Drivers of revitalization in Great Lakes coastal communities

Sediment remediation and habitat restoration projects have been increasingly employed along the coast of the Great Lakes to improve environmental quality since the designation of 43 highly degraded Areas of Concern (AOCs) by the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. Improvements in water quality, habitat, and other environmental conditions can also support community wellbeing and revitalization; however, the mechanisms that support these connections are relatively unclear. We address this gap through a case study of three AOCs near Lake Michigan: 1) Grand Calumet River; 2) White Lake, and 3) Muskegon Lake. By analyzing secondary data and planning documents, we found that alongside environmental cleanup, anchor institutions, housing and economic development, and local events drive revitalization. Our research also illustrates that, rather than acting as discrete processes, environmental cleanup and revitalization drivers overlap in time and space. Finally, our research reveals a high level of variation within and across AOCs in terms of diverse socioeconomic contexts, planning capacities, and existing partnerships. Together, our findings point to the need for collaborative and inclusive planning processes that account for the heterogeneity present within and across AOCs to simultaneously support remediation, restoration, and revitalization and to sustain continued revitalization in AOC communities after delisting.     

岩溶城市(贵阳市)水资源可持续利用评价研究

为研究贵阳市水资源可持续利用评价问题,基于DPSIR模型构建贵阳市水资源可持续利用评价指标体系,运用熵权法与综合指数模型测算2001~2015年贵阳市水资源可持续利用综合指数,并以障碍度模型对影响水资源可持续利用的障碍因子进行诊断。结果表明,2001~2015年,除压力指数外,驱动力、状态、影响、响应和综合指数均呈波动上升的趋势;可持续利用类型可划分为失调(2001~2006年)和协调(2007~2013年)两个阶段;人均GDP、万元GDP耗水量、森林覆盖率、三产增加值占GDP比重、生活污水处理率为5大影响贵阳市水资源可持续利用的重要因素。研究结果为贵阳市水资源可持续利用提供指导。     

污染价值损失模型在清潩河流域的应用研究

鉴于污染价值损失的核算对掌握流域水污染状况、制定科学合理的治理对策具有重要意义,通过分析污染物浓度跟水资源价值损失的关系,将水量、水质和水资源价值三者结合起来,从理论上构建了基于污染损失率和水资源价值的污染价值损失模型,且给出了完整的水污染经济损失量的数学表达式,并将其应用于许昌市清潩河流域水污染经济损失核算中。结果表明,清潩河流域水环境污染的经济损失在2011~2014年间呈现波动变化,2013年污染损失量最大,达到7 365.41万元。三个行政分区中,2011~2012年间长葛市水污染损失量最大,2013~2014年间许昌县水污染损失量最大,与当地的实际情况相符。可见该模型可行、有效。     

陕西省宝鸡市日月耦合降水随机序列模拟

为了生成可同时保持日、月尺度的关键统计特性的降水序列,提出一种日、月尺度耦合方法使模拟序列可在日、月尺度上均保持实测序列均值、方差和变差系数,该方法利用一阶马尔科夫链模拟干湿期,以两参数Gamma分布模拟降水量,并使用比例调整算法。对陕西省宝鸡市降水序列模拟的结果表明,耦合方法较好地保留了日、月尺度上原有的统计特性,且比例调整算法对日序列的调整较小。同时,耦合方法简单、适用性强,可用于其他尺度间的尺度耦合。     

An immersive virtual reality serious game to enhance earthquake behavioral responses and post-earthquake evacuation preparedness in buildings

Enhancing the earthquake behavioral responses and post-earthquake evacuation preparedness of building occupants is beneficial to increasing their chances of survival and reducing casualties after the mainshock of an earthquake. Traditionally, training approaches such as seminars, posters, videos or drills are applied to enhance preparedness. However, they are not highly engaging and have limited sensory capabilities to mimic life-threatening scenarios for the purpose of training potential participants. Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) and Serious Games (SG) as innovative digital technologies can be used to create training tools to overcome these limitations. In this study, we propose an IVR SG-based training system to improve earthquake behavioral responses and post-earthquake evacuation preparedness. Auckland City Hospital was chosen as a case study to test our IVR SG training system. A set of training objectives based on best evacuation practice has been identified and embedded into several training scenarios of the IVR SG. Hospital staff (healthcare and administrative professionals) and visitors were recruited as participants to be exposed to these training scenarios. Participants’ preparedness has been measured along two dimensions: 1) Knowledge about best evacuation practice; 2) Self-efficacy in dealing with earthquake emergencies. Assessment results showed that there was a significant knowledge and self-efficacy increase after the training. In addition, participants acknowledged that it was easy, helpful, and engaging to learn best evacuation practice knowledge through the IVR SG training system.     

青海省格尔木市西大滩东多金属矿控矿因素及找矿前景

青海省格尔木市西大滩东多金属矿出露地层主要为早-中三叠世昌马河地层走向呈北西~南东向,与区域构造线方向基本一致。是测区的主要矿源层,为后期矿化提供了物质基础。比较发育的北西向、北西西向逆断层具有明显的多期活动特点,多形成破碎带,为热液活动、成矿元素富集提供了良好空间,对本区矿化起着一定的控制作用,破碎蚀变带控制了土壤异常展布。本文对西大滩东多金属矿控矿因素及找矿前景进行分析探讨。     

Smart firefighting construction in China: Status,problems, and reflections

“Smart firefighting” construction as a part of the “smart city” has been a concern of the public security and fire agencies at all levels. In this study, the status, problems, and reflections of “smart firefighting” construction in China are discussed. A recent survey indicates that China has launched its smart firefighting construction and initially created a new perspective on its regional smart firefighting work based on three main aspects: intelligent disaster perception by Internet of Things (IoT) construction, intelligent disaster prevention by big data construction, and intelligent disaster disposal by emergency rescue platform construction. However, the current smart firefighting construction in China still has some prominent problems such as the data interconnectivity and normalized management of various platforms, the extensibility of smart firefighting platforms, and the intelligent level of smart firefighting researches, which need to be solved urgently. Therefore, we argue that smart firefighting construction in China should establish data interconnectivity, industrial normalized management, 2D/3D geographic information interaction and extension, high-integration fire protection theory, and many other aspects in the near future and truly realize firefighting visualization and efficient data applications for 4D time space. This study could provide valuable reference for smart firefighting and smart city construction.     

陆海统筹背景下唐山市资源环境承载力综合评价

十八大以来,海洋产业在沿海地区发展中的作用日益显现,唐山市是一个非典型的沿海城市,海洋开发空间大,在陆海统筹背景下评价资源环境承载力对唐山市陆海统筹发展意义重大。本文以陆海统筹为背景,从资源、环境、社会经济三个角度构建唐山市资源环境承载力指标体系,利用层次分析法确定指标权重,定性、定量地评价唐山市及其沿海区县资源环境承载力。结果表明:2005～2016年唐山市资源环境承载力得分呈上升趋势,2016年得分75分约是2005年的2.6倍,得分年均增速达9.1%;5个沿海区县中,滦南县的承载力状况较优。根据评价结果,提出优化产业结构及提升海洋经济活力、打造沿海城市形象等建议,提升陆海统筹背景下唐山市资源环境承载力。     

临汾市近20年植被覆盖度遥感估算及动态变化分析

植被覆盖度是衡量植被生长状况的指标，对分析评价区域生态环境具有重要意义。以临汾市1998年、2007年和2018年Landsat遥感影像作为数据源，利用ENVI和ARCGIS软件，通过计算归一化植被指数（NDVI）值，利用像元二分模型，对临汾市近20年的植被覆盖度及其动态变化进行分析。分析结果显示:1998年、2007年和2018年临汾市的平均植被覆盖度分别为45.92%、58.76%和60.09%，处于递增的态势。在这20年间，极低覆盖度和低覆盖度的植被面积都有减少，而中等覆盖度、高覆盖度和极高覆盖度的植被面积增加。高覆盖度和低覆盖度的植被面积变化最大，高覆盖度的植被面积增加了3 063.14 km²，约占临汾市总面积的15.21%；低覆盖度的植被面积减少了3 192.38 km²，约占临汾市总面积的15.85%。说明临汾市的生态环境有所改善，这与该区水土保持项目的实施以及封禁治理有关。     

Energy,exergy, economic and environmental (4E) analysis of using city gate station (CGS) heater waste for power and hydrogen production: A comparative study

This paper deals with energy, exergy, economic, and environmental (4E) analysis of two new combined systems for simultaneous power and hydrogen production. The combined systems are integrated from a city gate station (CGS) system, a Rankine cycle (RC), an absorption power cycle (APC), and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. Since the pressure of natural gas (NG) in transmission pipeline is high, this pressure is reduced at CGS to a lower pressure. However, this NG has also ample potential to be recovered for multiple productions, too. In the proposed systems, the outlet energy of NG is used for power and hydrogen production by employing RC/APC and PEM electrolyzer. The power sub-cycles are driven by waste heat of CGS, while PEM electrolyzer is driven by this waste heat along with a portion of CGS-Turbine output power. A comprehensive thermodynamic modeling and parametric study of the proposed combined systems are conducted from the 4E analysis viewpoint. The results of two proposed systems are compared with each other, considering a fixed value of 1 MW for RC- and APC-Turbines power. Under the same external conditions and using steam as working fluid of RC, the thermal efficiency of the combined CGS/PEM-RC and -APC systems are obtained 32.9% and 33.6%, respectively. The overall exergy efficiency of the combined CGS/PEM-RC and -APC systems are also calculated by 47.9% and 48.9%, respectively. Moreover, the total sum unit cost of product (SUCP) and CO₂ emission penalty cost rate are obtained 36.9 $/GJ and 0.033 $/yr for the combined CGS/PEM-RC and 36 $/GJ and 0.211 $/yr for the combined CGS/PEM-APC systems, respectively. The results of exergy analysis also revealed that the vapor generator (in both systems) has the main contribution in the overall exergy destruction.