employed methodology and its impact in the updating of a preexisting landslide inventory. 6.8% of the total number of landslides were characterized by ground displacement measurements from the PS: 6.1% of already mapped landslides and 0.8% of new unstable areas detected through the PS analysis. Moreover, most of the PS are located in urban areas, showing that the proposed methodology is suitable for landslide mapping in areas with a quite high density of urbanization, but that over vegetated areas it still suffers from the limitations induced by the current space-borne SAR missions (e.g. temporal de-correlation). On the other hand, the use of InSAR for the monitoring of single slow landslides threatening built-up areas has provided satisfactory results, allowing the measurement of superficial deformations with high accuracy on the landslide sectors characterized by a good radar reflectivity and coherence.     

Determination of specific yield using a water balance approach – case study of Torla Odha watershed in the Deccan Trap province, Maharastra State, India

Specific yield is an essential parameter for any groundwater management plan. Volumetric analysis in the domain of groundwater budgeting for the non-monsoon months has been undertaken for a typical watershed of the Deccan basalt province. The Torla Odha watershed covers an area of over 22 km² on a third-order tributary of the westerly flowing Bhima River. The watershed receives a normal annual rainfall of 643 mm. The entire water demand is supplied by dug wells, which penetrate a shallow aquifer. The specific yield was estimated by comparing the monthly net volume of water removed from the aquifer, with the volume of aquifer de-saturated, based on monthly water level data. The estimated specific yield ranges from 0.0019 in May to 0.0173 in November with an average value of 0.0093. A correlation of the groundwater levels with the detailed geology suggests that the higher specific yield value (0.017) corresponds to dewatering of the weathered zone within the shallow aquifer. The specific yield of the massive basalt immediately below the weathered zone varies from 0.0089 to 0.0103. The underlying vesicular basalt, which is dissected by sheet joints, has a relatively higher specific yield (0.0121). The massive basalt, which forms the base of the shallow aquifer system, has a lower specific yield from 0.0019 to 0.0022.

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Résumé Le débit spécifique est un paramètre essentiel pour tout plan de gestion des eaux souterraines. Les analyses volumétriques, dans le cadre des bilans hydriques des eaux en dehors des mois de mousson, ont été entreprises pour un bassin-versant typique de la province basaltique du Deccan. Le bassin-versant du Torla Odha couvre une superficie de 22 km², et alimente l’affluent du troisième ordre de la rivière Bhima, qui coule vers l’Ouest. La pluviométrie annuelle atteint 643 mm. Toute la demande en eau es assurée par des puits foncés pénétrant dans l’aquifère phréatique. Le débit spécifique a été estimé en comparant le volume net mensuel d’eau captée dans l’aquifère, avec le volume de l’aquifère dé-saturé, basé sur les données des niveaux piézométriques mensuels. Le débit spécifique estimé s’étend entre 0,0019 en Mai et 0.173 en Novembre; la moyenne se situe à 0,0093. Une corrélation entre les niveaux des eaux souterraines et la géologie, suggère que les débits spécifiques les plus importants (0,017) correspondent aux zones altérées de l’aquifère phréatique. Le débit spécifique du massif basaltique, immédiatement sous la zone altérée, varie entre 0,0089 et 0,0103. Le basalte vésiculaire, situé juste en dessous et traversé par des diaclases parallèles, possède un débit spécifique sensiblement plus élevé (0,0121). Le basalte massif, qui forme la base de l’aquifère phréatique, possède un débit spécifique moins important, compris entre 0,0019 et 0,0022.

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Resumen El rendimiento específico es un parámetro esencial para cualquier plan de manejo de aguas subterráneas. Se ha llevado a cabo el análisis volumétrico, en el entorno de balance de aguas subterráneas, para los meses sin monzón de una cuenca típica de la provincia de basaltos Deccan. La cuenca Rorla Odha cubre un área de 22 km² en un tributario de tercer orden del Río Bhima que fluye al oeste. La cuenca capta una lluvia anual normal de 643 mm. La totalidad de la demanda de agua es abastecida por pozos manuales que penetran un acuífero somero. Se estimó el rendimiento específico al comparar el volumen neto mensual de agua removido del acuífero con el volumen de agua de-saturado estimado a partir de datos de niveles de agua mensuales. Los valores estimados de rendimiento específico varían de 0.0019 en mayo a 0.0173 en noviembre con un valor promedio de 0.0093. La correlación de niveles de agua subterránea con la geología de detalle sugieren que el valor más alto (0.017) de rendimiento específico corresponden con el desaguado de la zona de intemperismo dentro del acuífero somero. El rendimiento específico del basalto masivo que se encuentra inmediatamente debajo de la zona de intemperismo varía de 0.0089 a 0.0103. El basalto vesicular subyacente, el cual está disectado por fracturas laminares, tiene un rendimiento específico relativamente más alto (0.0121). El basalto masivo, que forma la base del sistema de acuífero somero, tiene un rendimiento específico más bajo el cual varía de 0.0019 a 0.0022. Palabras clave: basalto Deccan. India. Rendimiento específico. Recarga de agua subterránea. Balance hídrico.