Progress and challenges in the architecture and service pattern of Earth Observation Sensor Web for Digital Earth

The Earth Observation(EO)Web is the data acquisition and processing network for digital Earth.The EO Web including Data Web and Sensor Web has become one of the most important aspects of the Digital Earth 2020.This paper summarised the history of the development and status quo of the major types of EO data web service systems,including architecture,service pattern and standards.The concepts,development and implementation of the EO Sensor Web were reviewed.Furthermore,we analysed the requirements on the architecture of the next-generation EO Sensor Web system,namely Space-borne-Airborne-Ground integrated Intelligent EO Sensor Web system,and highlighted the virtualization,intelligent,pervasive and active development tendency of such system.

Research on design methodology for railway freight service combination plans to meet diverse demands

Purpose–Facing the diverse needs of large-scale customers,based on available railway service resources and service capabilities,this paper aims to research the design method of railway freight service portfolio,select optimal service solutions and provide customers with comprehensive and customized freight services.Design/methodology/approach–Based on the characteristics of railway freight services throughout the entire process,the service system is decomposed into independent units of service functions,and a railway freight service combination model is constructed with the goal of minimizing response time,service cost and service time.A model solving algorithm based on adaptive genetic algorithm is proposed.Findings–Using the computational model,an empirical analysis was conducted on the entire process freight service plan for starch sold from Xi’an to Chengdu as an example.The results showed that the proposed optimization model and algorithm can effectively guide the design of freight plans and provide technical support for real-time response to customers’diversified entire process freight service needs.Originality/value–With the continuous optimization and upgrading of railway freight source structure,customer demands are becoming increasingly diverse and personalized.Studying and designing a reasonable railway freight service plan throughout the entire process is of great significance for timely response to customer needs,improving service efficiency and reducing design costs.

Research on Evolution of Goal-Driven Service Composition Patterns

With the development of Web service technology, using composite services to satisfy users' requirements has become an inevitable tendency. Goal changes caused by changing requirements of users may directly drive the corresponding evolution of service composition. However, most researches focus on how to compose services, and little efforts have been placed on how to evolve the composite services with changing requirements. In this paper, the service composition patterns are defined based on workflow patterns, and the changes of service composition patterns are analyzed according to changing goals. Finally, a case study is given to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Optimizing bus services with variable directional and temporal demand using genetic algorithm

As a major mode choice of commuters for daily travel, bus transit plays an important role in many urban and metropolitan areas. This work proposes a mathematical model to optimize bus service by minimizing total cost and considering a temporally and directionally variable demand. An integrated bus service, consisting of all-stop and stop-skipping services is proposed and optimized subject to directional frequency conservation, capacity and operable fleet size constraints. Since the research problem is a combinatorial optimization problem, a genetic algorithm is developed to search for the optimal result in a large solution space. The model was successfully implemented on a bus transit route in the City of Chengdu, China, and the optimal solution was proved to be better than the original operation in terms of total cost. The sensitivity of model parameters to some key attributes/variables is analyzed and discussed to explore further the potential of accruing additional benefits or avoiding some of the drawbacks of stop-skipping services.

Research on the Patterns and Evolution of Ecosystem Service Consumption in the “Belt and Road”

With great significance in ecosystem protection and sustainable development,the study of ecosystem service consumption(ESC)has become a hot topic in ecological research.Based on FAOSTAT data,in this study the patterns,composition and evolution of ESC and ecosystem service consumption patterns(ESCP)in the“Belt and Road"were revealed on the total and regional scales,taking consumed-biomass as a main indicator.Three main conclusions were reached.1)The total ESC was mainly contributed from farmland ecosystems along the"Belt and Road",followed by grassland ecosystems.The ESC indicators on the whole system scale fluctuated,but increased from year 2000 to year 2016.The total ESC increased from 12911.89 Tg yr_1 to 16810.00 Tg yr^1,and the annual per capita consumption of ecosystem services increased from 3.3228 million g p_1 yr'1 to 3.6392 million g p_1 yr'1.2)The ESC,composition and evolution varied significantly among countries,zones and ecosystems.The annual per capita ESC was highest in Mongolia on the national scale,and highest in Central and Eastern Europe and lowest in Southeast Asia on zone scale,which represented the results from the joint effects of regional resource endowments,consumption habits,levels of productive forces,and other factors.3)Higher farmland ESC was the dominant ESCP,which accounted for about 76.7%of the total area along the"Belt and Road",followed by higher farmland+higher grassland ESC,which accounted for about 19.0%of the total area.The other consumption patterns(i.e.,those of higher grassland ESC,higher forestland ESC or higher farmland+higher forest+higher grassland ESC)were found in only a few countries.The ESCP may be related to higher regional population density or the higher proportions of developing countries.Therefore,to realize sustainable social,economic and ecological development,and to improve people's well-being,countries along the,lBelt and Road"should take advantage of their own resources in developing industries,actively expand trade,achieve mutual benefits and win-win situations,and adjust and optimize consumption patterns of ecosystem services.This study can provide data support for further research on the mechanism of ESCP formation this area.

Research on the Patterns and Evolution of Ecosystem Service Consumption in Nepal

The study of ecosystem service consumption(ESC)in Nepal not only helps us to understand the intensity and management level of Nepal’s ecosystem utilization,but also provides scientific data support for the establishment and planning of China’s aid to Nepal.Based on the data of food consumption and forestry production and trade,this study dynamically investigated the consumption levels,structure and ecological consumption patterns of farmland,forest,grassland,water and the integrated ecosystem in Nepal and their main driving forces,using the physical quantity accounting method.The results showed that the total consumption of farmland,forest,grassland,water and the integrated ecosystem in Nepal from 1961 to 2018 exhibited a fluctuating increase,with average value of 7.26 Tg yr^(-1),6.38 Tg yr^(-1),1.10 Tg yr^(-1),0.02 Tg yr^(-1) and 14.76 Tg yr^(-1),respectively.The annual per capita forest consumption roughly decreased,while the annual per capita consumption of farmland,grassland,waters and integrated ecosystems mostly increased with their growth rates accelerating.The corresponding ecological consumption patterns were the“Log-Cereal-Milk”mode during 1961-1984,the“Log-Cereal-Vegetable-Root-Milk-Sugar”mode during 1985-2007 and the“Log-Cereal-Vegetable-Root-Sugar-Fruit-Milk”mode during 2008-2018.This study indicated that the supply capacity of the ecosystem(production,import and export capacity)and socio-economic factors(population density,per capita GDP and religious beliefs)are the main driving forces that are restricting the evolution of Nepal’s ecological consumption pattern.Although Nepal’s dietary structure has improved significantly,there is still a large gap between it and the standard of a balanced diet.The supply capacities of fruits,meat,eggs,milk and aquatic products should be enhanced to meet people’s demand for a balanced diet.This study can provide data support for the establishment of China’s aid projects to improve Nepal’s livelihood.