To determine the dividing index between warm temperate and subtropical zones based on the spectra of altitudinal belts, this paper collected 33 spectra of altitudinal belts in the Qinling-Daba Mountains from published literatures and then analyzed the structures and the spatial patterns from south to north, from west to east and based on exposure directions. The results show that: 1) From south to north, the basal belt gradually changes from subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest to warm temperate deciduous broadleaf forest; the spectra of altitudinal belts change from complex to simple; the dominant belt changes from montane broadleaf-conifer mixed forest and evergreen-deciduous broadleaf mixed forest to deciduous broadleaf forest. 2) From west to east, the structures of the altitudinal belt spectra show complexity in the east and west but simplicity in the middle section; the upper limits of both the evergreen-deciduous broadleaf mixed forest belt and montane deciduous broadleaf forest belt present a quadratic curve distribution pattern in the longitudinal direction. However, the upper limit of the montane broadleaf-conifer mixed forest belt exhibits a nearly linear decrease in the west-east direction. 3) Both the north and south slopes in the Qinling Mountains have the similar basal belt, whereas it varies greatly between the north and south slopes in the Daba Mountains. Comparably, dominant belts are very similar in the Qinling Mountains and the north slope of the Daba Mountains, but the south slope of the Daba Mountains has its own unique dominant belt: evergreen-deciduous broadleaf mixed forest. This implies that the Daba Mountains are more appropriate than the Qinling Mountains to act as the boundary between subtropical and warm-temperate zones in central China.

Based on air temperature observation data from 32 meteorological stations, temperature changes in the middle Qinling Mountains from 1959 to 2016 were analysed with respect to the north-south, seasonal and altitude differences. Our research mainly showed the following results. The annual temperature (TA) rose approximately 0.26℃/10a within the past 58 years. This warming trend was stronger on the northern slope than on the southern slope, and a warming trend reversal occurred in 1994 on the northern slope, which was three years earlier than on the southern slope. The temperature changes for the four seasons were not synchronized, and the trend in spring contributed the most to the TA trend, followed by winter, autumn, and summer. The temperature difference between summer and winter (TDSW) decreased significantly over the past 58 years. The temperature change in the middle Qinling Mountains was clearly dependent on altitude. With increases in altitude, the TA increased gradually and became stronger while the TDSW decreased gradually and became weaker. Differences in temperature change between the north and south were mainly observed in low-altitude areas. With increase in altitude, the differences gradually tended to disappear.

Patent transfer has been regarded as an important channel for the nations and regions to acquire external technology, and also a direct research object to depict the relationship between supply and demand of technology flow. Therefore, based on traceable patent transfer data, this article has established a dual-pipeline theoretical framework of transnational-domestic technology transfer from the interaction of the global and local (glocal) perspective, and combines social networks, GIS spatial analysis as well as spatial econometric model to discover the spatial evolution of China’s transnational technology channels and its determinant factors. It is found that: (1) The spatial heterogeneity of the overall network is significant while gradually weakened over time. (2) The eastward shift of the core cities involved in transnational technology channels is accelerating, from the hubs in North America (New York Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Caribbean offshore financial center, etc.) and West Europe (London offshore financial center etc.) to East Asia (Tokyo and Seoul) and Southeast Asia (Singapore), which illustrates China has decreased reliance on the technology from the USA and West Europe. (3) The four major innovation clusters: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (Beijing as the hub), Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai as the hub), The Greater Bay Area (Shenzhen and Hong Kong as the hubs) and north Taiwan (Taipei and Hsinchu as the hubs), are regarded as global technology innovation hubs and China’s distribution centers in transnational technology flow. Among those, Chinese Hong Kong’s betweenness role of technology is strengthened due to linkage of transnational corporations and their branches, and low tax coverage of offshore finance, thus becoming the top city for technology transfer. Meanwhile, Chinese Taiwan’s core position is diminishing. (4) The breadth, intensity, and closeness of domestic technology transfer are conducive to the expansion of transnational technology import channels. Additionally, local economic level has positive effect on transnational technology transfer channels while technology strength and external economic linkage have multifaceted influences.

With the rise of smart phones, mobile applications have been widely used in daily life. However, the relationship between individuals’ mobile application usage and cities’ economic development has yet to be investigated. To study this question, this work utilizes a dataset containing users’ history of mobile application usage records (MAURs) and investigates how MAURs are related to Chinese cities’ economic development. Our analysis shows the cities’ GDP and number of MAURs are highly correlated, and at the individual level, people in wealthier cities (higher GDP per capita) tend to have more active mobile application usage (MAURs per capita). The results also demonstrate the relevance between cities’ GDP and MAURs varies significantly among different demographic groups, with male users’ relevance consistently higher than female users’ and working-age people’s relevance higher than other age groups. A boosted tree regression model is then applied to predict cities’ GDP with MAURs and proves to achieve high goodness-of-fit (over 0.8 R-square) and good prediction accuracy, especially for the economically developed and populous regions in China. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the relationship between MAURs and cities’ economic development is revealed, which contributes to novel knowledge discovery for regionalization and urban development.

High-quality industrial development (HID) is a requirement of the modern economy and regional development. This paper designed a four-dimensional HID evaluation framework according to the logic of “development foundation-development theme-development subject-development guarantee.” Specifically, momentum cultivation as the foundation, efficiency improvement as the theme, and quality promotion as the subject are the three pivots driving the industrial transformation from high-speed development to high-quality development. A stable economic environment and a harmonious social environment are the guarantees of HID. Choosing the π-shaped Curve Area of the Yellow River basin in China as the study area, this paper measured the spatiotemporal pattern of HID and its four dimensions using the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method based on relevant economic indicators. Besides, the obstacle recognition model was adopted to identify the obstacles to HID. Findings include: From 2005 to 2019, the HID in the Curve Area was characterized by spatial unevenness and relative stability. The industrial structure and industrial layout were more rational in provincial capitals and large cities than in other cities. The spatial organization of the industrial economy presented an incompact polycentric structure, and the industrial association was relatively weak in the curve’s upper reaches. Almost all cities have experienced an increase in single-factor productivity, and technological progress contributed most to the total factor productivity growth. During the study period, the development momentum stabilized at high levels in Inner Mongolia while at low levels in resource-based cities. The development environment in most cities has remained stable, and the social welfare has increased and distributed more equitably in the Area. The technological introduction and the rationalization of the industrial structure were the primary obstacle factors for the Area in realizing HID, and the upgrading of the industrial location index was critical to the upper reaches of the curve. This paper was expected to provide new ideas for studying industrial transformation and practical policy proposals for regional development in the Curve Area.

Over the past 20 years, China has experienced multiple economic transitions characterized by marketization, globalization, decentralization, and urbanization; as a result, urban land development intensity (ULDI) has become a significant issue for sustainable development. As China’s largest globalized urban area, the rapid socio-economic development of the Yangtze River Delta has created a huge demand for urban land. We apply a theoretical framework for a four-dimensional analysis tool to understand the dynamic evolution of the ULDI in the context of economic transition. It reveals that marketization, globalization, decentralization, and urbanization affect the ULDI in the economic transition of Yangtze River Delta. Marketization, especially the continuous improvement of land marketization, optimizes the spatial allocation of land resources and encourages urban land users to improve ULDI. Globalization promotes the rapid growth of economy and population through an increase in foreign direct investment. In the process of decentralization, local governments rely on developing a mode of land finance, resulting in a disordered urban space and low ULDI. Population growth and agglomeration during urbanization stimulates residents’ consumption capacity and promotes economic growth, thus creating a greater demand for urban land. However, a low level of development and utilization restricts the improvement of development intensity. Economic development can improve the level of land-intensive use by promoting the adjustment, optimization, and upgrade of urban industrial structures.

A transportation hub is the key link in the construction of the comprehensive three-dimensional transportation corridor of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and is the basic factor responsible for the promotion of this belt. A high-speed railway hub has the “last kilometer of time-space compression” effect and is the key to building an efficient, convenient, modern, and comprehensive transportation system. This study constructed a model for measuring the connection-distribution performance of the high-speed railway hub, determined the connection-distribution performance of the urban high-speed railway hub in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and analyzed its spatial differentiation characteristics, further revealed the influencing mechanism of the connection-distribution performance of the high-speed railway hub. The main results are as follows: (1) The connection-distribution performance of the high-speed railway hub in the Yangtze River Economic Belt presented an “olive-shaped pattern” grade structure with two small ends and a large middle section, that is, the number of high-speed railway stations with high performance and average performance was small, and the number of high-speed railway stations with good performance and medium performance was large. (2) The connection-distribution performance of the high-speed railway hub in the Yangtze River Economic Belt showed a regional differentiation pattern of “high in the east and low in the west” and “high in the north and low in the south”, and showed an urban agglomeration differentiation pattern of “high in the core areas but low in the marginal areas”; moreover, spatial differences were prominent in the distribution of nine evaluation indexes of the connection-distribution performance of the high-speed railway hub. (3) GDP, urbanization rate, city level, station passenger flow and frequency of shuttle bus were key driving factors affecting the connection-distribution performance of the high-speed railway hub. At the same time, there were significant differences in the key driving factors for the connection-distribution performance grades of high-quality, good, medium and average.

China has entered the middle-to-late stage of urbanization. The scale of urban- to-urban migrants, which more refers to the urban-to-urban floating population (UUFP) across China, has significantly increased. UUFP settlement intention is a crucial issue for urbanization development. This study examines the spatial pattern and factors influencing the settlement intention of the UUFP in China based on data obtained through its dynamic monitoring in 2017 and the binary logistic model. The results show that most members of the UUFP were married, older, better educated, and had a higher income than the average person with extensive migration experience. We correlated a high settlement intention with developed economies, coastal areas, good environmental conditions, and more amenities in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Zhuhai. Amenities were more impactful on settlement intention than economic factors, from individual and regional perspectives. The UUFP more often sought equality of education for children and social integration in its choices of destinations. However, the distance was not a hindrance to intention to settle but played a substantial role in influencing it. We suggest optimizing the stock of the UUFP in large cities, improving public education services, and promoting remote urbanization. Likewise, industrial transfer and enhanced public resources may ease the pressure of large UUFP flows into large cities.

From 2020 to 2030, accelerating the “citizenization” of the migrant population is key to promoting urbanization and achieving common prosperity. The urbanization rate of the registered population in China is roughly 18% lower than that of permanent residents. The pressure of the ageing population and the lack of a labor force have caused big cities to introduce relevant policies to attract talent, and the citizenization process needs to be improved urgently, with a particular focus on megacities. The transformation in the number of registered residents in megacities varies greatly, and there is a lack of research on this topic, which makes it an important academic issue. Using both natural and social perspectives, we selected concise indicators and combined the possibility-satisfiability model to estimate the urbanization transformation gap of annual household registration. Further, we constructed a panel data model to empirically analyze the different factors leading to the gap of household registration in megacities. The main factors affecting the transformation of the registered population in megacities are medical services, as well as educational resources and the urban water supply. It is urgent for urban and rural administrators to change the current passive and rigid institutional mechanisms and to ensure flexible, normal governance.

Although China was one of the countries with the fastest-growing aging population in the world, limited scholarly attention has been paid to migration among older adults in China. The full picture of their migration in the entire country over time remains unknown. This study examines the spatial patterns of older interprovincial migration flows and their drivers in China over the period 1995 to 2015, using four waves of census data and intercensal population sample survey data. Results from eigenvector spatial filtering negative binomial regressions indicate that older adults tend to migrate away from low cost-of-living rural areas to high cost-of-living urban and rural areas, moving away from areas with extreme temperature differences. The location of their grandchildren is among the most important attractions. Our findings suggest that family-oriented migration is more common than amenity-led migration among retired Chinese older adults, and the cost-of-living is an indicator of economic opportunities for adult children and the quality of senior care services.

Household structure is an important aspect of family change during China’s modernization process. Existing literature has demonstrated significant associations between various factors and household structure, but the spatial variation in these relationships has not been examined. Using the 2010 Chinese population census data and geographically weighted regression (GWR) model, this study explored the spatial patterns of three-generation lineal households, a functionally important household type in China, and its influencing factors. There was significant heterogeneity in the distribution of three-generation lineal households. Socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural factors were all significantly related to the proportion of three-generation lineal households, but the relationships are place-specific in terms of direction and magnitude. These results suggest that the distribution of Chinese household structures cannot be explained by a single framework of family modernization theory but is determined by the interplay of various local characteristics. Especially, population migration plays an equally important role in affecting household structure than socioeconomic development in China. This work contributes to the family literature by highlighting the spatial heterogeneity in the impact of varying factors on household structure. Beyond the classic modernization theory, it sets a contextualized framework for understanding how Chinese household change in response to the rapid social transformation.

This paper examines the process and internal mechanisms of rural ecommerce industry agglomeration and space reconstruction in metropolitan fringe areas, employing Lirendong village in Guangzhou, China, as a case study. Questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews were utilized and interpreted through the perspective of the actor-network theory. The results show that, in Lirendong village, local government, processing enterprises, rural collectives, e-commerce entrepreneurial talent, and other key actors participate in the pursuit and realization of suburban land value according to their action logic. Actors jointly evolved and constructed the phased industrial processes and space value accumulation process of the e-commerce industry. The reconstruction process experienced three stages, including the government-led agricultural decentralization stage, the market-oriented industrialization stage, and the Internet+ stage dominated by the social network of fellow villagers. The development process has evolved from the dominance of exogenous forces to that of endogenous forces, and, as a result, the types and structures of rural land use are diversified. The spatial texture and rural environment of the traditional country gradually disappeared, forming a diversified mixed form of urban-rural land and mixed-use landscape of industrial, commercial, and residential land in vertical space. At the same time, the social network changed from a single and homogeneous social network of acquaintances to a multiple network of strangers.

Using the daily temperature data of 95 meteorological stations from Sichuan- Chongqing Region and its surrounding areas, this paper adopted these methods (e.g., linear regression, trend coefficient, geographical statistics, gray relational analysis and spatial analysis functions of GIS) to analyze the relations of temperature variability with topography, latitude and longitude. Moreover, the rank of gray correlation between temperature variability and elevation, longitude, latitude, topographic position and surface roughness also was measured. These results indicated: (1) The elevation affected temperature variability most obviously, followed by latitude, and longitude. The slope of the linear regression between temperature change rate and elevation, latitude and longitude was 0.4142, 0.0293 and -0.3270, respectively. (2) The rank of gray correlation between temperature change rate and geographic factors was elevation > latitude > surface roughness > topographic position > longitude. The gray correlation degree between temperature change rate and elevation was 0.865, followed by latitude with 0.796, and longitude with 0.671. (3) The rate of temperature change enhanced with the increase of elevation. Especially, the warming trend was significant in the plateau and mountain areas of western Sichuan, and mountain and valley areas of southwestern Sichuan (with the warming rate of 0.74℃/10a during the 1990s). However, there was a weak warming trend in Sichuan Basin and its surrounding low mountain and hilly areas. (4) The effects of latitude on temperature change rate presented the specific regulation, which the warming rate of low-latitude areas was more significant than that of high-latitude areas. However, they were consistent with the regulation that the increasing of low temperature controlled most of the warming trend, due to the effects of terrain and elevation on annual mean temperature. (5) Basically, temperature variability along longitude direction resulted from the regular change of elevation along longitude. It was suggested that, in Sichuan-Chongqing Region, special features of temperature variability largely depended on the terrain complexity (e.g., undulations, mutations and roughness). The elevation level controlled only high or low annual mean temperature and the range of temperature change rate in the macro sense.

By decomposing and reconstructing the runoff information from 1965 to 2007 of the hydrologic stations of Tuotuo River and Zhimenda in the source region of the Yangtze River, and Jimai and Tangnaihai in the source region of the Yellow River with db3 wavelet, runoff of different hydrologic stations tends to be declining in the seasons of spring flood, summer flood and dry ones except for that in Tuotuo River. The declining flood/dry seasons series was summer > spring > dry; while runoff of Tuotuo River was always increasing in different stages from 1965 to 2007 with a higher increase rate in summer flood seasons than that in spring ones. Complex Morlet wavelet was selected to detect runoff periodicity of the four hydrologic stations mentioned above. Over all seasons the periodicity was 11-12 years in the source region of the Yellow River. For the source region of the Yangtze River the periodicity was 4-6 years in the spring flood seasons and 13-14 years in the summer flood seasons. The differences of variations of flow periodicity between the upper catchment areas of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River and between seasons were considered in relation to glacial melt and annual snowfall and rainfall as providers of water for runoff.

Ecological compensation is a hot subject in academic studies, and the determination of the spatial allocation of compensation payments is a key point in the research of ecological compensation. There are two kinds of thoughts in the determination of regional spatial allocation at present: “evaluation of ecological construction cost” and “evaluation of ecosystem services value”. This paper analyzes the relationships between social ecological compensation and regional socio-economic development, and establishes two econometric models with the data of 2007 from various provinces in China. Through these models, the impacts of geographical endowments on the regional socio-economic development in various provinces are analyzed from the social justice viewpoint and the concept of “equivalent value of geographical endowments” (EGE for short) is proposed. This paper analyzes the application prospect of EGE in the policy making of regional ecological compensation. The results showed that: (1) the implementation of social ecological compensation is not only an effective guarantee for each region to obtain the equal rights of survival, development and decent environment, but also an essential assurance to the coordinated, balanced and sustainable development among various regions; (2) the regional difference in geographical endowments is an important factor affecting the regional spatial variation of socio-economic development. Therefore, geographical endowments are important bases for the determination of the spatial allocation of compensation payments in social ecological compensation; (3) based on the EGE, the government can determine the spatial allocation of social ecological compensation scientifically, and avoid the “sweeping approach” phenomenon in the policy making process of ecological compensation.

The agricultural reclamations in the Xiliao River Valley since the Holocene have led to a huge landscape change from grassland to farmland. In this paper we reconsider the man-land relationship in the Xiliao River Valley by analyzing three major agricultural reclamations in prehistory, the Liao-Jin Dynasty and the period since the Qing Dynasty. We argue that when the demographic pressure appears in this area, especially during the last reclamation, the intraregional migration (second migration) is the major response to relieve such pressure, which also distinguishes two different settlement locations: “the initial area” and “the secondary area”. Due to the environmental differences between these two areas, the cultivation on the latter one has caused more serious disturbance to the local environment. Thus the secondary area has become the key region which needs environmental management seriously.

Karamay City is a typical mining city, relying on oilfield exploration and development. After 60 years of construction and development, Karamay has become the first large oilfield and an important base of the national petroleum and petrochemical industry in China. Based on spatial analysis, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) grid computing and overlay techniques, whilst considering the effect of oilfield development and aimed at the ecological problems of Karamay City in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, we conducted research on the spatial characteristics of the comprehensive ecological sensitivity of Karamay. The ecological problems of natural environment evolution include soil erosion, land desertification, soil salinization, and biodiversity reduction. The most significant disturbance factor from the activities of humans in this area is oilfield exploitation. This study carries out an analysis of single factor ecological problem sensitivity and integrated ecological sensitivity. The results of the research are as follows: (1) Soil erosion is relatively sensitive, especially in Karamay district, Dushanzi district, north of Urho district and west of Baijiantan district, which is mainly a result of the vertical dropping slopes, serious rainfall erosion and the distribution of scattered woodland. (2) The main types of land desertification are represented by high and moderate grade sensitivities, and high and extremely high sensitive areas are distributed in the intersection of Karamay and Baijiantan districts. This is due to evaporation exceeding rainfall in these areas, and the soil mainly consists of sand and is seldom covered by vegetation. (3) The soil salinizatiion sensitivity grades are mainly moderate, high and extremely high. The highly sensitive areas are mainly distributed in southeast of Baijiantan district, north and east of Karamay district and east of Urho district. The primary causes are evaporation exceeding rainfall and extreme human activities. (4) The main types of biodiversity sensitivity are light and moderate grade. Highly sensitive areas are located in the east and south of Karamay district, north of the Baiyang River basin and parts of the wetland areas. (5) Oil fields development areas are highly ecologically sensitive, which are located in the northern oilfields of Urho district, western oilfields of Baijiantan district, northwestern oilfields of Karamay district and central oilfields of Dushanzi district. (6) The main types of integrated ecological sensitivity are high and moderate. The high and extremely highly sensitive areas are located in the central and northern parts of Karamay district, and southwest of Baijiantan district. The evaluation results will provide guidance for the future planning and development, the protection of the ecological environment and the realization of harmonious social, economic, and ecological development in Karamay City.

In this study, a monthly dataset of temperature time series (1961-2010) from 12 meteorological stations across the Three-River Headwater Region of Qinghai Province (THRHR) was used to analyze the climate change. The temperature variation and abrupt change analysis were examined by using moving average, linear regression, Spline interpolation, Mann-Kendall test and so on. Some important conclusions were obtained from this research, which mainly contained four aspects as follows. (1) There were several cold and warm fluctuations for the annual and seasonal average temperature in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions, but the temperature in these regions all had an obviously rising trend at the statistical significance level, especially after 2001. The spring, summer, autumn and annual average temperature increased evidently after the 1990s, and the winter average temperature exhibited an obvious upward trend after entering the 21st century. Except the standard value of spring temperature, the annual and seasonal temperature standard value in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions increased gradually, and the upward trend for the standard value of winter average temperature indicated significantly. (2) The tendency rate of annual average temperature in the THRHR was 0.36℃10a^-1, while the tendency rates in the Yellow River Headwater Region (YERHR), Lancangjiang River Headwater Region (LARHR) and Yangtze River Headwater Region (YARHR) were 0.37℃10a^-1, 0.37℃10a^-1 and 0.34℃10a^-1 respectively. The temperature increased significantly in the south of Yushu County and the north of Nangqian County. The rising trends of temperature in winter and autumn were higher than the upward trends in spring and summer. (3) The abrupt changes of annual, summer, autumn and winter average temperature were found in the THRHR, LARHR and YARHR, and were detected for the summer and autumn average temperature in the YERHR. The abrupt changes of annual and summer average temperatures were mainly in the late 1990s, while the abrupt changes of autumn and winter average temperatures appeared primarily in the early 1990s and the early 21st century respectively. (4) With the global warming, the diversities of altitude and underlying surface in different parts of the Tibetan Plateau were possibly the main reasons for the high increasing rate of temperature in the THRHR.

Employing DEA model and Malmquist productivity index, this paper probes into the urban efficiencies of 24 typical resources-based cities in China and their changes from 2000 to 2008. The research finds that the overall efficiencies of the resources-based cities are just at a general level, and only a few of them reach the optimal level. The scale efficiency is the major determining factor of the achievement of overall efficiency, the effect of which, nevertheless, is reducing. From the perspective of classification characteristics, the resources- based cities in northeastern region have been in the front rank in terms of overall efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. There is a certain positive correlation between urban population scale and urban efficiency. The analysis of urban efficiency changes shows that the changes in overall efficiency of resources-based cities from 2000 to 2008 had a weak improving tendency. Both the technical change index and productivity change index decreased, indicating that the urban efficiency did not improve during this period, and the tendency of technical recession and productivity decline was obvious. In terms of the classification of urban efficiency changes, the urban overall efficiency improved in each of the four regions from 2000 to 2008, among which western region witnessed the greatest increase. Cities with different resource types have improved their urban overall efficiencies except steel-based cities. The urban overall efficiency increased in resources-based cities of different scales, with greater improvement in small and medium-sized cities than in big cities.

Taking Yucheng, a typical agricultural county in Shandong Province as a case, this study applied Logistic regression models to spatially identify factors affecting farmland changes. Using two phases of high resolution imageries in 2001 and 2009, the study obtained the land use and farmland change data in 2001-2009. It was found that the farmland was reduced by 5.14% in the period, mainly due to the farmland conversion to forest land and built-up land, although part of forest land and unused land was converted to farmland. The results of Logistic regressions indicated that location, population growth and farmer income were main factors affecting the farmland conversion, while soil types and pro-curvature were main natural factors controlling the distribution of farmland changes. Regional differences and temporal-spatial variables of farmland changes affected fitting capability of the Logistic regression models. The ROC fitting test indicated that the Logistic regression models gave a good explanation of the regional land-use changes. Logistic regression analysis is a good tool to identify major factors affecting land use change by quantifying the contribution of each factor.

By using the observed monthly mean temperature and humidity datasets of 14 radiosonde stations and monthly mean precipitation data of 83 surface stations from 1979 to 2008 over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), the relationship between the atmospheric water vapor (WV) and precipitation in summer and the precipitation conversion efficiency (PEC) over the TP are analyzed. The results are obtained as follows. (1) The summer WV decreases with increasing altitude, with the largest value area observed in the northeastern part of the TP, and the second largest value area in the southeastern part of the TP, while the northwestern part is the lowest value area. The summer precipitation decreases from southeast to northwest. (2) The summer WV presents two main patterns based on the EOF analysis: the whole region consistent-type and the north-south opposite-type. The north-south opposite-type of the summer WV is similar to the first EOF mode of the summer precipitation and both of their zero lines are located to the north of the Tanggula Mountains. (3) The summer precipitation is more (less) in the southern (northern) TP in the years with the distribution of deficient summer WV in the north while abundant in the south, and vice versa. (4) The PEC over the TP is between 3% and 38% and it has significant spatial difference in summer, which is obviously bigger in the southern TP than that in the northern TP.

The proxy records on typhoons in the Yangtze River Delta from 1644 to 1949AD were extracted from historical chorographies in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China Period. In reference to the basic principles for identifying historical typhoons, time series on the Yangtze River Delta over a period of 306 years were developed. The conclusions are as follows. (1) There were a total of 241 typhoons from 1644 to 1949AD. Using the historical chorographies from 1884 to 1949AD, the number of typhoons was 65, equal to 87.8% recorded by meteorological observation. The number of years with differences in typhoon activities reconstructed using two ways no more than once is 55, reaching 83.3% in the period from 1884 to 1949AD. This result means the series of historical typhoons reconstructed using historical chorographies can represent the change of typhoon activities over years. (2) The average number of typhoon activities is 0.79 times per year from 1644 to 1949AD, and they show an increasing trend. These 306 years can be divided into three periods by the average number of typhoon activities: it is low from 1644 to 1784AD, and more typhoon activities are found from 1785 to 1904AD. It is worth noting that the number of typhoon activities reaches the summit in the last period, which is 1.2 times per year from 1905 to 1949AD. (3) Before the 20th century, the number of typhoon activities in warm periods is less than the number of cold periods. However, the number of typhoon activities increased dramatically in the early 20th century. Comparing the typhoon activities with El Ni駉 events, the data show that the number of typhoon activities did not increase when El Ni駉 occurred.

In 2007, China surpassed the USA to become the largest carbon emitter in the world. China has promised a 60%-65% reduction in carbon emissions per unit GDP by 2030, compared to the baseline of 2005. Therefore, it is important to obtain accurate dynamic information on the spatial and temporal patterns of carbon emissions and carbon footprints to support formulating effective national carbon emission reduction policies. This study attempts to build a carbon emission panel data model that simulates carbon emissions in China from 2000-2013 using nighttime lighting data and carbon emission statistics data. By applying the Exploratory Spatial-Temporal Data Analysis (ESTDA) framework, this study conducted an analysis on the spatial patterns and dynamic spatial-temporal interactions of carbon footprints from 2001-2013. The improved Tapio decoupling model was adopted to investigate the levels of coupling or decoupling between the carbon emission load and economic growth in 336 prefecture-level units. The results show that, firstly, high accuracy was achieved by the model in simulating carbon emissions. Secondly, the total carbon footprints and carbon deficits across China increased with average annual growth rates of 4.82% and 5.72%, respectively. The overall carbon footprints and carbon deficits were larger in the North than that in the South. There were extremely significant spatial autocorrelation features in the carbon footprints of prefecture-level units. Thirdly, the relative lengths of the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) time paths were longer in the North than that in the South, and they increased from the coastal to the central and western regions. Lastly, the overall decoupling index was mainly a weak decoupling type, but the number of cities with this weak decoupling continued to decrease. The unsustainable development trend of China’s economic growth and carbon emission load will continue for some time.

The Qinling-Daba Mountains are the main body of China’s North-South Transitional Zone. Analysis of the north-south gradual variation of vegetation components is significant for understanding the structural diversity and complexity of this transitional zone. In this study, based on survey data of plant communities, the eastern Qinling-Daba Mountains is divided into four geographic units: the north flank of eastern Qinling Mts., south flank of eastern Qinling Mts., north flank of eastern Daba Mts. and south flank of eastern Daba Mts. We also explore division of regional climate according to areal differentiation of plant-species, community structure and species-richness, respectively. The results show that, (1) at plant-species level, there are mainly northern plants in north flank of eastern Qinling Mts. with evergreen species and fewer northern plants in south flank of eastern Qinling Mts.; there are mainly southern plants in eastern Daba Mts. (2) At community structure level, there are 4 formations (3 northern formations and 1 widespread formation) in north flank of eastern Qinling, 6 formations (3 northern formations, 1 southern formation, and 2 widespread formations) in south flank of eastern Qinling, 4 formations (2 southern formations and 2 widespread formations) in north flank of eastern Daba Mts., and 3 formations (3 southern formations) in south flank of eastern Daba Mts. In terms of the numbers and properties of formations, there is a mixture of northern and southern formations only in the south flank of eastern Qinling Mts. (3) At species-richness level, the diversity of families, genera and species decreased with increasing latitude, but the mixing of northern plants and the southern plants began to occur in south flank of eastern Qinling Mts. This means that the south flank of the eastern Qinling Mts. serves more suitably as the dividing line between China’s warm temperate and subtropical zones.

This paper presents a detailed account of the effect of shipping activity on the increasing trends of air temperatures in the Canadian Arctic region for the period of 1980-2018. Increasing trend of temperature has gained significant attention with respect to shipping activities and sea ice area in the Canadian Arctic. Temperature, sea ice area and shipping traffic datasets were investigated, and simple linear regression analyses were conducted to predict the rate of change (per decade) of the average temperature, considering winter (January) and summer (July) seasons. The results indicate that temperature generally increased over the studied region. Significant warming trend was observed during July, with an increase of up to 1°C, for the Canadian Arctic region. Such increasing trend of temperature was observed during July from the lower to higher latitudes. The increase in temperature during July is speculated to increase the melting of ice. Results also show a decline in sea ice area has a significant positive effect on the shipping traffic, and the numbers of marine vessel continue to increase in the region. The increase in temperature causes the breaking of sea ice due to shipping activities over northern Arctic Canada.

The surface air temperature lapse rate (SATLR) plays a key role in the hydrological, glacial and ecological modeling, the regional downscaling, and the reconstruction of high-resolution surface air temperature. However, how to accurately estimate the SATLR in the regions with complex terrain and climatic condition has been a great challenge for researchers. The geographically weighted regression (GWR) model was applied in this paper to estimate the SATLR in China’s mainland, and then the assessment and validation for the GWR model were made. The spatial pattern of regression residuals which was identified by Moran’s Index indicated that the GWR model was broadly reasonable for the estimation of SATLR. The small mean absolute error (MAE) in all months indicated that the GWR model had a strong predictive ability for the surface air temperature. The comparison with previous studies for the seasonal mean SATLR further evidenced the accuracy of the estimation. Therefore, the GWR method has potential application for estimating the SATLR in a large region with complex terrain and climatic condition.

In this paper, we review the research progress in development geography since the 20th century, focusing on its connotation and theory, fields, methods, and development trends. Specifically, we systematically review the research and applications of development geography, comprising fields such as the convergence of underdeveloped countries and regions, and the convergence of the process of improving the quality of life in developed countries and regions. Then, based on an analysis of research progress in development geography in foreign countries, we examine the development conditions and disciplinary advantages of development geography in China. Further, we highlight that future development geography research in China should focus on the latest international academic research and China’s national macro-strategic needs. Future research in development geography should be guided by the theory of sustainable development, the core of which is to improve sustainable livelihood capacity and regional green development levels in underdeveloped regions. This core includes the construction of industrial policy and development geography theory, as well as an interdisciplinary integrated research system. The focus must be placed on researching the spatial patterns, diffusion characteristics, and the convergence mechanism of regional development. Such a focus will facilitate exploration of the regulatory policies and scientific paths that serve regional economic construction and industrial development.

Digital terrain analysis (DTA) is one of the most important contents in the research of geographical information science (GIS). However, on the basis of the digital elevation model (DEM), many problems exist in the current research of DTA in geomorphological studies. For instance, the current DTA research appears to be focused more on morphology, phenomenon, and modern surface rather than mechanism, process, and underlying terrain. The current DTA research needs to be urgently transformed from the study of landform morphology to one focusing on landform process and mechanism. On this basis, this study summarizes the current research status of geomorphology-oriented DTA and systematically reviews and analyzes the research about the knowledge of geomorphological ontology, terrain modeling, terrain derivative calculation, and terrain analytical methods. With the help of DEM data, DTA research has the advantage of carrying out geomorphological studies from the perspective of surface morphology. However, the study of DTA has inherent defects in terms of data expression and analytic patterns. Thus, breakthroughs in basic theories and key technologies are necessary. Moreover, scholars need to realize that DTA research must be transformed from phenomenon to mechanism, from morphology to process, and from terrain to landform. At present, the research development of earth science has reached the critical stage in which the DTA research should focus more on geomorphological ontology. Consequently, this study proposes several prospects of geomorphology-oriented DTA from the aspects of value-added DEM data model, terrain derivatives and their spatial relations, and macro-terrain analysis. The study of DTA based on DEM is at a critical period along with the issue on whether the current GIS technology can truly support the development of geography. The research idea of geomorphology-oriented DTA is expected to be an important exploration and practice in the field of GIS.

Land cover change has presented clear spatial differences in the New Eurasian Continental Bridge Economic Corridor (NECBEC) region in the 21st century. A spatiotemporal dynamic probability model and a driving force analysis model of land cover change were developed to analyze explicitly the dynamics and driving forces of land cover change in the NECBEC region. The results show that the areas of grassland, cropland and built-up land increased by 114.57 million ha, 8.41 million ha and 3.96 million ha, and the areas of woodland, other land, and water bodies and wetlands decreased by 74.09 million ha, 6.26 million ha, and 46.59 million ha in the NECBEC region between 2001 and 2017, respectively. Woodland and other land were mainly transformed to grassland, and grassland was mainly transformed to woodland and cropland. Built-up land had the largest annual rate of increase and 50% of this originated from cropland. Moreover, since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) commenced in 2013, there has been a greater change in the dynamics of land cover change, and the gaps in the socio-economic development level have gradually decreased. The index of socio-economic development was the highest in western Europe, and the lowest in northern Central Asia. The impacts of socio-economic development on cropland and built-up land were greater than those for other land cover types. In general, in the context of rapid socio-economic development, the rate of land cover change in the NECBEC has clearly shown an accelerating trend since 2001, especially after the launch of the BRI in 2013.

The study of mountain vertical natural belts is an important component in the study of regional differentiation. These areas are especially sensitive to climate change and have indicative function, which is the core of three-dimensional zonality research. Thus, based on high precision land cover and digital elevation model (DEM) data, and supported by MATLAB and ArcGIS analyses, this paper aimed to study the present situation and changes of the land cover vertical belts between 1990 and 2015 on the northern and southern slopes of the Koshi River Basin (KRB). Results showed that the vertical belts on both slopes were markedly different from one another. The vertical belts on the southern slope were mainly dominated by cropland, forest, bare land, and glacier and snow cover. In contrast, grassland, bare land, sparse vegetation, glacier and snow cover dominated the northern slope. Study found that the main vertical belts across the KRB within this region have not changed substantially over the past 25 years. In contrast, on the southern slope, the upper limits of cropland and bare land have moved to higher elevation, while the lower limits of forest and glacier and snow cover have moved to higher elevation. The upper limit of alpine grassland on the northern slope retreated and moved to higher elevation, while the lower limits of glacier and snow cover and vegetation moved northward to higher elevations. Changes in the vertical belt were influenced by climate change and human activities over time. Cropland was mainly controlled by human activities and climate warming, and the reduced precipitation also led to the abandonment of cropland, at least to a certain extent. Changes in grassland and forest ecosystems were predominantly influenced by both human activities and climate change. At the same time, glacier and snow cover far away from human activities was also mainly influenced by climate warming.