Epidemic Characteristics and Spatio-Temporal Patterns of HFRS in Qingdao City,China,2010-2022

Objective This study investigated the epidemic characteristics and spatio-temporal dynamics of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome(HFRS)in Qingdao City,China.Methods Information was collected on HFRS cases in Qingdao City from 2010 to 2022.Descriptive epidemiologic,seasonal decomposition,spatial autocorrelation,and spatio-temporal cluster analyses were performed.Results A total of 2,220 patients with HFRS were reported over the study period,with an average annual incidence of 1.89/100,000 and a case fatality rate of 2.52%.The male:female ratio was 2.8:1.75.3%of patients were aged between 16 and 60 years old,75.3%of patients were farmers,and 11.6%had both“three red”and“three pain”symptoms.The HFRS epidemic showed two-peak seasonality:the primary fall-winter peak and the minor spring peak.The HFRS epidemic presented highly spatially heterogeneous,street/township-level hot spots that were mostly distributed in Huangdao,Pingdu,and Jiaozhou.The spatio-temporal cluster analysis revealed three cluster areas in Qingdao City that were located in the south of Huangdao District during the fall-winter peak.Conclusion The distribution of HFRS in Qingdao exhibited periodic,seasonal,and regional characteristics,with high spatial clustering heterogeneity.The typical symptoms of“three red”and“three pain”in patients with HFRS were not obvious.

Spatio-Temporal Change of Dispersal Areas of Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) in Lake Bogoria Landscape, Kenya

Decline in wildlife populations is manifest globally, regionally and locally. A wildlife decline of 68% has been reported in Kenya’s rangelands with Baringo County experiencing more than 85% wildlife loss in the last four decades. Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) is endemic to Lake Bogoria landscape in Baringo County and constitutes a major tourist attraction for the region necessitating use of its photo on the County’s logo and thus a flagship species. Tourism plays a central role in Baringo County’s economy and is a major source of potential growth and employment creation. The study was carried out to assess spatio-temporal change of dispersal areas of Greater Kudu (GK) in Lake Bogoria landscape in the last four years for enhanced adaptive management and improved livelihoods. GK population distribution primary data collected in December 2022 and secondary data acquired from Lake Bogoria National Game Reserve (LBNGR) for 2019 and 2020 were digitized using in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Measures of dispersion and point pattern analysis (PPA) were used to analyze dispersal of GK population using GIS. Spatio-temporal change of GK dispersal in LBNR was evident thus the null hypothesis was rejected. It is recommended that anthropogenic activities contributing to GK’s habitat degradation be curbed by providing alternative livelihood sources and promoting community adoption of sustainable technologies for improved livelihoods.

Historical Changes,Contemporary Characteristics,and Five Transformations of Environmental Design in China

Starting from the characteristics of modernization in three different historical stages since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,this paper analyses the internal changes in the professional name,subordinate disciplines and categories,and professional mission of the environmental design profession,and summarizes the changes in the characteristics of the environmental design profession in 10 aspects such as subordinate disciplines,design objects,design types,cultural characteristics,and aesthetic values on the basis of the results of the analysis,and explores five transformations of the environmental design profession in the process of China’s development in the future.The five transformations in the future development of China are to serve the harmony and beauty of the three major urban and rural spaces with“small and micro-renewal and reconstruction”;to serve the transmission of Chinese culture and the spread of Chinese civilization with“spatial heritage and innovation”;to serve the balance and sufficiency of the four functions of urban and rural settlements with“friendliness and equilibrium”;to serve the intelligence,wisdom,and enjoyment of indoor and outdoor living environment space with“scientific and technological achievements”;and to serve the co-construction,co-management,and sharing of indoor and outdoor public space in urban and rural areas with“public participation.”

Spatio-temporal distribution of net primary productivity along the northeast China transect and its response to climatic change

An improved Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach model （CASA model） was used to estimate the net primary productivity （NPP） of the Northeast China Transect （NECT） every month from 1982 to 2000. The spatial-temporal distribution of NPP along NECT and its response to climatic change were also analyzed. Results showed that the change tendency of NPP spatial distribution in NECT is quite similar to that of precipitation and their spatial correlation coefficient is up to 0.84 （P 〈 0.01）. The inter-annual variation of NPP in NECT is mainly affected by the change of the aestival NPP every year, which accounts for 67.6% of the inter-annual increase in NPP and their spatial correlation coefficient is 0.95 （P 〈 0.01）. The NPP in NECT is mainly cumulated between May and September, which accounts for 89.8% of the annual NPP. The NPP in summer （June to August） accounts for 65.9% of the annual NPP and is the lowest in winter. Recent climate changes have enhanced plant growth in NECT. The mean NPP increased 14.3% from 1980s to 1990s. The inter-annual linear trend of NPP is 4.6 gC·m^-2·a^-1, and the relative trend is 1.17%, which owns mainly to the increasing temperature.

Available parking space occupancy change characteristics and short-term forecasting model

Based on an available parking space occupancy （APSO） survey conducted in Nanjing, China, an APSO forecasting model is proposed. The APSO survey results indicate that the time series of APSO with different time-sections are periodical and self-similar, and the fluctuation of the APSO increases with the decrease in time-sections. Taking the short-time change behavior into account, an APSO forecasting model combined wavelet analysis and a weighted Markov chain is presented. In this model, an original APSO time series is first decomposed by wavelet analysis, and the results include low frequency signals representing the basic trends of APSO and several high frequency signals representing disturbances of the APSO. Then different Markov models are used to forecast the changes of low and high frequency signals, respectively. Finally, integrating the predicted results induces the final forecasted APSO. A case study verifies the applicability of the proposed model. The comparisons between measured and forecasted results show that the model is a competent model and its accuracy relies on real-time update of the APSO database.

Climatic Change Characteristics in Growing Season in Rice Producing Area of Liaoning over the Past 50 years

Based on the conventional meteorological data of temperature,accumulated temperature,precipitation,sunshine,frozen soil and frost-free period from five stations(including Liaozhong,Kaiyuan,Dawa,Donggang and Zhuanghe)in Liaoning Province from April to September during 1960-2009,the climatic changes in growing season in rice producing area of Liaoning Province were analyzed.The results showed that average temperature,frost-free period and accumulated temperature showed increase trend in growing season in rice producing area over the past 50 years,while average maximum depth of frozen soil,precipitation and sunshine duration went down with fluctuation.

Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Climate Changes in the Urumqi River Basin of Tianshan Mountain over 50 years

Based on the meteorological data during 1959-2008 from five representative weather stations in the Urumqi River Basin and surrounding areas,the regional characteristics of temperature and precipitation in the basin featuring multi-climatic zones were studied by means of some methods including wavelet analysis.As was shown in the results,the temperature in the whole Urumqi River Basin demonstrated a significant upward trend.The temperature increase particularly in autumn and winter made the greatest contribution to the marked ascent.The interdecadal temperature in the basin showed a tendency to decline before the period during 1970s-1980s while it was on the rise after 1990s on the whole.The most concentrated period of temperature mutations was in the late 1990s.At the same time,the precipitation also showed an escalating trend,which experienced a stage of unanimous upward trend after 1990s.The most concentrated period of precipitation mutations was in the early 1990s.

Landslide Developmental Characteristics and Response to Climate Change since the Last Glacial in the Upper Reaches of the Yellow River, NE Tibetan Plateau

The upper reaches of the Yellow River in northeastern Tibetan Plateau are geohazards areas.The evolution of the Yellow River,chronology of some landslides,and spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of super large scale and giant landslides within the region are summarized using paleoclimate evidence,and the relationship between the intensive landslide period and climatic changes since the Last Glacial period is analyzed.It is concluded that （1） Super large scale and giant landslides are distributed widely within the region,particularly in the Qunke-Jianzha basin.（2） The chronological sequence of landslides is established by dating the slip zones of landslides and analyzing the relations between landslides and their overlying or underlying loess formations.Five landslide development periods are determined：53-49 ka BP,33-24 ka BP,10-8 ka BP,5-3.5 ka BP,and the present.（3） These correspond closely to warm and wet periods during the last 100,000 years,i.e.,two weak paleosol development stages of Malan loess deposited during the last Glacial period in the Chinese loess Plateau,L1-4 and L1-2 that belong to the marine oxygen isotope stage 3,the last deglaeial period,the Holocene Optimum,and the modern global warming period.（4） Landslide triggers may be closely linked to warm and wet periods related to rapid climatic transitions.

Spatio-Temporal Changes in the Rice Planting Area and Their Relationship to Climate Change in Northeast China: A Model-Based Analysis

Rice is one of the most important grain crops in Northeast China （NEC） and its cultivation is sensitive to climate change. This study aimed to explore the spatio-temporal changes in the NEC rice planting area over the period of 1980-2010 and to analyze their relationship to climate change. To do so, the CLUE-S （conversion of land use and its effects at small region extent） model was ifrst updated and used to simulate dynamic changes in the rice planting area in NEC to understand spatio-temporal change trends during three periods： 1980-1990, 1990-2000 and 2000-2010. The changing results in individual periods were then linked to climatic variables to investigate the climatic drivers of these changes. Results showed that the NEC rice planting area expanded quickly and increased by nearly 4.5 times during 1980-2010. The concentration of newly planted rice areas in NEC constantly moved northward and the changes were strongly dependent on latitude. This conifrmed that climate change, increases in temperature in particular, greatly inlfuenced the shift in the rice planting area. The shift in the north limit of the NEC rice planting area generally followed a 1＆#176;C isoline migration pattern, but with an obvious time-lag effect. These ifndings can help policy makers and crop producers take proper adaptation measures even when exposed to the global warming situation in NEC.

Spatiotemporal variation of drought characteristics in the Huang- Huai-Hai Plain, China under the climate change scenario

Understanding the potential drought characteristics under climate change is essential to reduce vulnerability and establish adaptation strategies, especially in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain （3H Plain）, which is a major grain production area in China. In this paper, we investigated the variations in drought characteristics （drought event frequency, duration, severity, and intensity） for the past 50 years （1961-2010） and under future scenarios （2010-2099）, based on the observed meteorological data and the Representative Concentration Pathway （RCP） 8.5 scenario, respectively. First, we compared the applicability of three climatic drought indices： the standardized precipitation index （SPI）, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index based on the Penman-Monteith equation （SPEI-PM） and the same index based on the Thornthwaite equation （SPEI-TH） to correlate the recorded agricultural drought areas. Then, we analyzed the drought characteristics using ＇run theory＇ for both historical and the future RCP 8.5 scenario based on the best performing index. Correlation analyses between drought indices and agricultural drought areas showed that SPEI-PM performed better than SPI and SPEI-TH in the 3H Plain. Based on the results of SPEI-PM, drought risks including duration, severity and intensity during 1961-2010 showed an decreasing trend. However, under the RCP 8.5 scenario, drought is expected to rise in frequency, duration, severity, and intensity from 2010-2099, although drought components during the 2010-2039 are predicted to be milder compared with historical conditions. This study highlights that the estimations for atmospheric evaporative demand would create differences in the prediction of long-term drought trends by different drought indices. The results of this study can help inform researchers and local policy makers to establish drought management strategies.

Characteristics and Process of Land Use Changes in the Yangtze River Delta, China

As one of the developing countries China has an arable land per capita far below the world’s average level. With a high-density population and the quick development of economy and urbanization, the Yangtze River Delta shows the typical characteristics of land use in developed regions of China, which are: high land reclamation rate and low arable land per capita; intensive land use and high output value; and rapid increasing of construction land area and fast diminishing of arable lands. The analysis indicates that the process of the arable land changes in the Yangtze River Delta could be divided into four different change stages over the past 50 years.

Spatio-Temporal Changes of Soil Salinity in Arid Areas of South Xinjiang Using Electromagnetic Induction

The aim of this paper was to research the spatio-temporal changes in total soluble salt content （TS） in a typical arid region of South Xinjiang, China, where the climate is arid and soil salinization happens easily. The total soluble salt content was interpreted by measurements made in the horizontal mode with EM38 and EM31. The electromagnetic induction （EM） surveys were made three times with the apparent soil electrical conductivity （ECa） measurements taken at 3 873 locations in Nov. 2008, 4 807 locations in Apr. 2009 and 6 324 locations in Nov. 2009, respectively. For interpreting the ECa measurements into total soluble salt content, calibtion sites were needed for EM survey of each time, e.g., 66 sites were selected in Nov. 2008 to measure ECa, and soils-core samples were taken by different depth layers of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm at the same time. On every time duplicate samples were taken at five sites to allevaite the local-scale variability, and soil temperatures in different layers through the profiles were also measured. Factors including TS, pH, water content, bulk density were analyzed by lab experiments. ECa calibration equations were obtained by linear regression analysis, which indicated that soil salinity was one primary concern to ECa with a determination coefficient of 0.792 in 0-10 cm layer, 0.711 in 10-20 cm layer and 0.544 in 20-40 cm layer, respectively. The maps of spatial distribution were predicted by Kriging interpolation, which showed that the high soil salinity was located near the drainage canal, which validated the trend effect caused by the irrigation canal and the drainage canal. And by comparing the soil salinity in different layers, the soluble salt accumulated to the top soil surface only in the area where the soil salinization was serious, and in the other areas, the soil salinity trended to increase from the top soil surface to 40 cm depth. Temporal changes showed that the soil salinity in November was higher than that in April, and the soil salinization trended to aggravate, especially in the top soil layer of 0-10 cm.

Tourism Competitiveness Evaluation and Spatio-temporal Characteristics of Chinese Border Counties

Under the current government strategy of building a Silk Road economic belt, tourism in Chinese border counties has becoming increasingly popular. Studying tourism competitiveness in Chinese border counties is of sizable theoretical and practical importance, as there are several notable factors involved. In this study, we constructed a tourism competitiveness evaluation model based on eight factors: natural environment, tourism resource, location and transportation, social environment, tourism service facility, border port, tourism industrial cluster and tourism market. We then analyzed the spatial characteristics of tourism competitiveness in border counties and identified five types of border counties: resource advantage type(RA), border-port advantage type(PA), location advantage type(LA), agglomeration advantage type(AA), and relative balance type(RB), and examined the correlation between tourism market competitiveness and interior competitiveness factors in the counties from 2006 to 2011. Results showed that tourism resource, location and transportation, and tourism service facility are the most important competition factors for RA border counties during the study period. Competition factors in PA counties transferred from tourism resource, social environment and tourism service facility to border port and tourism industrial cluster; competition factors in LA counties transferred from natural environment and tourism resource to tourism service facility and tourism industrial cluster and border port. Competition factors in AA counties transferred from tourism service facility to tourism resource. Tourism industrial cluster, tourism service facility and tourism resource proved to be important competition factors in RB counties. The findings of this study can be used to target tourism strategies according to different county types.

Characteristics of Changes in Karst Rocky Desertification in Southtern and Western China and Driving Mechanisms

The karst landform is a typical ecologically vulnerable region,and the problem of karst rocky desertification in southtern and western China has led to impoverishment and a degraded local ecological environment,which severely limits local socioeconomic development.An effective and appropriate control of karst rocky desertification in southtern and western China requires knowledge about its characteristics of variation and driving mechanisms.In this study,we chose eight regions in the southtern and western China as research areas and analysed the characteristics of the changes in karst ecosystem patterns and rocky desertification from 2000 to 2015.Based on these characteristics,we present the mechanisms that drive karst rocky desertification in the southtern and western China by utilizing the redundancy analysis(RDA)ordination method.The results show that the total area of rocky desertification in southtern and western China had been continuously decreasing from 2000 to 2015,revealing a positive development trend in rocky desertification.Rocky desertification variations were mainly affected by human activities.The reduction in farmland area improved farmland management and increased regional gross industrial product,which together with continuously rising gross domestic product of the tertiary industry caused a positive rocky desertification development.However,the local karst tourism has a certain effect on inducing slight rocky desertification.

SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION CHARACTERISTICS OF EXTREMELY HEAVY PRECIPITATION FREQUENCY OVER SOUTH CHINA IN THE LAST 50 YEARS

This paper comprehensively studies the spatio-temporal characteristics of the frequency of extremely heavy precipitation events over South China by using the daily precipitation data of 110 stations during 1961 to 2008 and the extremely heavy precipitation thresholds determined for different stations by REOF, trend coefficients, linear trend, Mann-Kendall test and variance analysis. The results are shown as follows. The frequency distribution of extremely heavy precipitation is high in the middle of South China and low in the Guangdong coast and western Guangxi. There are three spatial distribution types of extremely heavy precipitation in South China. The consistent anomaly distribution is the main type. Distribution reversed between the east and the west and between the south and the north is also an important type. Extremely heavy precipitation events in South China mainly occurred in the summer-half of the year. Their frequency during this time accounts for 83.7% of the total frequency. In the 1960 s and 1980 s, extremely heavy precipitation events were less frequent while having an increasing trend from the late 1980 s. Their climatological tendency rates decrease in the central and rise in the other areas of South China, and on average the mean series also shows an upward but insignificant trend at all of the stations. South China's frequency of extremely heavy precipitation events can be divided into six major areas and each of them shows a different inter-annual trend and three of the representative stations experience abrupt changes by showing remarkable increases in terms of Mann-Kendall tests.

Spatio-temporal changes of underground coal fires during 2008-2016 in Khanh Hoa coal field(North-east of Viet Nam) using Landsat time-series data

Underground coal fires are one of the most common and serious geohazards in most coal producing countries in the world. Monitoring their spatio-temporal changes plays an important role in controlling and preventing the effects of coal fires, and their environmental impact. In this study, the spatio-temporal changes of underground coal fires in Khanh Hoa coal field(North-East of Viet Nam) were analyzed using Landsat time-series data during the 2008-2016 period. Based on land surface temperatures retrieved from Landsat thermal data, underground coal fires related to thermal anomalies were identified using the MEDIAN+1.5×IQR(IQR: Interquartile range) threshold technique. The locations of underground coal fires were validated using a coal fire map produced by the field survey data and cross-validated using the daytime ASTER thermal infrared imagery. Based on the fires extracted from seven Landsat thermal imageries, the spatiotemporal changes of underground coal fire areas were analyzed. The results showed that the thermalanomalous zones have been correlated with known coal fires. Cross-validation of coal fires using ASTER TIR data showed a high consistency of 79.3%. The largest coal fire area of 184.6 hectares was detected in 2010, followed by 2014(181.1 hectares) and 2016(178.5 hectares). The smaller coal fire areas were extracted with areas of 133.6 and 152.5 hectares in 2011 and 2009 respectively. Underground coal fires were mainly detected in the northern and southern part, and tend to spread to north-west of the coal field.

Variation Characteristics of Hydrothermal Resources Effectiveness Under the Background of Climate Change in Southern Rice Production Area of China

The spatiotemporal characteristics of hydrothermal resources in southern rice production area of China have changed under the background of climate change,and this change would affect the effectiveness of hydrothermal resources during local rice growing period.According to the cropping system subdivision in southern rice production area of China during 1980s,this study used climate data from 254 meteorological stations and phonological data from 168 agricultural observation stations in the south of China,and adopted 6 international evaluation indices about the effectiveness of hydrothermal resources to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of hydrothermal resources during the growing period of single cropping rice system and double cropping rice system for 16 planting zones in the whole study area.The results showed that：in southern rice production area of China,the effectiveness of thermal resources of single cropping rice area（SCRA） was less than that of double cropping rice area（DCRA）,whereas the effectiveness of thermal resources of both SARA and DCRA showed a decreasing trend.The index value of effective precipitation satisfaction of SCRA was higher than that of DCRA,nevertheless the index value of effective precipitation satisfaction of both SCRA and DCRA showed a decreasing trend.There was a significant linear relationship between effective thermal resource and water demand,likely water demand increased by 18 mm with every 100°C d increase of effective heat.Effective precipitation satisfaction index（EPSI） showed a negative correlation with effective heat,yet showed a positive correlation with effective precipitation.EPSI reduced by 1% when effective heat resource increased by 125°C d.This study could provide insights for policy makers,land managers or farmers to improve water and heat resource uses and rationally arrange rice production activities under global climate change condition.

Analysis of Characteristics of Spatio-temporal Evolution of Land Use in Inhabited Islands of Pearl River Estuary

Under the support of the remote sensing and geographical information system(GIS) techniques,we acquire the land use data in 1990 and 2008 regarding 6 inhabited islands,namely Longxue Island,Hengmen Island,Weiyuan Island,Qi'ao Island,Hengqin Island and Gaolan Island in Pearl River Estuary.By using dynamic degree of land use,land use change intensity,relative change rate and other indicators,we conduct quantitative description,and thus quantitatively and qualitatively analyse characteristics of temporal evolution and law of spatial pattern change concerning land use of each island.The study indicates that in the period 1990-2008,the area of construction land and water in 6 islands increased,while the area of agricultural land and unused land increased in some islands and decreased in others.The land use change shows spatial disparity;the holistic land use change degree in Hengmen Island is higher than that of other islands;the dynamic degree of land use,intensity of land use,and relative change rate differ in different islands.

Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Changes of Land Usein Xuzhou City Based on Remote Sensing

Based on the satellite remote sensing TM/ETM images of Xuzhou city, basic data about land use of the city from 1994 to 2000 are obtained with the neural network classification module of PCI software, and the dynamic con- version matrix of land use is thus calculated. The areas of construction land and water body have increased by 1833.93 hm2 and 804.87 hm2, respectively. On the contrary, the area of cropland has decreased by 3207.24 hm2. The area of cropland converted into construction land makes up 26.84%, and that converted into water body amounts for 8.17% of the total area of cropland in 1994. The variation index of land use degree and the dynamic degree index of land use computed are 1.38 and 57.81%, respectively, which demonstrate that land use in Xuzhou is in a development period and the changes are drastic. The frequency index and importance index of the form in which cropland converted into con- struction land are 29.91% and 68.93% respectively. The results indicate that the change is not only widespread in space but a major form of spatial change of land use in the area.

Analysis on the Change Characteristics of Haze in Dezhou City in Recent 40 Years

[Objective] The aim was to analyze the change characteristics of haze in Dezhou City. [Method] Based on the data of haze and sunshine duration from 11 counties or cities in Dezhou City from 1970 to 2009, the daily, monthly, seasonal and annual variation of haze and their variation reasons were studied, meanwhile, the effects of haze on sunshine duration were discussed. [Result] Haze occurred most frequently from 09:00 to 14:00 and daily variation was different in various seasons; haze days were the most in December (200 d), and next came January (161 d), while hazes days were the fewest in August (20 d). From seasonal variation, haze appeared most frequently in winter, accounting for 40% of that in total year, autumn (23%) and summer (20%) the second, and haze days were the fewest in spring (18%). For annual variation, haze days were the fewest from 1970 to 1979 (110 d) and most from 2000 to 2009 (724 d), with the tendency rate of 2.27 and 16.35 d/a, respectively. From regional distribution, haze days were the most in Decheng District, and next came Xiajin, while Yucheng had the fewest haze days. In addition, the annual variation of haze days was related to pollutant concentration in atmosphere, while monthly variation and seasonal variation were controlled by weather situation and meteorological condition. [Conclusion] The study could provide scientific reference for the prevention and impact assessment of haze.