A Review of the Northern Ecosystem Initiative in Arctic Canada: Facilitating Arctic Ecosystem Research Through Traditional and Novel Approaches

The Canadian Arctic is undergoing considerable social and environmental change. Anthropogenic stressors on this sensitive environment include climate change, contaminants, resource extraction, tourism and increasing human populations. The Northern Ecosystem Initiative (NEI) is a program aimed at supporting the sustainability of northern communities, and at improving our understanding of how northern ecosystems respond to these environmental stressors. A key element of the NEI is to establish partnerships between all levels of government, non-governmental environmental agencies, and northern residents. The NEI is an important source of financial support critical for social and environmental scientists as well as northern residents and their community and regional organizations. Initiated in 1998, the NEI has supported numerous northern scientific and capacity-building projects, and has evaluated the information gained from this work to refine and focus its future support to address key information gaps and northern needs.     

基于改进SIFT算法的交通事故图像匹配

为解决无人机航拍交通事故现场图像特征点数量较少、匹配成功率较低、耗时过长的问题,提出1种改进的SIFT算法,使用Gabor滤波对图像进行特征提取,基于改进的高斯金字塔和多方向多尺度Gabor频谱特点提取出具有尺度、旋转不变性的特征点,结合LLE算法对特征描述符进行降维处理,通过DBSCAN算法对特征点进行密度聚类,计算...     

A Regional Assessment of Windbreak Habitat Suitability

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Programwas initiated in 1989 by the United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency to collect, analyze,and report quantitative, statistically unbiasedinformation about the state of the nation'senvironment on a regional basis. During a pilotprogram in Nebraska we measured a habitat suitabilityindex for a probability sample of 40 windbreaks andexpanded the results to estimate the potential valueof windbreaks as wildlife habitat in Nebraska. Theindex estimates the suitability of a windbreak ashabitat for wildlife including breeding birds, smallmammals, and deer. Index values range from zero toone, where a value of one indicates maximal habitatvalue. We estimated that 50% (±13% at 90%confidence) of windbreaks in Nebraska have a habitatsuitability index of 0.25 or less and that nowindbreaks have a suitability index greater than 0.6. Our results indicate that increasing the area ofindividual windbreaks is the most effective way toimprove their value as wildlife habitat. Monitoringwindbreak condition over time would alert wildlifemanagers to changes in the resource that might affectwildlife populations. Because our data were highlyvariable, the power to detect change in habitatcondition between two measurement periods was low. Amuch larger sample would be required to detect smallchanges in habitat condition. Variability may bereduced, and power increased, by carefully andconsistently constructing the sampling frame, keepingdata collection as simple as possible, appropriatelystratifying sample selection, and using a small numberof well-trained data collection teams. However, wesuggest adapting the index for use with aerialphotography in future efforts to evaluate windbreaksas wildlife habitat in extensive areas.     

Climate Impact Response Functions for Terrestrial Ecosystems

We introduce climate impact response functions as a means for summarizing and visualizing the responses of climate-sensitive sectors to changes in fundamental drivers of global climate change. In an inverse application, they allow the translation of thresholds for climate change impacts (‘impact guard-rails’) into constraints for climate and atmospheric composition parameters (‘climate windows’). It thus becomes feasible to specify long-term objectives for climate protection with respect to the impacts of climate change instead of crude proxy variables, like the change in global mean temperature. We apply the method to assess impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, using the threat to protected areas as the central impact indicator. Future climate states are characterized by geographically and seasonally explicit climate change patterns for temperature, precipitation and cloud cover, and by their atmospheric CO₂ concentration. The patterns are based on the results of coupled general circulation models. We study the sensitivity of the impact indicators and the corresponding climate windows to the spatial coverage of the analysis and to different climate change projections. This enables us to identify the most sensitive biomes and regions, and to determine those factors which significantly influence the results of the impact assessment. Based on the analysis, we conclude that climate impact response functions are a valuable means for the representation of climate change impacts across a wide range of plausible futures. They are particularly useful in integrated assessment models of climate change based on optimizing or inverse approaches where the on-line simulation of climate impacts by sophisticated impact models is infeasible due to their high computational demand. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

辽宁省工业污染源数量变化及驱动因素分析

以1998─2005年辽宁省14个城市工业污染源数量数据为基础,分析了工业污染源在省、市、区域3个层面上数量变化的特征;指出造成差异的2个主要影响因素,即经济发展和国家政策;讨论了工业污染源数量变化与废水排放量之间的关系.结果表明:辽宁省工业污染源数量区域差异变小,但仍然集中在沈阳、大连和抚顺等城市,营口工业污染源数量增加较快;污染源空间分布与经济发展区域特征有较好的相关性,哈尔滨-大连产业带也成了“污染密集带”;经济发展是污染源数量变化的重要影响因素;国家产业政策通过影响经济从而间接影响污染源数量和质量,而环保政策则直接影响环境保护的方向和环境治理的力度.      

区域输送对天津臭氧污染的影响

采用大气化学模式定量估算2019年4月～9月区域输送对京津冀区域,特别是天津市O₃浓度的影响,分析天气形势和气象条件与区域输送的关系.结果显示,京津冀区域13个城市O₃以区域输送贡献为主,不同城市O₃差异较大,天津本地贡献占比24%,区域输送以京津冀区域其他城市和山东为主,共贡献48.3%.低压、低压前和低压后形势下,O₃区域输送占比最高.途径天津偏南区域的气流是造成天津高浓度O₃污染的重要因素,也是区域输送的主要路径.随着O₃浓度升高,输送贡献占比呈逐步上升趋势,重度污染时本地生成与区域输送贡献相当.一次典型O₃污染过程分析表明,高温强辐射天气和有利的天气形势促进O₃本地生成,西南气流和弱下沉气流下的区域输送共同维系了这场持续3d的连续污染过程.     

豫境黄淮海平原土壤重金属背景值研究

长期缺少豫境黄淮海平原土壤重金属背景值数据,很多学者不得不用河南省土壤或中国潮土元素背景值作为标准评价重金属污染.那么,豫境黄淮海平原土壤重金属背景值与河南省土壤、中国潮土是否存在差异？平原内部是否存在重金属背景值的空间差异？这是影响评价结果可靠性的关键,需要开展研究.采用10 km×10 km网格法,在研究区沙河干流以南(南区)和以北(北区)分别采集土壤表层样品336份和561份.用电感耦合等离子体发射质谱法(ICP-MS)测定样品Cd、Cr、Pb、Cu、Zn和Ni含量,用原子荧光光度法(AFS)法测定样品Hg、As含量.在重金属含量异常值剔除和数据分布检验基础上,分别确定南区和北区重金属背景值.结果表明,南区土壤Hg、As、Cd、Cr、Pb、Cu、Zn和Ni背景值分别为0.066、4.11、0.130、56.72、20.97、23.31、59.21和24.03 mg·kg^-1,北区上述重金属的背景值分别为0.061、7.45、0.129、51.92、18.96、22.72、66.96和27.16 mg·kg^-1.北区土壤As、Zn和Ni背...     

New parameterization scheme for effective indices for emissions from road transport

The local to regional processes of chemical transformations, washout and dry deposition cannot be directly resolved in global scale models, they rather need to be parameterized. A suitable way to account for the non-linearity, e.g., in chemical transformation processes, is the use of effective emission indices (EEIs). EEI translate the actual (small scale) emissions into input for global scale models, partially accounting for unresolved processes occurring shortly after the release of the emissions.The emissions from the road traffic have some specifics, because of which the concept of deriving EEI from the interaction of an instantaneous plume with the ambient air is perhaps not so convenient. A new parameterization scheme for the EEI from the road transport is suggested in the present paper, based on few simplifying assumptions and introducing the adjoin equations approach, which makes it possible to achieve unified, not depending on the specific emission pattern, procedure for calculating the EEI from road traffic.     

Expanding the Global Network of Protected Areas to Save the Imperiled Mediterranean Biome

Abstract:  Global goals established by the Convention on Biological Diversity stipulate that 10% of the world's ecological regions must be effectively conserved by 2010. To meet that goal for the mediterranean biome, at least 5% more land must be formally protected over the next few years. Although global assessments identify the mediterranean biome as a priority, without biologically meaningful analysis units, finer-resolution data, and corresponding prioritization analysis, future conservation investments could lead to more area being protected without increasing the representation of unique mediterranean ecosystems. We used standardized analysis units and six potential natural vegetation types stratified by 3 elevation zones in a global gap analysis that systematically explored conservation priorities across the mediterranean biome. The highest levels of protection were in Australia, South Africa, and California-Baja California (from 9–11%), and the lowest levels of protection were in Chile and the mediterranean Basin (<1%). Protection was skewed to montane elevations in three out of five regions. Across the biome only one of the six vegetation types—mediterranean shrubland—exceeded 10% protection. The remaining vegetation types—grassland, scrub, succulent dominated, woodland, and forest—each had <3% protection. To guard against biases in future protection efforts and ensure the protection of species characteristic of the mediterranean biome, we identified biodiversity assemblages with <10% protection and subject to >30% conversion and suggest that these assemblages be elevated to high-priority status in future conservation efforts.     

典型时段区域污染过程分析及系统聚类法的应用

应用系统聚类法对2008年12月4─17日全国86个城市由空气污染指数(API)反算的ρ(PM₁₀₎进行聚类分析.结果表明:86个城市可以分为7个分区;根据ρ(PM₁₀₎的区域同步性特征及实况天气背景分析对7个分区进行了调整. 在12月4─17日的区域污染过程中,华北和华东2个地区为全国ρ(PM₁₀₎的高值区. 对华北和华东地区城市群ρ(PM₁₀₎的区域环境过程同步演变特征进行了对比分析,并根据天气型演变规律对形成原因进行了研究,建立了城市及区域环境污染过程与天气型背景的关系概念模型,揭示出天气型组合系统、分布、尺度、移动和演变是造成大气环境质量区域性、过程性特征和ρ(PM₁₀₎峰谷值出现的主要原因. 用聚类分析方法和所提出的概念模型可对我国城市和区域环境污染分区控制和成因进行深入研究.