Attribution of satellite-observed vegetation trends in a hyper-arid region of the Heihe River basin, Western China

Terrestrial vegetation dynamics are closely influenced by both climate and by both climate and by land use and/or land cover change (LULCC) caused by human activities. Both can change over time in a monotonic way and it can be difficult to separate the effects of climate change from LULCC on vegetation. Here we attempt to attribute trends in the fractional green vegetation cover to climate variability and to human activity in Ejina Region, a hyper-arid landlocked region in northwest China. This region is dominated by extensive deserts with relatively small areas of irrigation located along the major water courses as is typical throughout much of Central Asia. Variations of fractional vegetation cover from 2000 to 2012 were determined using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation index data with 250 m spatial resolution over 16-day intervals. We found that the fractional vegetation cover in this hyper-arid region is very low but that the mean growing season vegetation cover has increased from 3.4 % in 2000 to 4.5 % in 2012. The largest contribution to the overall greening was due to changes in green vegetation cover of the extensive desert areas with a smaller contribution due to changes in the area of irrigated land. Comprehensive analysis with different precipitation data sources found that the greening of the desert was associated with increases in regional precipitation. We further report that the area of land irrigated each year can be predicted using the runoff gauged 1 year earlier. Taken together, water availability both from precipitation in the desert and runoff inflow for the irrigation agricultural lands can explain at least 52 % of the total variance in regional vegetation cover from 2000 to 2010. The results demonstrate that it is possible to separate the satellite-observed changes in green vegetation cover into components due to climate and human modifications. Such results inform management on the implications for water allocation between oases in the middle and lower reaches and for water management in the Ejina oasis

Effects of Climate Change and Human Activities on Surface Runoff in the Luan River Basin

Quantifying the effects of climate change and human activities on runoff changes is the focus of climate change and hydrological research. This paper presents an integrated method employing the Budyko-based Fu model, hydrological modeling, and climate elasticity approaches to separate the effects of the two driving factors on surface runoff in the Luan River basin, China. The Budyko-based Fu model and the double mass curve method are used to analyze runoff changes during the period 1958~2009. Then two types of hydrological models (the distributed Soil and Water Assessment Tool model and the lumped SIMHYD model) and seven climate elasticity methods (including a nonparametric method and six Budyko-based methods) are applied to estimate the contributions of climate change and human activities to runoff change. The results show that all quantification methods are effective, and the results obtained by the nine methods are generally consistent. During the study period, the effects of climate change on runoff change accounted for 28.3~46.8% while those of human activities contributed with 53.2~71.7%, indicating that both factors have significant effects on the runoff decline in the basin, and that the effects of human activities are relatively stronger than those of climate change

Diffusive Pseudo-Conformal Mapping: Anisotropy-Free Transformation Thermal Media with Perfect Interface Matching

Transformation media provide a fundamental paradigm for field regulation, but their tricky anisotropy challenges fabrication. Though optical conformal mapping has been utilized to eliminate anisotropy, two key factors still hinder its development in thermotics, i.e., the distinct diffusion nature and inevitable interface mismatching. Here, we put forth the concept of diffusive pseudo-conformal mapping, overcoming the inherent difference between diffusion and waves and achieving perfect interface matching. The proposed mapping directly leads to heat guiding and expanding functions with anisotropy-free transformation thermal media, whose feasibility is confirmed by experiments or simulations. Besides diverse applications, we provide a unified perspective for two distinct types of prevailing bilayer cloaks by uncovering their profound ties with pseudo-conformal mapping. These results greatly simplify the preparation of transformation thermotics and have implications for regulating other diffusion and wave phenomena

Interaction-Driven Active 3D Reconstruction with Object Interiors

We introduce an active 3D reconstruction method which integrates visual perception, robot-object interaction, and 3D scanning to recover both the exterior and interior, i.e., unexposed, geometries of a target 3D object. Unlike other works in active vision which focus on optimizing camera viewpoints to better investigate the environment, the primary feature of our reconstruction is an analysis of the interactability of various parts of the target object and the ensuing part manipulation by a robot to enable scanning of occluded regions. As a result, an understanding of part articulations of the target object is obtained on top of complete geometry acquisition. Our method operates fully automatically by a Fetch robot with built-in RGBD sensors. It iterates between interaction analysis and interaction-driven reconstruction, scanning and reconstructing detected moveable parts one at a time, where both the articulated part detection and mesh reconstruction are carried out by neural networks. In the final step, all the remaining, non-articulated parts, including all the interior structures that had been exposed by prior part manipulations and subsequently scanned, are reconstructed to complete the acquisition. We demonstrate the performance of our method via qualitative and quantitative evaluation, ablation studies, comparisons to alternatives, as well as experiments in a real environment.Comment: Accepted to SIGGRAPH Asia 2023, project page at https://vcc.tech/research/2023/InterReco

Reconfigurable Three-Dimensional Thermal Dome

Thermal metamaterial represents a groundbreaking approach to control heat conduction, and, as a crucial component, thermal invisibility is of utmost importance for heat management. Despite the flourishing development of thermal invisibility schemes, they still face two limitations in practical applications. First, objects are typically completely enclosed in traditional cloaks, making them difficult to use and unsuitable for objects with heat sources. Second, although some theoretical proposals have been put forth to change the thermal conductivity of materials to achieve dynamic invisibility, their designs are complex and rigid, making them unsuitable for large-scale use in real three-dimensional spaces. Here, we propose a concept of a thermal dome to achieve three-dimensional invisibility. Our scheme includes an open functional area, greatly enhancing its usability and applicability. It features a reconfigurable structure, constructed with simple isotropic natural materials, making it suitable for dynamic requirements. The performance of our reconfigurable thermal dome has been confirmed through simulations and experiments, consistent with the theory. The introduction of this concept can greatly advance the development of thermal invisibility technology from theory to engineering and provide inspiration for other physical domains, such as direct current electric fields and magnetic fields

Diffraction Characteristics of Small Fault ahead of tunnel face in coal roadway

Small fault ahead of the tunnel face in coal roadway is the important hidden hazard factor of coal and gas outburst accidents. The study of small fault prediction has important practical significance, which is the urgent demand of coal mine safety production. The diffraction of breakpoint can be used to identify the fault. However, unlike surface seismic exploration, the diffraction is with approximately horizontal incidence when the advanced detection is carried out in the roadway. The common advanced detection system is mainly as the reference of traffic tunnel, without considering the influence of low-velocity coal seam. Considering the influence of an acoustic wave of the roadway cavity and channel wave of the coal seam, the advanced detection model of small fault ahead of tunnel face is established. Diffraction advanced observation system in which sources located in front of tunnel face is constructed, and the numerical calculation of the high-order staggered-grid finite difference is carried out. The simulation results show that: Compared with the data collected by reflection observation system, in seismic records acquired by diffraction observation system, the suppression effect of acoustic wave is appeared. The diffracted P-wave of the breakpoint of component X is clear with strong energy and short-wave group. Multiple diffractions of the breakpoint are not found, but the multiple diffraction of tunnel face endpoint is obvious. The difference between breakpoint diffraction and multiple diffractions of the endpoint is clear, and diffracted P-wave of the breakpoint is easy to identify. The multiple reflected channel wave between the fault and the tunnel face is very obvious, and the reflected channel wave of small fault is so hard to identify. Migration results show that the imaging resolution of diffracted P-wave of small fault is higher than the reflected channel wave, and breakpoint location of imaging is consistent with the actual model.El frente de una falla pequeña sobre un manto de carbón en el socavón de un túnel es un factor importante no visible debido a los accidentes por explosión en minas de gas y carbón. El estudio de la predicción de falla pequeña tiene un importante sentido práctico: la demanda urgente de seguridad en la producción carbonífera. El punto de quiebre de la difracción puede utilizarse para identificar la falla. Sin embargo, al contrario que la exploración sísmica superficial, la difracción se acerca a la prevalencia horizontal cuando se realiza la detección avanzada en el socavón. El sistema común de detección avanzada se usa principalmente para referenciar el tráfico del túnel, sin considerar la influencia de la baja velocidad en la veta de carbón. Al valorar la respuesta de la onda acústica en la cavidad del socavón y la onda de canal de la veta de carbón se establece el modelo de detección avanzada de pequeña falla para el socavón del túnel. Se construyó el sistema de observación avanzada de difracción en el cual las fuentes se localizan en frente de la cara del túnel y se realizó el cálculo de diferencia finita en una red escalonada de orden alto. Los resultados del modelo muestran que a diferencia de la información recolectada con el sistema de observación de reflexión, en los registros sísmicos adquiridos con el sistema de observación de difracción se puede ver el efecto de supresión de la onda acústica. El punto de quiebre de la onda P difractada para el componente X es claro, con energía fuerte y en el grupo de onda corta. No se encontró el punto de quiebre para difracciones múltiples pero es evidente la difracción múltiple para el punto final de la cara del túnel. Es clara la diferencia entre el punto de ruptura de la difracción y las difracciones múltiples del punto final, mientras el punto de ruptura de la onda P difractada es fácil de identificar. Los resultados de migración muestran que la resolución de imágenes de la onda P difractada de falla pequeña es mayor que la onda de canal reflejada y la ubicación del punto de quiebre de la imagen es consistente con el modelo actual

Climate and environment reconstruction during the Medieval Warm Period in Lop Nur of Xinjiang, China

We made multi-proxy analysis of C-14, grain size, microfossils, plant seeds, and geochemical elements on samples from a profile in the central West Lake of Lop Nur. The grain size suggests relatively stable sedimentary environment around the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) with weak storm effect, which is followed by frequent strong storm events. Abundant microfossils and plant seeds in this stage indicate a warm and humid fresh to brackish lake environment. C, N, and stable elements are high in content in the sediments while Rb/Sr, Ba/Sr, and Ti/Sr are in a steady low level. In addition, plenty of red willows lived here prior to about 700 a B.P., indicating a favorable environmental condition. The results indicate that the environment in Lop Nur and its west bank turned to be favorable at about 2200 a B.P., where the Loulan Culture began to thrive. Then the climate and environment came to be in the good condition in the Tang and Song Dynasties, when the storm effect became weaker, rainfall increased and the salty lake water turned to be brackish to fresh lake water. Hence, limnic biomass increased with higher species diversity

Recent Advances and Applications of Semiconductor Photocatalytic Technology

Along with the development of industry and the improvement of people’s living standards, peoples’ demand on resources has greatly increased, causing energy crises and environmental pollution. In recent years, photocatalytic technology has shown great potential as a low-cost, environmentally-friendly, and sustainable technology, and it has become a hot research topic. However, current photocatalytic technology cannot meet industrial requirements. The biggest challenge in the industrialization of photocatalyst technology is the development of an ideal photocatalyst, which should possess four features, including a high photocatalytic efficiency, a large specific surface area, a full utilization of sunlight, and recyclability. In this review, starting from the photocatalytic reaction mechanism and the preparation of the photocatalyst, we review the classification of current photocatalysts and the methods for improving photocatalytic performance; we also further discuss the potential industrial usage of photocatalytic technology. This review also aims to provide basic and comprehensive information on the industrialization of photocatalysis technology

Graphene Quantum Dots Doped PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT) Fiber Film with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

We report the fabrication of polyvinylidene fluoride (tetrabutyl titanate)/polyvinyl pyrrolidone ((tetrabutyl titanate))-graphene quantum dots [PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT)-GQDs] film photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic performance. The polyvinylidene fluoride (tetrabutyl titanate)/polyvinyl pyrrolidone ((tetrabutyl titanate)) [PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT)] film was first prepared with a dual-electrospinning method and then followed by attaching graphene quantum dots (GQDs) to the surface of the composite film through a hydrothermal method. Later, part of the PVP in the composite film was dissolved by a hydrothermal method. As a result, a PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT)-GQDs film photocatalyst with a larger specific surface area was achieved. The photocatalytic degradation behavior of the PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT)-GQDs film photocatalyst was examined by using Rhodamine B as the target contaminant. The PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT)-GQDs photocatalyst showed a higher photocatalytic efficiency than PVDF(TBT)-H2O, PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT)-H2O, and PVDF(TBT)-GQDs, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic efficiency can be attributed to the broader optical response range of the PVDF(TBT)/PVP(TBT)-GQDs photocatalyst, which makes it useful as an effective photocatalyst under white light irradiation