Analysis of Spanish Radiometric Networks with the Novel Bias-Based Quality Control (BQC) Method

Different types of measuring errors can increase the uncertainty of solar radiation measurements, but most common quality control (QC) methods do not detect frequent defects such as shading or calibration errors due to their low magnitude. We recently presented a new procedure, the Bias-based Quality Control (BQC), that detects low-magnitude defects by analyzing the stability of the deviations between several independent radiation databases and measurements. In this study, we extend the validation of the BQC by analyzing the quality of all publicly available Spanish radiometric networks measuring global horizontal irradiance (9 networks, 732 stations). Similarly to our previous validation, the BQC found many defects such as shading, soiling, or calibration issues not detected by classical QC methods. The results questioned the quality of SIAR, Euskalmet, MeteoGalica, and SOS Rioja, as all of them presented defects in more than 40% of their stations. Those studies based on these networks should be interpreted cautiously. In contrast, the number of defects was below a 5% in BSRN, AEMET, MeteoNavarra, Meteocat, and SIAR Rioja, though the presence of defects in networks such as AEMET highlights the importance of QC even when using a priori reliable stations.Peer reviewe

A Comparative Study of Japanese and Chinese Textbooks in Junior High School Geography Education Ⅰ : Using the Content of Learning about “Asia” as an Example

departmental bulletin pape

Assessing the ecological impacts of invasive species based on their functional responses and abundances

Invasive species management requires allocation of limited resources towards the proactive mitigation of those species that could elicit the highest ecological impacts. However, we lack predictive capacity with respect to the identities and degree of ecological impacts of invasive species. Here, we combine the relative per capita effects and relative field abundances of invader as compared to native species into a new metric, “Relative Impact Potential” (RIP), and test whether this metric can reliably predict high impact invaders. This metric tests the impact of invaders relative to the baseline impacts of natives on the broader ecological community. We first derived the functional responses (i.e. per capita effects) of two ecologically damaging invasive fish species in Europe, the Ponto-Caspian round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and Asian topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva), and their native trophic analogues, the bullhead (Cottus gobio; also C. bairdi) and bitterling (Rhodeus amarus), towards several prey species. This establishes the existence and relative strengths of the predator-prey relationships. Then, we derived ecologically comparable field abundance estimates of the invader and native fish from surveys and literature. This establishes the multipliers for the above per capita effects. Despite both predators having known severe detrimental field impacts, their functional responses alone were of modest predictive power in this regard; however, incorporation of their abundances relative to natives into the RIP metric gave high predictive power. We present invader/native RIP biplots that provide an intuitive visualisation of comparisons among the invasive and native species, reflecting the known broad ecological impacts of the invaders. Thus, we provide a mechanistic understanding of invasive species impacts and a predictive tool for use by practitioners, for example, in risk assessments

perforatum

Hypericum perforatum Linnaeuscommon St. John's-wort;perforate St. John's-wort;Klamath weed;Tipton weed;goatweedperforatumalong U.S. #71, about 2 miles southwest of NeoshoRoadsid

siccata

Carex siccata Deweydry-spike sedgecarex secOff Bovin Lake trailT. Chisholmbroadleaf; beside river, south facing slope1720 mPopulus tremuloides, Ribes viscosissimum, Achillea millefolium, Antennaria rosea, Goodyera oblongifoliainfrequent in 50x50m are

spicata

Oxytropis sericea Nuttallwhite locoweed;white oxytrope;silvery oxytrope;Rocky Mountain locoweed;whitepoint locoweed;white crazyweed;silky locoweedOxytropis sericeaSofa Creek Flatdry, grassy, rocky prairie4300 fee

lenticularis

Helianthus annuus Linnaeuscommon sunflower;garden sunflowertournesol;hélianthe annuel;soleil;grand soleilHelianthus annuus2 mi along road that runs S of Spring Pt Rd, turn-off 3 mi E of Hutterite Cattle Camp: on N side of roadin tall gras