ALBERT

Description: Variations in the concentrations of particulate heavy metals and fluxes into the sea in the Yellow River were examined based on observational and measured data from January 2009 to December 2010. A custom-built water elutriation apparatus was used to separate suspended sediments into five size fractions. Clay and very fine silt is the dominant fraction in most of the suspended sediments, accounting for >40% of the samples. Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Fe and Mn are slightly affected by anthropogenic activities, while Cd is moderate affected. The concentrations of heavy metals increased with decrease in particle size. For suspended sediments in the Yellow River, on average 78%–82% of the total heavy metal loading accumulated in the 〈16 μm fraction. About 43% and 53% of heavy metal in 2009 and 2010 respectively, were readily transported to the Bohai Sea with “truly suspended” particles, which have potentially harmful effects on marine organisms.

Description: To assess different impacts of land, population and economy factors on the lexicographic minimax optimal allocation of blue and green water footprints, a comprehensive discriminant rule is constructed in this paper based on the Gini coefficient and Theil entropy index. The proposed rule is employed to estimate the influence of the aforesaid factors (land, population and economy) on the corresponding allocation schemes from a fairness perspective. To demonstrate its applicability, the proposed approach is applied to a water resources allocation study for 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). The results indicate that: (1) the economy-based lexicographic allocation of water footprints (LAWF) is more equalitarian for the provinces with high water footprint quotas. The land area-based LAWF is more equalitarian for the provinces with low water footprint quotas. The population-based LAWF is more equalitarian for the provinces with medium water footprint quotas. (2) The contribution of intra-regional variation in the population-based LAWF scheme is the largest of the three schemes. The inter-regional variation contributed the largest in the land area-based LAWF scheme. (3) Two synthetic schemes which integrate multiple factors among land area, economy and population are more equalitarian than the three single-factor schemes. Compared with the original situation which is an equalitarian but ineffective allocation, the two synthetic schemes have greater effect on the improvement of the supply-demand balance of water resources carrying capacity. Therefore, the defect of the population, economy and land area factors acting alone should be resolved by designing a weighting system, in order to optimize the allocation of water resources.

Description: In the real decision-making process, there are so many time series values that need to be aggregated. In this paper, a visibility graph power geometric (VGPG) aggregation operator is developed, which is based on the complex network and power geometric operator. Time series data are converted into a visibility graph. A visibility matrix is developed to denote the links among different time series values. A new support function based on the distance of two values are proposed to measure the support degree of each other when the two time series values have visibility. The VGPG operator considers not only the relationship but also the similarity degree between two values. Meanwhile, some properties of the VGPG operator are also investigated. Finally, a case study for water, energy, and food coupling efficiency evaluation in China is illustrated to show the effectiveness of the proposed operator. Comparative analysis with the existing research is also offered to show the advantages of the proposed method.

Description: Water, energy, and food, as the basic material resources of human production and life, play a prominent role in social and economic development. As the imbalance between the supply and demand of water, energy, and food increases, a highly sensitive and fragile relationship gradually forms among water, energy, and food. In this paper, Inner Mongolia in China is selected as a research area. Firstly, synergy theory is applied to establish the framework of a water–energy–food system. Then, a multi-objective programming model is constructed, where the objective functions are defined to minimize the integrated deviation degree and pollutant emissions of the water–energy–food system. Meanwhile, maximization of the water benefit, energy production, and food production is also considered. In addition, the model takes economy, environment, water, energy, and food as constraints. Finally, a genetic algorithm is designed for accurately assessing the most promising results. The results show that the cooperation degree of the water–energy–food system in Inner Mongolia is getting better and better, and the pollutant emission from the water–energy–food system is decreasing. In 2020, the proportion of agricultural water consumption fell by 1%, while that of industrial water consumption rose by 0.48%. The production of coal, natural gas, and power are all showing an increasing trend. Among them, the increase of natural gas production is as high as 38,947,730 tons of standard coal. However, the proportions of coal, natural gas, and power change inconsistently, where the proportions of coal and natural gas increase while that of power decreases. Corn production accounts for more than 80% of the total, which is in the eldest brother position in the food industry structure. Besides, there are differences between the planned values and optimal values of decision variables. Finally, suggestions are put forward to improve the sustainable development of water–energy–food in Inner Mongolia.

Description: Nanjing city is taken as a case in this urban rainstorm disaster risk research. Using the data of meteorology and social-economy statistics of Nanjing area, the paper selected ten indicators to establish the risk assessment system of urban rainstorm disaster from the aspects of the vulnerability of hazard-affected body, the fragility of disaster-pregnant environment, and the danger of hazard factors. Multi-layer weighted principal component analysis (MLWPCA) is an extension of the principal component analysis (PCA). The MLWPCA is based on factor analysis for the division subsystem. Then the PCA is used to analyze the indicators in each subsystem and weighted to synthesize. ArcGIS is used to describe regional differences in the urban rainstorm disaster risk. Results show that the MLWPCA is more targeted and discriminatory than principal component analysis in the risk assessment of urban rainstorm disaster. Hazard-affected body and disaster-pregnant environment have greater impacts on the risk assessment of rainstorm disaster in Nanjing, but the influence of hazard factors is few. Spatially, there is a large gap in the rainstorm disaster risk in Nanjing. The areas with high-risk rainstorm disaster are mainly concentrated in the central part of Nanjing, and the areas with low-risk rainstorm disaster are in the south and north of the city.

Description: To assess different impacts of land, population and economy factors on the lexicographic minimax optimal allocation of blue and green water footprints, a comprehensive discriminant rule is constructed in this paper based on the Gini coefficient and Theil entropy index. The proposed rule is employed to estimate the influence of the aforesaid factors (land, population and economy) on the corresponding allocation schemes from a fairness perspective. To demonstrate its applicability, the proposed approach is applied to a water resources allocation study for 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). The results indicate that: (1) the economy-based lexicographic allocation of water footprints (LAWF) is more equalitarian for the provinces with high water footprint quotas. The land area-based LAWF is more equalitarian for the provinces with low water footprint quotas. The population-based LAWF is more equalitarian for the provinces with medium water footprint quotas. (2) The contribution of intra-regional variation in the population-based LAWF scheme is the largest of the three schemes. The inter-regional variation contributed the largest in the land area-based LAWF scheme. (3) Two synthetic schemes which integrate multiple factors among land area, economy and population are more equalitarian than the three single-factor schemes. Compared with the original situation which is an equalitarian but ineffective allocation, the two synthetic schemes have greater effect on the improvement of the supply-demand balance of water resources carrying capacity. Therefore, the defect of the population, economy and land area factors acting alone should be resolved by designing a weighting system, in order to optimize the allocation of water resources.