Vegetation fractional coverage change in a typical oasis region in Tarim River Watershed based on remote sensing

Vegetation fractional coverage （VFC） is an important index to describe and evaluate the ecological system. The vegetation index is widely used to monitor vegetation coverage in the field of remote sensing （RS）. In this paper, the author conducted a case study of the delta oasis of Weigan and Kuqa rivers, which is a typical saline area in the Tarim River Watershed. The current study was based on the TM/ETM＋ images of 1989, 2001, and 2006, and supported by Geographic Information System （GIS） spatial analysis, vegetation index, and dimidiate pixel model. In addition, VBSl （vegetation, bare soil and shadow indices） suitable for TM/ETM＋ irrlages, constructed with FCD （forest canopy density） model principle and put forward by ITTO （International Tropical Timber Organization）, was used, and it was applied to estimate the VFC. The estimation accuracy was later prow^n to be up to 83.52%. Further, the study analyzed and appraised the changes in vegetation patterns and revealed a pattern of spatial change in the vegetation coverage of the study area by producing the map of VFC levels in the delta oasis. Forest, grassland, and farmland were the three main land-use types with high and extremely-high coverage, and they played an important role in maintaining the vegetation. The forest area determined the changes of the coverage area, whereas the other two land types affected the directions of change. Therefore, planting trees, protecting grasslands, reclaiming farmlands, and controlling unused lands should be included in a long-term program because of their importance in keeping regional vegetation coverage. Finally, the dynamic variation of VFC in the study area was evaluated according to the quantity and spatial distribution rendered by plant cover diigital images to deeply analyze the reason behind the variation.

CLOUD RADIATIVE AND MICROPHYSICAL EFFECTS ON THE RELATION BETWEEN SPATIAL MEAN RAIN RATE, RAIN INTENSITY AND FRACTIONAL RAINFALL COVERAGE

Cloud radiative and microphysical effects on the relation between spatial mean rain rate, rain intensity and fractional rainfall coverage are investigated in this study by conducting and analyzing a series of two-dimensional cloud resolving model sensitivity experiments of pre-summer torrential rainfall in June 2008. The analysis of time-mean data shows that the exclusion of radiative effects of liquid clouds reduces domain mean rain rate by decreasing convective rain rate mainly through the reduced convective-rainfall area associated with the strengthened hydrometeor gain in the presence of radiative effects of ice clouds, whereas it increases domain mean rain rate by enhancing convective rain rate mainly via the intensified convective rain intensity associated with the enhanced net condensation in the absence of radiative effects of ice clouds. The removal of radiative effects of ice clouds decreases domain mean rain rate by reducing stratiform rain rate through the suppressed stratiform rain intensity related to the suppressed net condensation in the presence of radiative effects of liquid clouds, whereas it increases domain mean rain rate by strengthening convective rain rate mainly via the enhanced convective rain intensity in response to the enhanced net condensation in the absence of radiative effects of liquid clouds. The elimination of microphysical effects of ice clouds suppresses domain mean rain rate by reducing stratiform rain rate through the reduced stratiform-rainfall area associated with severely reduced hydrometeor loss.

Development of an Establishment Scheme for a DGVM

Environmental changes are expected to shift the distribution and abundance of vegetation by determining seedling estab- lishment and success. However, most current ecosystem models only focus on the impacts of abiotic factors on biogeophysics （e.g., global distribution, etc.）, ignoring their roles in the population dynamics （e.g., seedling establishment rate, mortality rate, etc.） of ecological communities. Such neglect may lead to biases in ecosystem population dynamics （such as changes in population density for woody species in forest ecosystems） and characteristics. In the present study, a new establishment scheme for introducing soil water as a function rather than a threshold was developed and validated, using version 1.0 of the IAP-DGVM as a test bed. The results showed that soil water in the establishment scheme had a remarkable influence on forest transition zones. Compared with the original scheme, the new scheme significantly improved simulations of tree population density, especially in the peripheral areas of forests and transition zones. Consequently, biases in forest fractional coverage were reduced in approximately 78.8% of the global grid cells. The global simulated areas of tree, shrub, grass and bare soil performed better, where the relative biases were reduced from 34.3% to 4.8%, from 27.6% to 13.1%, from 55.2% to 9.2%, and from 37.6% to 3.6%, respectively. Furthermore, the new scheme had more reasonable dependencies of plant functional types （PFTs） on mean annual precipitation, and described the correct dominant PFTs in the tropical rainforest peripheral areas of the Amazon and central Africa.

Investigation of Uncertainties of Establishment Schemes in Dynamic Global Vegetation Models

In Dynamic Global Vegetation Models （DGVMs）, the establishment of woody vegetation refers to flowering, fertiliza- tion, seed production, germination, and the growth of tree seedlings. It determines not only the population densities but also other important ecosystem structural variables. In current DGVMs, establishments of woody plant functional types （PFTs） are assumed to be either the same in the same grid cell, or largely stochastic. We investigated the uncertainties in the competition of establishment among coexisting woody PFTs from three aspects： the dependence of PFT establishments on vegetation states; background establishment; and relative establishment potentials of different PFTs. Sensitivity experi- ments showed that the dependence of establishment rate on the fractional coverage of a PFT favored the dominant PFT by increasing its share in establishment. While a small background establishment rate had little impact on equilibrium states of the ecosystem, it did change the timescale required for the establishment of alien species in pre-existing forest due to their disadvantage in seed competition during the early stage of invasion. Meanwhile, establishment purely fiom background （the scheme commonly used in current DGVMs） led to inconsistent behavior in response to the change in PFT specification （e.g., number of PFTs and their specification）. Furthermore, the results also indicated that trade-off between irtdividual growth and reproduction/colonization has significant influences on the competition of establishment. Hence, further development of es- tablishment parameterization in DGVMs is essential in reducing the uncertainties in simulations of both ecosystem structures and successions.

Radiative Effects on Torrential Rainfall during the Landfall of Typhoon Fitow(2013)

Cloud microphysical and rainfall responses to radiative processes are examined through analysis of cloud-resolving model sensitivity experiments of Typhoon Fitow（2013） during landfall.The budget analysis shows that the increase in the mean rainfall caused by the exclusion of radiative effects of water clouds corresponds to the decrease in accretion of raindrops by cloud ice in the presence of radiative effects of ice clouds,but the rainfall is insensitive to radiative effects of water clouds in the absence of radiative effects of ice clouds.The increases in the mean rainfall resulting from the removal of radiative effects of ice clouds correspond to the enhanced net condensation.The increases（decreases） in maximum rainfall caused by the exclusion of radiative effects of water clouds in the presence（absence） of radiative effects of ice clouds,or the removal of radiative effects of ice clouds in the presence（absence） of radiative effects of water clouds,correspond mainly to the enhancements（reductions） in net condensation.The mean rain rate is a product of rain intensity and fractional rainfall coverage.The radiation-induced difference in the mean rain rate is related to the difference in rain intensity.The radiation-induced difference in the maximum rain rate is associated with the difference in the fractional coverage of maximum rainfall.

Effects of ecological projects on vegetation in the Three Gorges Area of Chongqing, China

The construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir and the resettlement project have caused increasing contradictions between human and land,and led to the deterioration of the ecological environment. In order to ameliorate ecological environment of the Three Gorges Area, the government carried out several ecological restoration projects to improve the vegetation coverage from 1990 s. This paper aims to quantitatively analyze the impact of ecological projects on the vegetation in the Three Gorges Area of Chongqing, China. Landsat and MODIS data from 1992 to 2015 were used to estimate vegetation coverage. In addition, the land cover data of the European Space Agency(ESA) was used to explore the impact of ecological projects on land cover change. The cropland accounted for about 62% and the forestland accounted for about 34% of the total area. There was more than 90% of the study area covered with high or very high vegetation coverage.From 1992 to 2015, a total of 272.7 km;croplands were converted into forestland in the Ecological Migration Project(EMP), 795.6 km;in the Grain for Green Project(GGP), and 13.77 km;in the Ecological Restoration Zone Project(ERZP). Among the three projects, the GGP was the most powerful measure,with a contribution rate of 1.6%. The implementation of the ecological projects improved vegetation coverage, which indicated that the ecological projects measures were effective in ecological restoration.

Evaluating the Impact of Different Vegetation Types on NEE: A Case Study of Banni Grasslands, India

Estimation of NEE of Grasslands ecosystems becomes mandatory as these grasslands with their wide spread (almost 40% of land of the earth) and high plant diversity play a major role in global carbon balances and NEE at both local and global scale. The present study has been focused on understanding the role of different plant species responsible for variation in NEE of the Banni Grasslands of India. These grasslands form a belt of arid grassland having low growing forbs, graminoids and scattered tree cover. Due to its wide spread and inaccessibility of Banni, this study utilized spatial approach for evaluating carbon emissions and NEE. Landsat data was utilized for vegetation type classification and SMAP data for extraction of NEE values proved their potential for categorising vegetation type and generating NEE values precisely. Three major plant types were identified from the study area viz., Grasslands, Land with Acacia and Land with Prosopis. Grasses were dominant covering 77% and the rest of the area was occupied by the other two classes, i.e. Acacia and Prosopis. The NEE values were higher for the grasses when compared to the other two plant species proving to be the active sinks when compared to other plants. The differential contribution of NEE by species has been depicted in the present work.

Effect of fine solid particles on absorption rate of gaseous CO_(2)

The influence of the properties of solid particles in slurry on the absorption of CO_(2) in the slurry was inves-tigated in a stirred thermostatic reactor.The absorption experiments were carried out in three different slurries con-sisting of water,cyclohexane and soybean oil,respectively,and three kinds of solid particles(active carbon,active alu-mina and silica gel)were incorporated into each of the above mentioned slurries separately.The experimental results show that the active carbon particles could enhance the absorption rate of gaseous CO_(2) in the aqueous slurry,while in the cyclohexane slurry,active carbon particles indi-cated no the absorption enhancement effect.However,it was observed that the active alumina and silica gel particles could enhance the absorption rate of CO_(2) in the cyclohex-ane slurry.These phenomena indicate that the solid part-icles,which could enhance the gaseous CO_(2) absorption rate,should possess two properties simultaneously,i.e.they rejected the solvent and had higher adsorption capacity for the solute.The experimental results also show that,as for those solid particles which could enhance the gas absorption rate,the enhancement increased quickly with the increase of solid concentration in slurry at first,and then reached a constant value gradually.It was also found that the enhancement factor was related to the coverage fraction of solid particles on the gas-liquid interface,and due to the reduction of surface fraction with increasing stirred speed,the enhancement factor decreased.