Local Environmental Management Research Articles

Traffic Flow Prediction Research Based on an Interactive Dynamic Spatial–Temporal Graph Convolutional Probabilistic Sparse Attention Mechanism (IDG-PSAtt)

Accurate traffic flow prediction is highly important for relieving road congestion. Due to the intricate spatial–temporal dependence of traffic flows, especially the hidden dynamic correlations among road nodes, and the dynamic spatial–temporal characteristics of traffic flows, a traffic flow prediction model based on an interactive dynamic spatial–temporal graph convolutional probabilistic sparse attention mechanism (IDG-PSAtt) is proposed. Specifically, the IDG-PSAtt model consists of an interactive dynamic graph convolutional network (IL-DGCN) with a spatial–temporal convolution (ST-Conv) block and a probabilistic sparse self-attention (ProbSSAtt) mechanism. The IL-DGCN divides the time series of a traffic flow into intervals and synchronously and interactively shares the captured dynamic spatiotemporal features. The ST-Conv block is utilized to capture the complex dynamic spatial–temporal characteristics of the traffic flow, and the ProbSSAtt block is utilized for medium-to-long-term forecasting. In addition, a dynamic GCN is generated by fusing adaptive and learnable adjacency matrices to learn the hidden dynamic associations among road network nodes. Experimental results demonstrate that the IDG-PSAtt model outperforms the baseline methods in terms of prediction accuracy. Specifically, on METR-LA, the mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) induced by IDG-PSAtt for a 60 min forecasting scenario are reduced by 0.75 and 1.31, respectively, compared to those of the state-of-the-art models. This traffic flow prediction improvement will lead to more precise estimates of the emissions produced by mobile sources, resulting in more accurate air quality forecasts. Consequently, this research will greatly support local environmental management efforts.

PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT HIDUP BERSIH DAN SEHAT SEBAGAI UPAYA PENINGKATAN KUALITAS LINGKUNGAN DAN KESEHATAN

To improve environmental health in society, it is necessary to implement clean and healthy living behavior to achieve a better standard of living. One strategy that can be used to achieve this level of public health is to provide understanding and education towards public awareness in implementing a clean and healthy lifestyle starting from the family, school, and broader community levels. Community empowerment is an essential part of health promotion and is the spearhead for it. Empowerment will be more successful if carried out through partnerships and using appropriate methods and techniques. Community service activities have been in the RW 07 Tegal Alur 1 Cengkareng area, West Jakarta, for three months, from June to August 2023. This activity is carried out using methods that are adapted to the environmental conditions of the RW 07 Tegal Alur 1 Cengkareng community, namely by conducting counseling and questions and answers. With residents facilitated by the Tegal Ali Community Health Center 1. Education by distributing door-to-door posters regarding local environmental management. Conduct FGD using a light discussion method with several RW 07 residents regarding PHBS issues and health problems faced by RW 07 residents. The target group for this activity is all households in the RW 07 Tegal Alur 1 Cengkareng West Jakarta area, with a minimum of 30 people. The target or partners also involved the Tegal Alur 1 Community Health Center as a research assistant in educating residents. Based on the results of this counseling, it was found that there was an increase in knowledge of 2.129% and an increase in people's attitudes of 0.097% in implementing clean and healthy living behavior. This routine outreach can improve public health, especially in increasing knowledge and awareness of the importance of PHBS behavior to enhance environmental quality and public health.

Assessing nitrogen sources in Lake Erhai: A spatially explicit modelling approach

Due to the vulnerable ecosystem environments, plateau lakes in the southwest of China face high eutrophication risks. Excessive nitrogen input is an important driver of eutrophication in plateau lakes. However, it is lacked of accurate analysis of spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of nitrogen sources for plateau lakes, which restricts local water environment management. Taking a typical plateau lake, Erhai Lake, as an example, this study applied the MARINA (Model to Assess River Inputs of Nutrients to seAs)-Lakes model to 26 sub-basins of Erhai Lake to analyze the temporal (1998–2016) characteristics of nitrogen inputs and identify the main pollution sources in different sub-basins. The results showed that the most obvious decreasing trends in river export of nitrogen occurred in 2016. It decreased from 2.9 in 2010–2.3 Mg in 2016, which is associated with the series of water quality protection measures implemented. By distinguish nitrogen forms, we found that dissolved inorganic nitrogen was mainly from diffuse source (synthetic fertilizer) whereas point source (directly discharge of animal manure) was the dominant source for dissolved organic nitrogen. The highest river export of nitrogen was from Zhonghe sub-basin in the western areas with high population density and intensive agricultural system, and the lowest was from Mijuhe sub-basin in the northern areas. Tourism was the dominant source of river export of nitrogen in several sub-basins, including Zhonghe, Meitao, Haidongqin, Boluo, and Jinli. Our study developed an explicit spatial analysis approach to quantify river export of nitrogen by sources at sub-basin scale. Based on the primary sources of nitrogen within each sub-basin, we could divide Erhai Lake basin into different management zones. These results can not only help decision-makers formulate accurate and effective lake protection policies for Erhai Lake, but also provide new insights for other plateau lakes.

Local Wisdom, Environmental Management and Sustainable Traditions in Naga Village, Tasikmalaya Regency

Kampung Naga, a traditional village in Tasikmalaya Regency, West Java, Indonesia, shows a real example of how local wisdom and sustainable environmental management can become the foundation of community life. This article describes settlement patterns, local wisdom values, and taboo practices and customary laws in Kampung Naga. Regular community settlement patterns, use of traditional technology, and awareness of the importance of protecting the environment are the core of their environmental sustainability. Values such as discipline, honesty, and mutual cooperation, as well as respect for tradition, form the basis of community life. Taboos and customary laws play a role in maintaining cultural values and maintaining peace in the community. Kampung Naga's success in maintaining their traditions and environment is an inspiration for the modern world which often faces sustainability challenges.

Nutrient dynamics in the Bohai and North Yellow seas from seasonal to decadal scales: Unveiling Bohai Sea eutrophication mitigation in the 2010s

The eutrophication status in the central Bohai Sea tends to be mitigated in recent years. To explore the recent nutrient status, seasonal surveys were carried out from 2018 to 2021, covering both the Bohai Sea and the adjacent North Yellow Sea. In recent cold seasons, both dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration (DIN) and the ratio of DIN to soluble reactive phosphorus were lower than those in 2016. In warm seasons, the variations in nutrients and apparent oxygen utilization were correlated with each other, roughly following the traditional Redfield ratio of N:P:O2 of approximately 16:1:(−138). When historical data for N*, which is the excess DIN related to soluble reactive phosphorus, was collated, the Bohai Sea showed a decreasing trend for N* at a rate of −0.64 ± 0.12 μmol N* kg−1 a−1 between 2011 and 2021. During the same period, the North Yellow Sea N* concentrations (i.e., the oceanic end-member of the Bohai Sea N* dynamics) and the local atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition (atmospheric end-member) were estimated to decline at rates of −0.22 ± 0.04 μmol N* kg−1 a−1 and − 0.93 ± 0.34 kg N ha−1 a−2, respectively. Consequently, the oceanic and atmospheric changes accounted for 25.7 % ± 28.4 % and 69.0 % ± 42.6 %, respectively, of the Bohai Sea eutrophication mitigation in 2011–2021. On the long-term changes of the Bohai Sea eutrophication, the terrestrial nutrient source has only minor (likely <10 %) impacts, although it certainly affects the spatial distribution of nutrients. This study has implied that coastal eutrophication is a dynamic process that is subject to sea–land–air interactions, and its mitigation needs both local pollution controls and regional environment management. The latter contains the understanding of oceanic changes and external effects of the air pollution control.

Desafios e oportunidades da urbanização sustentável e da gestão ambiental municipal em 88 cidades do estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil

Este estudo buscou ampliar o conhecimento sobre os desafios, as oportunidades e os contextos da gestão ambiental municipal em Minas Gerais. Através de um questionário on-line enviado a contatos de 760 municípios, obteve-se 88 respostas válidas. Os dados foram analisados através do uso de estatística descritiva e inferencial. Dentre os resultados alcançados destacam-se: (i) os desafios e oportunidades relacionados à gestão dos resíduos sólidos urbanos são centrais e se retroalimentam negativamente pela falta de pessoal, de recursos e de projetos; (ii) há um cenário favorável à restauração ecológica e à economia circular nos municípios, que não é realizado devido à baixa capacidade institucional; (iii) as unidades de conservação (UCs) municipais foram mais frequentes que as UCs federais e as estaduais, um dado positivo, mas que alerta para a subnotificação de UCs municipais no cadastro nacional e para a necessidade de pesquisas e esforços que integrem os municípios ao contexto dos territórios especialmente protegidos; (iv) 68% dos municípios amostrados recebiam, no momento da amostragem entre ago-2018 e ago-2019, ICMS Ecológico, o que deve estar relacionado à frequência observada de UCs nos municípios; (v) 60% dos municípios têm algum tipo de norma ambiental própria e isto independe do tamanho populacional e da realização de licenciamento ambiental de empreendimentos de impacto local; (vi) a intersetorialidade é praticada entre as instâncias ambientais municipais e as estaduais, o que pode estar relacionado a procedimentos padrão, como o do ICMS Ecológico; (vii) os conselhos municipais de meio ambiente foram apontados como o principal instrumento de gestão, remetendo à importância da democracia para a gestão ambiental; (viii) um terço dos gestores amostrados não compreendem bem o contexto dos ODS (Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável); (ix) parcerias entre a gestão ambiental municipal e as universidades presentes nos territórios são um potencial a ser impulsionado. Recomenda-se que as instituições de pesquisa, inovação e empreendedorismo tenham atenção e um olhar mais direcionado para as oportunidades socioambientais presentes nos municípios menores e interioranos.

Strategic or substantive innovation? The effect of government environmental punishment on enterprise green technology innovation

AbstractUnder the conduction of decentralized environmental governance, environmental punishment has become a pivotal complementary tool for local government environment management and an intuitive reflection of governance efficiency. However, the literature concerning the effect of local government environmental punishment towards the green technology innovation of enterprises is void. To bridge this gap, this paper adopts the fixed‐effect model to investigate the impact of government environmental punishment on green technology innovation based on the data of China's A‐share listed enterprises from 2010 to 2020. The study finds that the punishment can significantly promote enterprises' green technology innovation. The distinction between the type of innovation reveals that environmental punishment promotes substantive green technology innovation of enterprises, while the effect on strategic green technology innovation is not significant. As far as the influence path is concerned, external pressure and internal incentive are both important mechanisms for environmental punishment to facilitate the green technology innovation of enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the positive effect of punishment on green technology innovation is more prominent in non‐state‐owned enterprises, heavily polluting industries and regions with strong public awareness of environmental protection. Further discussion reveals that the facilitative effect of punishment on green technology innovation also significantly improves the environmental performance of enterprises. This paper not only confirms the positive role of government intervention in environmental protection, but also provides practical reference for how to improve enterprises' competitiveness.

Extent of Recreational Services Exploitation for Sustainable Local Development in Limbe, Cameroon

The general tertiary sector consumption pattern in Limbe indicates the drive towards recreational services delivery for staggering urban development. Despite the evolution and benefits of recreational services as boosters to local socio-economic development, they do not have the attention they fully deserve resulting in severe environmental and socio-economic repercussions. This study seeks to examine the extent of recreational services exploitation for sustainable local development and the municipal responses in Limbe. A sample of 250 respondents was used to represent the entire population of the study area. In addition to interviews and field observations, secondary data from literature search was used to substantiate the arguments. Stratified random sampling technique was used to map out the appropriate recreational sites and services in Limbe. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science Standard (SPSS version 23.0) and presented in the form of tables, figures, maps and plates. Results reveal that Limbe has witnessed profound growth in recreational services in the last few decades due to its rapid population growth, private and government priorities and economic growth of the coastal area among others. Besides its major role in local socio-economic development, high congestion and taxes, poor maintenance among others have bedeviled its sustainable operations resulting in environmental degradation, congestion of waterways and insufficient economic and socio-cultural effects on the local populations. Therefore, there is the need for proactive management, optimization and transformation of recreational sites, proper sensitization, humanitarian advocacies, local participations in decision making process, increase investment, subsidies and employment to ensure sustained environmental quality, local socioeconomic growth and cultural responsibilities in the sector. Likewise, there should be adequate compliance to environment regulations and best practices for local socio-economic, environmental, and tourism management.

Water Hyacinth: Potential Applications for Environmental Sustainability and Socio-economic Development

Despite the fact that people are more familiar with its drawbacks, water hyacinth has a variety of uses. This study aims to assess local inhabitants' opinions of water hyacinth and its sustainable, environmentally beneficial uses. In order to perform the study properly, we moved on to the study areas that are closer to Roa beel and a questionnaire with seven components and seven parameters was used. The Roa Beel is situated in the Chandpur Union neighborhood of the Kishoregonj district's Katiadi Upazila, Kishoreganj, Bangladesh. During the rainy season, excessive water hyacinth was found in the study region, and people of the villages of Sheker Para, Purbo Para, and Modinas Para in the Kishoregonj district were surveyed. The study assesses the locals' perceptions of their knowledge and understanding of water hyacinth, their management techniques, the benefits and drawbacks of water hyacinth, and their actual use of it in their daily lives as well as in various sectional activities like fishing, livestock rearing, agricultural farming, particularly in floating agricultural practices, and for industrial purposes. A surplus of water hyacinth in the beel can be utilized to create a promising industry for the region, especially if it is converted into affordable, environmentally acceptable animal feed, bio-fertilizer, and biogas. Undoubtedly, this will improve local environmental management efforts and provide more opportunity for local unemployed people to find employment.

Optimizing safe and just operating spaces at sub-watershed scales to guide local environmental management

The safe and just operating space (SJOS) concept provides a promising framework tool to help guide social-ecosystem management and sustainable global development goals (SDGs). Due to spatial differences in geographic background and economic development, proportioning these elements according to global, regional and local scales is a necessity for sustainability governance. Achieving SDG targets requires guidance according to SJOS environmental and social boundaries. Here, integrating planetary boundaries (PBs) with the SJOS framework is explored and focused towards the sub-watershed scale in the Chaohu watershed, China. Assessment of environmental and socio-economic dimension changes in this watershed incorporates data taken from long-term monitoring, surveys and anthropogenic impact records in lake sediment sequences. These are used to explore spatial and temporal differences in key environmental change processes and social well-being measures in the watershed. The interrelationships with identified prioritized PB limitation indicators within the sub-watersheds were evaluated numerically. Results indicate four PB biogeophysical dimensions, water quality, chemical pollution, air pollution and ozone depletion all operate in the Chaohu watershed and exceed safe boundary limits. However, large differences exist between the four main sub-watersheds. Environmental pressures in the two western sub-watersheds are considerably greater than those in eastern regions. Most social indicators selected for the whole watershed conform well to PB limits considered necessary for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially food (SDG 2), health (SDG 3), sanitation services (SDG 6c) and consumption (SDG 12). Based on quantifiable environmental change trends in each sub-watershed and social development in the last decades, we identify, water quality, chemical pollution, and soil stability PB dimensions as exceeding safe operation limits. These dimensions are prioritized for environmental management and harmonization with SDG targets. Water utilization intensity (SDG 6a) and forest cover (SDG 15) are social development priorities across the whole Chaohu watershed. Redundancy analysis identified GDP per capita as well as changes in forest and vegetation cover as key drivers of environmental degradation throughout the watershed. While not all 17 SDGs are considered, initial results of this study provide a rational base for informing systems management and policy, guiding the attainment of SDG targets, and communicating the importance of revealing environmental change trends. Requirements for sustainable development of human society locally and regionally are, within limits of the data available, identified by matching SJOS boundaries with SDG targets. Strengthening time-track data for the key drivers of change and combining with emerging socio-economic factors is needed to better define specific SDG progress in terms of achieving calibrated environmental boundaries.

Contamination, Ecological Risk and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Sediments in the Hailar River, the Upper Source of the Erguna River between China and Russia

The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) in 17 surface sediment samples from the Hailar River, the upper source of the Ergun River, which is the boundary river between China and Russia, were analyzed. Traceability and cause analysis of heavy metals in sediment were carried out by correlation analysis and principal component analysis. The results showed that the concentrations of Hg and Cd in sediments exceeded the soil background values. Due to the high biological toxicity factor of Hg, Hg is the highest potential ecological risk factor in the Hailar River and its tributary the Yimin River. The sources of Hg and As were likely to come from human activities including mining, coal burning and animal husbandry; other HMs, especially Zn and Cr, mainly come from mining and natural factors. Due to the high level of urbanization and more agricultural activities, the pollution potential of Cd, Hg and Pb in the Yimin River and the lower reaches of the Hailar River was greater. The results of this study will help to understand the distribution and pollution of heavy metals in river sediments in the basin and provide management support for China’s local environmental management departments and relevant national departments of China.

Prediction of Ammonia Concentration in a Pig House Based on Machine Learning Models and Environmental Parameters

Accurately predicting the air quality in a piggery and taking control measures in advance are important issues for pig farm production and local environmental management. In this experiment, the NH3 concentration in a semi-automatic piggery was studied. First, the random forest algorithm (RF) and Pearson correlation analysis were combined to analyze the environmental parameters, and nine input schemes for the model feature parameters were identified. Three kinds of deep learning and three kinds of conventional machine learning algorithms were applied to the prediction of NH3 in the piggery. Through comparative experiments, appropriate environmental parameters (CO2, H2O, P, and outdoor temperature) and superior algorithms (LSTM and RNN) were selected. On this basis, the PSO algorithm was used to optimize the hyperparameters of the algorithms, and their prediction performance was also evaluated. The results showed that the R2 values of PSO-LSTM and PSO-RNN were 0.9487 and 0.9458, respectively. These models had good accuracy when predicting NH3 concentration in the piggery 0.5 h, 1 h, 1.5 h, and 2 h in advance. This study can provide a reference for the prediction of air concentrations in pig house environments.

Neighborhood Impact Assessment an urban sustainability instrument

The Neighborhood Impact Assessment (NIA) [1]is an important instrument of the Brazilian Urban Policy enacted in the City Statute, Federal Law 10.257/2001. Considered by the national academic literature as a relevant instrument for local urban environmental management. However, in Brazil, the understanding that the environmental and the urban are part of the same context is not yet a reality within the local public administration sectors, with a deep disconnection of management and governance between the urban and environmental departments. The objective of this work was to analyze the application of NIA in medium-sized cities in the state of São Paulo and to evaluate its contribution to the local urban environmental management of these cities. We also intend to evaluate the NIA integration with other sectors of local public management such as the environment, urban mobility, social housing, etc. As a methodology, we used NIA Process Components, verifying the absence or presence in the urban laws of four (04) medium-sized cities in the state of São Paulo. We also interviewed civil servants from the environmental and urban sectors, supplementing information that was absent in laws and official documents. The results reveal that most municipalities do not have a specific law that regulates the NIA, and Master Plans, Land Use and Occupation Law regulate this instrument. Civil servants emphasize the weaknesses and strengths of the instruments. As potentialities of this instrument, they observed public participation, increased state control in environmentally sensitive areas, greater urban-environmental compensation mechanisms, and so on. Weaknesses signalize were: conflicts involving urban land subdivision, interference of the real estate market in the use and occupation of urban land, changes in the Master Plans by the city councilman aiming to meet the interests of private financial capital. The four cities, which are part of the Case Studies, have not yet effectively incorporated elements of climate change in their local governance. Issues related to social housing, expansion of slums, occupation of protected environmental areas by poor populations are still the most urgent priorities in these cities, as well as in many Latin American cities. The improvement and advancement of the articulation of the urban and environmental sectors in Brazilian cities must require thinking about better scientific methodological and governmental improvements.&#x0D; &#x0D; [1] Brazilian authors often use the terminology in English “Neighborhood Impact Study”. However, we chose to use “Neighborhood Impact Assessment” according to (Abiko &amp; Barreiros, 2014) to facilitate the understanding of the instrument for the international audience, as it has similarities with the Impact Assessment. However, in Brazil, the NIA is known as the “Estudo de Impacto de Vizinhança”.

Prediction of PM2.5 concentration in Ulaanbaatar with deep learning models

Rapid socio-economic development and urbanization have led to an increasingly serious air pollution problem in Ulaanbaatar (UB), the capital of Mongolia. PM2.5 pollution has become the most pressing aspect of UB air pollution. Therefore, monitoring and predicting PM2.5 concentration in UB is of great significance for the health of the local people and environmental management. As of yet, very few studies have used models to predict PM2.5 concentrations in UB. Using data from 0:00 on June 1, 2018 to 23:00 on April 30, 2020, we proposed two deep learning models based on Bayesian optimized LSTM (Bayes-LSTM) and CNN-LSTM. We utilized hourly observed data including Himawari8 (H8) aerosol optical depth (AOD), meteorology, and PM2.5 concentration as input for prediction of PM2.5 concentrations. The correlation strengths between meteorology, AOD, and PM2.5 was analyzed using the grey correlation analysis method; the comparison of the performance improvement of the model by using the AOD input value was tested, and the performance of these models was evaluated using mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE). The prediction accuracies of Bayes-LSTM and CNN-LSTM deep learning models were both improved when AOD was included as an input parameter. Improvement of the prediction accuracy of the CNN-LSTM model was particularly enhanced in the non-heating season; in the heating season, the prediction accuracy of the Bayes-LSTM model slightly improved, while the prediction accuracy of the CNN-LSTM model slightly decreased. We propose two novel deep learning models for PM2.5 concentration prediction in UB, Bayes-LSTM, and CNN-LSTM deep learning models. Pioneering the use of AOD data from H8 and demonstrating the inclusion of AOD input data improves the performance of our two proposed deep learning models.

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of NDVI in the Weihe River Basin and Its Correlation with Terrestrial Water Storage

The Weihe River Basin (WRB) of China is located in an arid and water-scarce semi-arid region with a fragile ecological environment, and it is meaningful to study the spatial and temporal changes in vegetation and terrestrial water storage changes in a small-scale inland basin. This study uses normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) time-variable gravity field models to derive changes in vegetation cover and water storage in the WRB from 2002 to 2020. Firstly, taking NDVI as the breakthrough point, the temporal and spatial characteristics of vegetation were analyzed by trend analysis method and F-test. Then, GRACE and GRACE-FO were used to derive water storage variations. Finally, the correlation between NDVI and water storage variations is discussed using the Pearson correlation analysis. The results show that the overall trend of NDVI is increasing, and the increasing trend is more evident before 2014, and after that, there is a significant fluctuation. The spatial distribution shows a large spatial variability, but the growing area still accounts for the majority, and the change varies by vegetation type, among which the cultivated vegetation is more influential. The overall change in terrestrial water storage showed a decreasing trend of −0.09 cm/yr, and also reflected a solid intra-annual regular cycle, i.e., reaching a trough from October to November and a peak from May to June each year. The correlation is 0.6 on the time scale, and there was a 3-month lag between NDVI and TWS. On the spatial scale, the percentage of areas with a negative correlation was about 95.4%, probably due to increased water consumption and evapotranspiration. The study’s results can help to understand the relationship between vegetation and water storage in the WRB and provide scientific support for local environmental management.

Unsupervised Change Detection around Subways Based on SAR Combined Difference Images

Prompt and precise acknowledgement of surface change around subways is of considerable significance in urban rail protection and local environmental management. Research has proven the considerable potential of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images for detecting such information; however, previous studies have mostly focused on change intensity using single Difference images (DIs), e.g., difference value DI (DVDI) and mean value DI (MVDI). With the aim of more accurate information with respect to surface changes around subways, in this study, we proposed a novel SAR detection method that involved three steps: (1) the calculation of three single DIs, (2) the combination of the single DIs and (3) the delineation of the changed area. Compared to existing detection methods, the proposed method represents three major improvements. First, both the intensity information and phase information were applied by combining the DVDI, MVDI and coherent difference images (CDIs). Secondly, a local energy weight (LEW) approach was proposed to combine single DIs instead of the normally used equal weights. Because the changed area often comprises continuous rather than discrete pixels, a combined DI with the LEW (“CoDI-LEW” hereafter) fully considers the attributes of adjacent pixels and enhances the signal-to-noise ratio of SAR images. Thirdly, the FCM algorithm, instead of the widely used threshold methods, was applied to distinguish changed areas from unchanged areas. An experimental comparison with several existing detection methods showed that the proposed method could delineate changed areas with higher accuracy in terms of both quality and quantity. Furthermore, it can effectively execute detection under diverse surface change conditions with good feasibility and applicability.

Impact of local environmental standards on water environmental carrying capacity in large water diversion project: A system dynamics analysis in Shandong, China

Large water diversion projects have extensive impact on the water systems in the receiving areas, where inevitable regional responses are aroused and alert to local environmental carrying capacity. To ensure the water quality of China's eastern South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP), Shandong Province had issued strict local wastewater discharge standards since 2006. However, some flexibility exists in the enforcement of local standards, which created uncertainty to the outcomes. A system dynamic (SD) model and Water Environmental Carrying Capacity (WECC) method were integrated to dynamically illustrate the interaction between the enforcement of the local standards and the performance of the regional water system. The WECC was calculated based on an indicator system representing the multi-dimensional impact of the local standards on the regional water system. The SD model was constructed to simulate and forecast the variations of those indicators of WECC. The SD-WECC model was trained and validated with yearly data from 2000 to 2020, then four scenarios with different levels of enforcement of local standards were illustrated. The results showed that overall WECC improves during period from 2000 to 2025, and that the SNWDP improves the balance of water supply and demand in Shandong in the long run in the three scenarios that have introduced the local standards. The adoption of the local standard helps the concentration of industrial Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) discharge to meet the discharging standards earlier by stimulating the investment in pollution control. Therefore, the flexibility in local water environment management enabled the local actors to pursue a balance between environmental protection and economic growth in a dynamic context with multi-objects for local development.

IMPLEMENTATION OF CONSTRUCTION SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN INDONESIA (CASE STUDY: BRIDGE REPLACEMENT IN BANGKA REGENCY, BANGKA BELITUNG PROVINCE)

The Construction Safety Management System is part of the construction work implementation management system to ensure the realization of construction safety, security, safety, health and sustainability standards which are technical guidelines for security, safety, construction workplace health and labor social protection and local environment and environmental management in the implementation of construction services. Safety targets or objects consist of the work environment, the project affected environment, the natural environment and the built environment. The analysis of the Construction Work Plan for Service Providers on Bridge Replacement Works in Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Province which is reviewed in this discussion is that the identification of the level of risk that has been stated in the Construction Work Plan Document for Bridge Replacement Works has been detailed and can be used as a reference in the implementation in the field. so that the fulfillment of security, safety, health and sustainability standards that ensure the safety of construction engineering, labor safety and health, public safety and environmental safety can be maintained. An assessment of the implementation of Construction Safety on Bridge Replacement Works by Service Users has been carried out, from the results of the assessment there are still things that need to be improved continuously. Implementation of Construction Safety on Bridge Replacement Work has been carried out in accordance with the mandate of the legislation, but it still needs to be continuously improved so as to get maximum results.

Empirical Evaluation of the Environmental Emergency Management Capability of Local Governments in China

Environmental emergency management is an important practical subject for local governments. Understanding the different dimensions of environmental emergency management capability is crucial for enabling a well-informed governance performance. Based on the crisis management 4R theory (comprising four stages: reduction, readiness, response and recovery), PPRR emergency management theory (emergency management is categorized into four stages: prevention, preparation, response and recovery), crisis life cycle theory and ISO 22320, this paper divided local government environmental emergency management capability into four dimensions of a dynamic pre–during–post process: preparedness, early warning, response and recovery. This paper applied a confirmatory factor analysis model to confirm the classification standards of the four capabilities, which are strongly correlated within environmental emergency management. We found that China’s local government environmental emergency management capability is generally at an upper-middle level, according to the empirical data. We also analyzed the regional differences in local government environmental emergency management capability across China and concluded that the environmental emergency management capability of local governments in the eastern region is higher than those in other regions. The capability levels in the central, western and northeastern regions are more similar to each other and show a decreasing distribution in the east–central–west–northeast region.

Spatially structured freshwater fish population dynamics at the River Basin District scale: Implication for environmental management and fish conservation

European Union environmental policy has created a unique regulatory framework to favour aquatic ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation across European countries. Identifying the spatial structure of freshwater fish population dynamics is crucial to define region-specific management and conservation planning. To implement evidence-driven management and conservation decisions at a regional scale we assessed spatial heterogeneity in common freshwater fish population dynamics in France with a focus on trends in River Basin Districts (RBDs).The abundance and biomass growth rates of 18 common European freshwater fish species were estimated with state-space models on 546 sites distributed across the 5 main RBDs sampled in France between 1990 and 2011. Anguilla anguilla, Rutilus rutilus, Salmo trutta fario and Esox spp. exhibited large scale decline in abundance and/or biomass in several RBDs. The other species showed spatial heterogeneity in population growth rates. The main declines were observed in the Adour-Garonne and Loire-Bretagne RBDs, where management and conservation measures are urgently needed to halt the erosion of freshwater fish populations. In each of the 5 investigated RBDs, our results highlight areas where most of the common species we studied exhibited negative population growth rates. Freshwater fish surveys provide the fundamental information necessary to inform the European environmental policies and local environmental management needed to restore freshwater biodiversity. The next steps are to identify the main drivers of freshwater biodiversity erosion in the areas where we demonstrated major declines and to define the most cost-effective restoration measures.