Landscape fragmentation associated with the Qingzang Highway and its influencing factors-A comparison study on road sections and buffers

Many studies have examined the effect of roads on landscape fragmentation.Yet they rarely considered local characteristics of the road and road buffer widths.Therefore,this study that took place in the Qingzang Highway(QH)examined the variations in road buffers and road sections of landscape fragmentation.The QH was divided into 32 sections with 23 buffer areas.Based on the indicators of landscape fragmentation from 1980 to 2018,we found significant spatial heterogeneity between sections and buffers.Generally,landscape fragmentation de-creased with increasing buffer distance to the QH.For different sections,the coefficients of variation between buffers were rather high and significantly different.Therefore,fixed-width buffers may overestimate or underes-timate the spatial scope and influence intensity of a road.The impacts of road sections around provincial capitals,prefecture-level cities and main counties on landscape fragmentation were relatively extensive and formed clus-ters of highly fragmented areas.Geodetector results indicated that natural and anthropogenic factors,such as altitude,climate,distance to major settlements and socioeconomic conditions,could well explain the spatiotem-poral characteristics of landscape fragmentation.Altitude,precipitation and the distance to major settlements had higher explanatory power for landscape fragmentation in permafrost regions,whereas slope and socioeconomic condition had higher explanatory power for non-permafrost regions in Xizang Autonomous Region.

Pricing and Permit Loads Impact on Overlay Costs for Highways in Louisiana

A methodology for the evaluation of the economic impact of overweight permitted vehicles hauling agricultural products on state highways is presented in this study. The different gross vehicle weight scenarios that are selected for this investigation range between 80,000 lb. and 100,000 lb. Uniform distribution of axle loads and lumped loads are considered in this study. This study evaluates the proposed higher truck loads and their economic impact to the highways and to the industry. The effects of adapting higher truck loads on the existing highways are evaluated using a deterministic load capacity evaluation as well as a reliability assessment. The target reliability level is derived from AASHTO （American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials） standard design specifications to satisfy safe and adequate performance level. The overlay thickness required to carry traffic from each gross vehicle weight scenario for the overlay design period is determined. Differences in overlay life were calculated for different gross vehicle weight scenarios with uniform and lumped axle loads. The overlay thickness and costs were determined for a twenty year analysis period using statistical methods. The result showed that lumped loads with allowable axle load of 48,000 lb. produce more pavement damage than the current permitted gross vehicle weight for timber trucks with equally loaded axles.

A comparative study on the illite crystallinity and the clay mineral reflectance spectral index for subdividing the very low-grade metamorphic belt along the Lizhou-Hekou geological section in the Youjiang sedimentary basin, Guangxi, China

To examine the application potential of hyperspectral remote sensing techniques in classifying very low-grade metamorphic belts, the composition of clay minerals and the cyrstallinity of illite from mudstones were measured using XRD and VIS-SWIR (400—2500 nm) reflectance spectroscopy. Based on the illite cyrstallinity, Kbler Index (KI), the Early Triassic LuoLou Group and the Middle Triassic lower Baifeng Formation were classified as the lower Epizone with KID2q° ranging from 0.22 to 0.25, the upper Baifeng Formation as upper anchizone with KID2q° ranging from 0.26 to 0.33, and the Hekou Formation as lower anchizone with KID2q° ranging from 0.38 to 0.40. According to a KID2q° value of 0.43, it is possible that there may exist a local diagenetic zone in the upper strata. The illite cyrstallinity Kbler index and the metamorphic grade increase from the bottom to the top of the stratigraphic sequence. The metamorphic grade boundaries nearly match the stratigraphic boundaries, indicating a burial metamorphism nature for the stratigraphic sequence. From the bottom to the top of the sequence, the spectral absorption band center of clay minerals from fresh rocks is around 2200 nm. The absorption band centers change towards shorter wavelengths: the Luolou Group being at 2220 nm, the Baifeng Formation at 2217—2213 nm, the lower member of the Hekou Formation at 2214—2206 nm, and the upper member of the Hekou Formation at 2205—2197 nm. The spectral absorption band center of illite shows the same change pattern. These results indicate that very low-grade metamorphic belts can be subdivided using spectral indices of clay minerals, which are measured by using field portable spectroradiometers. However, it may not work well with satellite and airborne sensors.