Gini Index for Cities: A Preliminary Study on Regional Differences of Chinese City Size Distribution

City size distribution is of interest because of a number of key stylized facts, including notably Zipf's law for cities and the importance of urban primacy. But a new and more efficient method Gini index can be used for calculating regional city size distribution. This paper begins by developing a calculation method for the Gini index, dividing the whole country into 26 areas and then calculating each area's Gini index value. Based on these calculation results, this paper gives a preliminary study on regional differences of its city size distribution and the dynamics.

Cropland Contribution Index Based on the Regional Cropland-Grain-Population Relationship

In order to reveal the attribute clearly and to understand the situation of the regional cropland-grain-population relationship,this paper presents the "cropland contribution index" model,and divides the cropland contribution land index into four levels,that is below subsistence,subsistence,well-off,and richness.Then,it analyzes the whole China,13 main producing regions,11 grain balancing regions,and 7 main sales regions.Results show that the overall cropland contribution index presented a rising trend in 1949 to 2010,it once reached well-off level in 1996 to 1999,and it reached the well-off level again in 2010,but there is still a long way to reach the level of richness.The cropland contribution index is relatively high in main producing regions.In 2010,all main producing regions reached the well-off level,and some provinces even reached the richness level.However,the cropland contribution index of main sales regions is lower and takes on a downtrend,especially in Guangdong,Zhejiang,and Fujian provinces.The cropland contribution index in grain balancing regions is not high,and most provinces are still at subsistence level.Researches have indicated that the cropland contribution index can simply and rapidly reflect the relation between regional cropland,grain and population.

Regional Climate Index for Floods and Droughts Using Canadian Climate Model (CGCM3.1)

The impacts of climate change on the discharge regimes in New Brunswick (Canada) were analyzed, using artificial neural network models. Future climate data were extracted from the Canadian Coupled General Climate Model (CGCM3.1) under the greenhouse gas emission scenarios B1 and A2 defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The climate change fields (temperatures and precipitation) were downscaled using the delta change approach. Using the artificial neural network, future river discharge was predicted for selected hydrometric stations. Then, a frequency analysis was carried out using the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution function, where the parameters of the distribution were estimated using L-moments method. Depending on the scenario and the time slice used, the increase in low return floods was about 30% and about 15% for higher return floods. Low flows showed increases of about 10% for low return droughts and about 20% for higher return droughts. An important part of the design process using frequency analysis is the estimation of future change in floods or droughts under climate scenarios at a given site and for specific return periods. This was carried out through the development of Regional Climate Index (RCI), linking future floods and droughts to their frequencies under climate scenarios B1 and A2.

Establishment of Evaluation Index for the Sustainable Development Capability of Regional Economy

Combining the basic theory of regional economics and economics of development,the sustainable development capability of regional economy is expounded;the meaning of sustainable development,the connotation of the sustainable development of regional economy and the specific qualitative of the developmental capability of regional economy are introduced.Various factors that affect the sustainable development of regional economy,such as the sustainable capability of resources,innovation ability and institutional capability,are analyzed at length.On the basis,the evaluation index system of sustainable development capability of regional economy,so as to provide directions for regional economy from the long-term perspective.

Identifying Regional Prolonged Low Temperature Events in China

This study examined regional prolonged low temperature （PLT） events in China from the observational station data for the period 1960–2008 using the new criteria. The new definition of a site PLT event is that the daily minimum temperature does not exceed the 10th percentile threshold of the local daily minimum temperature climatology for at least 5 days at a station. The regional PLT event is defined as at least five adjacent stations exhibiting site PLT simultaneously for 5 d. Under the new definition, 552 regional PLT events were identified, and three indices： duration, extent, and intensity, as well as a comprehensive index （CI） were used to quantify the event severity. In addition, geographical patterns and temporal variations of regional PLT events were investigated using three event categories： strong, moderate, and weak. Spatially, strong events were mainly located in the north of Xinjiang and along the Yangtze River to the south of the Yangtze River; moderate events occurred in Xinjiang and south of the Yangtze River; and weak events occurred south of the Yellow River. The variation for the annual frequency of regional PLT events in China in the last 49 years showed a significant decreasing trend with a rate of-1.99 times per decade, and the significant transition decade was the 1980s.

Ranking Regional Drought Events in China for 1960-2009

The spatiotemporal variations of the site and regional droughts in China during 1960–2009 were analyzed by applying a daily composite-drought index （CDI） to 722 stations in China's Mainland. Droughts frequently happened in a zone extended from Southwest China to the Yellow River, North China, and the southwestern part of Northeast China, with two centers of high frequency in North China and Southwest China. In Southwest and South China, droughts tend to happen during the winter. In North China and along the Yellow River, droughts mainly occur during the winter and during May–June. During the past 50 years, the geographical distribution of site drought events showed high frequencies （0.9–1.3 times per year） in the upper Yellow River basin and North China, comparing with moderate frequencies （0.6–0.9 times per year） in Southwest China and the southwestern part of Northeast China and with lower frequencies over the middle and lower Yangtze River basin. And the frequencies increased over China's Mainland except for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. A regional drought （RD） event is a widespread and persistent event that covers at least five adjacent sites and lasts for at least 10 days. There were 252 RD events in the past 50 years—five times per year. Most RD events lasted for 100 days and covered 100 stations, but the longest and largest RD event lasted for 307 days from 6 September 1998 to 9 July 1999 and covered 327 stations from North to Southwest China.

Regional Variability of Climate Change Hot-Spots in East Asia

The regional climate change index （RCCI） is employed to investigate hot-spots under 21st century global warming over East Asia. The RCCI is calculated on a 1-degree resolution grid from the ensemble of CMIP3 simulations for the B1, AIB, and A2 IPCC emission scenarios. The RCCI over East Asia exhibits marked sub-regional variability. Five sub-regional hot-spots are identified over the area of investigation： three in the northern regions （Northeast China, Mongolia, and Northwest China）, one in eastern China, and one over the Tibetan Plateau. Contributions from different factors to the RCCI are discussed for the sub-regions. Analysis of the temporal evolution of the hot-spots throughout the 21st century shows different speeds of response time to global warming for the different sub-regions. Hot-spots firstly emerge in Northwest China and Mongolia. The Northeast China hot-spot becomes evident by the mid of the 21st century and it is the most prominent by the end of the century. While hot-spots are generally evident in all the 5 sub-regions for the A1B and A2 scenarios, only the Tibetan Plateau and Northwest China hot-spots emerge in the B1 scenario, which has the lowest greenhouse gas （GHG） concentrations. Our analysis indicates that subregional hot-spots show a rather complex spatial and temporal dependency on the GHG concentration and on the different factors contributing to the RCCI.

MODELING OF REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF LAND-USE DEGREE IN CHINA

This paper presents an index system and a method for calculating the comprehensive index of land-use degree. The latest data form two projects titled "Remote sensing Macro Investigation and Dynamic Study of National Resources and Environment" and "Resources and Environment Database of China" have been fully applied. In addition, this paper analyzes the regularity of the regional differentiation of land-use degree in China and the socio-economic and physical factors which affect the change of land-use degree in China. The "polar" model and the "longitude-distance" model of land-use degree of China are also developed.

Regional ecological security anddiagnosisof obstaclefactors in underdevelopedregions：acasestudy in Yunnan Province,China

In order toclarify regional ecological security status and formation mechanism of regional ecological security barriers in underdeveloped regions of China,we took Yunnan province as a case to evaluate its regional ecological security by using entropy matter-element model,comprehensive index and GIS spatial method,and we diagnosed itsobstacle factors through obstacle degree model. We found a low overall level of regional ecological security in Yunnan. Only Kunmingfell into the good level, 68% of the regions were below the critical safe level. For the vast majority of regions in Yunnan, their regional ecological security was unstable. The indexes related to per capita resources, geological and topographyenvironment, economic, and technologywere at the unsafe or dangerous level.The indexes related to urban expansion, level of income, cultivated land quality were at the level of critical safety. The indexes concerning urban management capacity, airqualityand waterenvironment were at the good or ideallevel. Yunnan's regional ecological security was not good due to natural obstructive environment itself, simultaneously lower backward economic and social level restricted the ability of ecological security response to manage ragile ecological environment. The results of the composite index wereroughly consistent with those of the entropy weight matterelement model. The mean values of the classification index,from high to low, were: the state index>the response index>the pressure index. The state index and the response index had a significant mutual promotion to each other.The regions with good composite index, state index and response index mainly distributed in the central regions of Yunnan Province. Spatial autocorrelation of regional ecological security level in Yunnan was not obvious. Water resources, economic and social development were main obstacle factors of the regional ecological security.When distinguishing with obstacle type, Kunming belonged to natural ecological environment barrier type, while other regions belonged to economic and social barrier type.

Research on Indicator System of Regional Eco-efficiency:A Case Study of Chengyang District

Eco-efficiency is a valuable tool for managing and solving issues involving resource consumption and pollution emission in current production processes.Despite the popularity of the term"eco-efficiency"in business,limited attention has been paid to measuring and reporting regional eco-efficiency for local government policy makers.Based on the concept and method of eco-efficiency,an indicator system of regional eco-efficiency is established in this study.The indicator system comprises 22 indicators,which are divided in to three categories including socio-economic development,resources consumption, environmental pressure.As a promising statistical technique, principle component analysis is used to set the weight of indicators which attempts to calculate the eco-efficiency indices of Qingdao's Chengyang District.The results show that the eco-efficiency of Chengyang District has clearly improved 35.1% with small fluctuation from 1995 to 2003.Socio-economic development index and resources consumption index also represent obvious increasing trends.The correlation coefficient between soci-economic development index and resources consumption index is 0.979,which means the social progress and economic growth of Chengyang District depend on an extravagant consumption of resources.The environmental pressure index increased slowly before 1997 and declined gradually after 1997,due to more attention being paid to environmental protection by local government in recent years.Chengyang District still keeps the traditional economic development mode with a high consumption and high production,so the emphases of future development should put on improving the improving the efficient use of natural resources and promoting environmental management sustainability.The results show that the indicators system of regional eco-efficiency is a promising method to quantitatively evaluate resources and environmental efficiency and provide an effective decision-making support for local governments.

Ecological environment quality evaluation of the Sahel region in Africa based on remote sensing ecological index

Long-term monitoring of the ecological environment changes is helpful for the protection of the ecological environment.Based on the ecological environment of the Sahel region in Africa,we established a remote sensing ecological index(RSEI)model for this region by combining dryness,moisture,greenness,and desertification indicators.Using the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)data in Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform,this study analyzed the ecological environment quality of the Sahel region during the period of 2001-2020.We used liner regression and fluctuation analysis methods to study the trend and fluctuation of RSEI,and utilized the stepwise regression approach to analyze the contribution of each indicator to the RSEI.Further,the correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between RSEI and precipitation,and Hurst index was applied to evaluate the change trend of RSEI in the future.The results show that RSEI of the Sahel region exhibited spatial heterogeneity.Specifically,it exhibited a decrease in gradient from south to north of the Sahel region.Moreover,RSEI in parts of the Sahel region presented non-zonal features.Different land-cover types demonstrated different RSEI values and changing trends.We found that RSEI and precipitation were positively correlated,suggesting that precipitation is the controlling factor of RSEI.The areas where RSEI values presented an increasing trend were slightly less than the areas where RSEI values presented a decreasing trend.In the Sahel region,the areas with the ecological environment characterized by continuous deterioration and continuous improvement accounted for 44.02%and 28.29%of the total study area,respectively,and the areas in which the ecological environment was changing from improvement to deterioration and from deterioration to improvement accounted for 12.42%and 15.26%of the whole area,respectively.In the face of the current ecological environment and future change trends of RSEI in the Sahel region,the research results provide a reference for the construction of the"Green Great Wall"(GGW)ecological environment project in Africa.

Evaluation on Regional Ecological Benefits of Windbreak Systems

This paper studied how dynamically to evaluate regional ecological benefits of windbreak systems in a county scale. Data of air temperature. humidity. wind speed, crop yield and forest cover percentage were investigated and collected in some of counties of Heilongjiang Province, where windbreak systems were established in the last thirty years. Through analysis, an evaluation index system estimating regional ecological benetits of windbreak systems was set up, which consists of both a vegetation index system and a climate index systeln. The former includes a forest cover percentage index and a crop yield index; the later does three variable indexes of wind speed, air temperature and humidity. An integrated regional ecological benefit index.was developed through combinations of some coined evaluation indexes from the evaluation system.And to take Zhaozhou County and Anda County as a case study, the regional ecological benetits since establishment of windbreak systems of the two counties were evaluated dynamically using the integrated index.

A New Approach to Measurement of Regional Inequality in Particular Directions

Regional inequality is a core issue in geography,and it can be measured by several approaches and indexes.However,the global inequality measures can not reflect regional characteristics in terms of spatiality and non-mobility,as well as correctly explore regional inequality in particular directions.Although conventional between-group inequality indexes can measure the inequality in particular directions,they can not reflect the reversals of regional patterns and changes of within-group patterns.Therefore,we set forth a new approach to measure regional inequality in particular directions,which is applicable to geographic field.Based on grouping,we established a new index to measure regional inequality in particular directions named Particular Direction Inequality index(PDI index),which is comprised of between-group inequality of all data and between-group average gap.It can reflect regional spatiality and non-mobility,judge the main direction of regional inequality,and capture the changes and reversals of regional patterns.We used the PDI index to measure the changes of regional inequality from 1952 to 2009 in China.The results show that:1) the main direction of China's regional inequality was between coastal areas and inland areas;the increasing extent of inequality between coastal areas and inland areas was higher than the global inequality;2) the PDI index can measure the between-region average gap,and is more sensitive to evolution of within-region patterns;3) the inequality between the northern China and the southern China has been decreasing from 1952 to 2009 and was reversed in 1994 and 1995.

Estimation of Global Solar Radiation Using Clearness Index and Cloud Transmittance Factor at Trans-Himalayan Region in Nepal

This paper presents the global solar radiation (GSR) and cloud transmittance factor (cf) measured at the horizontal surface over a period of one year from 2009 to 2010 using CMP6 Pyranometer and NILUUV Irradiance Meter at Lukla (Latitude 26.69oN,Longitude 86.73?E and Altitude 2850 m) in the foothills of the Mt Everest (8850 m high). Monthly and seasonal variations of global solar radiation as well as correlation between clearness index and cloud transmittance factor at Lukla are presented. The annual average daily global solar radiation is about 3.83 kWh/sq·m/day which is sufficient to promote solar active and passive energy technology at high mountain terrain where there is no other viable alternative sources of energy. The maximum and minimum global solar radiation of 5.33 and 2.08 kWh/sq·m/day is recorded in April and September 2010 respectively. The seasonal variation of solar energy is about 2.87 kWh/sq·m/day and 4.83 kWh/sq·m/day in summer and spring respectively which is not in line with the general trend. The coefficient of determination (R2) between cloud transmittance factor (cf) and clearness factor (K) is found to be 0.97. This novel result can be utilized to estimate the global solar radiation at the horizontal surface where K and cf are available.

Vegetation Index Reconstruction and Linkage with Drought for the Source Region of the Yangtze River Based on Tree-ring Data

Variations in vegetation are closely related to climate change, but understanding of their characteristics and causes remains limited. As a typical semi-humid and semi-arid cold plateau region, it is important to understand the knowledge of long term Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) variations and find the potential causes in the source region of the Yangtze River. Based on four tree-ring width chronologies, the regional mean NDVI for July and August spanning the period 1665–2013 was reconstructed using a regression model, and it explained 43.9% of the total variance during the period 1981–2013. In decadal, the reconstructed NDVI showed eight growth stages(1754–1764, 1766–1783, 1794–1811, 1828–1838, 1843–1855, 1862–1873, 1897–1909, and 1932–1945)and four degradation stages(1679–1698, 1726–1753, 1910–1923, and 1988–2000). And based on wavelet analysis, significant cycles of2–3 yr and 3–8 yr were identified. In additional, there was a significant positive correlation between the NDVI and the Palmer Drought Severity Index(PDSI) during the past 349 yr, and they were mainly in phase. However, according to the results of correlation analysis between different grades of drought/wet and NDVI, there was significant asymmetry in extreme drought years and extreme wet years. In extreme drought years, NDVI was positively correlated with PDSI, and in extreme wet years they were negatively correlated.

R/S AND WAVELET ANALYSIS ON EVOLUTIONARYPROCESS OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN CHINA DURING PAST 50 YEARS

This paper shows the dynamic process of regional disparity of economic development in China in the past 50 years from a new insight by using the rescaled range statistic (R/S) analysis and wavelet analysis of the Theil index sequence with different time scales. The main conclusions are: 1) The regional disparity of economic development in China, including the inter-provincial disparity, inter-regional disparity and intra-regional disparity, has existed for many years. Theil index by the comparative price has revealed the true trend for comparative disparity of regional economic development from 1952 to 2000. 2) Decomposition of Theil index indicates that the dynamic trend of comparative inter-provincial disparity in the coastal region is in line with dynamic trend of inter-provincial disparity in the whole China. 3) The R/S analysis results tell us that during 1966-1978, the Hurst exponent H=0.504≈0.5, which indicates that in that period the evolution of comparative inter-provincial disparity of economic development showed a random characteristic, and in the other periods, i.e. 1952-1965, 1979-1990 and 1991-2000, the Hurst exponent H>0.5, which indicates that in those periods the evolution of the comparative inter-provincial disparity of economic development in China had a long-enduring characteristic. 4) By using wavelet analysis at different time scale, we arrived at a conclusion that the evolutionary process of the disparity of economic development of China is not a simple inverted U shape but a compound of several U shapes. The result tells us that the evolutionary plot of inter-provincial disparity in China follows the inverted U on the whole at the higher scale, 24(16 years). That is to say, the disparity tends to rise in the first stage of economic development, and fall slowly over the peak in the second stage of economic development. However, if we shorten the time scale to 23 (8 years), then a link of several U shapes will appear.

Spatial-temporal changes and driving factors of eco-environmental quality in the Three-North region of China

Eco-environmental quality is a measure of the suitability of the ecological environment for human survival and socioeconomic development.Understanding the spatial-temporal distribution and variation trend of eco-environmental quality is essential for environmental protection and ecological balance.The remote sensing ecological index(RSEI)can quickly and objectively quantify eco-environmental quality and has been extensively utilized in regional ecological environment assessment.In this paper,Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)images during the growing period(July-September)from 2000 to 2020 were obtained from the Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform to calculate the RSEI in the three northern regions of China(the Three-North region).The Theil-Sen median trend method combined with the Mann-Kendall test was used to analyze the spatial-temporal variation trend of eco-environmental quality,and the Hurst exponent and the Theil-Sen median trend were superimposed to predict the future evolution trend of eco-environmental quality.In addition,ten variables from two categories of natural and anthropogenic factors were analyzed to determine the drivers of the spatial differentiation of eco-environmental quality by the geographical detector.The results showed that from 2000 to 2020,the RSEI in the Three-North region exhibited obvious regional characteristics:the RSEI values in Northwest China were generally between 0.2 and 0.4;the RSEI values in North China gradually increased from north to south,ranging from 0.2 to 0.8;and the RSEI values in Northeast China were mostly above 0.6.The average RSEI value in the Three-North region increased at an average growth rate of 0.0016/a,showing the spatial distribution characteristics of overall improvement and local degradation in eco-environmental quality,of which the areas with improved,basically stable and degraded eco-environmental quality accounted for 65.39%,26.82%and 7.79%of the total study area,respectively.The Hurst exponent of the RSEI ranged from 0.20 to 0.76 and the future trend of eco-environmental quality was generally consistent with the trend over the past 21 years.However,the areas exhibiting an improvement trend in eco-environmental quality mainly had weak persistence,and there was a possibility of degradation in eco-environmental quality without strengthening ecological protection.Average relative humidity,accumulated precipitation and land use type were the dominant factors driving the spatial distribution of eco-environmental quality in the Three-North region,and two-factor interaction also had a greater influence on eco-environmental quality than single factors.The explanatory power of meteorological factors on the spatial distribution of eco-environmental quality was stronger than that of topographic factors.The effect of anthropogenic factors(such as population density and land use type)on eco-environmental quality gradually increased over time.This study can serve as a reference to protect the ecological environment in arid and semi-arid regions.

Analysis on areal relationship between regional environment and socioeconomy—taking the Chinese Yellow Sea coastal zone as a case

From the regional view, this paper analyzes the regional difference between the environmental regional structure and the socio-economic structure, establishes the regional connection between them, and determines the leading direction of the regulation of the socio-economy to improve the environmental quality in different regions.

Research Progress on Evaluation Frameworks of Regional Ecological Sustainability

As natural ecosystems provide the material basis and fundamental support for regional sustainable devel-opment,the sustainability of natural ecosystems is an important prerequisite and a viable approach for the achievement of regional sustainable development.It is also the final criteria to assess whether sustainable development paradigm is successful.Along with the increasing impacts of human activities on natural ecosystems,the evaluation of regional ecological sustainability has become one of the key issues for research on macro ecology and sustainable development.Based on different unit of indicators,this study firstly groups the evaluation frameworks of regional ecological sus-tainability into three major types:comprehensive index evaluation with dimensionless unit,monetary valuation,and biophysical quantity measurement.We then discuss and compare these types in terms of basic principles,scope of ap-plications,advantages and shortcomings.Finally,drawn on the discussion about characteristics of ecological sustain-ability,we outline the current trend and future directions of regional ecological sustainability evaluation,for instance,transition from sustainable development evaluation to sustainability science,integration of goal-oriented and problem-solving approaches,combination of spatial pattern analysis and ecological sustainability evaluation,and en-hancement of ecological sustainability evaluation at landscape scale.