Evaluating Alternative Temporal Survey Designs for Monitoring Wetland Area and Detecting Changes Over Time in California

Evaluation of wetland extent and changes in extent is a foundation of many wetland monitoring and assessment programs. Probabilistic sampling and mapping provides a cost‐effective alternative to comprehensive mapping for large geographic areas. One unresolved challenge for probabilistic or design‐based approaches is how best to monitor both status (e.g., extent at a single point in time) and trends (e.g., changes in extent over time) within a single monitoring program. Existing wetland status and trends (S&T) monitoring programs employ fixed sampling locations; however, theoretical evaluation and limited implementation in other landscape monitoring areas suggest that alternative designs could increase statistical efficiency and overall accuracy. In particular, designs that employ both fixed and nonfixed sampling locations (alternately termed permanent and temporary samples), termed sampling with partial replacement (SPR), are considered to efficiently and effectively balance monitoring current status with detection of trends. This study utilized simulated sampling to assess the performance of fixed sampling locations, SPR, and strictly nonfixed designs for monitoring wetland S&T over time. Modeled changes in wetland density over time were used as inputs for sampling simulations. In contrast to previous evaluations of SPR, the results of this study support the use of a fixed sampling design and show that SPR may underestimate both S&T.     

New Methodology for an Expert-Designed Map From International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 3+ Severity Injury

Objective: There has been a longstanding desire for a map to convert International Classification of Diseases (ICD) injury codes to Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) codes to reflect the severity of those diagnoses. The Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM) was tasked by European Union representatives to create a categorical map classifying diagnoses codes as serious injury (Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] 3+), minor/moderate injury (AIS 1/2), or indeterminate. This study's objective was to map injury-related ICD-9-CM (clinical modification) and ICD-10-CM codes to these severity categories.

Methods: Approximately 19,000 ICD codes were mapped, including injuries from the following categories: amputations, blood vessel injury, burns, crushing injury, dislocations/sprains/strains, foreign body, fractures, internal organ, nerve/spinal cord injury, intracranial, laceration, open wounds, and superficial injury/contusion. Two parallel activities were completed to create the maps: (1) An in-person expert panel and (2) an electronic survey. The panel consisted of expert users of AIS and ICD from North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The panel met in person for 5 days, with follow-up virtual meetings to create and revise the maps. Additional qualitative data were documented to resolve potential discrepancies in mapping. The electronic survey was completed by 95 injury coding professionals from North America, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand over 12 weeks. ICD-to-AIS maps were created for: ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM. Both maps indicated whether the corresponding AIS 2005/Update 2008 severity score for each ICD code was AIS 3+, 1/2, or indeterminable. Though some ICD codes could be mapped to multiple AIS codes, the maximum severity of all potentially mapped injuries determined the final severity categorization.

Results: The in-person panel consisted of 13 experts, with 11 Certified AIS specialists (CAISS) with a median of 8 years and an average of 15 years of coding experience. Consensus was reached for AIS severity categorization for all injury-related ICD codes. There were 95 survey respondents, with a median of 8 years of injury coding experience. Approximately 15 survey responses were collected per ICD code. Results from the 2 activities were compared, and any discrepancies were resolved using additional qualitative and quantitative data from the in-person panel and survey results, respectively.

Conclusions: Robust maps of ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM injury codes to AIS severity categories (3+ versus <3) were successfully created from an in-person panel discussion and electronic survey. These maps provide a link between the common ICD diagnostic lexicons and the AIS severity coding system and are of value to injury researchers, public health scientists, and epidemiologists using large databases without available AIS coding.     

长江-洪泽湖段突发跨界污染风险交流信息图谱研究

在分析我国当前环境风险交流存在问题基础上,将信息图谱引入到流域突发跨界环境污染风险交流中.参考公共卫生领域信息图谱制定步骤,结合突发跨界环境污染风险管理特点与要求,构建流域突发跨界环境污染利益相关方构架体系.编制流域突发跨界环境污染事件利益相关方问题清单框架,对流域突发跨界环境污染利益相关方问题计算权重,按权重大小进行排序分类.以南水北调东线工程长江-洪泽湖段为研究区域,绘制风险交流信息图谱,利用Arc GIS制作信息图谱单元图以及单元表实现对海量信息资料的挖掘、提炼与表达,不仅满足了利益相关方对于信息的迫切需求,提高了环境风险交流效率,保证了突发跨界环境污染应急处理处置措施的有力实施.同时也为利益相关方进行有效的风险沟通提供了预见性、准确的关键信息与支持信息,为流域突发跨界环境污染风险决策提供辅助信息工具.     

Building the role of local government authorities towards the achievement of the human right to water in rural Tanzania

In recent decades, many changes have occurred in the approach to financing and operating water services in developing countries. The demand‐responsive approach is now adopted in many countries in a context of donor‐supported decentralization processes, which gives more responsibility to end users. However, the government's responsibility at different levels is enforced by the international recognition of the human right to water. This paper examines specific actions that build the role of local government authorities in this scenario. A collaboration between an international NGO and a rural district in Tanzania from 2006 to 2009 is used as an action research case study that is representative of local capacity‐building needs in decentralized contexts and rural areas. Three main challenges were detected: i) lack of reliable information; ii) poor allocation of resources in terms of equity; and iii) lack of long‐term community management support from the district. Two mechanisms were established: i) water point mapping as a tool for information and planning; and ii) a District Water and Sanitation Unit Support (DWUS) for community management. The results show how the framework provided by the goal of human right to water helps to define useful strategies for equity‐oriented planning and post‐project support at the local level.     

The growing role of web‐based geospatial technology in disaster response and support

This paper examines changes in disaster response and relief efforts and recent web‐based geospatial technological developments through an evaluation of the experiences of the Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, of the Sichuan (2008) and Haiti (2010) earthquake responses. This paper outlines how conventional GIS (geographic information systems) disaster responses by governmental agencies and relief response organisations and the means for geospatial data‐sharing have been transformed into a more dynamic, more transparent, and decentralised form with a wide participation. It begins by reviewing briefly at historical changes in the employment of geospatial technologies in major devastating disasters, including the Sichuan and Haiti earthquakes (case studies for our geospatial portal project). It goes on to assess changes in the available dataset type and in geospatial disaster responders, as well as the impact of geospatial technological changes on disaster relief effort. Finally, the paper discusses lessons learned from recent responses and offers some thoughts for future development.     

Mapping Biological Resources in the Coastal Zone: An Evaluation of Methods in a Pioneering Study from Norway

For many years, the planning and management of terrestrial areas has been supported by a detailed knowledge of the distribution of habitats and their associated species. However, the detailed mapping of biological resources in extent coastal areas, such as the Norwegian coastal zone, is unrealistic due to its enormous coastline. Here, we present a useful and feasible approach and a set of simple, cost-effective methods which are suitable for providing a broad-scale overview of marine habitats and fish resources. This approach was developed in conjunction with a pioneer study conducted along the southern coast of the Skagerrak, where we combined knowledge gathered from local fishermen with scientific knowledge of important species and nature types to establish a coastal sea mapping program. GIS modeling tools were used in both the mapping program and to integrate local and scientific knowledge into digital maps made available to local area management. This multi-faceted approach, which combines local knowledge and scientific methods, provides valuable information with respect to marine biodiversity, and has been used extensively by local environmental management.     

Poaching Risks in Community‐Based Natural Resource Management

Poaching can disrupt wildlife‐management efforts in community‐based natural resource management systems. Monitoring, estimating, and acquiring data on poaching is difficult. We used local‐stakeholder knowledge and poaching records to rank and map the risk of poaching incidents in 2 areas where natural resources are managed by community members in Caprivi, Namibia. We mapped local stakeholder perceptions of the risk of poaching, risk of wildlife damage to livelihoods, and wildlife distribution and compared these maps with spatially explicit records of poaching events. Recorded poaching events and stakeholder perceptions of where poaching occurred were not spatially correlated. However, the locations of documented poaching events were spatially correlated with areas that stakeholders perceived wildlife as a threat to their livelihoods. This result suggests poaching occurred in response to wildlife damage occurred. Local stakeholders thought that wildlife populations were at high risk of being poached and that poaching occurred where there was abundant wildlife. These findings suggest stakeholders were concerned about wildlife resources in their community and indicate a need for integrated and continued monitoring of poaching activities and further interventions at the wildlife‐agricultural interface. Involving stakeholders in the assessment of poaching risks promotes their participation in local conservation efforts, a central tenet of community‐based management. We considered stakeholders poaching informants, rather than suspects, and our technique was spatially explicit. Different strategies to reduce poaching are likely needed in different areas. For example, interventions that reduce human‐wildlife conflict may be required in residential areas, and increased and targeted patrolling may be required in more remote areas. Stakeholder‐generated maps of human‐wildlife interactions may be a valuable enforcement and intervention support tool. Riesgos de Cacería Furtiva en el Manejo de Recursos Naturales Basado en Comunidades     

风险地图—环境风险管理的有效新工具

中国不断发生的重大环境突发事故使得环境风险管理提上了政府的议事日程,建立有效和实用的环境风险管理体系势在必行。近年来,风险地图已成为环境风险管理中迅速崛起的新领域。风险地图不但可以探讨污染物效应的空间特征,而且可作为风险可视化的重要工具。通过调研和分析大量文献,在描述了环境风险地图的功能、重要的风险地图类型基础上,以一个城市为例展示了风险图制作流程,最后,对环境风险地图在中国的应用和发展提出了建议。     

An Automated Technique for Delineating and Characterizing Valley-Bottom Settings

Accurate delineation and characterization of valley-bottom settings is crucial to the assessment of the biological and geomorphological components of riverine systems; yet, to date, most valley-bottom mapping endeavors have been done manually. To improve this situation, we developed automated techniques in a Geographic Information System (GIS) for delineating and characterizing valley-bottom settings in river basins ranging in size from approximately 1,000–10,000 km². All procedures were developed with ARC/INFO GIS software and fully automated in Arc Macro Language (AML). The GRID module is required for valley-bottom delineation and slope calculations; whereas characterization (i.e., measuring the width of the valley-bottom zone) requires Coordinate Geometry (COGO) in the ARCEDIT module. The process requires three inputs: a polygon coverage of the analysis area; an arc coverage of its hydrography, and a grid representing its digital elevation. The AML is designed to operate within a wide range of computer memory/disk space options, and it allows users to customize several procedures to match the scale and complexity of a given analysis area with available computer hardware.     

A mapping of global warming research based on IPCC AR4

It is easy to get lost in the vast amount of knowledge that is currently produced. In this study, to get a comprehensive picture of current scientific knowledge about global warming issues, we developed a mapping framework for global warming research based on the relationships between nature and human society. The mapping includes seven phases: (1) socioeconomic activity and greenhouse gas emissions, (2) carbon cycle and carbon concentration, (3) climate change and global warming, (4) impacts on ecosystems and human society, (5) adaptation, (6) mitigation, and (7) social systems. We applied the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report to the mapping. The quantity of research results and their reliability were analyzed on the basis of expert judgment to better understand the extent to which current scientific knowledge provides answers to society’s major concerns. The quantity and reliability of answers have increased in phases 2 and 3 relative to research in the Third Assessment Report. Although a large quantity of results have been produced in phases 4 and 6, they are not always sufficient. More studies are required in phases 1, 5, and 7, and the reliability of existing knowledge needs to be improved in these phases. Mapping global warming issues enabled us to visually comprehend the numerous and varied parts of global warming research as a whole and to discern gaps in knowledge and other research shortfalls. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.