Exploring the Impact of Contextual Information on Student Performance and Interest in Open Humanitarian Mapping     

Patricia Solís  Patricia R. DeLucia 《The Professional geographer》2013,65(3):523-535

The opportunity to engage university students in authentic, open humanitarian mapping raises important questions about how to guide the quality and productivity of volunteer spatial contributions while providing a valuable learning experience. It presents the unique chance to pique new mappers’ interest, satisfaction, and confidence in spatial technologies in particular, and technology in general, as well as pique their interest in the people and places that are served by the humanitarian mapping projects. This article shares the findings of a study that explores the importance of sharing authentic contextual information about the purpose of the humanitarian mapping task. Two groups of beginner mappers were given mapping tasks, with only one group being provided details on the purpose. Comparisons were made on their respective performance and changes in affective response to a series of questions about technology, education, good citizenship, and empathy. Measures of the quantity and quality of spatial data produced; their respective levels of interest, satisfaction, and confidence in technology; and affective responses before and after mapping show the relative effects of contextual information. Results provide insights about the potential effectiveness of authentic instruction on the performance of mapping as well as the potential effect on mappers themselves. Key Words: citizenship, data quality, empathy, humanitarian mapping, volunteered geographic information.  相似文献   

The Spatial–Temporal Hierarchy of Inequality in Urban China: A Prefectural City–Level Study     

Hao Huang  Yehua Dennis Wei 《The Professional geographer》2013,65(3):391-407

Inequality has been the subject of intense debates in China, but inequality across cities remains less studied. This article investigates economic inequality based on prefectural-level cities during the period from 1990 to 2010. Statistical analyses indicate that interregional inequality among cities has increased, which is mostly attributable to widening intraregional inequality, especially within the western region. The high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita clusters emerged in the Pearl River Delta in the 1990s, spread to the Yangtze River Delta in the 2000s, and then reached north China in the 2010s. In contrast, the number of low GDP per capita clusters significantly increased in the central and western regions in the 2010s. In addition, the significance of national development zones and foreign direct investment indicates the greatest effect of globalization on the increasing intercity inequality. Decentralization also contributes to the intercity inequality of China. We suggest that in addition to national programs aimed at reducing the inequality between the eastern region and the rest of China, efforts are needed to reduce inequality within each region through provincial and local government policies, especially in western China. Key Words: China, cluster, decentralization, globalization, regional inequality, urban inequality.  相似文献   

Enhancing the Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Model for Community Food Access Mapping: Case of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program     

Xiang Chen 《The Professional geographer》2013,65(4):668-680

In this article, a Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) model is applied to evaluate the geographical accessibility to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-authorized retailers. First, the proposed method considers the interaction between the food supply (in terms of categorized benefit redemptions) and demand (in terms of benefit-receiving households). Second, the model is used to visualize food access patterns at the level of refined administrative units (i.e., census block groups). The developed food access metric was compared to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Access Research Atlas, justifying the validity of this new method for small area estimation. The following are important observations: (1) the choice of catchment size had a considerable impact on the accessibility measure in urban areas (or when small statistical units are used); (2) the 2SFCA measurement had a higher level of correspondence with that of the USDA Atlas at a smaller catchment size for identifying low food access units; and (3) there was no significant inequality regarding SNAP accessibility with respect to different socioeconomic deprivation variables. This new method can better assist the SNAP administration with store authorization on a refined geographic scale. Key Words: food access, inequality, scale, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA).  相似文献   

QVOA techniques for fracture characterization     

Vladimir Sabinin 《Geofísica Internacional》2013,52(4):311-320

New computational techniques of QVOA analysis (Quality factor Versus Offset and Azimuth) for fracture characterization are developed. The techniques are applied to synthetic surface data of reflection with noise.  相似文献   

Hydro-climatic variability and forest fires in Mexico’s northern temperate forests     

José Návar  Liliana Lizárraga-Mendiola 《Geofísica Internacional》2013,52(1):5-20

Global warming is likely modifying the hydrological cycle of forested watersheds. This report set as objectives to: a) assess the hydrological variables interception loss, I, potential and actual evapo-transpiration, E, Et, runoff, Q, and soil moisture content, θ; b) evaluate whether these variables are presenting consistent trends or oscillations that can be associated to global warming or climate variability; and c) relate θ to the number of wildfires and the burned area in Durango, Mexico. A mass balance approach estimated daily variables of the water cycle using sub-models for I and Et to calculate Q and θ for a time series from 1945 to 2007. Regression and auto-regressive and moving averaging (ARIMA) techniques evaluated the statistical significance of trends. The cumulative standardized z value magnified and ARIMA models projected statistically similar monthly and annual time series data of all variables of the water cycle. Regression analysis and ARIMA models showed monthly and annual P, I, E, and Et, Q, and θ do not follow consistent up or downward linear tendencies over time with statistical significance; they rather follow oscillations that could be adequately predicted by ARIMA models (r² ≥ 0.70). There was a consistent statistical association (p ≤ 0.05) of θ with the number of wildfires and the area burned regardless of the different spatial scales used in evaluating these variables. The analysis shows seasonal variability is increasing over time as magnifying pulses of dryness and wetness, which may be the response of the hydrological cycle to climate change. Further research must center on using longer time series data, testing seasonal variability with additional statistical analysis, and incorporating new variables in the analysis.  相似文献   

Total mercury in terrestrial systems (air-soil-plant-water) at the mining region of San Joaquín,Queretaro, Mexico     

Sergio Martínez-Trinidad  Gilberto Hernández Silva  Juventino Martínez Reyes  Gregorio Solorio Munguía  Sara Solís Valdez  Martha Elena Ramírez Islas  Rocío García Martínez 《Geofísica Internacional》2013,52(1):43-58

Deficient management of cinnabar mining left the San Joaquín region with high concentrations of mercury in its soils (2.4 – 4164 mg kg^-1). Numerous cinnabar mines have contributed to the dispersion of mercury into agricultural (0.5 –314 mg kg^-1) and forest (0.2 – 69 mg kg^-1) soils. Sediments are a natural means of transportation for mercury, causing its spreading, especially in areas near mine entrances (0.6 – 687 mg kg^-1). The nearness of maize crops to mines favors mercury accumulation in the different plant structures, such as roots, stems, leaves, and grain (0.04 – 8.2 mg kg^-1); these being related to mercury volatilization and accumulation in soils. Mercury vapor present in the settlements could indicate a constant volatilization from lands and soils (22 – 153 ng m^-3). The mercury levels found in the soils, in maize grain, and in the air resulted greater than the standards reported by the Official Mexican Norm (NOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Mercury in rainwater is due mainly to the presence of suspended atmospheric particles, later deposited on the surface (1.5 – 339 μg |^-1). Mercury dissolution was found in the drinking water (10 – 170 ng |^-1), with concentrations below those established by the NOM and the WHO. The contamination existing in the San Joaquín region does not reach the levels of the world’s greatest mercury producers: Almaden (Spain) and Idrija (Slovenia). It is, however, like that found in other important second degree world producers such as Guizhou (China). The population of San Joaquín, as well as its surrounding environment, are constantly exposed to mercury contamination, thus making a long term monitoring necessary to determine its effects, especially to people.  相似文献   

Deforestation and fragmentation of seasonal tropical forests in the southern Yucatán,Mexico (1990–2006)     

Juan Pablo Ramírez-Delgado  Birgit Schmook 《国际地球制图》2013,28(8):822-841

The southern Yucatán (SY) has been recognized as a hotspot of biodiversity with great risk of deforestation. Land change analysis, based on classified Landsat TM and ETM?+?satellite imagery (1990, 2000 and 2006), was used to estimate the annual deforestation rates of 141 land management units of the SY, and spatial patterns of forest fragmentation around and within the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (CBR), which comprises approximately one-third of the region. Results indicate a decrease in annual deforestation rates over 1990–2006, from 0.15% year^?1 to 0.06% year^?1, but with significant sub-regional variations in the quantity and rate of forest loss. Despite a decline in deforestation during this period, there was considerable fragmentation both inside and outside the CBR. While population pressures and the expansion of pasture have caused deforestation across the region, agricultural intensification, diversified income strategies and reserve conservation may have contributed to reduced forest loss during the study period.  相似文献   

松辽盆地姚家组—嫩江组沉积演化与成藏响应   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2       下载免费PDF全文

冯志强  张顺  付秀丽 《地学前缘》2012,19(1):78-87

松辽盆地姚家组—嫩江组是一套完整的基准面升降旋回沉积地层,嫩江组二段底部最大湖泛面形成了盆地范围内稳定分布的油页岩,不仅是层序及地层对比的标准界面,而且成为重要的烃源岩层和盖层。姚家组及嫩江组一段是湖进形成的大型湖泊与退积型三角洲沉积,嫩江组二段到五段是强制性水退形成的大型湖泊与进积三角洲沉积;在湖进期嫩江组一段长轴物源方向发育大型重力流水道及末端浊积扇沉积,在嫩江组二段强制性水退环境下进积型三角洲前方发育大型滑塌扇沉积;储集层是湖进-湖退过程中形成的大型三角洲复合体,以分流河道、河口坝及席状砂体为特征,这些砂体向湖盆中心延伸楔入湖相泥岩及成熟烃源岩中,形成良好的生储盖组合关系,特别是盆地长轴物源方向发育的大型三角洲复合体成为油藏集中发育的良好场所,是松辽盆地成为巨型陆相含油气盆地的重要地质条件,同时重力流水道及滑塌扇体也具有形成岩性油气藏的有利条件,是不可忽视的勘探领域。  相似文献   

Palaeozoic structures in the Xayacatlán area,Acatlán Complex,southern Mexico: transtensional rift‐ and subduction‐related deformation along the margin of Oaxaquia     

《International Geology Review》2012,54(4):279-303

The Xayacatlán area (eastern Mixteca terrane, southern Mexico) was previously inferred to preserve the Ordovician‐Silurian thrust contact between vestiges of the Iapetus Ocean and the para‐autochthon bordering Oaxaquia. Detailed remapping indicates that the rocks occur in four vertically‐bounded, NS fault blocks. The latter record the following tectonothermal events that post‐date Iapetus and occurred along the margins of the Rheic (1) and Pacific (2 and 3) oceans: (1) dextral transtension accompanying intrusion of an NS, tholeiitic dike swarm at ～442 Ma; (2) penetrative, greenschist‐facies deformation during the Mississippian related to extrusion of high‐pressure rocks; and (3) subgreenschist‐facies dextral transtension on NS faults during the generation of Middle Permian fabrics.  相似文献   

Petrology of two contrasting Mexican volcanoes,the Chiapanecan (El Chichón) and Central American (Tacaná) volcanic belts: the result of rift- versus subduction-related volcanism     

《International Geology Review》2012,54(4):501-524

The alkaline El Chichón and calc-alkaline Tacaná volcanoes, located in southern Mexico, form parts of the Chiapanecan Volcanic Belt and Central American Volcanic Arc, respectively. El Chichón has emitted potassium-, sulphur-, and phosphorus-rich trachyandesites and trachybasalts (as mafic enclaves), whereas Tacaná has erupted basalts to dacites with moderate potassium contents, and minor high-Ti magmas (1.5–1.8 wt.% TiO₂). The magmatic evolution in the two volcanoes has involved similar fractionating assemblages: Fe-Ti oxides, olivine, plagioclase, pyroxenes, amphibole, and apatite. K₂O/P₂O₅ ratios and isotopic signatures indicate that magmas from both El Chichón and Tacaná have undergone significant crustal contamination. The volcanism at both Tacaná and El Chichón was previously related to northeastward subduction of the Cocos Plate, representing the main arc and the backarc, respectively. Although such an origin is in accord with Tacaná occurring 100 km above the Cocos Benioff Zone, it is inconsistent with: (a) the absence of a calc-alkaline belt between El Chichón and the Middle America Trench; and (b) truncation of the subducted Cocos Plate by the southwesterly dipping Yucatan slab near the Middle America Trench (i.e. the Cocos Plate does not presently underlie El Chichón). On the other hand, El Chichón and the Chiapanecan Volcanic Belt are located on the sinistral Veracruz fault zone that forms the northern boundary of the Southern Mexico block, which has been migrating relatively to the east since ca. 5 Ma. In this context, the anomalous high potassium, sulphur, and phosphorus levels in the El Chichón magmas are explicable in terms of rifting in a pull-apart system with the weak subduction fingerprint inherited from the Yucatan slab.  相似文献