Examining resilience in local adaptation policies – pilot studies in Taipei and Tainan, Taiwan

Resilience has gained considerable attention over recent years in both theories and decision-making practices. In Taiwan, the term resilience is generally considered as a synonym for adaptation. This may limit the use of the notion. By understanding resilience in terms of adaptation and mitigation, we identify six attributes for assessment. The assessment is addressed in local level climate change adaptation policies in two selected cities. The city of Taipei represents places where local adaptation policies were directed mainly by the national government. The city of Tainan represents places where the municipal government plays a more critical role in framing these policies. This can result in different policymaking considerations. The assessment points out that the proposed actions of these policies are broader than a general understanding of adaptation. Mitigation strategies are addressed and sometimes highly recommended. Because of this, we can interpret these actions as resilience strategies covered under the use of the term adaptation. The notion of resilience does not stay on the rhetorical level alone. It is happening in shaping decisions – without using the terminology directly. The broadness of the resilience notion, in spite of being abstract, can provide a more general framework for cross-sectorial discussion and collaboration in policy-making. This is particularly important for dealing with complex issues, such as climate-related disturbances, which cannot be managed by a single group of professions

Associations between Aerosol Types and Chlorophyll-a Concentration over Coastal Area in East Asia from Satellite Observations

This study improved significantly the relationship between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), after considering the effects of sea surface temperature (SST), ocean surface current (OSC) and type of aerosols. The decadal satellite-retrieved Orbview-2/SeaWiFS Chl-a and Terra/MODIS AOD550nm data (from March 2000 to December 2010) were used to investigate the impact of atmospheric aerosols on the Chl-a concentration in the coastal water around the region of East Asia (equator to 75°N and from 100°E to 180°E). Two sets of sequential areas (A1 to A10 and B1 to B9) were selected for examining and excluding the influence of SST and OSC. After taking the potential location of aerosol deposition from OSC into account, an obvious correlation between AOD550nm and Chl-a concentration was demonstrated around the site of study area A. For aerosol partition, the Normalized Gradient Aerosol Index (NGAI) was applied to MODIS AOD products for aerosol type identification and mixed status determination. The results indicated that the type of mineral dust (DS) significantly increases the Chl-a while the biomass burning (BB) aerosols may restrain the Chl-a. This seems to be a non-impact of anthropogenic pollutant (AP) on Chl-a within the surface layer. The other area, B (B1 to B9), next to the region of area A, also shows similar results with high consistency; thus, the significant impact of DS aerosols on Chl-a production is suggested over the coastal region of East Asia

Profiling Transboundary Aerosols over Taiwan and Assessing Their Radiative Effects

A synergistic process was developed to study the vertical distributions of aerosol optical properties and their effects on solar heating using data retrieved from ground-based radiation measurements and radiative transfer simulations. Continuous MPLNET and AERONET observations were made at a rural site in northern Taiwan from 2005 to 2007. The aerosol vertical extinction profiles retrieved from ground-based lidar measurements were categorized into near-surface, mixed, and two-layer transport types, representing 76% of all cases. Fine-mode (Angstrom exponent, alpha, approx.1.4) and moderate-absorbing aerosols (columnar single-scattering albedo approx.0.93, asymmetry factor approx.0.73 at 440 nm wavelength) dominated in this region. The column-integrated aerosol optical thickness at 500 nm (tau(sub 500nm)) ranges from 0.1 to 0.6 for the near-surface transport type, but can be doubled in the presence of upper-layer aerosol transport. We utilize aerosol radiative efficiency (ARE; the impact on solar radiation per unit change of tau(sub 500nm)) to quantify the radiative effects due to different vertical distributions of aerosols. Our results show that the ARE at the top-of-atmosphere (-23 W/ sq m) is weakly sensitive to aerosol vertical distributions confined in the lower troposphere. On the other hand, values of the ARE at the surface are -44.3, -40.6 and -39.7 W/sq m 38 for near-surface, mixed, and two-layer transport types, respectively. Further analyses show that the impact of aerosols on the vertical profile of solar heating is larger for the near-surface transport type than that of two-layer transport type. The impacts of aerosol on the surface radiation and the solar heating profiles have implications for the stability and convection in the lower troposphere

An Overview of Regional Experiments on Biomass Burning Aerosols and Related Pollutants in Southeast Asia: From BASE-ASIA and the Dongsha Experiment to 7-SEAS

By modulating the Earth-atmosphere energy, hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, and affecting regional-to-global weather and climate, biomass burning is recognized as one of the major factors affecting the global carbon cycle. However, few comprehensive and wide-ranging experiments have been conducted to characterize biomass-burning pollutants in Southeast Asia (SEA) or assess their regional impact on meteorology, the hydrological cycle, the radiative budget, or climate change. Recently, BASEASIA (Biomass-burning Aerosols in South-East Asia: Smoke Impact Assessment) and the 7-SEAS (7- South-East Asian Studies) Dongsha Experiment were conducted during the spring seasons of 2006 and 2010 in northern SEA, respectively, to characterize the chemical, physical, and radiative properties of biomass-burning emissions near the source regions, and assess their effects. This paper provides an overview of results from these two campaigns and related studies collected in this special issue, entitled Observation, modeling and impact studies of biomass burning and pollution in the SE Asian Environment. This volume includes 28 papers, which provide a synopsis of the experiments, regional weatherclimate, chemical characterization of biomass-burning aerosols and related pollutants in source and sink regions, the spatial distribution of air toxics (atmospheric mercury and dioxins) in source and remote areas, a characterization of aerosol physical, optical, and radiative properties, as well as modeling and impact studies. These studies, taken together, provide the first relatively complete dataset of aerosol chemistry and physical observations conducted in the sourcesink region in the northern SEA, with particular emphasis on the marine boundary layer and lower free troposphere (LFT). The data, analysis and modeling included in these papers advance our present knowledge of source characterization of biomass-burning pollutants near the source regions as well as the physical and chemical processes along transport pathways. In addition, we raise key questions to be addressed by a coming deployment during springtime 2013 in northern SEA, named 7-SEASBASELInE (Biomass-burning Aerosols Stratocumulus Environment: Lifecycles and Interactions Experiment). This campaign will include a synergistic approach for further exploring many key atmospheric processes (e.g., complex aerosol-cloud interactions) and impacts of biomass burning on the surface-atmosphere energy budgets during the lifecycles of biomass burning emissions

Would science serve decision-making to adapt the impact of climate change? Introduction to Climate Change Adaptation – scientific evidence, assessment framework and decision-making

We live in challenging times with a heightened sense of uncertainty and unpredictability. Climate change, with its impact on disruptive events as well as gradual trends, has been addressed in scientific studies and become increasingly important in policymaking. This rises up a great need on scientific integration and knowledge transformation. The Taiwan Integrated Research Programme on Climate Change Adaptation Technology (TaiCCAT) is formed under this concern. Directing by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), it carries a strong intention to explore and to conduct adequate knowledge of climate change and adaptation strategies for decision-making supports. The TaiCCAT highly recommends the approach of cross-disciplinary collaboration from environmental studies to adaptation governance. The result can therefore be more contributive to reflect the complexity of the changing world

Application of Remote Sensing Technology on Precision Agriculture - A case study of cultivation distribution of rice

整合各類之遙測資料，以利衛星遙測技術在農作物、環境變遷及天然災害等相關應用研究之發展已成為下一世紀之趨勢。在農業上傳統的農作物面積及產量的測量方法不但耗費頗大且不具時效，尤其是台灣地區面積狹小、地形和地物複雜，傳統測量方法更是困難重重。因此，在講求精準農業的現今，遙測技術在計算農作物種植面積及產量上的應用研究，已是刻不容緩，亦為我國遙測技術應用研究發展的重要方向之一。而水稻是台灣最主要的農作物，對於種植面積及產量估算等工作，尚需人工判識，頗為耗時耗力，如能利用衛星觀測，則可輕鬆而有效率的完成。本研究之主要目的即在發展利用衛星觀測資料估算水稻種植面積之模式，以供台灣地區計算水稻種植面積及產量預估之應用。 Integration of remotely sensed data and develop for the various applications, such as agricultural management, environmental change and natural damage monitoring etc., is the main tendency of resource management in the next century. Since many traditional methods of agricultural production estimation not only need much man power but also is time-consuming, especially in the complex terrain area of Taiwan. So, how to apply remote sensing technology for the agriculture management to provide a more economical and convenient method than the traditional methods is very important with dispatch in the precision farming age. Because rice is one of the main crops in Taiwan, research of relative projects, such as acreage estimation, yield prediction and so on, become very important. The purpose of this research is to develop one efficient model of applying satellite data for paddy acreage monitoring in Taiwan area, and one real case study is demonstrated

An Empirical Study of Surface Wind Retrievals using the TMI over the South China Sea in the Summer Monsoon Season

This study demonstrates the feasibility of an oceanic wind speed retrieval method: the D-matrix algorithm for local usage. The D-matrix algorithm was examined and ocean surface wind retrievals, utilizing the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI), were validated by using wind speed measurements from ocean buoys deployed over the South China Sea from April to June of 1998 as part of the South China Sea Monsoon Experiment / 1998. Results showed the TMI D-matrix algorithm potentially malfunctioning in terms of no-rainfall recognition when summer monsoons prevail. In this study, assistance to its rain identification ability was conducted by using rain-screening methods for screening out non-rainfall TMI points. As to the quantitative validation, only cases of wind speed weaker than 15 m s-1 were analyzed with a root mean square of 1.34 m s-1. The study results are significant for local usage of the rain-fall-profiling algorithm providing a scheme for estimating surface wind speeds over the South China Sea during the summer monsoon season

In-Orbit Radiometric Calibration of the FORMOSAT-2 Remote Sensing Instrument

This principle focus of this study is the absolute radio metric calibrations of FORMOSAT-2 RSI imagery in orbit. There are two principal parts for achieving this calibration. The first is the assessment of the calibration site by examining atmospheric observations from ground stations and field measurements via ground-based radio metric instruments. After careful consideration based on the essential requirements for a suitable calibration site i.e., prevailing clear and clean at mo sphere conditions over a wide, flat and near lambertian surface with high reflectance, the airport on Dongsha Island was considered to be an suitable site. The next phase is to de sign a scheme for the field campaign at the calibration site for radio metric calibration. Thus a synchronous experiment acquiring simultaneous measurements from the FORMOSAT-2 Re mote Sensing Instrument (RSI) sensor and ground-based instruments was proposed and implemented for the period 16 to 19 September 2004. As a result, a set of reason able radio metric coefficients for the absolute radiance calibration of the RSI was successfully constructed via the radiative transfer code associated with the synchronous measurements in this study