Local Environmental Investments and Sustainable Development: the evaluation of environmental projects in Scotland supported by the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund

In the UK for the period 1994-99, a broad range of environmental projects were given financial support through the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund under the Objective 1 and Objective 5b programmes. This paper is concerned with the ex-post evaluation of these projects set within a Sustainable Development framework. The aim was to identify project types or characteristics that offered the greatest return on investment. A classification of six broad project types was adopted. The evaluation revealed that there were significant differences between individual projects with respect to the type and scale, and temporal and social distribution of the benefits they delivered. In particular, as well as delivering environmental and economic benefits, many projects made a significant contribution to the development of human and social capital. The paper concludes that it is possible to improve the basis for future project selection in order to maximise the returns on environmental investments in the context of sustainable development.     

利用地理信息系统(GIS)开发多功能空管系统

在航空运输中 ,飞行安全最为重要 ,空管指挥是保证飞行安全的重要手段。地理信息系统 (GIS)能够将空间位置和性质属性结合在一起 ,非常适合空管指挥中直观性、安全性方面的需要。笔者在研究开发多功能空管系统的基础上 ,讨论了对地形、地物、航道、空管区、禁飞区等进行数字化的方法 ,提出了系统开发的主要技术 ,介绍了多功能空管系统的显示、控制、示警、辅助决策、智能纠错等功能 ,指出了空管系统的发展方向     

瓷砖釉面TiO2薄层对甲基橙的光催化降解

采用溶胶-凝胶法，在瓷砖釉面上制备了良好光催化活性TiO2薄层材料，研究结果表明瓷砖釉面TiO2薄层材料对甲基橙的光催化反应遵循一级动力学规律，光催化降解率与液层厚度符合指数关系。在太阳光照射下，釉面瓷砖TiO2薄层材料能对甲基橙有效地降解。     

The Relation Between Sandstorms and Strong Winds in Xinjiang,China

With observational data spanning 1961–1999 from 90 meteorological stations in Xinjiang, China, the spatial and temporal characteristics of sandstorms and strong winds, and the contribution of strong winds to the occurrence of sandstormsare analyzed. Moreover, the dominant wind direction and minimumwind speeds during sandstorm periods are discussed. The research shows that although possessing similar climatic trends, sandstorms and strong winds in Xinjiang have opposite geographical distributions, i.e. places with more sandstorms show fewer strong winds. The contribution of strongwinds to sandstorms in northern Xinjiang is larger than that insouthern Xinjiang. The dominant wind directions clearly indicatethe paths of the weather systems that introduced the sandstorms.The minimum wind speeds in the sandstorms were over 10 ms^-1in northern and eastern Xinjiang and in the Turpan and Yanqi Basins of southern Xinjiang. In Tarim Basin of southern Xinjiang,however, the minimum wind speed was about 6–8 ms^-1, and even 6 ms^-1 at its southern edge.     

Regional Variations in the Implementation of the Local Air Quality Management Process within Great Britain

The UK National Air Quality Strategy has required local authorities to review and assess air quality in their area of jurisdiction and determine locations in their areas where concentrations of specific air quality pollutants are predicted to exceed national air quality objectives in the future. Statutory air quality management areas (AQMAs) are designated where air quality is predicted to be above specified objective concentrations by specific target dates, and statutory air quality action plans will be necessary to improve the local air quality within these areas. Over 124 local authorities in England (including London), Wales and Scotland anticipate declaring AQMAs following the conclusion of the statutory air quality review and assessment process. However, other influences are being exerted on the local air quality management process and AQMA decision-making processes. Such influences include regional and sub- regional collaborative working between local authorities and government agencies and wider political decision-making processes. Some regions of Great Britain (encompassing England (including London), Scotland and Wales) anticipate many AQMA designations, whilst other regions are not anticipating any such designations despite apparently similar air quality circumstances. Evidence for regional or sub-regional variations in the locations of anticipated AQMAs are examined through an evaluation of the outcomes of the scientific review and assessment process undertaken by local authorities declaring AQMAs, and through a local authority survey to identify influences on decision-making processes at a level above that of the local authority. Regional variation is reported in the type of pollutant causing AQMAs to be declared, in the numbers of AQMAs in regions and in the spatial distribution of AQMAs across Great Britain.     

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR IRRIGATION PROJECT PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: This study presents three optimization techniques for on‐farm irrigation scheduling in irrigation project planning: namely the genetic algorithm, simulated annealing and iterative improvement methods. The three techniques are applied to planning a 394.6 ha irrigation project in the town of Delta, Utah, for optimizing economic profits, simulating water demand, and estimating the crop area percentages with specific water supply and planted area constraints. The comparative optimization results for the 394.6 ha irrigated project from the genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, and iterative improvement methods are as follows: (1) the seasonal maximum net benefits are $113,826, $111,494, and $105,444 per season, respectively; and (2) the seasonal water demands are 3.03*10³ m³, 3.0*10³ m³, and 2.92*10³ m³ per season, respectively. This study also determined the most suitable four parameters of the genetic algorithm method for the Delta irrigated project to be: (1) the number of generations equals 800, (2) population size equals 50, (3) probability of crossover equals 0.6, and (4) probability of mutation equals 0.02. Meanwhile, the most suitable three parameters of simulated annealing method for the Delta irrigated project are: (1) initial temperature equals 1,000, (2) number of moves equal 90, and (3) cooling rate equals 0.95.     

秦皇岛市开发区生活污水利用可行性分析

本文通过对秦皇岛经济技术开发区居民小区生活污水进行处理并回用的可行性分析,得出城市生活污水经过适当处理后,完全可以再利用,从而达到节约水资源的目的,实现经济效益与环境效益的统一。     

Demonstration of Line Transect Methodologies to Estimate Urban Gray Squirrel Density

Sciurus carolinensis ) have been labor intensive and costly, I demonstrate the use of line transect surveys to estimate gray squirrel density and determine the costs of conducting surveys to achieve precise estimates. Density estimates are based on four transects that were surveyed five times from 30 June to 9 July 1994. Using the program DISTANCE, I estimated there were 4.7 (95% CI = 1.86–11.92) gray squirrels/ha on the Clemson University campus. Eleven additional surveys would have decreased the percent coefficient of variation from 30% to 20% and would have cost approximately $114. Estimating urban gray squirrel density using line transect surveys is cost effective and can provide unbiased estimates of density, provided that none of the assumptions of distance sampling theory are violated.     

Reflections on the meaning of sustainable development in the water sector

Economic interpretations of sustainable development have concentrated on the need to maintain the aggregate capital stock intact, so as to ensure a constant stream of welfare through time. A sectoral approach to sustainability, in terms of this model, will be justified if substitution possibilities between that sector and the rest of the economy are limited. This assumption is examined in relation to the water sector, and it is found that further assumptions about substitution possibilities need to be made within the sector itself. Suggestions are offered as to how such substitutions might be made to advantage, which is contrasted to recent water management practices in England and Wales. It is argued that assumptions about substitution possibilities are in general overly restrictive, with the result that sustainability objectives fall short of optimum levels that could be achieved.