Characteristics and driving factors of marsh changes in Zhalong wetland of China

Zhalong National Nature Reserve in the northeast of China is a large wetland and a habitat of hundreds species of fauna and flora. The rare red-crowned crane is one kind of endangered birds in it. Recently, Zhalong wetland is shrinking and it encounters many problems including occasional fires, bad water quality, human activities, etc. In order to find out a proper way to protect and restore the wetland, this study, using a geographic information system, the global positioning system and remote sensing techniques, analyses the spatial characteristics of the changes in marsh landscape pattern and examines the driving factors for these changes. Data sources include 8 Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images of Zhalong area in the period of 1986–2002 and the investigation information on site. Based on the analysis of changes of marsh area and annual precipitation during the 16 years, it is found that there is a close correlation between annual precipitation and marsh area. It means that climate is one of driving factors of marsh pattern changes. To understand influences of other kinds of land uses on marsh spatial distribution in Zhalong wetland, this paper analyses the relationship between marsh and different kinds of land uses, such as water surface, residential area, farmland, salina land and grass land, respectively. According to the patch analysis theory, a fragmental index and a fractal dimension of the marsh are calculated with perimeter-area method. The results indicate that the marsh pattern is affected by human activities significantly. In addition, the location alteration of marsh centroid point over the 16 years is studied. The movement trace of marsh centroid point is concerned with different hydrological situation in different areas of the wetland. In summary the characteristics of the marsh landscape pattern evolution during the 16 years are affected by multiple driving factors. The main driving factors are climate, human activities, distribution of other kinds of land uses and hydrological situation in different areas.     

Determination of Impact of Urbanization on Agricultural Land and Wetland Land Use in Balçovas’ Delta by Remote Sensing and GIS Technique

Because of their intense vegetation and the fact that they include areas of coastline, deltas situated in the vicinity of big cities are areas of greet attraction for people who wish to get away from in a crowded city. However, deltas, with their fertile soil and unique flora and fauna, need to be protected. In order for the use of such areas to be planned in a sustainable way by local authorities, there is a need for detailed data about these regions. In this study, the changes in land use of the Balçova Delta, which is to the immediate west of Turkey’s third largest city Izmir, from 1957 up to the present day, were investigated. In the study, using aerial photographs taken in 1957, 1976 and 1995 and an IKONOS satellite image from the year 2005, the natural and cultural characteristics of the region and changes in the coastline were determined spatially. Through this study, which aimed to reveal the characteristics of the areas of land already lost as well as the types of land use in the Balçova delta and to determine geographically the remaining areas in need of protection, local authorities were provided with the required data support. Balçova consists of flat and fertile wetland with mainly citrus-fruit orchards and flower-producing green houses. The marsh and lagoon system situated in the coastal areas of the delta provides a habitat for wild life, in particular birds. In the Balçova Delta, which provides feeding and resting for migratory birds, freshwater sources are of vital importance for fauna and flora. The settlement area, which in 1957 was 182 ha, increased 11-fold up to the year 2005 when it reached 2,141 ha. On the other hand, great losses were determined in farming land, olive groves, forest and in the marsh and lagoon system. This unsystematic and rapid urbanization occurring in the study region is not only causing the loss of important agricultural land and wetland, but also lasting water and soil pollution.     

Application of artificial neural network approach and remotely sensed imagery for regional eco-environmental quality evaluation

Eco-environment quality evaluation is an important research theme in environment management. In the present study, Fuzhou city in China was selected as a study area and a limited number of 222 sampling field sites were first investigated in situ with the help of a GPS device. Every sampling site was assessed by ecological experts and given an Eco-environment Background Value (EBV) based on a scoring and ranking system. The higher the EBV, the better the ecological environmental quality. Then, three types of eco-environmental attributes that are physically-based and easily-quantifiable at a grid level were extracted: (1) remote sensing derived attributes (vegetation index, wetness index, soil brightness index, surface land temperature index), (2) meteorological attributes (annual temperature and annual precipitation), and (3) terrain attribute (elevation). A Back Propagation (BP) Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was proposed for the EBV validation and prediction. A three-layer BP ANN model was designed to automatically learn the internal relationship using a training set of known EBV and eco-environmental attributes, followed by the application of the model for predicting EBV values across the whole study area. It was found that the performance of the BP ANN model was satisfactory and capable of an overall prediction accuracy of 82.4%, with a Kappa coefficient of 0.801 in the validation. The evaluation results showed that the eco-environmental quality of Fuzhou city is considered as satisfactory. Through analyzing the spatial correlation between the eco-environmental quality and land uses, it was found that the best eco-environmental areas were related to forest lands, whereas the urban area had the relatively worst eco-environmental quality. Human activities are still considered as a major impact on the eco-environmental quality in this area.     

Beach topography mapping—a comparsion of techniques

A comparison of current techniques for measuring elevations in the beach and near-shore zones is presented. Techniques considered include traditional methods such as ground survey along transects and airborne stereophotogrammetry, and also newer methods based on remote sensing such as airborne scanning laser altimetry (LiDAR). The approach taken was to identify a representative group of users of beach elevation data, elicit their requirements regarding these data, then assess how well the different methods met these requirements on both technical and financial grounds. Potential users of beach height measurements include those concerned with coastal defence, coastal environmental management economic exploitation of the intertidal zone, and coastal flood forecasting. Three test areas in the UK were identified covering a range of such users and also different beach types. A total of 17 basic user requirements were elicited. For each requirement each method was scored according to the degree to which it could meet the requirement. Total scores were calculated and each method ranked. This was undertaken for all the requirements together, for a subset relating to survey of narrow beaches, and for a subset relating to survey of wide beaches. Approximate costs were also established for the top six methods. Airborne stereophotogrammetry proved to be the best method technically, but was also the most expensive. Ground survey provides very good technical performance on narrower beaches at moderate cost. Airborne LiDAR can achieve good technical performance on both narrow and wide beaches at lower cost than ground survey. The satellite-based waterline method was also inexpensive and gave good results on wide beaches. An overall conclusion is that, while the traditional methods of ground survey and airborne stereophotogrammetry remain the best for engineering-related surveys requiring high levels of accuracy, airborne LiDAR in particular looks set to have a significant impact on beach survey for applications for which a vertical accuracy of 20 cm is acceptable, provided that its technology evolves satisfactorily.     

Application of a “closed-can” technique for measuring radon exhalation from mine samples of Punjab, Pakistan

Using the closed-can technique, radon exhalation rate measurements have been carried out for shale and coal samples collected from various mines located in the Chakwal and Makarwal areas of Pakistan. For the two areas, the measured average values of the exhalation rates from shale are 1.45±0.13 and 0.67±0.25 Bq m⁻² h⁻¹ and for coal are 1.0±0.03 and 0.65±0.32 Bq m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively. These values are much lower than the measured exhalation rates from alum-shale-based Nordic concrete which has values in the 50–200 Bq m⁻² h⁻¹ range. The lower values of the measured exhalation rates from the shale and coal deposits in the Chakwal and Makarwal areas are indicative of their lower uranium contents and mine workers in these areas do not face any abnormal health hazard due to radon since the exhalation rates have been found to be on the low side.     

面向区域二次污染风险控制的臭氧及其前体物卫星遥感监测

日益突出的臭氧(O_3)污染已成为继PM2. 5之后我国大气污染防治的又一艰巨任务。由于氮氧化物(NO_x)、挥发性有机物(VOCs)这2种前体物的减排难度较大,且与O_3浓度存在复杂的非线性关系,准确获取O_3及NO_x、VOCs的时空分布对制定有效的防控措施至关重要。基于卫星遥感可定量反演O_3及2种前体物的代表性物种——二氧化氮(NO_2)、甲醛(HCHO)及乙二醛(C_2H_2O_2)的时空分布信息。面向区域O_3污染分析和防控应用,综述了卫星遥感对O_3及NO_2、HCHO、C_2H_2O_2的探测能力,以及利用遥感手段分析区域O_3及其前体物的传输。进而从O_3与NO_x、VOCs关系的角度,分析了利用卫星反演的前体物表征O_3生成风险的可行性。最后对卫星在区域O_3及其前体物监测方面的前景趋势提出了思考。     

遥感技术在水生态环境管理的应用与前景

随着遥感数据源的不断丰富,遥感技术不断提高,可以解决越来越多的水环境问题。指出了当前水生态环境管理方面的主要需求,结合目前遥感技术的发展,对国内外的水环境遥感研究进展进行综述。以湖泊富营养化监测与评估、核电站温排水遥感监测及城市黑臭水体遥感监测为案例,具体阐述遥感在水环境管理中的应用方法及成效。未来水生态环境管理发展趋势将以水污染防治为主向水污染防治和水生态修复与保护并重发展。基于此趋势,提出遥感在水生态修复的应用潜力,利于更多地方部门积极有效应用遥感技术,解决水生态环境问题。     

利用卫星遥感数据估算PM2.5浓度的应用研究进展

近年来,PM_(2.5)已成为中国大气污染的首要污染物,危害人体健康。为弥补地基监测站点在空间分布上的局限性,借助卫星遥感技术估算PM_(2.5)浓度已成为研究热点。文章总结了利用卫星估算PM_(2.5)浓度的各种研究方法,探讨了不同方法的优势和不足,指出不同方法对不同应用目的的选择性差异较大。提出,应针对不同应用目的选择相应的方法,从而取得满足各方面需求的研究成果,为未来PM_(2.5)浓度估算应用工作提供参考。     

广东省“十二五”生态环境时空变化趋势及影响因素

基于2011—2015年Landsat7、Landsat8等卫星遥感影像,结合土壤侵蚀面积、水资源量、降雨量、污染物排放量等统计数据,按照《生态环境状况评价技术规范》(HJ 192—2015),研究评价广东省"十二五"期间生态环境状况及其时空变化趋势,并对其影响因素进行综合分析。结果表明,广东省的生态环境状况总体为优,各市生态环境状况均属优、良,粤北生态环境状况整体最好;广东省及各市生态环境状况稳中趋好,但呈现温和地波动变化;主要污染物排放量下降和水资源总量提高是促进生态环境状况改善的主要原因。     

Optimal Reorganization of NASA Earth Science Data for Enhanced Accessibility and Usability for the Hydrology Community

A long‐standing “Digital Divide” in data representation exists between the preferred way of data access by the hydrology community and the common way of data archival by earth science data centers. Typically, in hydrology, earth surface features are expressed as discrete spatial objects (e.g., watersheds), and time‐varying data are contained in associated time series. Data in earth science archives, although stored as discrete values (of satellite swath pixels or geographical grids), represent continuous spatial fields, one file per time step. This Divide has been an obstacle, specifically, between the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. and NASA earth science data systems. In essence, the way data are archived is conceptually orthogonal to the desired method of access. Our recent work has shown an optimal method of bridging the Divide, by enabling operational access to long‐time series (e.g., 36 years of hourly data) of selected NASA datasets. These time series, which we have termed “data rods,” are pre‐generated or generated on‐the‐fly. This optimal solution was arrived at after extensive investigations of various approaches, including one based on “data curtains.” The on‐the‐fly generation of data rods uses “data cubes,” NASA Giovanni, and parallel processing. The optimal reorganization of NASA earth science data has significantly enhanced the access to and use of the data for the hydrology user community.