NOAA satellite data: a useful tool for macro inventory

This article discusses some of the demonstrated and potential uses of data from satellites with large fields of view and high frequency of coverage, such as NOAA AVHRR data and Nimbus-7 CZCS data. The use of such data is discussed for three types of applications: (a) stratification, (b) change detection, and (c) area estimation. It is concluded that such data have considerable promise as an aid to a variety of large-area inventory and monitoring tasks.     

公众聚集场所人群疏散基础数据的分析

针对直接利用国外的人群疏散基础数据进行我国公共聚集场所人群疏散的模拟将会产生不准确的预测结果、导致这些场所人员安全得不到保证的问题,通过对大量国内外相关数据的搜集、整理和分析,确定了6种基础数据是建立疏散模型和开发疏散模拟软件的必备基础,包括:人员类型和人群的组成、人员水平投影面积和形状、人员密度、人员行走速度、边界效应宽度和预动作时间;总结出获取基础数据的4种主要方法,即直接观测和录像观测、人群疏散演习、个体试验和问卷调查;并确定了可在现有资料中直接获得并使用的数据以及仍需要进一步研究确定的数据。研究结论为公共聚集场所人群疏散问题的研究提供了参考和依据。     

Estimating Watershed Level Nonagricultural Pesticide Use From Golf Courses Using Geospatial Methods1

Abstract: Limited information exists on pesticide use for nonagricultural purposes, making it difficult to estimate pesticide loadings from nonagricultural sources to surface water and to conduct environmental risk assessments. A method was developed to estimate the amount of pesticide use on recreational turf grasses, specifically golf course turf grasses, for watersheds located throughout the conterminous United States (U.S.). The approach estimates pesticide use: (1) based on the area of recreational turf grasses (used as a surrogate for turf associated with golf courses) within the watershed, which was derived from maps of land cover, and (2) from data on the location and average treatable area of golf courses. The area of golf course turf grasses determined from these two methods was used to calculate the percentage of each watershed planted in golf course turf grass (percent crop area, or PCA). Turf‐grass PCAs derived from the two methods were used with recommended application rates provided on pesticide labels to estimate total pesticide use on recreational turf within 1,606 watersheds associated with surface‐water sources of drinking water. These pesticide use estimates made from label rates and PCAs were compared to use estimates from industry sales data on the amount of each pesticide sold for use within the watershed. The PCAs derived from the land‐cover data had an average value of 0.4% of a watershed with minimum of 0.01% and a maximum of 9.8%, whereas the PCA values that are based on the number of golf courses in a watershed had an average of 0.3% of a watershed with a minimum of <0.01% and a maximum of 14.2%. Both the land‐cover method and the number of golf courses method produced similar PCA distributions, suggesting that either technique may be used to provide a PCA estimate for recreational turf. The average and maximum PCAs generally correlated to watershed size, with the highest PCAs estimated for small watersheds. Using watershed specific PCAs, combined with label rates, resulted in greater than two orders of magnitude over‐estimation of the pesticide use compared to estimates from sales data.     

Estimated Injury Risk for Specific Injuries and Body Regions in Frontal Motor Vehicle Crashes

Objective: Injury risk curves estimate motor vehicle crash (MVC) occupant injury risk from vehicle, crash, and/or occupant factors. Many vehicles are equipped with event data recorders (EDRs) that collect data including the crash speed and restraint status during a MVC. This study's goal was to use regulation-required data elements for EDRs to compute occupant injury risk for (1) specific injuries and (2) specific body regions in frontal MVCs from weighted NASS-CDS data.

Methods: Logistic regression analysis of NASS-CDS single-impact frontal MVCs involving front seat occupants with frontal airbag deployment was used to produce 23 risk curves for specific injuries and 17 risk curves for Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2+ to 5+ body region injuries. Risk curves were produced for the following body regions: head and thorax (AIS 2+, 3+, 4+, 5+), face (AIS 2+), abdomen, spine, upper extremity, and lower extremity (AIS 2+, 3+). Injury risk with 95% confidence intervals was estimated for 15–105 km/h longitudinal delta-Vs and belt status was adjusted for as a covariate.

Results: Overall, belted occupants had lower estimated risks compared to unbelted occupants and the risk of injury increased as longitudinal delta-V increased. Belt status was a significant predictor for 13 specific injuries and all body region injuries with the exception of AIS 2+ and 3+ spine injuries. Specific injuries and body region injuries that occurred more frequently in NASS-CDS also tended to carry higher risks when evaluated at a 56 km/h longitudinal delta-V. In the belted population, injury risks that ranked in the top 33% included 4 upper extremity fractures (ulna, radius, clavicle, carpus/metacarpus), 2 lower extremity fractures (fibula, metatarsal/tarsal), and a knee sprain (2.4–4.6% risk). Unbelted injury risks ranked in the top 33% included 4 lower extremity fractures (femur, fibula, metatarsal/tarsal, patella), 2 head injuries with less than one hour or unspecified prior unconsciousness, and a lung contusion (4.6–9.9% risk). The 6 body region curves with the highest risks were for AIS 2+ lower extremity, upper extremity, thorax, and head injury and AIS 3+ lower extremity and thorax injury (15.9–43.8% risk).

Conclusions: These injury risk curves can be implemented into advanced automatic crash notification (AACN) algorithms that utilize vehicle EDR measurements to predict occupant injury immediately following a MVC. Through integration with AACN, these injury risk curves can provide emergency medical services (EMS) and other patient care providers with information on suspected occupant injuries to improve injury detection and patient triage.     

Emerging market patterns in the recycled paper trade

The international recovered paper trade serves two important functions: increasing raw material availability in the paper and board industry and providing economic incentives to recycle. The purpose of this paper is to shed further light on emerging patterns in this trade by empirically analysing the changes in the bilateral trade flows of recycled paper between 1992 and 2008. According to our estimations, two important changes occurred in the 1990s and 2000s. First, the growing importance of developing economies in global recycled paper trade plays a significant role in import demand as a determinant of trade flows. Second, the changes in global trade patterns necessitate investigating the transportation cost measures used in applied research.     

基于ERA-Interim资料分析青藏高原“湿池”变化特征

论文利用ERA-Interim(0.5°×0.5°,简称ERA)、NCEP/NCAR2(2.5°×2.5°,简称NCEP2)两种不同分辨率的再分析资料和探空观测资料,首先分析了夏季(7月)和冬季(1月)青藏高原(以下简称高原)上大气水汽含量大值区(简称"湿池")的区域分布特征,然后基于ERA资料分析了1979—2012年间高原"湿池"的一些变化特征,发现了一些新的事实。主要结果包括:在对流层中上层,高原上无论夏、冬季都有大气水汽含量的高值中心——高原"湿池"存在。夏季7月高原"湿池"强度最强,ERA资料除了在高原南部有自西到东的连续高湿中心带外,在高原西北部还有一个高湿中心;NCEP2资料仅在高原东南部和西南部有两个高湿中心。冬季1月,两种资料均只在高原东南部有高湿中心。总体上,ERA资料与探空观测资料的高湿中心区更为接近。7月,高原南部高湿中心在1990年代中期(1994—1996年)之后持续偏强,西北部中心强度有弱—强—弱—强交替变化特征;1月,高湿中心在1980年代末期开始持续偏强。高原南部高湿中心带在7月几乎是一个连续的区域,1996年以后这一特征更为明显,在1月则是分为东西两段的高湿中心带。     

阜新市空气监测点位优化的聚类分析

基于聚类分析法利用数据之间距离系数进行分类的原理,建立空气监测点位聚类分析优化模型,结合阜新市地形、气象及历史监测数据,进行阜新市空气监测点位布设优化应用,优化结果表明:距离相似水平取d=0.3时,环保局(B点)与人民公园(C点)监测点空气污染物浓度分布相似性最高,合并为1点,增设气象台监测点位作为清洁背景点,4个点位构成阜新市空气监测新网络;利用CALPUFF模型模拟对优化后监测点位进行相关性检验。检验结果表明:监测点位优化后SO2浓度与实测值相关系数为0.984,PM10相关系数为0.968,NO2相关系数为0.973。CALPUFF模型模拟值与实际监测值之间相关系数均大于0.75,表明优化后的阜新市空气监测点位具有客观环境代表性;监测点位优化与检验方法具有一定应用价值。     

大气颗粒物PM_(2.5)监测技术研究进展及展望

大气颗粒物已经成为中国的首要大气污染物,其中PM2.5污染越来越受到政府和相关部门关注,本文综述了国内外对大气颗粒物PM2.5的几种监测方法的研究进展,重点比较了各种监测方法的优缺点,并通过实例对比说明了β-射线法的可靠性及用膜片反演方法提高精确度的可行性,同时就加强国内PM2.5监测技术研究提出相关建议及展望。     

Dynamic-risk-informed safety barrier management: An application to cost-effective barrier optimization based on data from multiple sources

An integrated approach for performance assessment and management of safety barriers in a systemic manner is needed concerning the prevention and mitigation of major accidents in chemical process industries. Particularly, the effects of safety barriers on system risk reduction should be assessed in a dynamic manner to support the decision-making on safety barrier establishments and improvements. A simulation approach, named Simulink-based Safety Barrier Modeling (SSBM), is proposed in this paper to conduct dynamic risk assessment of chemical facilities with the consideration of the degradation of safety barriers. The main functional features of the SSBM include i) the basic model structures of SSBM can be determined based on bow-tie diagrams, ii) multiple data (periodic proof test data, continuous condition-monitoring data, and accident precursor data) may be combined to update barrier failure probabilities and initiating event probabilities, iii) SSBM is able to handle uncertainty propagation in probabilistic risk assessment by using Monte Carlo simulations, and iv) cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and optimization algorithms are integrated to support the decision-making on safety barrier establishments and improvements. An illustrative case study is demonstrated to show the procedures of applying the SSBM on dynamic risk-informed safety barrier management and validate the feasibility of implementing the SSBM for cost-effective safety barrier optimization.     

基于数据挖掘的施工危险识别注意投入与分配研究*

为分析施工情境中危险识别注意资源动态投入分配规律,基于动态时间规整算法,挖掘危险识别注视轨迹序列,以表征注意资源投入分配变化,并采用k-means聚类、注视熵、Needleman-Wunsch全局序列对齐算法和统计等方法,深入挖掘注意资源在危险目标中投入和分配等时空变化规律。研究结果表明:当事人危险识别各阶段注意资源呈现从显著目标到高危目标的投入变化趋势,危险识别注意资源分配随情境复杂因素呈现零散、均匀的空间特征,分配无序程度提高。