Use of Airborne Thermal Imagery to Detect and Monitor Inshore Oil Spill Residues During Darkness Hours

/ Trials were conducted using an airborne video system operating in the visible, near-infrared, and thermal wavelengths to detect two known oil spill releases during darkness at a distance of 10 nautical miles from the shore in St. Vincent's Gulf, South Australia. The oil spills consisted of two 20-liter samples released at 2-h intervals, one sample consisted of paraffinic neutral material and the other of automotive diesel oil. A tracking buoy was sent overboard in conjunction with the release of sample 1, and its movement monitored by satellite relay. Both oil residues were overflown by a light aircraft equipped with thermal, visible, and infrared imagers at a period of approximately 1 h after the release of the second oil residue. Trajectories of the oil residue releases were also modeled and the results compared to those obtained by the airborne video and the tracking buoy. Airborne imagery in the thermal wavelengths successfully located and mapped both oil residue samples during nighttime conditions. Results from the trial suggest that the most advantageous technique would be the combined use of the tracking beacon to obtain an approximate location of the oil spill and the airborne imagery to ascertain its extent and characteristics.KEY WORDS: Airborne video; Thermal imagery; Global positioning; Oil-spill monitoring; Tracking beacon     

Accounting for time in Mitigating Global Warming through land-use change and forestry

Many proposed activities formitigating global warming in the land-use change and forestry(LUCF) sector differ from measures to avoid fossilfuel emissions because carbon (C) may be held out ofthe atmosphere only temporarily. In addition, thetiming of the effects is usually different. Many LUCFactivities alter C fluxes to and from the atmosphereseveral decades into the future, whereas fossil fuelemissions avoidance has immediate effects. Non-CO₂ greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are animportant part of emissions from deforestation inlow-latitude regions, also pose complications forcomparisons between fossil fuel and LUCF, since themechanism generally used to compare these gases(global warming potentials) assumes simultaneousemissions. A common numeraire is needed to expressglobal warming mitigation benefits of different kindsof projects, such as fossil fuel emissions reduction,C sequestration in forest plantations, avoideddeforestation by creating protected areas and throughpolicy changes to slow rates of land-use changes suchas clearing. Megagram (Mg)-year (also known as`ton-year') accounting provides a mechanism forexpressing the benefits of activities such as these ona consistent basis. One can calculate the atmosphericload of each GHG that will be present in each year,expressed as C in the form of CO₂ and itsinstantaneous impact equivalent contributed by othergases. The atmospheric load of CO₂-equivalent Cpresent over a time horizon is a possible indicator ofthe climatic impact of the emission that placed thisload in the atmosphere. Conversely, this index alsoprovides a measure of the benefit of notproducing the emission. One accounting methodcompares sequestered CO₂ in trees with theCO₂ that would be in the atmosphere had thesequestration project not been undertaken, whileanother method (used in this paper) compares theatmospheric load of C (or equivalent in non-CO₂GHGs) in both project and no-project scenarios.Time preference, expressed by means of a discount rateon C, can be applied to Mg-year equivalencecalculations to allow societal decisions regarding thevalue of time to be integrated into the system forcalculating global warming impacts and benefits. Giving a high value to time, either by raising thediscount rate or by shortening the time horizon,increases the value attributed to temporarysequestration (such as many forest plantationprojects). A high value for time also favorsmitigation measures that have rapid effects (such asslowing deforestation rates) as compared to measuresthat only affect emissions years in the future (suchas creating protected areas in countries with largeareas of remaining forest). Decisions on temporalissues will guide mitigation efforts towards optionsthat may or may not be desirable on the basis ofsocial and environmental effects in spheres other thanglobal warming. How sustainable development criteriaare incorporated into the approval and creditingsystems for activities under the Kyoto Protocol willdetermine the overall environmental and social impactsof pending decisions on temporal issues.     

1951~2014年中国北方地区气温突变与变暖停滞的时空变异性

基于1951~2014年中国北方及周边地区357个气象站点平均最低气温、平均气温和平均最高气温年（月）数据,采用M~K检验等方法,分析了中国北方地区3类气温突变和变暖停滞特征的时空变异性.结果表明：研究区3类气温整体突变年（1978~1999年、1981~2002年、1981~2005年）、分布广泛的普遍突变年（1988年、1989年、1997年）及范围（3a）均依次变晚.整体上,突变年随纬度降低变晚,东北突变早于西北和华北地区.变暖停滞集中于1998和2007年及其前后,3类气温亦依次变晚（1994~2007年、1995~2009年、1998~2010年）,由黄河流域中段向其他方向越来越晚.突变至变暖停滞周期整体随纬度降低缩短（3~30a）,突变越早周期越长.西北地区突变与变暖停滞前后各时段均值温差最大（2.4℃）,温差在1℃左右站点分布最广泛.各时段升（降）温速率整体依次在0.01℃/10a、0.05℃/10a、-0.03℃/10a左右站点分布最广泛,突变后升温最快（0.02~0.16℃/10a）,且西北地区对升温贡献最大,变暖停滞后东北地区对降温贡献最大,2时段按平均最低气温、平均最高气温、平均气温顺序升（降）温速率递减.3类气温波动程度减弱,整体随纬度降低.高纬度、高海拔和山地地区突变和变暖停滞较周边地区偏早或偏晚,特征值较大.整个北方地区3类气温突变、变暖停滞、突变与变暖停滞时间及各时段特征值各自具有自身一致性的普遍规律.     

基于CMIP5多模式集合预估东海和南海21世纪海平面高度变化

人类活动引起的当代气候变暖已导致全球海平面显著上升,在21世纪全球气候继续变暖的背景下,东南沿海海平面的升高将对区域环境及社会可持续发展带来巨大挑战,但目前对未来区域海平面变化的预估尚存在较大的不确定性。本文基于筛选的国际耦合模式比较计划第5阶段（CMIP5）的10个模拟性能较好的气候模式输出结果,通过多模式集合预估了未来温室气体三种排放情景下21世纪东海和南海区域海平面高度的趋势变化,并分析了不同影响因子的贡献。通过计算海水热比容、盐比容和动力因子对海平面高度的影响,并在考虑冰川冰盖消融等因子的订正后,发现：21世纪东海和南海海平面高度都呈现连续上升趋势,东海和南海地区上升幅度略小于全球平均,南海上升幅度略大于东海。在温室气体低（RCP2.6）、中（RCP4.5）和高（RCP8.5）排放情景下,21世纪后期（2081—2100年）较前期（2006—2025年）东海/南海平均海平面分别上升0.26 [0.01—0.55] m/0.29 [0.05—0.55] m、0.38 [0.10—0.66] m/0.40 [0.14—0.67] m和0.52[0.15—0.89] m/0.52[0.23—0.83] m（方括号内为相应的不确定性范围）。随着温室气体排放的升高,海平面上升幅度也增大,东海海平面上升区由东南向西北扩展,南海海平面上升区由东北向西南扩展。统计分析还表明：在不同排放情景下,不同影响因子对海平面变化的贡献也不一样,随着排放强度从低到高变化,海洋比容加动力因子的相对贡献从28%—34%升高至46%—47%,而冰川冰盖消融等其他因子的相对贡献从 66%—72%降低至53%—54%。     

气候变暖背景下西南地区干旱灾害风险评估

论文利用全国基准基本站地面气温、降水资料,NCAR/NCEP土壤湿度资料及各类经济数据,采用加权综合评价法对西南地区干旱灾害风险因子进行分析,结果表明：四川和云南致灾因子危险性较高,气候变暖后四川东南部、云南和贵州西部危险性增加;西南地区中部到东南部成灾环境敏感性较高,气候变暖后四川东部、贵州及云南东部敏感性增加;承灾体易损性主要分布于西南中东部地区,人口密度、经济密度、耕地面积比重越高的地区易损性程度越高;四川中部、云南东北部、贵州南部及重庆西部防灾减灾能力较高。西南地区干旱灾害风险最高区域为云南东部、四川东部、贵州西部及重庆大部分地区;气候变暖后四川东南部、云南西部危险性明显增加。     

全球增温1.5℃和2.0℃对淮河中上游径流影响预估

论文应用第5次耦合模式比较计划(Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5,CMIP5)中5个全球气候模式(Global Climate Models,GCMs)和3种典型浓度路径(Representative Concentration Pathways,RCPs)在全球增温1.5℃和2.0℃下的预估结果,分析了淮河中上游地区未来的气候变化特征。进一步基于SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool)水文模型定量预估了气候变化对该区域径流量的影响,并量化了预估结果的不确定性。结果表明:SWAT模型在淮河中上游对月径流量具有较好的模拟能力。在全球增温1.5℃和2.0℃下,淮河中上游年平均气温分别较基准期(1986—2005年)增加1.1℃和1.7℃;年降水量较基准期分别相应增加4%和7%;基于SWAT模型预估的年径流量较基准期分别增加5%和8%。未来气候变化不会改变月径流分布特征,年内径流仍集中在盛夏和初秋(6—9月)。预估的月丰水流量明显增加,尤其当全球增温达到2.0℃后,出现洪涝的风险明显增大。未来降水量和径流量预估都存在较大的不确定性,不确定性主要来源于GCMs,在全球增温2.0℃下预估的不确定性更大。     

近48a宁夏寒潮的变化特征及可能影响的成因初步分析

利用1961—2008年宁夏日温度及逐月北半球500 hPa环流特征量、北极涛动指数(AOI)和NCAR/NCEP再分析资料,对宁夏寒潮频次变化的气候特征进行了分析,并对影响其变化的可能原因进行了讨论,结果表明:宁夏寒潮活动各地差异较大,主要出现在春季;近48年,春秋季寒潮频次呈弱增加趋势,冬季呈弱减少趋势;寒潮频次与AOI、气温呈负相关,与西伯利亚高压、东亚冬季风强度及入侵中国的冷空气活动频次呈正相关,相关关系在秋冬季明显,春季不明显;在气候变暖的大背景下,从20世纪80年代末开始,随着AOI从负位相转为正位相,冬季西伯利亚高压和东亚冬季风强度的减弱使得宁夏地表温度持续升高,是宁夏冬季寒潮频次减少的可能原因;春季也有类似的变化,不同的是:20世纪80年代中期以前,西伯利亚高压对寒潮活动作用更显著,之后,随气温持续增暖,冷空气活动对寒潮频次的影响更明显;秋季,西伯利亚高压和冷空气活动对寒潮的影响更直接明显。研究还发现,进入21世纪后,随着全球持续增暖,北极涛动对西伯利亚高压和东亚冬季风的影响有所减弱。因此,北极涛动、西伯利亚高压、冷空气活动频次、东亚冬季风、气温这几者之间的相互反馈作用是宁夏寒潮频次变化的可能原因。     

Linking Russia with the European and global greenhouse gas emissions trading markets: three paths for greening the Russian assigned amount under the Kyoto Protocol

This article examines possibilities for linkage between the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and Russia, with a view to enhancing cooperation on a broader scale than the project-based approaches that have been tested thus far. Three paths for possible EU-Russia linkage are presented by which the Russian Assigned Amount under the Kyoto Protocol can be greened in order to stimulate emissions trading: 1. Joint implementation—reductions earned via individual projects in Russia; 2. Greened allowances or green investment schemes; and 3. Linked cap-and-trade systems, in which a Russian domestic emissions trading system would link with the European Union Emissions Trading System. The authors conclude that the third option, emissions trading through linked domestic emissions trading systems, offers the best opportunities at the lowest transaction costs. The authors discuss useful innovative instruments like call options and slip level arrangements on government-to-government and business-to-business levels.

2013年成都财富论坛期间空气质量状况分析研究

利用2013年5月20日-6月20日成都市区7个环境质量监测站点可吸入颗粒物(PM₁₀)、细颗粒物(PM_2.5)、SO₂、NO₂、CO和臭氧的实测资料及地面气象观测资料,对成都举办财富全球论坛期间及前后的空气质量变化特征和成因进行分析.结果表明,由于市政府采取交通管制措施,使机动车尾气排放的NO₂浓度与财富论坛前后相比降幅达27.2%;财富论坛期间臭氧前体物质浓度的降低,使地面臭氧日均浓度在相同太阳日辐射值下与财富论坛前后相比较低;对城区扬尘控制和周边重污染企业限产停产,分别对PM₁₀和SO₂的排放起到了明显的削减作用;后向轨迹分析表明市区SO₂浓度累积与来自东南部低空的气团有关.当相对湿度小于60%时颗粒物容易吸湿增长,而当相对湿度大于60%时降雨概率增大,颗粒物容易被清除.综合分析,成都市区财富论坛期间空气质量改善是政府减排举措的有效实施和较好的气象条件共同作用的结果.     

流域计算机集成模型系统及其在水库流域水质规划中的应用

随着社会的发展,流域中出现了新的问题和特征,流域规划和管理越来越复杂,传统的方法和工具已不能充分满足流域规划和管理的需要．因此本文以开放复杂巨系统研究方法论为指导,提出了流域计算机集成模型系统的概念,探讨了其构成和结构．指出该系统应是专家系统、地理信息系统、遥感、全球定位系统、数据库技术、数学模拟和优化等多技术综合集成的系统．最后对其在水库流域水质规划中的应用进行了初步的探讨．