ALBERT

Beschreibung: Ghana is urbanising rapidly, and over half of the country’s population have lived in urban areas since 2010. Although research has proliferated to explore Ghana’s urbanisation, there is a dearth of research that holistically explores the wider sustainability implications of urbanisation, offers comparative perspectives in the context of large and smaller urban areas, and provides a perspective of local level urbanisation in the context of resource extraction (mining). This study comparatively assesses two urban areas in Ghana (Kumasi and Obuasi), by conducting a spatio-temporal analysis of land cover change through remote sensing and by analysing demographic change through a synthesis of published population data, in order to highlight the sustainability implications of urbanisation. The results show that urbanisation has been rapid, and has resulted in changes in land cover and demography in Kumasi and Obuasi. The sustainability implications of urbanisation are identified to include limited economic opportunities, socio-spatial segregation, and destruction of natural vegetation. The evidence in this study provides insights into urbanisation in Ghana, and suggests that the positive sustainability impacts of urbanisation may be eroded by how factors such as market forces and land tenure interact at the local level.

Beschreibung: The optimization of ecological resource allocation is increasingly seen as a potential solution for urban revitalization and sustainable land use planning, and the key point is to assess and simulate the spatial arrangement of the ecological land. In this study, we proposed a conceptual framework with the aim of reoccupying ecological resources for rust belt cities from the perspective of eco-economic trade-offs. The ecological security pattern, the urban development pattern, and the ecological quality of cropland were constructed and evaluated to measure the development level of an ecological system and a socio-economic system. Furthermore, the results were used as the constraints that influenced land use distribution to simulate the ecological land reoccupation pattern. The suitable area, the preservation area, the configurable area, and the unsuitable area in the reoccupation pattern accounted for 6.94%, 49.97%, 28.17%, and 0.69%, respectively. Significantly, under strict cropland protection policies, the available space for ecological land expansion was heavily compressed. Therefore, the emphasis on agricultural production should be reexamined to release more space for ecological resources. This method could be an effective pathway to alleviate the pressures on urban and natural space caused by the competition between land-use activities, such as economic development, agricultural production, and ecological conservation. The findings are expected to promote urban revitalization, green agriculture, and sustainable social development in rust belt cities, and provide certain references for the utilization of land resources and regional policy making.

Beschreibung: As acidic deposition has decreased across Eastern North America, forest soils at some sites are beginning to show reversal of soil acidification. However, the degree of recovery appears to vary and is not fully explained by deposition declines alone. To assess if other site and soil factors can help to explain degree of recovery from acid deposition, soil resampling chemistry data (8- to 24-year time interval) from 23 sites in the United States and Canada, located across 25° longitude from Eastern Maine to Western Ontario, were explored. Site and soil factors included recovery years, sulfate (SO42−) deposition history, SO42− reduction rate, C horizon pH and exchangeable calcium (Ca), O and B horizon pH, base saturation, and exchangeable Ca and aluminum (Al) at the time of the initial sampling. We found that O and B horizons that were initially acidified to a greater degree showed greater recovery and B horizon recovery was further associated with an increase in recovery years and lower initial SO42− deposition. Forest soils that seemingly have low buffering capacity and a reduced potential for recovery have the resilience to recover from the effects of previous high levels of acidic deposition. This suggests, that predictions of where forest soils acidification reversal will occur across the landscape should be refined to acknowledge the importance of upper soil profile horizon chemistry rather than the more traditional approach using only parent material characteristics.

Beschreibung: The genus Thujopsis (Cupressaceae) comprises monoecious coniferous trees endemic to Japan. This genus includes two varieties: Thujopsis dolabrata (L.f.) Siebold et Zucc. var. dolabrata (southern variety, Td) and Thujopsis dolabrata (L.f.) Siebold et Zucc. var. hondae Makino (northern variety, Th). The aim of this study is to understand the phylogeographic and genetic population relationships of the genus Thujopsis for the conservation of genetic resources and future breeding. A total of 609 trees from 22 populations were sampled, including six populations from the Td distribution range and 16 populations from the Th distribution range. The genotyping results for 19 expressed sequence tag (EST)-based simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, followed by a structure analysis, neighbor-joining tree creation, an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), and hierarchical F statistics, supported the existence of two genetic clusters related to the distribution regions of the Td and Th varieties. The two variants, Td and Th, could be defined by their provenance, in spite of the ambiguous morphological differences between the varieties. The distribution ranges of both variants, which have been defined from their morphology, was confirmed by genetic analysis. The Th populations exhibited relatively uniform genetic diversity, most likely because Th refugia in the glacial period were scattered throughout their current distribution area. On the other hand, there was a tendency for Td’s genetic diversity to decrease from central to southern Honshu island. Notably, the structure analysis and neighbor-joining tree suggest the hybridization of the two varieties in the contact zone. More detailed studies of the genetic structure of Td are required in future analyses.

Beschreibung: In agricultural science, the establishment of a given cropping system in mountainous areas is often understood from the relationship between differences of altitude-specific, agroecological conditions and crop cultivation characteristics. However, social factors can also play a role. We aimed to clarify how the cropping system is maintained through examining sociocultural factors, specifically land tenure and marriage systems, in an agricultural community in rural mountainous Africa. Several surveys based on participatory observation accompanied by home stays were conducted to determine people who participated in cropping systems and to understand which social system maintained the cropping system. We found that around 70% of target households in Kiboguwa village cultivated three staple crops (maize, cassava and rice) using the same cropping system and almost no farmers outside the village used the village’s sloped fields, meaning that the villagers maintained the cropping system. Households acquired nearby sloped fields by various means such as inheriting land through maternal lineage of household heads or wives. We observed virilocal and uxorilocal residence at similar degrees—and if either the husband or wife was from outside the village, that household would also have fields outside the village. However, nearly 80% of marriages were intravillage and villagers predominantly used fields located within the village limits regardless of the residence type, which helped maintain the cropping system.

Beschreibung: East Asia is the most complex region in the world for aerosol studies, as it encounters a lot of varieties of aerosols, and aerosol classification can be a challenge in this region. In the present study, we focused on the relationship between aerosol types and aerosol optical properties. We analyzed the long-term (2005–2012) data of vertical profiles of aerosol extinction coefficients, lidar ratio (Sp), and other aerosol optical properties obtained from a NASA Micro-Pulse Lidar Network and Aerosol Robotic Network site in northern Taiwan, which frequently receives Asian continental outflows. Based on aerosol extinction vertical profiles, the profiles were classified into two types: type 1 (single-layer structure) and type 2 (two-layer structure). Fall season (October–November) was the prevailing season for the Type 1, whereas type 2 mainly happened in spring (March–April). In type 1, air masses normally originated from three regional sectors, i.e., Asia continental (AC), Pacific Ocean (PO), and Southeast Asia (SA). The mean Sp values were 39 ± 17 sr, 30 ± 12 sr, and 38 ± 18 sr for the AC, PO, and SA sectors, respectively. The Sp results suggested that aerosols from the AC sector contained dust and anthropogenic particles, and aerosols from the PO sector were most likely sea salts. We further combined the EPA dust event database and backward trajectory analysis for type 2. Results showed that Sp was 41 ± 14 sr and 53 ± 21 sr for dust storm and biomass-burning events, respectively. The Sp for biomass-burning events in type 2 showed two peaks patterns. The first peak occurred within range of 30–50 sr corresponding to urban pollutant, and the second peak occurred within range of 60–80 sr in relation to biomass burning. Finally, our study summarized the Sp values for four major aerosol types over northern Taiwan, viz., urban (42 ± 18 sr), dust (34 ± 6 sr), biomass-burning (69 ± 12 sr), and oceanic (30 ± 12 sr). Our findings provide useful references for aerosol classification and air pollution identification over the western North Pacific.

Beschreibung: Urbanization is a complex process closely involving the economy, society, and population. While monitoring urban development and exploring the industry-driving force in a real-time and effective way are the prerequisites for optimizing industry structure, narrowing the urban development gap, and achieving sustainable development. Nighttime light is an effective tool to monitor urban development from a macro perspective. However, the systematic research of nighttime light spatiotemporal variation modes and the industry-driving force of urban nighttime light are still unknown. Considering these issues, this paper analyzes the spatiotemporal variation modes of the average light index (ALI) and investigates the industry-driving force of ALI in 100 major prefecture-level cities across China mainland based on National Polar-Orbiting Partnership Satellite Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (NPP VIIRS). The conclusions are as following three aspects. First, ALI is observed a funnel pattern among four regions in spatial dimension, with low in center and high in the surrounding, and it shows 5 variation modes (“W,” “√,” “Exponent,” “Logarithm,” and “N”) in temporal dimension, of which the “√” mode accounts for the highest proportion (60%). Second, the industry structure is closely related to ALI. Besides, the factor analysis result illustrates that the secondary and tertiary industry are the driving industries of ALI. Third, the classification result based on the industry contribution rate indicates that cities driven by different industries show significant spatial distribution differences. The three major industry-driving cities are mainly distributed in central and western regions, the secondary and tertiary industry-driving cities are evenly distributed, and the tertiary industry-driving cities are mainly distributed in provincial capitals. From 2013 to 2018, the fluctuation of city distribution driven by different industries changes obviously. The number of tertiary industry-driving cities increases steadily and the three major industry-driving cities are distributed wider spatially. Additionally, the impacts of location and raw coal on ALI are discussed. In general, these findings are essential to further research urban development mode and can be considered as the reference to narrow urban development gap.

Beschreibung: A low-mass and low-volume dual-polarization L-band radiometer is introduced that has applications for ground-based remote sensing or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based mapping. With prominent use aboard the ESA Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellites, L-band radiometry can be used to retrieve environmental parameters, including soil moisture, sea surface salinity, snow liquid water content, snow density, vegetation optical depth, etc. The design and testing of the air-gapped patch array antenna is introduced and is shown to provide a 3-dB full power beamwidth of 37°. We present the radio-frequency (RF) front end design, which uses direct detection architecture and a square-law power detector. Calibration is performed using two internal references, including a matched resistive source (RS) at ambient temperature and an active cold source (ACS). The radio-frequency (RF) front end does not require temperature stabilization, due to characterization of the ACS noise temperature by sky measurements. The ACS characterization procedure is presented. The noise equivalent delta (Δ) temperature (NEΔT) of the radiometer is ~0.14 K at 1 s integration time. The total antenna temperature uncertainty ranges from 0.6 to 1.5 K.

Beschreibung: Avalanche disasters are extremely destructive and catastrophic, often causing serious casualties, economic losses and surface erosion. However, far too little attention has been paid to utilizing remote sensing mapping avalanches quickly and automatically to mitigate calamity. Such endeavors are limited by formidable natural conditions, human subjective judgement and insufficient understanding of avalanches, so they have been incomplete and inaccurate. This paper presents an objective and widely serviceable method for regional auto-detection using the scattering and interference characteristics of avalanches extracted from Sentinel-1 SLC images. Six indices are established to distinguish avalanches from surrounding undisturbed snow. The active avalanche belts in Kizilkeya and Aktep of the Western TianShan Mountains in China lend urgency to this research. Implementation found that smaller avalanches can be consistently identified more accurately in descending images. Specifically, 281 and 311 avalanches were detected in the ascending and descending of Kizilkeya, respectively. The corresponding numbers on Aktep are 104 and 114, respectively. The resolution area of single avalanche detection can reach 0.09 km2. The performance of the model was excellent in all cases (areas under the curve are 0.831 and 0.940 in descending and ascending of Kizilkeya, respectively; and 0.807 and 0.938 of Aktep, respectively). Overall, the evaluation of statistical indices are POD 〉 0.75, FAR 〈 0.34, FOM 〈 0.13 and TSS 〉 0.75. The results indicate that the performance of the innovation proposed in this paper, which employs multivariate comprehensive descriptions of avalanche characteristics to actualize regional automatic detection, can be more objective, accurate, applicable and robust to a certain extent. The latest and more complete avalanche inventory generated by this design can effectively assist in addressing the increasingly severe avalanche disasters and improving public awareness of avalanches in alpine areas.