Monitoring Forest Carbon Sequestration with Remote Sensing and Carbon Cycle Modeling

Sources and sinks of carbon associated with forests depend strongly on the management regime and spatial patterns in potential productivity. Satellite remote sensing can provide spatially explicit information on land cover, stand-age class, and harvesting. Carbon-cycle process models coupled to regional climate databases can provide information on potential rates of production and related rates of decomposition. The integration of remote sensing and modeling thus produces spatially explicit information on carbon storage and flux. This integrated approach was employed to compare carbon flux for the period 1992–1997 over two 165-km² areas in western Oregon. The Coast Range study area was predominately private land managed for timber production, whereas the West Cascades study area was predominantly public land that was less productive but experienced little harvesting in the 1990s. In the Coast Range area, 17% of the land base was harvested between 1991 and 2000. Much of the area was in relatively young, productive-age classes that simulations indicate are a carbon sink. Mean annual harvest removals from the Coast Range were greater than mean annual net ecosystem production. On the West Cascades study area, a relatively small proportion (< 1%) of the land was harvested and the area as a whole was accumulating carbon. The spatially and temporally explicit nature of this approach permits identification of mechanisms underlying land base carbon flux. Published online     

A GIS Model of Subsurface Water Potential for Aquatic Resource Inventory,Assessment, and Environmental Management

Biological, chemical, and physical attributes of aquatic ecosystems are often strongly influenced by groundwater sources. Nonetheless, widespread access to predictions of subsurface contributions to rivers, lakes, and wetlands at a scale useful to environmental managers is generally lacking. In this paper, we describe a neighborhood analysis approach for estimating topographic constraints on spatial patterns of recharge and discharge and discuss how this index has proven useful in research, management, and conservation contexts. The Michigan Rivers Inventory subsurface flux model (MRI-DARCY) used digital elevation and hydraulic conductivity inferred from mapped surficial geology to estimate spatial patterns of hydraulic potential. Model predictions were calculated in units of specific discharge (meters per day) for a 30-m²-cell raster map and interpreted as an index of potential subsurface water flux (shallow groundwater and event through-flow). The model was evaluated by comparison with measurements of groundwater-related attributes at watershed, stream segment, and local spatial scales throughout Lower Michigan (USA). Map-based predictions using MRI-DARCY accounted for 85% of the observed variation in base flow from 128 USGS gauges, 69% of the observed variation in discharge accrual from 48 river segments, and 29% of the residual variation in local groundwater flux from 33 locations as measured by hyporheic temperature profiles after factoring out the effects of climate. Although it does not incorporate any information about the actual water table surface, by quantifying spatial variation of key constraints on groundwater-related attributes, the model provides strata for more intensive study, as well as a useful spatial tool for regional and local conservation planning, fisheries management, wetland characterization, and stream assessment.     

Using the ECLPSS software environment to build a spatially explicit component-based model of ozone effects on forest ecosystems

We have developed a modeling framework to support grid-based simulation of ecosystems at multiple spatial scales, the Ecological Component Library for Parallel Spatial Simulation (ECLPSS). ECLPSS helps ecologists to build robust spatially explicit simulations of ecological processes by providing a growing library of reusable interchangeable components and automating many modeling tasks. To build a model, a user selects components from the library, and then writes new components as needed. Some of these components represent specific ecological processes, such as how environmental factors influence the growth of individual trees. Other components provide simulation support such as reading and writing files in various formats to allow inter-operability with other software. The framework manages components and variables, the order of operations, and spatial interactions. The framework provides only simulation support; it does not include ecological functions or assumptions. This separation allows biologists to build models without becoming computer scientists, while computer scientists can improve the framework without becoming ecologists. The framework is designed to operate on multiple platforms and be used across networks via a World Wide Web-based user interface. ECLPSS is designed for use with both single processor computers for small models, and multiple processors in order to simulate large regions with complex interactions among many individuals or ecological compartments. To test Version 1.0 of ECLPSS, we created a model to evaluate the effect of tropospheric ozone on forest ecosystem dynamics. This model is a reduced-form version of two existing models: , which represents an individual tree, and , which represents forest stand growth and succession. This model demonstrates key features of ECLPSS, such as the ability to examine the effects of cell size and model structure on model predictions.     

Mineralogical compositions of aquifer matrix as necessary initial conditions in reactive contaminant transport models

Mineralogical compositions and their spatial distributions are important initial conditions for reactive transport modeling. However, popular Kd-based "reactive" transport models only require contaminant concentrations in the pore fluids as initial conditions, and minerals implicitly represent infinite sources and sinks in these models. That situation results in a general neglect of mineralogical characterization in site investigations. This study uses a coupled multi-component reactive mass transport model to predict the natural attenuation of a ground water plume at a uranium mill tailings site in western USA. Numerous ground water geochemistry data are available at this site, but mineralogical data are sketchy. Even given the well-defined pore fluid chemistry, variations of secondary mineral species and mineral abundances in the aquifer resulted in significantly different modeling outcomes. Results show that the amount of calcite in the aquifer determines the distances of plume migration. The possible presence of jurbanite, an aluminum sulfate phase, can store acidity temporarily but cause more severe contamination on a later date. The surfaces of iron oxyhydroxides can store significant amounts of sulfate and protons and serve as a second source for prolonged contamination. These simulations under field conditions illustrate that mineralogical compositions are an essential requirement for accurate prediction of contaminant fate and transport.     

An application of 3D gasdynamic modeling for the prediction of overpressures in vented enclosures

A three-dimensional gasdynamic model with constant burning rate is applied for the prediction of the maximum pressure rise from gaseous combustion in vented enclosures. A series of calculations for an enclosure with aspect ratio close to unity are presented. Both cases with and without obstacles in the enclosure are considered. Results of calculations are compared with a simple 0D solution for spherical vessels. It is shown that, in cases without obstacles, the 0D solution for the maximum reduced overpressures is close to the predictions of the detailed modeling. In cases with obstacles, the detailed simulation gives significantly higher overpressures than those from the 0D model. However, in all the cases the reduced pressures are correlated well with the maximum flame surface area.     

ESTIMATED STREAM FLOW REQUIREMENTS FOR FISHES OF THE WASHITA RIVER BELOW FOSS RESERVOIR,WESTERN OKLAHOMA1

Velocity and depth preference curves for juvenile and adult red shiners (Notropis lutrensis) were developed for each season of the year. The incremental methodology, developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for quantifying the amount of physical habitat available for fish, was applied as a basis for recommending minimum stream flows for life stages of red shiners and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in the Washita River below Foss Reservoir. The minimum stream flow required to support populations of red shiners and channel catfish was estimated to be 0.60 m³/s during all months except April and May, during which flushing flows of 3.0 m³/s were recommended. Under drought conditions a contingency flow of 0.18 m³/s was recommended for August through March, a flushing flow of 2.4 m³/s for April and May, and a flow of 0.30 m³/s for channel catfish spawning in June and July. Standing crop of adult red shiners per weighted usable area averaged 2.73 g/m² (27 kg/ha) for two sites on the Washita River. A positive relation between standing crop and weighted usable area was suggested. Use of the incremental methodology on the study reach below Foss Reservoir required 96 person-hours of labor, excluding training, travel, and developing preference curves, and a total cost of $1,762, of which $1,200 was for the purchase of equipment.     

响应面法优化养殖水体中炔雌醇的固相萃取条件

在单因素试验、Plackett-Burman设计试验基础上,采用Box-Behnken响应面法对养殖水体中炔雌醇(EE2)的固相萃取条件进行优化。结果表明,洗脱液体积、洗脱液组成和淋洗液体积是影响EE2固相萃取回收率的3个主要因素;EE2的最佳固相萃取条件为:水样pH值为3,进样流量为3.0 mL/min,淋洗液为体积分数为10%的甲醇水溶液,淋洗液体积7.0 mL,洗脱液为乙酸乙酯-正己烷混合溶液(体积比为9∶1),洗脱液体积12.0 mL。该条件下养殖水样中EE2固相萃取回收率为81.6%～86.7%。     

微波诱导热解法制备落叶吸附剂及其工艺优化

采用微波诱导热解法制备低成本落叶吸附剂,以实现落叶的资源化利用.以碘吸附值为响应值,采用响应面分析法研究了微波诱导热解法制备落叶吸附剂的工艺条件.结果表明,热解时间与微波功率之间存在交互作用,当热解功率增加时,可适当缩短热解时间.落叶吸附剂的最佳制备工艺条件为:热解时间4.04 min,微波功率488.72W,氯化锌质量分数27％.落叶吸附剂以微孔吸附为主,BJH孔径分布较窄,孔容最高峰对应的孔径在1.9 nm左右,Langmuir比表面积为769.61 m2/g.     

Research on transesterification parameters for producing plant sterols with supercritical methanol

The supercritical fluid method, regarded as a type of individual production process in the course of preparing plant sterols, has become a promising technology, which possesses advantages of high conversion rate without any pretreatment and need of a catalyst. This study examined the reaction process of the deodorizer distillate (DOD), which mainly included the direct transesterification of DOD to convert into free sterols. The effects of the ratio of methanol to DOD, reaction temperature and time on transesterification were studied. Furthermore, the interactions between different factors were also assessed using the response surface methodology. The optimal conditions obtained were as follows: reaction temperature 553 K, reaction time 80 min, and CH₃OH: DOD = 25:1 (mass ratio). Under these conditions, 36.42% sterol concentration was obtained, which is significantly higher in comparison with the initial sterols’ concentration in raw material (22.45%).