Rainfall interception by sand-stabilizing shrubs related to crown structure

On the edge of the Tengger Desert in northern China,revegetation has changed the landscape from moving dunes to stabilized dunes covered by shrubs,which further modifies the pattern of rainfall redistribution.To study rainfall interception loss by shrubs and its relationship to rainfall properties and crown structure,throughfalls passing through crowns of Artemisia ordosica Krash.and Caragana korshinskii Kom.were measured using nine PVC cups under the canopy of each of the two shrubs during 73 rain events over a three-year period,with total rainfall of 260.9 mm.Interception losses of gross rainfall by A.ordosica and C.korshinskii account for 15% and 27% of the total on a crown area basis,and 6% and 11% on a ground area basis,respectively.Individual throughfall(T) and interception(I) were significantly related to rainfall amount(Pg),duration(D),and intensity(R).Ratios of throughfall to rainfall(T/Pg) and interception to rainfall(I/Pg) were not only significantly related to Pg,D,and R,but also to shrub species,and interactions of species with crown volume(CV) and leaf area index(LAI).Under most rain events,interceptions by C.korshinskii with greater CV and LAI were significantly higher than those by A.ordosica,and more rainfall interception occurred at locations closer to the stems of the two shrubs.For C.korshinskii,I/Pg had a significant positive linear relation with CV and LAI,while T/Pg had a significant negative linear relation with them.CV has a greater influence on T/Pg and I/Pg than does LAI.Using a regression method,canopy water storage capacities are estimated to be 0.52 and 0.68 mm,and free throughfall coefficient to be 0.62 and 0.47 for A.ordosica and C.korshinskii,respectively.

Empirical correction of kinetic model for polymer thermal reaction process based on first order reaction kinetics

Based on the theory of first-order reaction kinetics,a thermal reaction kinetic model in integral form has been derive.To make the model more applicable,the effects of time and the conversion degree on the reaction rate parameters were considered.Two types of undetermined functions were used to compensate for the intrinsic variation of the reaction rate,and two types of correction methods are provided.The model was explained and verified using published experimental data of different polymer thermal reaction systems,and its effectiveness and wide adaptability were confirmed.For the given kinetic model,only one parameter needs to be determined.The proposed empirical model is expected to be used in the numerical simulation of polymer thermal reaction process.

Seasonal variation in soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in an artificial sand-binding vegetation area in Shapotou, northern China

In this study, seasonal variation characteristics of surface soil microbial biomass carbon （MBC） and soil microbial biomass nitrogen （MBN） of an artificial vegetation area located in Shapotou for different time periods were studied using the chloroform fumigation method, and the results were compared with those of near-natural vegetation areas and mobile dunes. Results showed that the MBC and MBN levels in the 0-5 cm soil layer were higher in autumn than in summer and spring. As the prolongation of vegetation restoration raised the MBC and MBN levels in summer and autumn, no clear variation was found in spring. However, the MBC and MBN in 5-20 cm had no obvious seasonal variation. During summer and autumn, the variation trend of MBC and MBN in the vertical direction was shown to be 0-5 〉 5-10 〉 10-20 cm in the vegetation area, while for mobile dunes, the MBC and MBN levels increased as the depth increased. The natural vegetation area was shown to possess the highest MBC and MBN levels, and yet mobile dunes have the lowest MBC and MBN levels. MBC and MBN levels in artificial sand-binding vegetation increased with the prolongation of vegetation restoration, indicating that the succession of sand-binding vegetation will result in the ac- cumulation of soil carbon and nitrogen, as well as the restoration of soil fertility.

Physiological responses and adjustment mechanisms of the dominate species of natural vegetation of Eastern Tengger Desert

Reaumuria soongorica and Salsola passerina have significant differences in ecophysiological characteristics, which change with the environmental variations. Although they live together for a long period of time, their adaptive mechanisms to environmental stresses are very different. As two extreme xerophytes, Reaumuria soongorica and Salsola passerina differ significantly from other psammophytes in ecophysiological characteristics; they can survive in lower water potential, and can even grow in piedmont areas. Low water potential may be related to the existence of osmosis-regulating substance, such as praline, which can strengthen the capacity of water absorption. Compared to other psammophytes, Reaumuria soongorica and Salsola passerina have a higher degree of photo-inhibition under the same condition, and the photo-inhibition can lead to destruction of the photosynthetic pigment, nevertheless, this photo-inhibition can be repaired under suitable conditions in the morning and evening.

Heterogeneous reaction of NO_(2) with feldspar, three clay minerals and Arizona Test Dust

Heterogeneous reaction of NO_(2) with mineral dust aerosol may play important roles in troposphere chemistry,and has been investigated by a number of laboratory studies.However,the influence of mineralogy on this reaction has not been well understood,and its impact on aerosol hygroscopicity is not yet clear.This work investigated heterogeneous reactions of NO_(2)(∼10 ppmv)with K-feldspar,illite,kaolinite,montmorillonite and Arizona Test Dust(ATD)at room temperature as a function of relative humidity(<1%to 80%)and reaction time(up to 24 hr).Heterogeneous reactivity towards NO_(2) was low for illite,kaolinite,montmorillonite and ATD,and uptake coefficients of NO_(2),γ(NO_(2)),were determined to be around or smaller than 1×10^(−8);K-feldspar exhibited higher reactivity towards NO_(2),and CaCO_(3) is most reactive among the nine mineral dust samples considered in this and previous work.After heterogeneous reaction with NO_(2) for 24 hr,increase in hygroscopicity was nearly insignificant for illite,kaolinite and montmorillonite,and small but significant for K-feldspar;in addition,large increase in hygroscopicity was observed for ATD,although the increase in hygroscopicity was still smaller than CaCO_(3).

Effects of heterogeneous reaction with NO_(2) on ice nucleation activities of feldspar and Arizona Test Dust

Mineral dust is an important type of ice nucleating particles in the troposphere;however,the effects of heterogeneous reactions on ice nucleation(IN)activities of mineral dust remain to be elucidated.A droplet-freezing apparatus(Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry Ice Nucleation Apparatus,GIGINA)was developed in thiswork to measure IN activities of atmospheric particles in the immersion freezingmode,and its performancewas validated by a series of experimental characterizations.This apparatus was then employed to measure IN activities of feldspar and Arizona Test Dust(ATD)particles before and after heterogeneous reaction with NO_(2)(10±0.5 ppmv)at 40%relative humidity.The surface coverage of nitrate,θ(NO_(3)^(−)),increased to 3.1±0.2 for feldspar after reaction with NO_(2) for 6 hr,and meanwhile the active site density per unit surface area(ns)at-20℃ was reduced from 92±5 to<1.0 cm^(−2) by about two orders of magnitude;however,no changes in nitrate content or IN activities were observed for further increase in reaction time(up to 24 hr).Both nitrate content and IN activities changed continuously with reaction time(up to 24 hr)for ATD particles;after reaction with NO_(2) for 24 hr,θ(NO_(3)^(−))increased to 1.4±0.1 and ns at-20℃ was reduced from 20±4 to 9.7±1.9 cm^(−2) by a factor of∼2.Our work suggests that heterogeneous reaction with NO_(2),an abundant reactive nitrogen species in the troposphere,may significantly reduce IN activities of mineral dust in the immersion freezing mode.

Real-Time Facial Pose Estimation and Tracking by Coarse-to-Fine Iterative Optimization

We present a novel and efficient method for real-time multiple facial poses estimation and tracking in a single frame or video.First,we combine two standard convolutional neural network models for face detection and mean shape learning to generate initial estimations of alignment and pose.Then,we design a bi-objective optimization strategy to iteratively refine the obtained estimations.This strategy achieves faster speed and more accurate outputs.Finally,we further apply algebraic filtering processing,including Gaussian filter for background removal and extended Kalman filter for target prediction,to maintain real-time tracking superiority.Only general RGB photos or videos are required,which are captured by a commodity monocular camera without any priori or label.We demonstrate the advantages of our approach by comparing it with the most recent work in terms of performance and accuracy.

Spatiotemporal changes in terrestrial water storage in the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Region from GRACE satellites

The Sandstorm Source Control Project in and around the Beijing-Tianjin region was one of the most important ecological projects in China.Terrestrial water storage(TWS)has important impacts on the ecological construction,agriculture,industry,and resident's lives.Based on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE)data,meteorological and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)data,etc.,this paper analyzed spatiotemporal characteristics of TWS,groundwater storage,and precipitation,and explored the influencing factors of regional TWS combined with land use and land cover(LULC),social and economic data.The most important results were as follows:(1)From 2003 to 2016,TWS in the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Region showed a decreasing trend with a rate of 3.14 mm yr-1.(2)The TWS decline was caused mainly by groundwater overexploitation,but not pre-cipitation variation.(3)Spatiotemporal variations of TWS were related to LULC.The area with the most serious decrease of TWS was mainly located in the southwestern part of the region,where farmland percentage and population density were greater.(4)Reducing the percent of farmland and tree planting,and adding the shrub and grass planting,could be a viable choice for the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control Project.These results provide a scientific basis for regional water resource and ecological management.

Effect of contact forms on the wear of hard silicon surfaces by soft polymers

The mechanism of hard surfaces worn by soft polymers is not clearly understood.In this paper,a new hypothesis has been proposed,it holds that the stress acting on the hard surface under certain working conditions is the main reason for wear of the hard surface by a soft polymer.The hypothesis was investigated by changing the contact form between tribo-pairs.For this,friction tests between six polymer spheres and smooth,rough,and inclined monocrystalline silicon surfaces were carried out.The results show that for the same tribo-pair,the silicon surface will not be worn in some contact forms,but in other contact forms it will be worn.We believe the wear of hard surface by a soft polymer is the result of the combined stress state action on the hard surface.

Simple primitive recognition via hierarchical face clustering

We present a simple yet efficient algorithm for recognizing simple quadric primitives(plane,sphere,cylinder,cone)from triangular meshes.Our approach is an improved version of a previous hierarchical clustering algorithm,which performs pairwise clustering of triangle patches from bottom to top.The key contributions of our approach include a strategy for priority and fidelity consideration of the detected primitives,and a scheme for boundary smoothness between adjacent clusters.Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method produces qualitatively and quantitatively better results than representative state-of-the-art methods on a wide range of test data.