Linking Land Cover and Water Quality in New York City’S Water Supply Watersheds

The Catskill/Delaware reservoirs supply 90% of New York City’s drinking water. The City has implemented a series of watershed protection measures, including land acquisition, aimed at preserving water quality in the Catskill/Delaware watersheds. The objective of this study was to examine how relationships between landscape and surface water measurements change between years. Thirty-two drainage areas delineated from surface water sample points (total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and fecal coliform bacteria concentrations) were used in step-wise regression analyses to test landscape and surface-water quality relationships. Two measurements of land use, percent agriculture and percent urban development, were positively related to water quality and consistently present in all regression models. Together these two land uses explained 25 to 75% of the regression model variation. However, the contribution of agriculture to water quality condition showed a decreasing trend with time as overall agricultural land cover decreased. Results from this study demonstrate that relationships between land cover and surface water concentrations of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and fecal coliform bacteria counts over a large area can be evaluated using a relatively simple geographic information system method. Land managers may find this method useful for targeting resources in relation to a particular water quality concern, focusing best management efforts, and maximizing benefits to water quality with minimal costs.The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded and managed the research described here. It has been subjected to Agency’s administrative review and approved for publication as an EPA document.     

The Impact of Landsat Satellite Monitoring on Conservation Biology

Landsat 7s recent malfunctioning will result in significant gaps in long-term satellite monitoring of Earth, affecting not only the research of the Earth science community but also conservation users of these data. To determine whether or how important Landsat monitoring is for conservation and natural resource management, we reviewed the Landsat programs history with special emphasis on the development of user groups. We also conducted a bibliographic search to determine the extent to which conservation research has been based on Landsat data. Conservation biologists were not an early user group of Landsat data because a) biologists lacked technical capacity – computers and software – to analyze these data; b) Landsats 1980s commercialization rendered images too costly for biologists budgets; and c) the broad-scale disciplines of conservation biology and landscape ecology did not develop until the mid-to-late 1980s. All these conditions had changed by the 1990s and Landsat imagery became an important tool for conservation biology. Satellite monitoring and Landsat continuity are mandated by the Land Remote Sensing Act of 1992. This legislation leaves open commercial options. However, past experiments with commercial operations were neither viable nor economical, and severely reduced the quality of monitoring, archiving and data access for academia and the public. Future satellite monitoring programs are essential for conservation and natural resource management, must provide continuity with Landsat, and should be government operated.     

气象卫星遥感在干旱监测中的应用

本文根据ＮＯＡＡ极轨气象卫星ＡＶＨＲＲ资料计算生成植被指数相对距平图用于旱情监测，并在江苏省１９９４年特大干旱中进行了应用服务     

防震减灾中卫星遥感技术应用分析

卫星遥感技术在减轻自然灾害中发押了十分重要的作用,但也不得不指出,卫星遥感技术在防震减灾工作中,无论在国内或国外均尚未得到有效的应用。这一方面固然是由于地震事件十分复杂,地震孕育和发生的规律尚未搞清,难以发挥卫得遥感技术的作用,另一方面也由中以使用的卫星技术的分辨率还不够高,重复观察的周期长,限制了这一技术在防震减灾工作中的应用。有鉴于近感技术的分辨率还不够高,重复观察的周期长,限制了这一技术在防     

基于决策树的城市黑臭水体遥感分级

水体黑臭程度遥感监测是了解城市水质现状和综合评价城市水环境治理效果的重要手段.以南京、常州、无锡和扬州为研究区,共采集171个样点,同步测量水质参数和光学参数,分析黑臭水体与一般水体的水色和光学特征,构建决策树模型进行重度黑臭水体、轻度黑臭水体和非黑臭水体（记为一般水体）识别.结果表明：①根据色度可将水体分为1~6类水体,其中,类型1~4为黑臭水体,分别为灰黑色、深灰色、灰色和浅灰色水体,类型5和类型6水体为一般水体,分别为绿色系和黄色系水体;②类型1水体的非色素颗粒物和有色可溶性有机物含量高,但色素颗粒物的吸收并不占主导,类型2和5水体的吸收以色素颗粒物吸收占主导,类型3、4和6水体的吸收以非色素颗粒物吸收占主导;③根据六类水体的反射光谱差异用黑臭水体差值指数（difference of black-odorous water index,DBWI）、三波段面积水体指数（green-red-nir area water index,G-R-NIR AWI）、绿光波段反射率和归一化黑臭水体指数（normalized difference black-odorous water index,NDBWI）构建的水体分类识别决策树,能够有效识别出重、轻度黑臭水体和一般水体;④将决策树模型应用于2019年4月9日扬州的PlanetScope影像上,并利用10个同步过境点进行验证,整体识别精度达到80.00%,K值达到0.67.通过水色分类后的城市水体分级模型方法,可推广应用于类似的水体,为黑臭水体监管提供技术方法.     

医疗废物管理信息系统的设计与开发研究

结合医疗废物无害化处理的运作管理,分析了医疗废物管理信息系统的数据流程,进行了系统设计,最终建立了长春市医疗废物管理信息系统,并阐述了该系统实现的主要技术特点。该系统利用条形码技术、GPS(全球卫星定位系统)、GPRS(General Packet RadioService)、在线监测等信息技术实现了对医疗废物的装载、运送、核实、焚烧、残渣处理的全程数字化跟踪管理。     

Applications of Very High‐Resolution Imagery in the Study and Conservation of Large Predators in the Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is one of the most rapidly changing ecosystems on the planet due to the effects of climate change and commercial fishing for ecologically important krill and fish. Because sea ice loss is expected to be accompanied by declines in krill and fish predators, decoupling the effects of climate and anthropogenic changes on these predator populations is crucial for ecosystem‐based management of the Southern Ocean. We reviewed research published from 2007 to 2014 that incorporated very high‐resolution satellite imagery to assess distribution, abundance, and effects of climate and other anthropogenic changes on populations of predators in polar regions. Very high‐resolution imagery has been used to study 7 species of polar animals in 13 papers, many of which provide methods through which further research can be conducted. Use of very high‐resolution imagery in the Southern Ocean can provide a broader understanding of climate and anthropogenic forces on populations and inform management and conservation recommendations. We recommend that conservation biologists continue to integrate high‐resolution remote sensing into broad‐scale biodiversity and population studies in remote areas, where it can provide much needed detail. Aplicaciones de Imágenes de Muy Alta Resolución en el Estudio y Conservación de Grandes Depredadores en el Océano Antártico     

FY2 号气象卫星估算地面太阳辐射研究

综合考虑太阳因素、地形因素、地表积雪覆盖情况、云量以及非均质大气对太阳辐射的影响,基于FY2 号静止卫星构建晴空太阳总辐射计算模型,并利用山西省3 个辐射观测站2011 年逐时、逐日、逐月太阳总辐射观测资料对其估算结果进行检验。研究结果显示：逐时误差在±1 MJ·m^-2之间,逐日误差在±5 MJ·m^-2之间,表明模型计算的太阳辐射误差较小,稳定性较好;逐月误差结果显示,三个站模拟值都大于实测值,且误差趋势一致,均表现为冬季误差高于夏季;进一步对模拟值和实测值进行相关性分析,三站线性拟合度均在0.86～0.92 之间,且相关系数均达到显著相关水平,表明模型计算的太阳辐射准确性和精度较高,且在数值拟合上较好地反映了实际的太阳总辐射量,证实该模型应用于FY2 号气象卫星的可行性。     

Validation of Bacteroidales-based microbial source tracking markers for pig fecal pollution and their application in two rivers of North China

• Pig feces is the predominant excrement produced by animal husbandry in China. • The PF, Pig-1-Bac^TaqMan, and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan MST assays showed better performance. • The pig-specific MST assays can contribute to managing the pig fecal pollution. In China, pig feces is the predominant source of excrement produced by animal husbandry. Improper use or direct discharge of pig feces can result in contamination of natural water systems. Microbial source tracking (MST) technology can identify the sources of fecal pollution in environmental water, and contribute to the management of pig fecal pollution by local environmental protection agencies. However, the accuracy of such assays can be context-dependent, and they have not been comprehensively evaluated under Chinese conditions. We aimed to compare the performance of five previously reported pig-specific MST assays (PF, Pig-Bac1^SYBR, Pig-Bac2^SYBR, Pig-1-Bac^TaqMan, and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan, which are based on Bacteroidales 16S rRNA gene markers) and apply them in two rivers of North China. We collected a total of 173 fecal samples from pigs, cows, goats, chickens, humans, and horses across China. The PF assay optimized in this study showed outstanding qualitative performance and achieved 100% specificity and sensitivity. However, the two SYBR green qPCR assays (Pig-Bac1^SYBR and Pig-Bac2^SYBR) cross-reacted with most non-pig fecal samples. In contrast, both the Pig-1-Bac^TaqMan and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan assays gave 100% specificity and sensitivity. Of these, the Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan assay showed higher reproducibility. Our results regarding the specificity of these pig-specific MST assays differ from those reported in Thailand, Japan, and America. Using the PF and Pig-2-Bac^TaqMan assays, a field test comparing the levels of pig fecal pollution in rivers near a pig farm before and after comprehensive environmental pollution governance indicated that pig fecal pollution was effectively controlled at this location.     

Comparison of Microscopic and Macroscopic Modeling Approaches for Subsurface Contaminant Transport

The practice of contaminant transport and remediation has shown significant progress in recent years. However, despite the significant progress made, remediation efforts are often delayed by extremely long breakthrough curve tails that render efforts to bring the level of contaminants below the regulatory standards inefficient. One hypothesis is that these long tails are due to the reservoir-like slow diffusive processes in soil micropore zones. This study compares the effects of micropores at macroscopic and microscopic levels and establishes a link between these approaches for validation and calibration purposes. The link between macroscopic and microscopic levels is established through comparisons and testing of the two models while incorporating appropriate scale and boundary effects. Despite the differences in conceptual approaches and simulation time, the two approaches rendered meaningful results. The link helps forecast the effects of micropore zone transport processes in the subsurface efficiently and thus allows development of numerical tools that could contribute towards more efficient remediation design.