Spatially distributed modeling of the long-term carbon balance of a boreal landscape

Spatially and temporally distributed information on the sizes of biomass carbon (C) pools (BCPs) and soil C pools (SCPs) is vital for improving our understanding of biosphere-atmosphere C fluxes. Because the sizes of C pools result from the integrated effects of primary production, age-effects, changes in climate, atmospheric CO₂ concentration, N deposition, and disturbances, a modeling scheme that interactively considers these processes is important. We used the InTEC model, driven by various spatio-temporal datasets to simulate the long-term C-balance in a boreal landscape in eastern Canada. Our results suggested that in this boreal landscape, mature coniferous stands had stabilized their productivity and fluctuated as a weak C-sink or C-source depending on the interannual variations in hydrometeorological factors. Disturbed deciduous stands were larger C-sinks (NEP₂₀₀₄ = 150 gC m⁻² yr⁻¹) than undisturbed coniferous stands (e.g. NEP₂₀₀₄ = 8 gC m⁻² yr⁻¹). Wetlands had lower NPP but showed temporally consistent C accumulation patterns. The simulated spatio-temporal patterns of BCPs and SCPs were unique and reflected the integrated effects of climate, plant growth and atmospheric chemistry besides the inherent properties of the C pool themselves. The simulated BCPs and SCPs generally compared well with the biometric estimates (BCPs: r = 0.86, SCPs: r = 0.84). The largest BCP biases were found in recently disturbed stands and the largest SCP biases were seen in locations where moss necro-masses were abundant. Reconstructing C pools and C fluxes in the ecosystem in such a spatio-temporal manner could help reduce the uncertainties in our understanding of terrestrial C-cycle.     

Simulating a natural fire regime on an Atlantic coast barrier island complex in Florida, USA

The HFire fire regime model was used to simulate the natural fire regime (prior to European settlement) on Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Canaveral National Seashore, and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Model simulations were run for 500 years and the model was parameterized using information generated from previously published empirical studies on these properties (e.g., lightning fire ignition frequencies and ignition seasonality). A mosaic pattern of frequent small fires dominated this fire regime with rare but extremely large fires occurring during dry La Niña periods. This simulated fire size distribution very closely matched the previously published fire size distribution for lightning ignitions on these properties. A sensitivity analysis was performed to establish which parameters were most influential and the range of variation surrounding empirically parameterized model output. Dead fuel moisture and wind speed had the largest influence on model outcome. A wide range of variance was observed surrounding the composite simulation with the least being 6% in total burn frequency and the greatest being 49% in total area burned. Because simulation modeling is the best option for fire regime reconstruction in many rapidly growing shrub dominated systems, these results will be of interest to scientists and fire managers for delineating the natural fire regime on these properties, the southeastern United States and other fire adapted shrub systems worldwide.     

具有危险源性质的复杂系统安全行为演化研究

为解决具有危险源性质的复杂社会技术系统安全行为演化动力机制问题,针对系统生命周期长、影响因素多的特点,以日本福岛核泄漏事故为例,创建扩展型功能共振模型,用于描述系统内安全事故影响因素的作用过程。而后将系统相关主体分为实施方、业主方和第三方共3类,运用演化博弈方法深入研究发现,三方所承担的安全执行成本、安全处罚成本及事故成本之间的数量关系变化是系统安全行为演化发展的动力,3类成本失衡引发的监管机制失效是导致此次核泄漏事故的根源,并据此提出保持政府独立性和权威性、限制业主行为、建立项目责任主体终生追溯机制和采用立体处罚方式的建议。     

堆积体边坡渐进性破坏的随机模型

为精确模拟堆积体边坡变形破坏过程,根据堆积体所固有的非连续性、非均质性、各向异性等特点,以及边坡变形破坏的渐进性特征,采用改进的有限单元法(FEM)对堆积体边坡进行模拟。考虑堆积体边坡从连续位移函数到不连续位移函数的突变。破裂发生前,用连续位移函数进行计算;破裂发生后,引入不连续位移函数。研究结果表明,破裂面上不同点的安全系数(FOS)是不同的,但都随着破坏过程而降低。同时,可以得出不同非均匀程度下安全系数的概率分布。     

基于计划行为理论的矿工违章行为研究

矿工违章行为是诱发煤矿重大事故的关键因素之一,以计划行为理论(TPB)为构架,加入过去行为和风险倾向2个变量,提出矿工违章行为影响因素之间的假设关系。通过问卷调查并运用结构方程模型(SEM)探讨违章行为影响因素之间的关系。结果表明:行为态度、主观规范、行为控制认知、风险倾向这4个变量对违章行为均有显著影响,主观规范和过去行为通过行为态度这一中介变量又间接地影响违章行为。实证研究结果表明,TPB模型在解释矿工违章行为问题上的适用性。     

基于结构方程模型的安全生产行政执法绩效分析

为加强对企业安全生产的监督和完善行政执法的评估体系,构建了企业安全生产行政执法绩效评估指标体系。利用调查问卷的方式,获得行政执法部门的绩效评价数据。根据结构方程模型(SEM)相关原理设计绩效评价的测量模型,通过AMOS17.0软件对评价体系进行分析,得到各指标的标准化估计值。利用标准化估计值分析各潜变量对企业安全生产执法的影响权重,各观察变量对企业安全生产执法的影响权重,并进行排序,结果显示:行政执法的合法性>执法人员的素质>执法的合理性>执法的文明性>执法的公开性。     

Random parameter models for accident prediction on two-lane undivided highways in India

Introduction

Generalized linear modeling (GLM), with the assumption of Poisson or negative binomial error structure, has been widely employed in road accident modeling. A number of explanatory variables related to traffic, road geometry, and environment that contribute to accident occurrence have been identified and accident prediction models have been proposed. The accident prediction models reported in literature largely employ the fixed parameter modeling approach, where the magnitude of influence of an explanatory variable is considered to be fixed for any observation in the population. Similar models have been proposed for Indian highways too, which include additional variables representing traffic composition. The mixed traffic on Indian highways comes with a lot of variability within, ranging from difference in vehicle types to variability in driver behavior. This could result in variability in the effect of explanatory variables on accidents across locations. Random parameter models, which can capture some of such variability, are expected to be more appropriate for the Indian situation.

Method

The present study is an attempt to employ random parameter modeling for accident prediction on two-lane undivided rural highways in India. Three years of accident history, from nearly 200 km of highway segments, is used to calibrate and validate the models.

Results

The results of the analysis suggest that the model coefficients for traffic volume, proportion of cars, motorized two-wheelers and trucks in traffic, and driveway density and horizontal and vertical curvatures are randomly distributed across locations.

Conclusions

The paper is concluded with a discussion on modeling results and the limitations of the present study.     

Inverse calculation approaches for source determination in hazardous chemical releases

Source determination is vital in decision making and emergency planning involving hazardous chemical releases. This work was concentrated on inverse calculation approaches for source determination as well as current trends and future perspectives. In this paper, these different approaches are reviewed by dividing them into two categories: probability modeling methods and optimization modeling methods. The traits of these approaches are comparatively analyzed. Then it is shown how these approaches behave when applied to practical cases, and their feasibility, applicability, stability, and limitation in determining the location and strength are presented. It is argued that when experimenting with potential terrorist attacks involving hazardous chemical releases, observation points should be around the main line of the downwind direction when the source is known; while the uniform distribution of observation points is an efficient solution for unknown incidents. Probability modeling methods are demonstrated to be insufficient during emergency responses due to their lacking of enough prior information of unknown parameters, while optimization modeling methods are efficient and become a new trend in source determination. Findings reflect an urgent need for the development of high-accuracy detectors and further research of data transmission techniques in order to ensure the validity of these approaches.     

New approach to calculate the probability of ignition

The probabilistic approach to the evaluation of fire hazard and the effectiveness of fire-precaution measures enables a rational response to the randomness of fire outbreaks. This article employs the statistical analysis methods to elucidate the causes for the ignition of fire on a random sample of industrial buildings in the Republic of Slovenia. The analyses are based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), which is a well established and important statistical analysis technique in the fields of social science, biology, psychology and medicine, but hitherto rarely applied in safety research. The results of the study demonstrate that for the analyzed random sample of industrial buildings the frequency of fire outbreaks statistically significantly depends only on the presence and the probability of exposure to the heat sources (flames, sparks, and hot surfaces), but does not significantly depend on the available quantity of flammable materials within the industrial structure.     

NGO与地方政府合作参与灾后重建的综合集成模式——以汶川大地震为例

对汶川大地震国外非政府组织NGO的援建工作进行了深入调研;针对国外NGO—国内NGO—当地政府综合集成模式进行了分析。统筹优选三者之间的关系,综合外部、集成内部、统筹环境、优选效益最大化模式,构建了国外NGO与当地政府综合集成模式框架。通过互反馈结构说明灾后重建工程是开放的复杂的巨系统网络结构;并提出运行模式与实践框架;运用统筹优选的方法,分析了国外NGO、国内NGO、当地政府的关系及统筹优选图。