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.     

Planning Tools for Developing Comprehensive Regional Monitoring Programs

We present a planning framework that structures thelarge amount of interrelated information involved indeveloping regional monitoring programs. By regionalwe mean programs that recognize the importance ofprocesses that occur on larger geographic scales andthat cut across more than one ecosystem component. Theframework helps visualize functional relationshipsamong qualitative ingredients such as public concernsand more concrete details such as individual dataelements. It portrays the flow of information amongthe components of a regional program and ties eachaspect of the program to management decision-makingneeds. This makes it easier, during the planningprocess, to ensure that monitoring will actuallyproduce useful information. Further, the frameworksnovel, graphically oriented, and readily accessibleformat makes key information equally available to thewide range of participants (regulators, scientists,managers, public) whose input and support arenecessary for program success.     

Biological complexity confounds the separation of point- and non-point sources of human impact on the natural world

Identifying process from pattern is one of the most vexing tasks inenvironmental monitoring. Given information on the distribution of speciesin a pre-defined area, together with comprehensive data on how environmentalconditions in that area have altered through time, is it possible toidentify the factors controlling the species‘ layout? Here, the practicalsignificance of this quandary is demonstrated using a series ofenvironmentally-degraded coastal lagoons in New South Wales. The TuggerahLakes (33°17′S,151°30′E) have over the last 50 yearsexperienced significant changes in species‘ distributions. Seagrasses,macroalgae, phytoplankton, molluscs, prawns and the jellyfish Catostylus mosaicus have altered in spatial pattern. Two human activitieshave been blamed for these perturbations: (1) agricultural clearance ofnative vegetation from the catchment, with associated input of top-soil andnutrients; (2) the commissioning of a coal-fired power station in 1967, withmassive uptake and recirculation of lake water for cooling purposes. In thispaper, spatial changes in macrophyte distributions over the last 50 yearsare reviewed in an attempt to identify the true source(s) of perturbation.The model adopted assumes that the power station is a point source of impactwhile nutrient inputs from the catchment are a diffuse source of impact;changes in species distributions can hypothetically be related back to thesesources according to whether they are localised or widespread. However,after a comprehensive analysis of available macrophyte data derived frominterviews, aerial photography and line transect methodologyies theconclusion is reached that changes in biogeographical pattern around theTuggerah Lakes cannot be attributed to specific anthropogenic pressures atanything beyond the coarsest of levels. This is considered to be the normfor most coastal management situations where natural background variation(’noise‘) and the complexity of linkages between physical, chemical andbiological components confounds the identification of causal relationships.The practical implications of this conclusion are discussed in the contextof litigation and remedial management design. Emphasis is placed on theneed to adopt an adaptive approach to estuarine management, incorporatingexplicit recognition of the limitations of available data, and to developnew techniques for identifying cause-effect relationships.     

我国环境监测仪器向规范化方向发展刍议

从我国环境监测事业发展和建立社会主义市场经济体制的需要，论述了加速我国环境监测仪器规范化的必要和可行性，并阐述了具体实施意见。     

光离子化检测器便携式气相色谱仪快速测定空气中苯系物

本文研究了使用光离子化检测器便携式气相色谱仪，直接测定空气中ｍｇ／ｍ３级苯系物（苯、甲苯、乙苯、邻、间、对位的二甲苯及异丙苯）的快速分析方法。方法的线性范围为０～１００ｍｇ／ｍ３，相关系数均在０．９９９以上，方法的变异系数分别为２．９～１２．５％（５ｍｇ／ｍ３），３．４～７．９％（３０ｍｇ／ｍ３），方法最低检测限达０．２～１．０ｍｇ／ｍ３。     

兰州市区大气中TSP及其成分含量的测定与变化规律的研究

报导了兰州市一年内大气中TSP及其成分含量的监测结果、污染程度和变化规律,为兰州市进一步治理大气污染,加强环境管理,提高环境质量提供了科学依据。     

液相化学发光分析在环境监测中的应用

介绍液相化学发光分析法的原理和特点以及十年来在我国环境监测中的应用。收录1983年～1991年国内的应用论文50余篇,作了较为系统全面的评述。     

加强建设 量化管理 推进环境监测事业持续发展

介绍了南京市环境监测中心站近年来在拓展监测能力,提升监测现代化水平,优化资源配置,加强队伍建设,强化制度建设,实施目标管理等方面采取的举措,指出在我国环境保护发生历史性转变的关键时期,环境监测站应在社会、经济、环境的协调发展中,充分发挥为管理服务的前瞻性、监测信息上报的及时性及实施环境决策的支持性作用,积极推进环境监测事业持续发展.     

小型废电池填埋焚烧处置的健康风险分析

对废电池采取填埋、焚烧处置所引起的健康风险进行了分析，采用3种模型，分别研究了废电池随城市固体废物一起完全填埋处置，一起完全焚烧处置，一起部分填埋处置和部分焚烧处理时，可能引起的健康风险，由分析可知，镉镍电池焚烧过程将引起不可接受的致癌风险，填埋废电池也会引起重金属非致癌风险，提出在现阶段没有单独收集分类管理的条件下，对于小型废电池应采取填埋焚烧联合处置的办法，但应避免镉镍电池的焚烧，在建立了收集体系后，应该分类进行资源化和无害化管理。     

用液相催化法和脱硫除尘器脱除烟气中SO_2

在由旋风水膜和两块旋流塔板组成的处理气量为７５０ｍ￣３／ｈ的二级脱硫除尘器中，进行了用含催化剂Ｍｎ￣（２＋）的水溶液吸收ＳＯ_２的扩大试验。结果表明，在确定的条件下，脱硫率达到７３％，板效率为０．２５～０．２８。在同一设备中同时完成除尘与脱硫过程，设备投资少；以水为吸收剂，运行费用低；中性条件下吸收，长期运转不结垢，可靠性高。