The 2019 Brumadinho tailings dam collapse: Possible cause and impacts of the worst human and environmental disaster in Brazil     

《International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation》2020

On 25th January 2019, the tailings dam of the Brumadinho iron mine operated by Vale S/A failed catastrophically. The death toll stood at 259 and 11 people remained missing as of January 2020. This tragedy occurred three years after Mariana’s tailings dam rupture – the most significant tailing dam disaster in Brazilian history. Thus far, a systematic investigation on the cause and effect of the failure has yet to be conducted. Here, we use satellite-driven soil moisture index, multispectral high-resolution imagery and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) products to assess pre-disaster scenarios and the direct causes of the tailings dam collapse. A decreasing trend in the moisture content at the surface and the full evanescence of pond water through time (2011–2019) suggest that the water was gradually penetrating the fill downwards and caused the seepage erosion, saturating the tailings dam. Large-scale slumping of the dam (extensional failure) upon the rupture indicates that the materials of the fill were already saturated. InSAR measurements reveal a dramatic, up to 30 cm subsidence in the dam (at the rear part) within the past 12 months before the dam collapse, signifying that the sediments had been removed from the fill. Although the information on the resistance level of the tailings dam to infiltrations is not available, these pieces of evidence collectively indicate that the seepage erosion (piping) is the primary cause for the chronic weakening of the structure and, hence, the internal “liquefaction” condition. Upon the collapse, the fully saturated mud tailings flowed down the gentle slope area (3.13 × 10⁶ m²), where 73 % were originally covered by tree, grass or agricultural tracts. The toxic mud eventually reached the Paraopeba River after travelling 10 km, abruptly increasing the suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and the toxic chemical elements in the river, immediately affecting the local livelihoods that depend on its water. The Paraopeba River is a major tributary of the San Francisco River, the second-longest river in Brazil reaching the Atlantic Ocean. We anticipate that the environmental repercussions of this toxic seepage will be felt throughout the entire basin, especially riverine communities located downstream.  相似文献   

基于长时间序列遥感数据的阿伯德尔国家公园 生态环境质量评价     

王法溧  何晓宇  方泽兴  魏显虎  叶虎平  施令飞 《地球信息科学学报》2019,21(9):1479-1479

阿伯德尔国家公园位于号称肯尼亚“水塔”的阿伯德尔山脉上,是肯尼亚重要的旅游景区和珍稀动植物保护区,开展该地生态环境质量评价对肯尼亚水资源保护与可持续发展具有重要的意义。本研究基于1987-2018年的Landsat系列遥感数据,通过计算综合遥感生态指数RSEI,结合趋势线分析法对阿伯德尔国家公园近32年间生态环境质量变化进行客观定量分析。研究结果显示：① 1987-2018年研究区RSEI均值从0.62下降到0.51,生态环境质量退化的区域面积为551.52 km ²,占总面积的71.85%,表明在气候变化和人类活动影响下,1987-2018年研究区的环境状况呈恶化趋势;②环境质量显著恶化的区域主要分布于亚高山植被区和东部低海拔森林覆盖区,亚高山地区植被生态系统结构单一,稳定性差,对气候变化和人类活动更为敏感;而东部区域存在过度开发,非法砍伐森林等现象,且旅游开发强度大,环境恶化与人类活动密切相关。  相似文献   

南海盐致环流对台风降水的响应特征分析     

刘娜  王桂华  巩远发  刘磊 《热带海洋学报》2019,38(3):13-21

本文采用多源卫星遥感数据通过统计分析的方法研究了17年间(2000—2016年)南海夏季(6—9月)台风对该海域降水、淡水通量的贡献及其可能导致的环流异常。主要结论如下: 1) 台风是南海中北部降水的重要影响因子, 可导致日平均降水量增加12mm, 约占南海夏季日平均降水(25mm·d ^-1)的一半, 且西北太平洋台风和南海“土台风”产生的降水分布存在显著的区域和强度差异; 2) 夏季, 南海由淡水通量引起的盐致环流表现为以海南岛东南部海域为中心的弱气旋式, 其流量量级约为-0.15Sv, 约占同期风生环流流量(约为-1.5Sv)的10%; 3) 夏季, 台风带来的降水使得南海中北部的气旋式盐致环流增强, 且西北太平洋台风降水导致的淡水通量变化引起的盐致环流强度要强于南海“土台风”。  相似文献   

基于散射计风场数据的台风强度诊断方法——以海洋二号卫星数据为例   总被引：2，自引：2，他引：0  

杨典  宋清涛  蒋兴伟  刘宇昕  刘圆 《海洋学报》2019,41(1):151-159

本文提出了一种基于散射计风场数据的台风定强方法。该方法定义了台风所在海区的一个圆形区域上的风速平均值来对台风进行定强，并使用海洋二号卫星散射计历史数据对该方法进行了验证。验证结果表明，该台风定强方法可以克服散射计反演台风风速过低的问题。与台风强度监测的历史记录比较的结果显示，在台风强度低于"强台风"这一强度等级时，该方法能够有效估算台风强度。  相似文献   

Inter-comparison of remote sensing platforms for height estimation of mango and avocado tree crowns     

《International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation》2020

To support the adoption of precision agricultural practices in horticultural tree crops, prior research has investigated the relationship between crop vigour (height, canopy density, health) as measured by remote sensing technologies, to fruit quality, yield and pruning requirements. However, few studies have compared the accuracy of different remote sensing technologies for the estimation of tree height. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy, flexibility, aerial coverage and limitations of five techniques to measure the height of two types of horticultural tree crops, mango and avocado trees. Canopy height estimates from Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) were used as a reference dataset against height estimates from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data, WorldView-3 (WV-3) stereo imagery, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based RGB and multi-spectral imagery, and field measurements. Overall, imagery obtained from the UAV platform were found to provide tree height measurement comparable to that from the TLS (R² = 0.89, RMSE = 0.19 m and rRMSE = 5.37 % for mango trees; R² = 0.81, RMSE = 0.42 m and rRMSE = 4.75 % for avocado trees), although coverage area is limited to 1–10 km² due to battery life and line-of-sight flight regulations. The ALS data also achieved reasonable accuracy for both mango and avocado trees (R² = 0.67, RMSE = 0.24 m and rRMSE = 7.39 % for mango trees; R² = 0.63, RMSE = 0.43 m and rRMSE = 5.04 % for avocado trees), providing both optimal point density and flight altitude, and therefore offers an effective platform for large areas (10 km²–100 km²). However, cost and availability of ALS data is a consideration. WV-3 stereo imagery produced the lowest accuracies for both tree crops (R² = 0.50, RMSE = 0.84 m and rRMSE = 32.64 % for mango trees; R² = 0.45, RMSE = 0.74 m and rRMSE = 8.51 % for avocado trees) when compared to other remote sensing platforms, but may still present a viable option due to cost and commercial availability when large area coverage is required. This research provides industries and growers with valuable information on how to select the most appropriate approach and the optimal parameters for each remote sensing platform to assess canopy height for mango and avocado trees.  相似文献   

Estimating fractional cover of crop,crop residue,and soil in cropland using broadband remote sensing data and machine learning     

《International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation》2020

The fractional vegetation cover (FVC), crop residue cover (CRC), and bare soil (BS) are three important parameters in vegetation–soil ecosystems, and their correct and timely estimation can improve crop monitoring and environmental monitoring. The triangular space method uses one CRC index and one vegetation index to create a triangular space in which the three vertices represent pure vegetation, crop residue, and bare soil. Subsequently, the CRC, FVC, and BS of mixed remote sensing pixels can be distinguished by their spatial locations in the triangular space. However, soil moisture and crop-residue moisture (SM-CRM) significantly reduce the performance of broadband remote sensing CRC indices and can thus decrease the accuracy of the remote estimation and mapping of CRC, FVC, and BS. This study evaluated the use of broadband remote sensing, the triangular space method, and the random forest (RF) technique to estimate and map the FVC, CRC, and BS of cropland in which SM-CRM changes dramatically. A spectral dataset was obtained using: (1) from a field-based experiment with a field spectrometer; and (2) from a laboratory-based simulation that included four distinct soil types, three types of crop residue (winter-wheat, maize, and rice), one crop (winter wheat), and varying SM-CRM. We trained an RF model [designated the broadband crop-residue index from random forest (CRRF)] that can magnify spectral features of crop residue and soil by using the broadband remote sensing angle indices as input, and uses a moisture-resistant hyperspectral index as the target. The effects of moisture on crop residue and soil were minimized by using the broadband CRRF. Then, the CRRF-NDVI triangular space method was used to estimate and map CRC, FVC, and BS. Our method was validated by using both laboratory- and field-based experiments and Sentinel-2 broadband remote-sensing images. Our results indicate that the CRRF-NDVI triangular space method can reduce the effect of moisture on the broadband remote-sensing of CRC, and may also help to obtain laboratory and field CRC, FVC, and BS. Thus, the proposed method has great potential for application to croplands in which the SM-CRM content changes dramatically.  相似文献   

基于遥感水边线的潮滩面积提取方法研究          下载免费PDF全文

张媛媛  高志强  刘向阳  许宁 《海洋开发与管理》2018,35(3):56-61

潮滩作为动态变化的后备土地资源,对其研究具有重要意义。文章以江苏省如东县为研究区,使用环境资源卫星(HJ1A/1B)影像为数据源,应用面向对象技术创建分类规则,实现批量半自动提取水边线,随后利用DSAS软件处理水边线集获得潮位点集,基于最外边界法实现高(低)潮位点的提取,进而获得潮滩范围,估算的如东县潮滩面积为55 182hm~2。最后利用误差矩阵进行精度验证(Kappa系数为0.945)。结果表明:该方法对于潮滩面积提取具有适用性,无论在空间域还是时间域都具有一定的推广性。  相似文献   

一种基于GPU和内存映射文件的高分辨率遥感图像快速处理方法     

马秀丹  崔宾阁  钟勇  张永辉  费东 《海洋科学》2018,42(1):139-146

高分辨率遥感图像处理经常面临程序执行时间过长和内存空间不足的问题,虽然并行计算技术可以提高遥感图像的处理速度,但是无法降低算法占用的巨大内存空间。为了解决这一问题,本文提出了一种利用CUDA和内存映射文件的高分辨率遥感图像快速处理方法,并以K-Means算法为例进行了实现。其中,CUDA技术可以有效利用GPU强大的并行计算能力,而内存映射文件技术降低了磁盘I/O速度较慢对算法性能的影响。实验结果表明,本文方法比传统K-Means聚类算法计算速度提高了30倍左右,内存使用量降低了90%以上。  相似文献   

西太平洋暖池1990s中期的年代际扩张对夏季登陆中国台风的影响     

杨宇星  郑建 《海洋与湖沼》2018,49(1):1-8

应用美国联合预警中心(Joint Typhoon Warning Center,JTWC)的台风最佳路径资料、美国国家海洋大气局(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,NOAA)的扩展海表面温度资料以及美国国家环境预报中心(National Centers for Environmental Prediction,NCEP)和美国国家大气科学研究中心(National Center for Atmospheric Research,NCAR)的大气环流场资料,研究了20世纪90年代西太平洋暖池(简称暖池)年代际扩张对西北太平洋台风和登陆中国沿岸台风的影响。研究发现,相比于暖池扩张前期(1965—1992),后期(1993—2013)台风生成在西北太平洋中部区域(10°—20°N,135°—145°E)显著减弱,在10°—20°N,145°—160°E区域和南海北部区域则表现出增多的特点。台风移动路径变异特征呈现为移动进入南海和登陆中国东部沿岸的西行和西北行路径减少,登陆日本的转向型路径增多,同时登陆我国海南岛和东南部沿岸的台风增多。进一步探查这种影响的可能原因发现,与暖池扩张密切相关的太平洋年代际变化引起的纬向环流的变异是西北太平洋中部台风生成减少的主要原因;而南海北部台风生成增多则归因于南海区域局地环流特征的变异。同时,南海北部台风生成增多是登陆我国海南岛和东南沿岸台风增多的主要决定因素。  相似文献   

Identification of modal parameters of a 600-m-high skyscraper from field vibration tests     

Junwei Zhang  Qiusheng Li 《地震工程与结构动力学》2019,48(15):1678-1698

Accurate prediction of the dynamic responses of a high-rise building subjected to dynamic loads such as earthquake and wind excitations requires the information of its structural dynamic properties such as modal parameters including natural frequencies and damping ratios. This paper presents the identification results of the modal parameters based on field vibration tests on a 600-m high skyscraper. A set of tests, including ambient vibration test (AVT) and free vibration test (FVT), were conducted on the skyscraper to identify its modal parameters. Firstly, this paper presents and discusses the modal parameters of the skyscraper assessed by several identification methods applied to the AVT measurements. These methods include the wavelet transform (WT) method, the stochastic subspace identification (SSI) method, and the random decrement technique (RDT). Secondly, an active mass damper (AMD) system with total mass 1000 tons equipped into the skyscraper was used to excite the building for estimation of the modal parameters by FVT. Thirdly, this paper presents observations on the structural dynamic behavior of the skyscraper with the operation of the AMD system during a typhoon event. The field measurement results show that the AMD system functioned efficiently for suppression of the wind-induced vibrations of the skyscraper during the typhoon. This paper aims to further understand the structural dynamic properties of super-tall buildings and provide useful information for structural design and vibration control of future skyscrapers.  相似文献