An urban ecosystem as a superposition of interrelated active media

A space-time model that treats the urban ecosystem as a superposition of active media is expanded to take the heterogeneity of anthropogenic and natural factors into account. The approach is based on representation of urban ecosystems as conjugated active media and is aimed at identifying the threshold values of control parameters. The theoretical basis of the system analysis of the stability of urban ecosystems is provided by synergetic ideas concerning autowave self-organization in active media.     

The Dynamics of the Autowave Front in a Model of Urban Ecosystems

A nonlinear singularly perturbed system of parabolic equations in a two-dimensional domain is considered. The system can be used to simulate the motion of an autowave front in a model of the evolution of urban ecosystems in the case of an inhomogeneous medium whose parameters vary with time. An asymptotic analysis of the problem is performed using methods of the theory of contrast structures. An asymptotic approximation of a front-type solution of the zero and first orders is obtained.     

上海城市植被光谱反射特征分析

地物光谱特征是遥感机理的重要内容,也是遥感应用研究的重要依据。城市植被作为城市中重要的生命支持系统,对于维持城市生态系统平衡起着核心的作用。文章以上海城市植被为研究对象,利用美国ASD公司生产的FieldSpec3便携式地物波谱仪,通过对2009年10月金边黄杨,金丝桃,圆柏,麦冬,珊瑚树,小叶黄杨等野外和室内光谱数据采集和处理,获得了这6种城市植被的高光谱数据。采用Savitzky Go-lay平滑方法进行光谱噪声去除和利用微分光谱技术进行植被环境背景影响消除,分别从植被冠层光谱和叶片光谱以及微分光谱,对这6种城市植被的光谱特征以及光谱曲线的差异和变化规律进行分析。可为今后进一步研究城市植被理化性能、参数反演、植被分类、植被调查以及城市环境监测等遥感应用服务。     

A review on pharmaceuticals removal from waters by single and combined biological,membrane filtration and ultrasound systems

Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) such as pharmaceuticals commonly found in urban and industrial wastewater are a potential threat to human health and have negative environmental impact. Most wastewater treatment plants cannot efficiently remove these compounds and therefore, many pharmaceuticals end up in aquatic ecosystems, inducing problems such as toxicity and antibiotic-resistance. This review reports the extent of pharmaceutical removal by individual processes such as bioreactors, advanced oxidation processes and membrane filtration systems, all of which are not 100% efficient and can lead to the direct discharge of pharmaceuticals into water bodies. Also, the importance of understanding biotransformation of pharmaceutical compounds during biological and ultrasound treatment, and its impact on treatment efficacy will be reviewed. Different combinations of the processes above, either as an integrated configuration or in series, will be discussed in terms of their degradation efficiency and scale-up capabilities. The trace quantities of pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater and scale-up issues of ultrasound highlight the importance of membrane filtration as a concentration and volume reduction treatment step for wastewater, which could subsequently be treated by ultrasound.     

Sources of Environmental Pollution in Ankara (Turkey): Geochemistry and Traffic Effects—PEDXRF Applications

Road dusts were collected from the main streets in the vicinity of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, including exhaust dust samples from the different fuel-based motor vehicles and sample pieces of brake pads to characterize their metal compositions by polarized energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (PEDXRF) spectrometry. Road dust samples were gathered by a vacuum dust sweeper from nine different densely populated residential settlement regions of Ankara, far from large industrial plants. Heavy metal contents of the road dusts were analyzed during the summertime to determine the metal pollution due to the motor vehicle exhaust, abrasion of brake pads, and lithology, ignoring the industrial and heating sources of pollution. The results of the analysis showed that the elements of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, Pb, and Th in road dust samples were not derived from the lithology and industrial plants but from the motor fuel exhausts and brake pad abrasion. Generally, urban environmental pollution due to the toxic trace metals from traffic is harmful for the human health as well as the ecosystems near Ankara.     

Emergence of species and punctuated equilibrium in the Tangle Nature model of biological evolution

We consider an individual-based model of evolution. Species emergence as segregation of the population on to discrete positions in a hyper-cubical genotype space. The model emphasises interaction between coexisting genotypes. Although the rate of the micro-dynamics, consisting of reproduction and killing of individuals is essentially constant, the macro-dynamics is punctuated. The macro-evolution consists of the creation and annihilation of configurations in genotype space equivalent to sequences of different ecosystems. We review the definition of the model and results concerning distribution lifetimes of individuals, genotypes and configurations. We discuss the non-stationarity of the model and how this agrees with the fossil record. Finally, we describe how the model is able to produce species abundance distributions of a form qualitatively in agreement with observation on real ecosystems.     

Phase separation driven by density-dependent movement: A novel mechanism for ecological patterns

Many ecosystems develop strikingly regular spatial patterns because of small-scale interactions between organisms, a process generally referred to as spatial self-organization. Self-organized spatial patterns are important determinants of the functioning of ecosystems, promoting the growth and survival of the involved organisms, and affecting the capacity of the organisms to cope with changing environmental conditions. The predominant explanation for self-organized pattern formation is spatial heterogeneity in establishment, growth and mortality, resulting from the self-organization processes. A number of recent studies, however, have revealed that movement of organisms can be an important driving process creating extensive spatial patterning in many ecosystems. Here, we review studies that detail movement-based pattern formation in contrasting ecological settings. Our review highlights that a common principle, where movement of organisms is density-dependent, explains observed spatial regular patterns in all of these studies. This principle, well known to physics as the Cahn–Hilliard principle of phase separation, has so-far remained unrecognized as a general mechanism for self-organized complexity in ecology. Using the examples presented in this paper, we explain how this movement principle can be discerned in ecological settings, and clarify how to test this mechanism experimentally. Our study highlights that animal movement, both in isolation and in unison with other processes, is an important mechanism for regular pattern formation in ecosystems.     

Autowave self-organization in heterogeneous natural–anthropogenic ecosystems

This article considers the spatio–temporal model of natural–anthropegenic ecosystems as a conjugated active media that takes the heterogeneity of anthropogenic and natural factors into account. The approach aims to identify the threshold values of the control parameters. The theoretical basis of the system analysis of the sustainability of the ecosystems is synergistic data on autowave self-organization in active media. The mathematical model is based on the modified FitzHugh–Nagumo system of equations.     

Exploring the robustness of urban bus network: A case from Southern China

The robustness of urban bus network is essential to a city that heavily relies on buses as its main transportation solution. In this paper, the urban bus network has been modeled as a directed and space L network, and Changsha, a transportation hub of nearly 8 million people and hundreds of bus lines in southern China, is taken as a case. Based on the quantitative analyses of the topological properties, it is found that Changsha urban bus network is a scale-free network, not a small-world network. To evaluate the robustness of the network, five scenarios of network failure are simulated, including a random failure and four types of intentional attacks that differed in key node identification methods (i.e., unweighted degree or betweenness centrality) and attack strategies (i.e., normal or cascading attack). It is revealed that intentional attacks are more destructive than a random failure, and cascading attacks are more disruptive than normal attacks in the urban bus network. In addition, the key nodes identification methods are found to play a critical role in the robustness of the urban bus network. Specifically, cascading attack could be more disruptive when the betweenness centrality is used to identify key nodes; in contrast, normal attack could be more disruptive when the unweighted degree is used to identify key nodes. Our results could provide reference for risk management of urban bus network.     

A new statistical dynamic analysis on vegetation patterns in land ecosystems

As complex self-adaptive systems, land ecosystems usually tend to produce intricate vegetation patterns under specific environmental constraints, which have ever puzzled us for decades. In this paper, a universal principle on pattern formation of land ecosystems is highlighted as: a land ecosystem always tries to find an optimal process to acquire maximized flux under a certain constraint or price. The underlying microscopic dynamic mechanism that induces complex vegetation patterns in land ecosystems is then revealed. Based on the Holdridge life zone system, evolutionary dynamic processes and structural classifications of several typical vegetation patterns are then simulated and discussed. Good agreements between theoretical analyses and numerical results are found. This paper demonstrates that the new theoretical analyses and simulation technique can be possibly applied to the whole land ecosystem, not only benefiting academic study on the formation and dynamics of vegetation patterns, but also providing implications for vegetation classification, vegetation protection and soil erosion control.     

新区综合能源系统多目标最优化设计

经济性和碳排放的平衡是未来城市能源利用的主要方向。新城区开发需要先进的能源系统设计方法,以定量化计算不同设计方案下的经济性与碳排放。基于城市能源系统的主要特征,本文提出了一种新区综合能源系统多目标最优化设计方法。在需求侧,通过能耗指标分摊法预测负荷;在供应侧,利用超结构建模包含各种能源-技术组合,求解混合整数线性规划问题。本文以雄安新区启动区能源系统为案例进行多目标最优化设计,探讨了碳排放与成本之间的权衡取舍。     

Effects of urban morphology on the traffic noise distribution through noise mapping: A comparative study between UK and China

Due to the rapid urban development and massive population increase in many eastern cities, the difference in urban density and morphology between typical western and eastern cities is becoming significant. This consequently makes the noise distribution in the eastern cities rather different from typical low density European cities. In this research, two representative cities with different urban densities, Greater Manchester in the UK and Wuhan in China, were selected, which have low and high average urban density respectively, and also have considerable differences in building form and traffic pattern. In the mean time, these two cities have similar urban scale and traffic amount. In each city, based on the urban morphological analyses considering urban land-use, building and road density, and noise source distribution, a number of typical urban areas, 500 * 500 m² each, were sampled. A noise-mapping software package was then used to generate generic noise maps, based on existing digital vector maps for terrain and building, and traffic data obtained by on-site measurements. The comparison results show that the average and minimum noise level in Greater Manchester samples is generally higher than that in Wuhan samples, while the maximum noise level in Wuhan samples is mostly higher. By developing a Matlab program, correlations have been analysed between noise distributions and the urban characteristics relating to urban density, such as the road and building coverage ratio. Overall, comparisons between these two typical cities have shown significant effects of urban morphology on the traffic noise distribution.     

Variation of the outdoor noise level and the sound attenuation of windows with elevation above the ground

In an attempt to cope with the problem of providing suitably quiet dwellings in noisy urban environments, it has sometimes been suggested that the lower floors of high-rise buildings might be used for offices (or other noise-insensitive uses), while the upper, presumably quieter, floors could be used for housing. This paper suggests that the proposal is not practical since, in many urban areas, the upper floors of buildings are exposed to almost as much noise as the floors near street level.     

Ecological Aspects of the Nuclear Problem. Remote Monitoring

New ecological aspects of the nuclear problem are considered, such as an assessment of the consequences of a steady increase in radiation dosage and its influence on the state of ecosystems and the health of the populace, the possibilities of preventing and localizing radiation accidents by building underground nuclear power stations, and means for efficient remote monitoring of radiation sources. A physical interpretation of phenomena accompanying the release of radioactivity is given. The high efficiency of radar-based monitoring is shown. The potentialities of using laser probing are discussed.     

The use and misuse of coloured light in the urban environment

The last few years have seen a huge increase in the transfer of coloured architectural lighting, derived from entertainment and theatre, into the urban and exterior environment. Part of the reason for this is that in the last 15 yr or so, there have been a number of important introductions in coloured lighting technology. These have transformed lighting practice, and while their widespread introduction is seen by some as an enrichment of the urban fabric, others see it as presenting considerable dangers, in terms of aesthetics, perception and in terms of civic identity. Its negative effects on the urban environment have been termed ‘colour blight’.In this paper, the range of coloured lighting technologies is surveyed and other causes for the increase in coloured lighting are also discussed, together with the problems and benefits involved. Finally, some tentative means are put forward for resolving the problems caused by ‘colour blight’. Current good practice is illustrated by the author's own experience, including his consultancy's participation in a number of urban lighting strategies in the UK and elsewhere. This work involves implementation of a comprehensive lighting plan for the historic city of York, as part of the Urban Lighting Group consortium of three lighting design practices.     

基于车载多轴差分吸收光谱技术对城市NO2污染分布和排放评估研究

二氧化氮（NO₂）在大气光化学中发挥着重要作用,不仅参与了对流层臭氧（O₃）的催化生成,同时也能促进生成二次气溶胶。NO₂作为交通运输和工业过程中的重要排放产物,通常也被视为一种评估人为污染源排放的指示物,因此,开展城市NO₂分布与排放研究对于城市大气污染管控与治理具有重要意义。2018年1月和2月期间,基于车载多轴差分吸收光谱技术（MAX-DOAS）对衡水市区开展了4次走航观测实验,获取了衡水市区环城路上对流层NO₂垂直柱浓度（VCD）的空间分布,其浓度范围为0.89×1015~56.33×1015 molecule·cm-2,均值在22.42×1015~30.20×1015 molecule·cm-2。观测结果表明衡水市NO₂污染源主要分布在城外东南方向的工业聚集区,以及市区环城路东部的立交桥路段;而城市西部和北部则较为干净,当风场来自该区域会对污染源区起到一定的清洁作用,可使源区NO₂浓度降低20%以上。航测期间进行了站点对比观测,综合两者的观测结果评估了衡水市东部污染区域的相对贡献,其NO₂含量比西部洁净区域高出了30.1%~61.9%、贡献值高7.89×1015~13.32×1015 molecule·cm-2。将NO₂城市分布与WRF模式模拟的气象数据相结合,可计算出目标区域的NO₂本地排放通量为0.86×1024 molecule·s-1,该结果相对较低,一方面说明衡水市区相对于其他研究区域,其NO₂污染源并非在集中在市区内部;另一方面是因为本次实验研究区域的面积仅有50 km2,远小于其他研究的城市区域范围。对于实验测得的衡水市区输出总通量,其中96.16%来源于外部传输,3.84%为本地排放造成,进一步证明了衡水市NO₂主要污染源位于城外。通过实验期间衡水市区的后向轨迹气团与OMI卫星的NO₂平均结果可看出,衡水市除城市东部和东南部的本地污染源外,也受到了北部的保定、廊坊和西北部的石家庄等地的污染传输影响。总体来看,车载多轴差分吸收光谱技术对于城市NO₂等污染气体的源区确认、污染贡献评估和排放通量计算方面有较出色的应用前景。     

Effects of social, demographical and behavioral factors on the sound level evaluation in urban open spaces

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of social, demographical and behavioral factors as well as long-term sound experience on the subjective evaluation of sound level in urban open public spaces. This is based on a series of large scale surveys in 19 urban open spaces in Europe and China. The results suggest that the effects of social/demographical factors, including age, gender, occupation, education and residential status, on the sound level evaluation are generally insignificant, although occupation and education are two related factors and both correlate to the sound level evaluation more than other factors. The effects of some behavioral factors, including wearing earphones, reading/writing and moving activities, are also insignificant on the sound level evaluation, but the watching behavior is highly related to the sound level evaluation. Compared to the social, demographical and behavioral factors, the long-term sound experience, i.e. the acoustic environment at home, significantly affect the sound level evaluation in urban open spaces. It is important to note that between the social/demographical factors, there are generally significant correlations, although the correlation coefficients may not be high. It is also noted that there are considerable variations between different urban open spaces.     

Bridgework ahead! Innovation ecosystems vis-à-vis responsible innovation

Public funding agencies largely support academic research as an effort to stimulate future product commercialization and foster broader societal benefits. Yet, translating research nurtured in academic settings into such outcomes is complex and demands functional interactions between government, academic, and industry, i.e., “triple helix,” organizations within an innovation ecosystem. This article argues that in the spirit of responsible innovation, research funding should build bridges that extend beyond the triple helix stakeholders to connect to peripheral organizations. To support that argument, evidence from agent network analysis gathered from two case studies reveals strong and weak connections, as well as gaps within innovation ecosystems in Switzerland and metropolitan Phoenix, USA. This article offers insights on how innovation ecosystems are aligned or misaligned with responsible innovation.     

Understanding the Impact of Walkability,Population Density,and Population Size on COVID-19 Spread: A Pilot Study of the Early Contagion in the United States

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented global event that has been challenging governments, health systems, and communities worldwide. Available data from the first months indicated varying patterns of the spread of COVID-19 within American cities, when the spread was faster in high-density and walkable cities such as New York than in low-density and car-oriented cities such as Los Angeles. Subsequent containment efforts, underlying population characteristics, variants, and other factors likely affected the spread significantly. However, this work investigates the hypothesis that urban configuration and associated spatial use patterns directly impact how the disease spreads and infects a population. It follows work that has shown how the spatial configuration of urban spaces impacts the social behavior of people moving through those spaces. It addresses the first 60 days of contagion (before containment measures were widely adopted and had time to affect spread) in 93 urban counties in the United States, considering population size, population density, walkability, here evaluated through walkscore, an indicator that measures the density of amenities, and, therefore, opportunities for population mixing, and the number of confirmed cases and deaths. Our findings indicate correlations between walkability, population density, and COVID-19 spreading patterns but no clear correlation between population size and the number of cases or deaths per 100 k habitants. Although virus spread beyond these initial cases may provide additional data for analysis, this study is an initial step in understanding the relationship between COVID-19 and urban configuration.