Off-grid: community energy and the pursuit of self-sufficiency in British Columbia's remote and First Nations communities

Remote or off-grid communities in Canada primarily rely on diesel generators for the provision of their electricity. Often surrounded by potential renewable resources, they are characterised as the low-hanging fruit of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. While much is said about the promises of community energy projects, as well as technologies and policy mechanisms for addressing the needs of these communities, little attention has been paid to what communities, themselves, might want for their energy projects and what the implications of those desires might be for both technology development and community energy policies. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the on-going energy pursuits of a number of remote First Nations communities in British Columbia. It identifies a desire for community self-sufficiency as a primary motivation for engaging with energy projects on the part of the communities and discusses the various meanings and implications of self-sufficiency in the context of community energy projects. These meanings and implications primarily include the two dimensions of material self-sufficiency and political self-determination, the latter of which suggests a view of community energy projects as processes of decolonisation among First Nation communities in British Columbia. It then suggests that the pursuit of this goal is somewhat incongruent with the approach that government and industry have taken in addressing community energy, especially the way in which remote communities are viewed as the low-hanging fruit of various sustainability projects.     

Mowers versus growers: Riparian buffer management in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains,USA

Despite long-standing knowledge of the benefits of riparian buffers for mitigating nonpoint source pollution, many streams are unprotected by buffers. Even landowners who understand ecological values of buffers mow riparian vegetation to the streambank. Do trends in rural riparian conditions reflect the development of riparian forest science? What motivates residential riparian management actions? Using high-resolution orthoimagery, we quantified riparian conditions and trends between 1998 and 2015 in the rural upper Little Tennessee River basin in Macon County, North Carolina and explored how landowners view riparian zone management and riparian restoration programs. Buffer composition in 2015 was as follows: no buffer (32.5%), narrow (19.3%), forested (26.7%), shrub (7.2%), and intermediate (7.0%). Relative to 1998, the greatest decrease occurred in the no buffer class (−17.7%, 46 km) and the largest increases occurred in the shrub (+72.5%, 20 km) and narrow (12.6%, 14 km) classes. Forested buffer marginally increased. Semi-structured interview data suggest that landowners prioritize recreational and scenic aspects of riparian buffers over ecological functions such as filtration and bank stabilization. Riparian restoration programs might be made more enticing to non-adopters if outreach language appealed to landowner priorities, design elements demonstrated intentional management, and program managers highlighted areas where ecological goals and landowner values align.     

中国城市热岛时空特征及其影响因子的分析

全球气候变暖背景下,城市热岛效应会加重城市地区的热胁迫,对人类健康和生存发展提出严峻挑战.近年来我国雾-霾污染情况严重,但雾-霾对城市热岛影响的认识仍较匮乏.本研究基于MODIS遥感卫星地表温度数据,明确了我国2003~2013年白天、夜间以及四季城市热岛的空间变化,并从生物物理学和生物化学角度定量分析其控制机制.结果表明,影响我国白天城市热岛强度的主要因素为人口、农田灌溉和植被活动.纬度、降水量、反照率以及气溶胶浓度是夜间城市热岛强度的主控因子.从对比城乡粗糙度、反照率等生物物理学属性的角度,揭示了乡村背景环境对城市热岛分析的重要影响.结果表明,雾-霾治理可以缓解我国夜间城市热岛现象和热胁迫,有利于缓解区域甚至全球气候变化.     

基于GIS和RS的市域尺度下的植被NPP研究

在GIS和RS支持下,利用土地利用类型数据、地面气象数据和遥感影像数据,以青岛市为例,研究了市域尺度下的植被NPP空间分布特征.结果表明:青岛市NPP值为0~288 g·m-2·a-2,林地NPP值较高,耕地次之,建成区等区域最小.在小尺度区域内,NPP分布受土地利用类型影响较大,受气象因素影响较小.NPP模块在数据获取上比较容易,仅利用土地利用类型数据、地面气象数据和遥感数据就可以对陆地植被NPP进行计算,实际应用可操作性强.30 m分辨率植被NPP计算值更适宜于在市级小尺度区域内应用.     

遥感技术在环境监测中的应用研究

随着经济的发展出现了很多环境问题。遥感技术能够准确、快速的获取相关的环境信息,这已经成为现阶段我国环境监测的主要手段。本文主要对遥感技术在环境监测各个领域中的运用进行研究。     

辽宁矿山固体废弃物对环境影响遥感调查分析

辽宁矿种繁多,矿山固体废弃物产出量巨大。为了加强生态环境建设,在矿山固体废弃物对生态环境影响遥感调查的基础上,论述了矿山固体废弃物调查对象与内容、技术路线与工作方法,并分析了辽宁矿山固体废弃物产出量及矿山固体废弃物对环境的影响。     

基于遥感监测的黄海绿潮漂移路径及分布面积特征分析

本文利用2008～2012年的多源卫星遥感序列图像,动态监测各年绿潮发生的漂移路径、影响海域面积,得到各年绿潮漂移趋势、分布面积和最大分布面积出现时间。根据监测结果,划分出影响绿潮漂移路径的关键区域,并分析了2008、2009和2010年关键区域内各年绿潮漂移方向和面积变化情况。     

鄂尔多斯盆地植被覆盖动态监测与评价

基于像元分解模型,利用LANDSATNDVI数据,估算了鄂尔多斯盆地2002年7月和2010年7月植被覆盖度,以量化和可视化的形式分析了鄂尔多斯盆地2002年一2010年间植被覆盖度的时空变化特征,探寻了引起植被覆盖度变化的驱动因素。结果表明：2002年一2010年鄂尔多斯盆地植被覆盖度变化明显,平均覆盖度增加了7．35％,改善和明显改善面积增加了35．67％,退化和明显退化面积增加了1．49％。研究区植被覆盖度增加的主要原因是降雨量的增加和一系列生态建设工程的实施;减少的主要原因是恶劣的生态环境和过度的能源开发活动。     

基于RS和GIS的都江堰市热岛效应研究

随着人类社会的发展,城市的规模也不断扩张。持续加速的城市化对城市气候及环境产生了深远的影响。本次研究采用遥感与GIS相结合的方法来分析都江堰市城市热环境的时空变化。根据1994和2007年两个时相的LandSatTM影像提取了研究区的土地覆盖、亮温信息和植被覆盖信息。通过统计分析和空间分析对这13年来都江堰的热岛时空变化及其与土地覆盖和植被覆盖变化的关系进行了深入研究。分析结果表明,城市热岛与城区的空间分布之间存在明显的一致性,与植被覆盖有较强的负相关关系。     

海洋颗粒有机碳的遥感探测与应用分析

海洋颗粒有机碳(POC)监测对研究海洋碳循环和全球变化有重要意义。为寻求POC探测的有效方法,先讨论了POC的定义组成,介绍了POC的常规测定方法及国内外POC相关研究进展,接着介绍了国外POC遥感探测方法原理。通过对常规测定方法和遥感探测方法优缺点对比分析,我们认为遥感探测海洋POC方法将成为海洋环境监测的重要手段。采用2009年8月的MODIS数据,借鉴蓝绿光比值法建立的POC遥感反演模型,进行了渤海POC的遥感探测,从大尺度揭示了整个渤海POC的分布态势,最高值达370 mg/m3。结果表明:POC遥感探测方法可有效、迅捷、直观反映海区POC变化,因此研究建立具有区域特点的POC生物光学遥感模型用于POC监测,将是海洋环境监测和海洋碳循环研究的重要方向之一。