A spatially explicit methodology for a priori estimation of field survey effort in environmental observation networks     

Carlos Guerra  Marc J. Metzger  João Honrado  Joaquim Alonso 《International journal of geographical information science》2013,27(10):2077-2098

When establishing environmental monitoring programmes, it crucial to make reliable cost estimates, especially where a field survey is involved. This paper presents a methodology for creating a spatial measure of a field survey effort (SE). A set of relevant variables affecting a SE (e.g. areas with rough terrain, or distant from the main road network) was classified using fuzzy sets and then combined to produce spatially explicit effort indicators, which were integrated to a single measure using an analytic hierarchy process (AHP). To evaluate this approach and identify the limits for its application, three spatially nested case studies were used to test the spatial expression of SE and the scalable capacity of the method itself. The presented methodology could cope with variations in the scale and data resolution, retrieving a coherent estimate of SE across the different case studies. The presented methodology is therefore useful for (i) testing the network designs for sampling bias related to SE, (ii) comparing alternative sampling designs, (iii) assessing the sampling costs and (iv) supporting the human and logistical resource management.  相似文献   

Appropriate monitoring techniques using bomb tritium and other geochemical parameters in hydrogeological investigations     

BONIFACE C. E. EGBOKA 《水文科学杂志》2013,58(2):207-224

ABSTRACT

A critical review of earlier uses of bomb tritium spotlights problems in its applications that may result in erroneous interpretations. The old monitoring technique using boreholes causes mixing of groundwaters of different age zones. In this study, the mixing problem is overcome by using modern monitoring devices of multi-level samplers and bundle piezometers that yield groundwater samples of small volumes at closely-spaced intervals. The old method may be used to determine recharge and discharge areas of aquifers and used where pollution poses no serious threat. Otherwise, the major pumpage of the aquifer distorts and reverses flow directions, causes mixing of different waters and may spread the pollutants. The disadvantages of the modern method include its restricted use in shallow aquifers and porous media.  相似文献   

Erosive water level regime and climatic variability forcing of beach–dune systems on south‐western Vancouver Island,British Columbia,Canada     

Derek K. Heathfield  Ian J. Walker  David E. Atkinson 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2013,38(7):751-762

Increases in the frequency and magnitude of extreme water levels and storm surges are correlated with known indices of climatic variability (CV), including the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), along some areas of the British Columbia coast. Since a shift to a positive PDO regime in 1977, the effects of ENSO events have been more frequent, persistent, and intense. Teleconnected impacts include more frequent storms, higher surges, and enhanced coastal erosion. The response of oceanographic forcing mechanisms (i.e. tide, surge, wave height, wave period) to CV events and their role in coastal erosion remain unclear, particularly in western Canada. As a first step in exploring the interactions between ocean–atmosphere forcing and beach–dune responses, this paper assembles the historic erosive total water level (TWL) regime and explores relations with observed high magnitude storms that have occurred in the Tofino‐Ucluelet region (Wickaninnish Bay) on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Extreme events where TWL exceeded an erosional threshold (i.e. elevation of the beach–foredune junction) of 5·5 m aCD are examined to identify dominant forcing mechanisms and to classify a regime that describes erosive events driven principally by wave conditions (61·5%), followed by surge (21·8%), and tidal (16·7%) effects. Furthermore, teleconnections between regional CV phenomena, extreme storm events and, by association, coastal erosion, are explored. Despite regional sea level rise (eustatic and steric), rapid crustal uplift rates have resulted in a falling relative sea level and, in some sedimentary systems, shoreline progradation at rates approaching +1·5 m a^–1 over recent decades. Foredune erosion occurs locally with a recurrence interval of approximately 1·53 years followed by rapid rebuilding due to high onshore sand supply and often in the presence of large woody debris and rapidly colonizing vegetation in the backshore. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Application of a rainfall-runoff model to three catchments in Iraq     

FAYEZ ABDULLA  LAITH AL-BADRANIH 《水文科学杂志》2013,58(1):13-25

Abstract

The capability of the Surface inFiltration Baseflow (SFB) conceptual rainfall-runoff model to simulate streamflow for three catchments selected from northern Iraq is investigated. These catchments differ in their climatic regimes and physical characteristics. Three versions of the model were tested: the original three-parameter model (SFB), the modified five-parameter model (SFB-5), and the modified six-parameter model (SFB-6). The available daily precipitation, potential evapotranspiration and runoff data were used in conjunction with a simulated annealing (SA) optimization technique to calibrate the various versions of the SFB model. A simple sensitivity analysis was then carried out to determine the relative importance of the model parameters. The study indicated that use of the original three parameter model was not adequate to simulate monthly streamflow in the selected catchments. The modified version (SFB-5) provided better runoff simulation than the original SFB model; overall a 19% increase was observed in the coefficient of determination (R²) between simulated and observed monthly runoff. The SFB-5 model performed with varying degrees of success among the catchments. The model performance in the validation stage was reasonable and comparable to that of the calibration stage. The sensitivity analysis of the SFB model for arid catchments revealed that the baseflow parameter (B) was the most sensitive one, while the S and F parameters were less sensitive than the B parameter.  相似文献   

Quantification of the heterogeneity of the unsaturated zone based on environmental deuterium observed in lysimeter experiments     

《水文科学杂志》2013,58(4):748-762

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A long-term Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) data-set for environmental studies   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

《International Journal of Digital Earth》2013,6(6):5-33

Recently, five Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) products have been released: leaf area index (LAI), shortwave broadband albedo, longwave broadband emissivity, incident short radiation, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The first three products cover the years 1982–2012 (LAI) and 1981–2010 (albedo and emissivity) at 1–5 km and 8-day resolutions, and the last two radiation products span the period 2008–2010 at 5 km and 3-h resolutions. These products have been evaluated and validated, and the preliminary results indicate that they are of higher quality and accuracy than the existing products. In particular, the first three products have much longer time series, and are therefore highly suitable for various environmental studies. This paper outlines the algorithms, product characteristics, preliminary validation results, potential applications and some examples of initial analysis of these products.  相似文献   

Political Ecologies of Gentrification     

《Urban geography》2013,34(7):694-725

This article explores the possibilities for a political ecology of gentrification. Gentrification research, while firmly rooted in materialist social science, has not yet broadened its interests to consider ecological aspects of, or the role in gentrification of, discourses, social movements, and state policies of the environment. Understanding the political ecologies of gentrification involves recognizing the ways in which material relations and uneven resource consumption, concepts of nature, and the politics of urban environmental management affect gentrification processes. By synthesizing diverse literatures in urban studies, political ecology, urban environmental governance, consumption studies, and gentrification, this study argues that Vancouver, British Columbia represents a well-developed urban crucible for the new political ecologies of gentrification in North America. New developments in Vancouver increasingly contribute to gentrification using languages of sustainability and green consumption in a process of ecological gentrification.  相似文献   

Alpine Plant Communities: A Statistical Assessment of Their Relation to Microclimatological,Pedological, Geomorphological,and Other Factors     

《自然地理学》2013,34(2):137-154

Floristic composition and environmental factors vary widely among plant communities in the alpine belt. Thus far no study has attempted to measure all relevant site conditions in a larger number of alpine communities. Here we show (1) which environmental factors were highly correlated with the floristic composition of the 14 plant communities investigated in the Swiss Alps and (2) which plant communities have similar environmental affinities. In every plant community investigated, the main factors potentially having an impact on plant life were measured and the floristic composition was defined. We used nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to determine linkage between plant communities and complex environmental gradients. The first axis of the NMDS corresponds to a climate gradient (temperature/wind speed), and the second axis corresponds to a soil gradient (soil suction/pH/Ca content). With the exception of the Nardus grassland and Carex curvula turf, plant communities belonging to the same phytosociological class are exposed to very similar combinations of environmental factors. Our study shows that the variation between phytosociological classes is much larger than within classes. Still, the variation of environmental factors within individual classes leads to a further differentiation of the floristic composition. Thus, our study reinforces the validity of the phytosociological classification.  相似文献   

Assessing Natural and Cultural Determinants of Urban Forest Quality in Nanjing (China)   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

《自然地理学》2013,34(5):455-473

This study assessed underlying natural and cultural determinants of tree health and ways to improve urban forest performance in compact Nanjing city. Two groups of factors were investigated: (1) habitat conditions, including planting site, ground-cover, land cover, and district; and (2) tree traits, including species provenance and seasonality, and tree dimensions. A stratified sampling strategy selected 6351 trees for detailed assessment. The data were analyzed by multivariate logistic regressions. Institutional, park-garden and industrial trees with more open-space sites with vegetated ground-cover performed better than roadside and residential ones. Poor trees in confined residential sites deviated from those in other cities. Park-garden sites did not always nurture meritorious, large and diversified trees. District differentiation in tree performance was related to land cover. Exotic and evergreen species grew better than indigenous and deciduous, offering hints on species-habitat matching. Detailed field and statistical analyses could yield tree-environment information to enhance urban forestry research and management.  相似文献   

Hypercube-Based Visualization Architecture for Web-Based Environmental Geospatial Information Systems     

Ionuţ Iosifescu Enescu  Vassilios Vescoukis  Cristina M. Iosifescu Enescu  Fabian Müller  Nadia H. Panchaud  Lorenz Hurni 《The Cartographic journal》2013,50(2):137-148

The geospatial field significantly influences the development of the environmental domain, including a wide range of geospatial and cartographic information systems, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Multimedia Atlas Information Systems (MAIS) and more recently web-based GIS (Web-GIS). In this context, we introduce web-based environmental geospatial information systems (Web-EGIS) as a special case of Web-GIS, aiming to integrate the functionalities of geospatial information systems with the enormous quantity of specialized, distributed and highly heterogeneous environmental geo-referenced data and services. We define three main characteristics of the Web-EGIS. The first is a generic hypercube-based data organization and visualization. The next characteristic is a standard-based, three-tier service-oriented architecture. The third and last characteristic is the traceability of the architectural and design decisions, for which we introduce the new concept of an ‘Environmental Application Context’, arguing that not only the functional but also the non-functional requirements (NFRs) have an important role in defining the architecture, software components and data services of such systems. In a nutshell, a Web-EGIS is characterized by a coherent user experience through the hypercube-based visualization concept, technically supported by a service-oriented architecture that is structured according to an extensive analysis of NFRs. On this basis, we introduce the Geodata visualization and interactive training environment (GeoVITe) Platform for Interdisciplinary Environmental Research as a reference implementation of a Web-EGIS with its basic design requirements, integrative hypercube-based visualization for heterogeneous data sources, extended web cartography functionalities, and its de facto system architecture. The concept of the hypercube-based visualization is better transferred to the system architecture by understanding the ‘Environmental Application Context’ of this particular Web-EGIS, which also makes it easier to maintain and enhance. The resulting system is a support platform for research activities in the environmental domain.  相似文献