Hyperspectral Characteristics of Canopy Components and Structure for Phenological Assessment of an Invasive Weed

Spectral reflectance values of four canopy components (stems, buds, opening flowers, and postflowers of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis)) were measured to describe their spectral characteristics. We then physically combined these canopy components to simulate the flowering stage indicated by accumulated flower ratios (AFR) 10%, 40%, 70%, and 90%, respectively. Spectral dissimilarity and spectral angles were calculated to quantitatively identify spectral differences among canopy components and characteristic patterns of these flowering stages. This study demonstrated the ability of hyperspectral data to characterize canopy components, and identify different flowering stages. Stems had a typical spectral profile of green vegetation, which produced a spectral dissimilarity with three reproduction organs (buds, opening flowers, and postflowers). Quantitative differences between simulated flower stages depended on spectral regions and phenological stages examined. Using full-range canopy spectra, the initial flowering stage could be separated from the early peak, peak, and late flowering stages by three spectral regions, i.e. the blue absorption (around 480 nm) and red absorption (around 650 nm) regions and NIR plateau from 730 nm to 950 nm. For airborne CASI data, only the red absorption region and NIR plateau could be used to identify the flowering stages in the field. This study also revealed that the peak flowering stage was more easily recognized than any of the other three stages.     

The Effects of Infiltration and Insulation on the Source Strengths and Indoor Air Pollution from Combustion Space Heating Appliances

Many energy conservation strategies for residences involve reducing house air exchange rates. Reducing the air exchange rate of a house can cause an increase in pollutant levels if there is an indoor pollution source and if the indoor pollutant source strength remains constant. However, if the indoor pollutant source strength can also be reduced, then it is possible to maintain or even improve indoor air quality. Increasing the insulation level of a house is a means of achieving energy conservation goals and, in addition, can reduce the need for space heating and thereby reduce the pollutant source strengths of combustion space heaters such as unvented kerosene space heaters, unvented gas space heaters, and wood stoves. In this paper, the indoor air quality trade-off between reduced infiltration and increased insulation in residences is investigated for combustion space heaters. Two similar residences were used for the experiment. One residence was used as a control and the other residence had infiltration and insulation levels modified. An unvented propane space heater was used as the source in this study. A model was developed to describe the dependence of both indoor air pollution levels and the appliance source strengths on house air exchange rates and house insulation levels. Model parameters were estimated by applying regression techniques to the data. Results show that indoor air pollution levels in houses with indoor combustion space heating pollution sources can be held constant (or lowered) by reducing the thermal conductance by an amount proportional to (or greater than) the reduction of the air exchange rate.     

沈阳市大气PM2.5中水溶性离子的季节变化特征

为研究沈阳市大气中PM2.5及其水溶性离子的污染特征、季节差异和来源情况,使用URG-9000D在线监测系统对沈阳市2019年大气颗粒物进行连续的采样分析,并利用正交矩阵因子分析法(PMF)进行污染物的来源解析.结果 表明,2019年沈阳市秋冬季节PM2.5质量浓度变化受相对湿度影响较大,冬季PM2.5平均质量浓度达到85.76 μg·m-3,细粒子污染较为严重.沈阳市大气PM2.5中SNA(SO42-、NO3和NH4+)所占比重表现为春季最高秋季最低;夏季SO42-和NH4+浓度较高,而NO3-浓度较低.SO42-在夏季呈单峰型日变化,与NO3-变化趋势相反.春夏秋三季NH4+与SO42-、NO3-主要结合为(NH4)2SO4和NH4NO3,冬季NH4+主要以(NH4)2SO4和NH4HSO4的形式存在.沈阳市存在较强的SO2和NOx二次转化现象,且各季节中SO2的转化率均高于NO2.PMF源解析结果表明,二次源对沈阳市大气污染贡献最大,夏秋季生物质燃烧和冬季燃煤源贡献同样不可忽视.     

Texture Analysis for Mapping Tamarix parviflora Using Aerial Photographs along the Cache Creek, California

Natural color photographs were used to detect the coverage of saltcedar, Tamarix parviflora, along a 40 km portion of Cache Creek near Woodland, California. Historical aerial photographs from 2001 were retrospectively evaluated and compared with actual ground-based information to assess accuracy of the assessment process. The color aerial photos were sequentially digitized, georeferenced, classified using color and texture methods, and mosaiced into maps for field use. Eight types of ground cover (Tamarix, agricultural crops, roads, rocks, water bodies, evergreen trees, non-evergreen trees and shrubs (excluding Tamarix)) were selected from the digitized photos for separability analysis and supervised classification. Due to color similarities among the eight cover types, the average separability, based originally only on color, was very low. The separability was improved significantly through the inclusion of texture analysis. Six types of texture measures with various window sizes were evaluated. The best texture was used as an additional feature along with the color, for identifying Tamarix. A total of 29 color photographs were processed to detect Tamarix infestations using a combination of the original digital images and optimal texture features. It was found that the saltcedar covered a total of 3.96 km² (396 hectares) within the study area. For the accuracy assessment, 95 classified samples from the resulting map were checked in the field with a global position system (GPS) unit to verify Tamarix presence. The producer's accuracy was 77.89%. In addition, 157 independently located ground sites containing saltcedar were compared with the classified maps, producing a user's accuracy of 71.33%.     

Comparison of the complex terrain algorithms incorporated into two commonly used local-scale air pollution dispersion models (ADMS and AERMOD) using a hybrid model

ADMS and AERMOD are the two most widely used dispersion models for regulatory purposes. It is, therefore, important to understand the differences in the predictions of the models and the causes of these differences. The treatment by the models of flat terrain has been discussed previously; in this paper the focus is on their treatment of complex terrain. The paper includes a discussion of the impacts of complex terrain on airflow and dispersion and how these are treated in ADMS and AERMOD, followed by calculations for two distinct cases: (i) sources above a deep valley within a relatively flat plateau area (Clifty Creek power station, USA); (ii) sources in a valley in hilly terrain where the terrain rises well above the stack tops (Ribblesdale cement works, England). In both cases the model predictions are markedly different. At Clifty Creek, ADMS suggests that the terrain markedly increases maximum surface concentrations, whereas the AERMOD complex terrain module has little impact. At Ribblesdale, AERMOD predicts very large increases (a factor of 18) in the maximum hourly average surface concentrations due to plume impaction onto the neighboring hill; although plume impaction is predicted by ADMS, the increases in concentration are much less marked as the airflow model in ADMS predicts some lateral deviation of the streamlines around the hill.     

A social and ecological imperative for ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change in the Pacific Islands

Climate change is predicted to have a range of impacts on Pacific Island ecosystems and the services they provide for current and future development. There are a number of characteristics that can make adaptation approaches that utilise the benefits of ecosystems a compelling and viable alternative to other adaptation approaches. The objective of this paper is to determine what level of relative influence technical and planning considerations currently have in guiding the recognition and application of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches in the Pacific Islands context. The technical feasibility of EbA in relation to the expected impacts of climate change and the compatibility of adaptation planning processes of the Pacific Islands with EbA requirements was considered. The main barrier to fully implementing EbA in the Pacific Islands is not likely to be financial capital, but a combination of stable technical capacity within government departments to advise communities on EbA opportunities and the compatibility of planning frameworks.     

Effects of high temperature and CO2 on intracellular DMSP in the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa

Significant warming and acidification of the oceans is projected to occur by the end of the century. CO₂ vents, areas of upwelling and downwelling, and potential leaks from carbon capture and storage facilities may also cause localised environmental changes, enhancing or depressing the effect of global climate change. Cold-water coral ecosystems are threatened by future changes in carbonate chemistry, yet our knowledge of the response of these corals to high temperature and high CO₂ conditions is limited. Dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), and its breakdown product dimethylsulphide (DMS), are putative antioxidants that may be accumulated by invertebrates via their food or symbionts, although recent research suggests that some invertebrates may also be able to synthesise DMSP. This study provides the first information on the impact of high temperature (12 °C) and high CO₂ (817 ppm) on intracellular DMSP in the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa from the Mingulay Reef Complex, Scotland (56°49′N, 07°23′W), where in situ environmental conditions are meditated by tidally induced downwellings. An increase in intracellular DMSP under high CO₂ conditions was observed, whilst water column particulate DMS + DMSP was reduced. In both high temperature treatments, intracellular DMSP was similar to the control treatment, whilst dissolved DMSP + DMS was not significantly different between any of the treatments. These results suggest that L. pertusa accumulates DMSP from the surrounding water column; uptake may be up-regulated under high CO₂ conditions, but mediated by high temperature. These results provide new insight into the biotic control of deep-sea biogeochemistry and may impact our understanding of the global sulphur cycle, and the survival of cold-water corals under projected global change.     

Cycling of organic nitrogen in marine plankton communities studied in enclosed water columns

Concentrations of fluorescamine-positive substances (primary amines) and turnover rates of L-leucine pools were measured concurrently in seawater samples taken from 1300 m³ plastic enclosures moored in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. Concentration and turnover rates of dissolved free amino acids were calculated and then used to determine the instantaneous flux of dissolved free amino acids, which ranged from 0.09 to 2.42 M d^-1 (i.e.,5 to 145 gC l^-1 d^-1). This flux was highest in the euphotic zone, and was related to net primary production but not to the type of dominant primary producer. Comparison of the flux to changes in the concentration of ammonia in deep water suggested that amino acid degradation accounted for 60% of the flux into the ammonia pool. For a given sample, the amino acid carbon flux ranged from 17 to 210% (mean=78%) of the primary production. Such fluxes of amino acid carbon, if used exclusively by the bacterioplankton, would give growth rates ranging from 0.3 to 3.0 (mean=1.7) bacterial doublings d^-1. These calculations indicate that a large fraction of the community carbon and nitrogen flux passes through the bacterioplankton.     

Advantages of Volunteer-Based Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe

Abstract:  Without robust and unbiased systems for monitoring, changes in natural systems will remain enigmatic for policy makers, leaving them without a clear idea of the consequences of any environmental policies they might adopt. Generally, biodiversity-monitoring activities are not integrated or evaluated across any large geographic region. The EuMon project conducted the first large-scale evaluation of monitoring practices in Europe through an on-line questionnaire and is reporting on the results of this survey. In September 2007 the EuMon project had documented 395 monitoring schemes for species, which represents a total annual cost of about €4 million, involving more than 46,000 persons devoting over 148,000 person-days/year to biodiversity-monitoring activities. Here we focused on the analysis of variations of monitoring practices across a set of taxonomic groups (birds, amphibians and reptiles, mammals, butterflies, plants, and other insects) and across 5 European countries (France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, and Poland). Our results suggest that the overall sampling effort of a scheme is linked with the proportion of volunteers involved in that scheme. Because precision is a function of the number of monitored sites and the number of sites is maximized by volunteer involvement, our results do not support the common belief that volunteer-based schemes are too noisy to be informative. Just the opposite, we believe volunteer-based schemes provide relatively reliable data, with state-of-the-art survey designs or data-analysis methods, and consequently can yield unbiased results. Quality of data collected by volunteers is more likely determined by survey design, analytical methodology, and communication skills within the schemes rather than by volunteer involvement per se.