Spatial-temporal Evolution Characteristics Research Articles

Green efficiency of water resources in Northwest China: Spatial-temporal heterogeneity and convergence trends

Green efficiency of water resources (WGE) is the basis for developing cleaner production and implementing sustainable development. This study deconstructs WGE into the components of green efficiency identified as agricultural water (AGE), industrial water (IGE), domestic service water (SGE), and ecological water (EGE), then analyzes the dynamic change trend, spatial-temporal evolution characteristics and spatial convergence of identified WGE in Northwest China utilizing the Super-SBM model, spatial convergence model together with an exploration spatial data analysis. The results show that the average of SGE and its average annual growth after 2007 are the highest; Not only do AGE, IGE, SGE, and EGE have obvious spatial-temporal heterogeneity, they will eventually converge into one steady-state growth trajectory at different rates (about 3.8, 3.30, 3.25 and 3.20), which are related to the level of economic development, population size, industrial structure, government expenditure and spatial spillover effects from joining or adjacent areas. In addition to selectively improving some external conditions to promote the path of steady growth of water resources, local governments in Northwest China can also explore the construction of cooperative management and restriction mechanisms on cross-regional water resources to build a “destiny community” for WGE.

Research on High-Quality Development Efficiency and Total Factor Productivity of Regional Economies in China

Different from the developmental mode of western developed countries, China’s economy has changed from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, where the people’s growing needs for better lives can be met, embodying this new concept of development. The aim of our study is to evaluate the high-quality development efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) of regional economies in China, and to explore the characteristics of spatial-temporal pattern evolution and their influencing factors. By using the slacks-based measure of directional distance functions (SBM-DDF) model, based on the undesirable output perspective, the high-quality development efficiency and TFP of regional economies in China, from 2000 to 2018, are evaluated in this paper. The exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and Tobit models are then used to identify the spatial-temporal correlation patterns and influencing factors of high-quality development efficiency and TFP. The key results show the following: (1) from 2001 to 2018, the greatest high-quality development efficiency and TFP belonged to China’s eastern region and the least to its central region. (2) U and inverted-U trend lines show that high-quality development efficiency has significant regional difference in the east–west direction, presenting a significant feature of spatial imbalance. (3) Government, urbanization rate, and marketization level play a positive role in their impact of TFP, whereas financial development, infrastructure, foreign direct investment, and capital labor ratio play a negative one.

Assessment and Spatial-Temporal Evolution Analysis of Urban Land Use Efficiency under Green Development Orientation: Case of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations

Rapid urbanization has provided a strong impetus for the economic growth of China, but it has also caused many problems such as inefficient urban land use and environmental pollution. With the popularization of the concept of green and sustainable development, the Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) assessment concept is widely accepted. The government and residents are paying more and more attention to environmental issues in urban development, and environmental protection has formed an important part of urban development. In this context, this study takes 26 cities in the Yangtze River Delta as examples to build an evaluation system for urban land-use efficiency under green development orientation. The evaluation system takes into account the inputs of land, capital, labor, and energy factors in the process of urban development. Based on emphasizing economic output, the social benefits and undesired outputs brought about by urban development are taken into account. This paper measures urban land use efficiency by the super-efficiency SBM model, and on this basis, analyses the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urban land-use efficiency. Further, this paper measures urban land use efficiency without considering undesired outputs and compares the two evaluation methods. Again, the comparison illustrates the rationality of urban land use efficiency evaluation system under green development orientation.

RESEARCH ON WIND PRESSURE FIELD OF LARGE-SPAN FLAT ROOF BASED ON DYNAMIC MODE DECOMPOSITION

The dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) method improved by embedded dimension and the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method are used to analyze the random wind pressure field of a large-span flat roof. The results show that the fuzzy dynamic features hidden in the wind tunnel test data can be discovered by using the Takens embedding theorem to increase the spatial dimension of the original snapshot matrix. The modal distributions of POD and DMD can reflect the main characteristics of typical vortices in a fluctuating pressure field. However, each mode of POD contains the information of multiple frequencies, which to a certain extent makes the mode of POD become the fluctuating coupling of multiple frequency bands. The mode decomposed by DMD method is a single-frequency mode and the stability of each mode can be obtained. At the same proportion, POD modes contain more energy than DMD modes. But when the same proportion of modes are used to reconstruct the fluctuating wind pressure field, the reconstruction results of DMD method can better describe and fit the local characteristics of the original fluctuating pressure field than those of POD method. This is because DMD method reconstructs the pressure field directly, while POD method mainly reconstructs the energy field. Therefore, the DMD method has more advantages in revealing the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of a random wind pressure field.

The developing trends and driving factors of environmental information disclosure in China

Environmental Information Disclosure (EID) is a new tool for environmental governance in the era of big data and information. Based on the Pollution Information Disclosure Index (PITI) of 120 cities in China from 2003 to 2019, spatial data exploratory analysis and dynamic spatial panel model were adopted to analyze the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of EID in China. The results show that (1) great progress of China's EID has been made in legislation and practice and its ways and channels are gradually becoming diversified, while it is accompanied by the problem of inadequate and unbalanced development; (2) EID shows the “superposition effect” promoted by previous accumulation has the “peer effect” of mutual imitation and learning and presents “demonstration effect”, which shows significant agglomeration distribution pattern of spatial “club”, while the spillover effect within the region is significant while the radiation effect between regions is weak. (3) In a dynamic process, cities with better economic development, firm performance, environmental performance and regulation, disclosure more environmental information, while the role of government competition and public participation needs further discussion. (4) Negative factors have a great influence during the economic crisis, while positive factors play a significant role in promoting the disclosure of environmental information during the economic expansion after crises. Cities in the developed regions (coastal, east and large cities) disclosure more than developing regions (inland, west, and small cities), and the positive factors are more likely to take effect.

Analysis on the Spatial-Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Spatial Network Structure of Tourism Eco-Efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration.

Based on the panel data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2008 to 2017, this paper constructs an evaluation indicators system for urban tourism eco-efficiency. By measuring the tourism eco-efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, we analyze its spatial-temporal evolution characteristics. Furthermore, the modified gravity model and social network analysis are introduced to explore the spatial network structure of tourism eco-efficiency and its evolution trend.The results show that:(1) The overall eco-efficiency of tourism in the Yangtze River Delta region presents a fluctuating downward trend, among which Jiangsu and Zhejiang have high eco-efficiency, Shanghai and Anhui are relatively low. The gap within the region first increased and then decreased. (2) During this decade, the spatial network structure of tourism eco-efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta has become increasingly loose. The weakening of the network connection strength has led to a decrease in the regional tourism eco-efficiency to a great extent. (3) The network centrality of cities such as Zhoushan, Huzhou, and Huangshan has always maintained a high level, and these cities have firmly occupied the core position of network. (4) The spatial association network of tourism eco-efficiency can be divided into four blocks: “two-way spillover”, “net spillover”, “net benefit” and “agent”. The synergy and spillover effect between various blocks are significant, and there is a spatial polarization trend centered on a few cities. Based on this, this paper puts forward optimization suggestions for the spatial network structure of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, in anticipation of promoting the improvement of regional tourism eco-efficiency.

Spatial–Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency in Northwest China—Based on a Super-DEA Model and a Spatial Panel Econometric Model

Improving agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) is an important way to solve the shortage of water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. This study used the Super-DEA (data envelopment analysis) to measure the AWUE of 52 cities in Northwest China from 2000 to 2018. Based on spatial and temporal perspectives, it applied Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) to explore the dynamic evolution and regional differences of AWUE. A spatial econometric model was then used to analyze the main factors that influence the AWUE in Northwest China. The results showed firstly that the overall AWUE in Northwest China from 2000 to 2018 presented a steady upward trend. However, only a few cities achieved effective agricultural water usage by 2018, and the differences among cities were obvious. Secondly, AWUE showed an obvious spatial autocorrelation in Northwest China and showed significant high–high and low–low agglomeration characteristics. Thirdly, economic growth, urbanization development, and effective irrigation have significant, positive effects on AWUE, while per capita water resource has a significant, negative influence. Finally, when improving the AWUE in arid and semi-arid regions, plans should be formulated according to local conditions. The results of this study can provide new ideas on the study of AWUE in arid and semi-arid regions and provide references for the formulation of regional agricultural water resource utilization policies as well.

Higher order dynamic mode decomposition of wind pressures on square buildings

Wind pressures on buildings with different aspect ratios were investigated via higher-order dynamic mode decomposition (HODMD) in this study. Taken’s embedding theorem was used to augment the spatial dimensionality of the original snapshot matrix by introducing time delay coordinates. HODMD was applied to reveal the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of fluctuating wind pressures on building surfaces. It was found that HODMD can successfully extract the modes and corresponding frequencies from the random pressure field. As the aspect ratio increases, the main mode is more dominant than other modes. Moreover, comparisons between HODMD and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) suggests that the first-order mode shapes extracted by HODMD and POD are generally similar, and both can reflect the main characteristics of the fluctuating pressure field. However, the higher-order mode shapes extracted by HODMD and POD are different due to higher-order nonlinearities. The modes of HODMD oscillate at a fixed frequency while those of POD resemble random signals, indicating the physical meaning of HODMD is more evident. Furthermore, HODMD is proven to be superior to POD in reconstructing pressure fields with less root mean square errors, because HODMD reconstructs the pressure field directly while POD primarily aims to rebuild the energy field.

Investigation of South Korea Precipitation Variation using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) and Cyclostationary EOF

The monthly precipitation data of 56 stations during 47 years (1973-2019) in South Korea are comprehensively analysed using the EOF technique and CSEOF technique respectively. The main motivation for employing this technique in the present study is to investigate the physical processes associated with the evolution of the precipitation from observation data. The first mode account for 77.07% of the total variance and exhibits annual cycle of corresponding PC time series with traditional spatial pattern, and the second mode spatial patterns account for 8.13% of the total variance and show strong north to south gradient. In CSEOF analysis, two leading modes temporal pattern of PC time series reveals the annual cycle on a monthly time scale and long-term fluctuation, the first mode temporal pattern of PC time series account for 73.55% of the total variance and shows an increasing linear trend which represents that temporal variability of first mode pattern has been strengthened. The spatial distribution corresponding to two leading modes show monthly spatial variation. Compared with the EOF analysis, the CSEOF analysis preferably exhibits the spatial distribution and temporal evolution characteristics and variability of South Korea historical precipitation.

Spatial and temporal evolution of habitat quality in Fujian Province, China based on the land use change from 1980 to 2018.

Analyzing the characteristics of spatial-temporal evolution of habitat quality caused by land use change can provide a scientific basis for the coordinated development of regional ecological economy. With Fujian Province (the ecological civilization demonstration area of China) as an example,the InVEST model was used to evaluate the habitat quality based on the land use change data from 1980 to 2018. Further, the influencing factors were analyzed through Geodetector, and the spatial-temporal characteristics of habitat quality was analyzed by combining with the change of land use type. The results showed that the main land use change types included farmland translating to forest land and construction land, forest land translating to farmland, grassland and construction land, and grassland translating to forest land, which accounted for 8.4%, 14.5%, 7.6%, 17.1%, 6.4% and 31.7% of the total land use change, respectively. From 1980 to 2018, the overall habitat quality of Fujian Province was at a high level (0.6-0.8), showing a trend of habitat degradation and habitat quality reduction. The first leading factor for the spatial variation of habitat quality was the change of land use type, with the impact of socioeconomic factors on the habitat quality of coastal counties and cities being significantly higher than that of the entire region and inland counties and cities. The rapid encroachment of construction land on the surrounding forest and grassland accele-rated the degradation of habitat in coastal areas, the process of which was irreversible. The habitat degradation of central urban areas would undergo a similar process in inland area, but might be slower than coastal area in terms of speed and scale. In the long term, the speed of habitat degradation could be slowed by controlling the scale of cities, developing urban ecological greening, and buil-ding an ecological security pattern.

Characteristics of the Residual Surface Deformation of Multiple Abandoned Mined-Out Areas Based on a Field Investigation and SBAS-InSAR: A Case Study in Jilin, China

Residual surface deformation resulting from abandoned mined-out areas can lead to severe damage to ground structures (e.g., buildings and infrastructure in mining areas) and the local ecological environment. Long-term monitoring and analyses of surface deformation characteristics of abandoned mined-out areas are significant for preventing potential disasters. In this study, a detailed field investigation first was conducted in Ying’an and Baoshan coal mines located in Jilin Province, China, to survey mining-induced disasters in the mining areas. Based on the 40 Sentinel-1A images acquired from 14 February 2017 to 17 May 2020, small baseline subset interferometry synthetic aperture radar (SBAS-InSAR) technology was employed to obtain the time-series residual surface deformation. Validation of the SBAS-derived results is performed by comparing with the results obtained via leveling measurements. The root mean square error (RMSE) between SBAS-derived and leveling measurements results was found to be 1.144 mm, reflecting a fairly good agreement. Furthermore, the ordinary Kriging interpolation approach was adopted to obtain information on the deformation across the entire area. The spatial–temporal evolution characteristics of the derived subsidence bowls in multiple mined-out areas were revealed. The deformation characteristics for the abandoned mined-out areas in different periods were not completely consistent. Finally, the potential mechanism underlying the inconsistency in the subsidence associated with underground coal exploitation is analyzed. The findings of this study can provide insights into local construction and ecological improvement as well as guidance for the prediction of deformation in abandoned mined-out areas.

Spatial-Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Countermeasures of Urban Innovation Space Distribution: An Empirical Study Based on Data of Nanjing High-Tech Enterprises

Since the financial crisis in 2008, innovation has gradually become the orientation of global economic development and the strategic choice for China’s urban development. With the transformation of the urban development mode from factor-driven and capital-driven to innovation-driven, many innovation spaces have begun to emerge in cities, which attract academic attention. A large number of studies on the relation between innovation activities and geographic space mainly focus on the phenomena at the regional level, and the city is only regarded as a target of innovation activities agglomeration. The study on the distribution of innovation space within the city is insufficient. In particular, there is a lack of studies on the spatial-temporal evolution of urban innovation space distribution. However, the study on the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urban innovation space distribution can provide planning countermeasures for the construction of innovative cities in China. Taking Nanjing as an empirical area, the spatial-temporal evolution of urban innovation space distribution was studied through methods such as average nearest neighbor, standard deviational ellipse, kernel density estimation, and exploratory spatial data analysis based on the data of high-tech enterprises identified from 2008 to 2019. The results showed the following: (1) the distribution of urban innovation space has significant spatial agglomeration characteristics, and the degree of agglomeration continued to rise; (2) regardless of the macro- or microperspective, the distribution of urban innovation space has shown the characteristic of diffusion at the initial, but the trend of polarization in recent years is significant; and (3) the distribution of urban innovation space exhibited diverse agglomeration modes and evolution trends in different regions, and it can be divided into three categories: grouped, banded, and scattered.

Impact assessment of climate change and human activities on GHG emissions and agricultural water use

The agriculture sector is one of the largest users of water and a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The development of low-GHG-emission and water-conserving agriculture will inevitably be the trend in the future. Because of the physiological differences among crops and their response efficiency to external changes, changes in planting structure, climate and input of production factors will have an impact on regional agricultural water use and GHG emissions. This paper systematically analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of crop planting structure, climate, and production factor inputs in Heilongjiang Province, the main grain-producing region of China, from 2000 to 2015, and quantified the regional agricultural water use and GHG emissions characteristics under different scenarios by using the Penman-Monteith formula and the Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) model. The results showed that the global warming potential (GWP) increased by 15% due to the change in planting structure. A large increase in the proportion of rice and corn sown was the main reason. During the study period, regional climate change had a positive impact on the water-saving and emission reduction of the agricultural industry. The annual water demand per unit area decreased by 19%, and the GWP decreased by 12% compared with that in 2000. The input of fertilizer and other means of production will have a significant impact on GHG emissions from farmlands. The increase in N fertilizer input significantly increased N2O emissions, with a 5% increase in GWP. Agricultural water consumption and carbon emissions are affected by changes in climate, input of means of production, and planting structure. Therefore, multiple regulatory measures should be taken in combination with regional characteristics to realize a new layout of planting structure with low emissions, water conservation, and sustainability.

Response of Agricultural Drought to Meteorological Drought: A Case Study of the Winter Wheat above the Bengbu Sluice in the Huaihe River Basin, China

This study investigated the responses of winter wheat to drought for the above part of the Bengbu Sluice in the Huaihe River based on the daily scale dataset of 60 meteorological stations from 1961–2015. Crop water deficit index (CWDI) and relative moisture index (M) were used to examine the winter wheat drought and meteorological drought, respectively. We then analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of these two kinds of drought to calculate the time lag of winter wheat drought to meteorological drought, and finally discuss the relationship between the time lag of winter wheat drought to meteorological drought and the underlying surface geographical factors, and drew the following conclusions. (1) In terms of time scale, for CWDI, except for the filling and mature period, the CWDI at other growth periods showed a slight downward trend; for M, there was no significant change in the interannual trend of each growth period. In terms of spatial scale, the proportion of above moderate drought level in each station of CWDI and M presented a decreasing feature from north to south. (2) The time lag of winter wheat drought to meteorological drought was the shortest (3.21 days) in the greening and heading period and the longest in the over-wintering period (84.35 days). (3) The correlation between the geographical factors and the time lag of winter wheat drought in each growth period was better than 0.5. The high-value points of the relation between the underlying surface geographical factors and the time lag of winter wheat drought were mostly distributed in the mountainous areas with poor soil field capacity and at a greater depth of shallow groundwater, high elevation and steep slope in the areas with aspects to the east and northeast, and the northern areas with less precipitation and lower temperature.

Environmental improvement value of agricultural carbon reduction and its spatiotemporal dynamic evolution: Evidence from China

A large increase in carbon emission and other greenhouse gases have attracted much attention around the world for decades. As the second largest carbon emission source in the world, the agricultural carbon emission and the environmental improvement value of agricultural carbon reduction (EIVACR) should not be ignored. Based on the theory of resource economic value, the current study divided 31 provincial-level administrative units of China into three major regions. The Super-Efficiency Slacks-Based Measurement (SBM) model, Moran's I index and Markov chain transfer probability matrix method have been employed to examine EIVACR and it's spatial-temporal dynamic evolution characteristics by adopting panel data of 31 provinces from 1997 to 2017. The result indicated that: (i) during the study period, China's average EIVACR showed significant regional differences, accompanied by the gradually strengthening spatial pattern of the “central > western > eastern”; (ii) the average EIVACR increased from 0.970 Million Yuan in 1997 to 1.164 Million Yuan in 2017, increasing by 20% in 21 years; (iii) no spatial correlation or obvious dependence exist between adjacent provinces, but present a negative impact of “high-low” agglomeration in individual years; (iv) the influencing effects of technology adoption and factor allocation have spatial heterogeneity, and the influencing effect of policy orientation has temporal heterogeneity. Therefore, differentiated carbon reduction policies should be formulated according to regional and temporal differences. Meanwhile, carbon reduction market trading mechanism and compensation policy should be established. What's more, regional cooperation needs to be strengthened, to form a synergistic carbon reduction effect.

Transparent characterization of spatial-temporal evolution of gangue solid wastes' void structures during compression based on CT scanning

In the solid backfill mining, gangue solid wastes (GSW) are used as the main filling materials. The void ratio and void structure of GSW filling materials under the loaded compression in the goaf are the key factors that affect the heavy metal ion migration with the mine water. In this paper, the transparency of the internal structure of GSW filling materials was realized by CT scanning experiment and 3D reconstruction technology, and then the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of void ratio and void structure of GSW filling materials were studied under the loaded compression. The results show that: (a) With the progress of loading process, the connectivity between adjacent voids is getting worse, and closed voids are gradually formed; (b) The void's equivalent diameter is mainly concentrated in the range of 15 mm - 25 mm; (c) The change in the overall void ratio of GSW is mainly caused by the change of large voids, and the change of small voids has slight contribution to the change of the overall void ratio. However, the sharp increase in the number of small voids can reflect the poor connectivity and permeability between the voids. This research is of great significance to further understand the migration mechanism of heavy metal ions in the filled goaf, and protect the groundwater environment.

Assessment of landscape ecological risk for a cross-border basin: A case study of the Koshi River Basin, central Himalayas

Abstract Developing a reasonable landscape ecological risk (LER) assessment is crucial to establishing LER alert mechanisms and promoting ecological protection, environmental management and social development. The typical cross-border Koshi River Basin (KRB), which has a sensitive human-environment relationship, was the study area. Using the LER assessment model, we evaluated the LER of the KRB in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2017 and analyzed its spatial-temporal evolution characteristics. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was conducted to assess the clustering characteristics of the LER. The results showed the following: (1) The LER in the KRB showed a decreasing trend for 1990–2000 and an increasing trend for 2000–2017. High LER areas were mainly located on the border between China and Nepal, where the LER increased from 1990 to 2017. (2) The Nepal part of the KRB had the highest LER, and the Indian part had the lowest LER. As the slope increased, the extremely ecologically deteriorated areas generally increased. (3) The LER displayed a clustering characteristic in the KRB. High–high regions were distributed in extremely high LER regions, and low–low regions were located in extremely low and low LER regions. High human influence intensity was responsible for the increase in LER. Our study is valuable to the development and ecological security management of cross-border basins.

Coupling coordination measurement of land use and air quality in Heilongjiang Province

The coordinated development of land use and atmospheric environment is the key link to promote the healthy operation of regional economy and society. The gray correlation TOPSIS model was used to comprehensively evaluate the land use levels and air quality of 12 prefecture-level cities in Heilongjiang Province from 2015 to 2018, and the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of the coordinated development degree of the two cities are explored by using the coupling coordination degree model. The results show that: The land use efficiency and air quality in Heilongjiang Province both fluctuate and increase, during which no city has achieved the ideal synchronous development, and the lag of land use level is the main factor limiting the degree of coordination; The coupling degree of land use and atmospheric environment is relatively high. 91.67% of the cities are always in a high-level coupling stage with little change. The coordination relationship between land use and atmospheric environment is gradually optimized, and the trend of temporal change is “N” type, and the type of coordination transitions from mild imbalance to barely coordinated. In space, it shows the pattern characteristics of “high in the West and low in the East”. Daqing has the highest level of coordinated development, while Harbin and Hegang need to improve their coordination.

Studies of stress and displacement distribution and the evolution law during rock failure process based on acoustic emission and microseismic monitoring

The evolutions of stress and deformation inside of rock is highly important in studies of the rock failure mechanism but is difficult to obtain via the traditional stress measurement methods due to limited measuring points. Thus, studies of the stress and displacement evolution within rock were conducted based on acoustic emission (AE) monitoring in laboratory experiments. The differences in the distributions and evolution characteristics of the stress field and deformation field before caving in a deep stope were also examined based on in-situ microseismic (MS) monitoring. The results show that the distributions of micro-cracks, apparent stress and deformation inside the rock are highly consistent and can reflect the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of the stress field and deformation field within the rock. The accumulated apparent volume is more accurately than the strain to reflect the changes in inelastic deformation inside the rock. Based on in-situ MS monitoring, MS activities were found to be closely related to blasting disturbances during the caving process. Before a caving of the deep stope, the distributions of stress and displacement showed obvious differences, reflecting the loosening process of the rock mass. The non-uniformity and the differences in the stress and deformation can deepen the understanding of the rock (mass) failure process.

Measurement of Traffic Carbon Emissions and Pattern of Efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (1985-2016)

The "top-down" method was used to measure the traffic carbon emissions from 1985 to 2016 in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and analyze its spatial pattern and temporal evolution characteristics. Considering the unexpected output, a three-stage DEA model was constructed to evaluate and compare the traffic carbon emission efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, excluding the influence of external environment variables and random errors. The study found that first, the total traffic carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt showed a rising trend, among which the carbon emissions from petroleum energy consumption accounted for the largest proportion. Sichuan, Hubei, and Hunan and the Su-Zhe-Hu Region were the high-value areas of traffic carbon emissions in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, respectively. Second, from the east to west, the center of traffic carbon emissions generally showed a changing track of moving east first and then west; from the north to south, it highlighted the characteristics of increasing concentrated distribution along the Yangtze River in space. Third, there was an obvious spatial differentiation in the traffic carbon emission efficiency values of different provinces; from 2007 to 2016, the efficiency value of the eastern region was the highest, but the value of the central region changed from higher than that in the western region to lower than that in the western region. Finally, external environmental factors had a significant impact on the efficiency of traffic carbon emissions, in which the optimization of industrial structure was found to be conducive to the improvement of traffic carbon emission efficiency, while the influence of government intervention was changed from "innovation compensation" effect to "compliance cost" effect.