Xiang, X.; Lu, W.; Cui, X.; Li, Z., and Tao, J., 2018. Simulation of remote-sensed chlorophyll concentration with a coupling model based on numerical method and CA-SVM in Bohai Bay, China. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 1–9. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Due to the high-complexity and non-linearity of the marine ecosystem, the internal functional mechanisms of the system have not been fully recognized. This lack of recognition of ecosystems restricts the use of traditional deterministic, aquatic, and ecological dynamic models based on mechanisms or assumptions. By introducing advanced intelligent algorithm support vector machine (SVM) and space display mode cellular automata (CA) from soft computing, a marine ecological module is constructed by combining SVM with CA. Simulation results such as water level, water depth, and flow velocity of the mechanism-based hydrodynamic modules are imported to the corresponding cell. The cell together with the existing cells and neighboring state, spatial location variables as well as extrinsic factors, exerts a combined effect on the cellular state of the cell soon afterwards, and then the coupling model based on the numerical method and soft computing is constructed. With the remote-sensed chlorophyll concentration data at Bohai Bay as the study object, the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of model simulation results were within the range of 0.042 μg/L to 0.373 μg/L, and the difference of spatial auto-correlation indicators Moran's I was within the range of 0.003 μg/L to 0.176 μg/L. Results indicate that an established coupling model encompasses a proper simulation of the temporal and spatial changing features of the chlorophyll concentration. This study thus integrates the traditional, hydrodynamic numerical module and ecological module based on soft computing methods, providing new means and ideas for simulated marine environment.

Yang, Y.; Wu, J.; Lin, J.; Wang, J.; Zhou, Z., and Wu, J., 2018. An efficient simulation–optimization approach for controlling seawater intrusion. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 10–18. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The management of freshwater stored in coastal aquifers involves decisions regarding not only the sustainable utilization and exploration of optimal coastal groundwater resources but also the designing of optimal strategies for controlling seawater intrusion (SI). Simultaneously optimizing pumping operation, the extent of SI, and design of mitigation measures is a challenging task because mitigating SI has become imperative for groundwater management of coastal aquifers. This study proposed a simulation-optimization framework (SWT-NPTSGA) to search Pareto-optimal solutions for estimating the optimal pumping and artificial recharge schemes under complicated SI constraints. The SWT-NPTSGA is based on a combination of a new hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm, the niched Pareto tabu search combined with a genetic algorithm, and the numerical variable-density groundwater flow and transport model. Three different management scenarios, pumping only, injection only, and combined pumping and injection (P&I), were designed in a synthetic application to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed methodology. The results showed that the P&I scenario could generate comprehensive information for multi-objective decision-making. The SI mitigation measures by artificial recharge could offer the most groundwater supply and the least area of seawater intrusion. The optimization results showed the potential feasibility of the proposed methodology for managing groundwater resources and controlling SI in coastal aquifers.

Feng, J.-B.; Ren, C.-H.; Luo, P.; Yan, Y.; Jiang, X., and Hu, C.-Q., 2018. The response of bacterial community structure to ecological environment changes in Daya Bay between winter and spring. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 19–29. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The distribution patterns of the bacterial biomass and its diversity were investigated in Daya Bay in winter and spring 2008. Based on the acridine orange direct count, the mean bacterial biomass (0.31±0.20 μg L⁻¹) in spring was 1.5 times more than that (0.21±0.07 μg L⁻¹) in winter. Spatially it showed the trend that the mean bacterial biomass at station surface and bottom layers in the south of the bay was higher than in the north of the bay. The results based on PCR-DGGE and DNA sequence analysis showed that the Proteobacteria group dominated in bacterial communities of Daya Bay and other groups included the Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. The mean bacterial apparent species richness (No. of DGGE bands) was distinctly higher in winter (18) than in spring (12). It was concluded that phytoplankton controlled bacterioplankton biomass by utilizing dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in winter and spring. The observed seasonal variations of bacterioplankton community composition in Daya Bay was mainly associated with the high-in-winter-and-low-in-spring availability of nutrients like DIN and SiO₃²⁻-Si.

Zhu, X.; Li, Y.; Liu, P.; Liu, B., and Yang Y., 2018. Study on ship-borne GNSS-R Delay-Doppler Map for oil spill detection. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 30–35. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The intensity of sea surface scattered energy can be mapped with the use of Delay-Doppler Map (DDM) obtained by means of Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflection (GNSS-R) remote sensing technology. It may be applied successfully for oil spills detection. This paper builds a geometrical model for ship-borne GNSS-R double-base sea scattering data analysis exploring the ship-borne specular reflection point and the mean surface slope (MSS) model. The GNSS-R DDM generation algorithm based on the Jacobian determinant method is developed. It is applied for the oil spill DDM simulation using X-band marine radar data of the oil spill accident occurred in Dalian on July 21, 2010. The relationship between the signal characteristics and the oil spill information in DDM is found and the performance of oil spill detection at different wind speed values is analyzed.

Ma, R.; Xie, Z.-X.; Zhang, S.-W.; Chu, D.-Z.; Cao, X.; Wu, N., and Liu, Y.,2018. The orthogonal reference method for in-situ analysis of ammonia nitrogen content in seawater. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 36–43. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

A novel orthogonal reference method of ammonia nitrogen in-situ analysis in seawater is proposed. The method is based on the joint application of “water + reagent” blending device and constant-temperature heating device, which enhances the reaction rate of chromogenic agent and water samples. Water samples and ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) are fully mixed and heated in the circulation system up to 40°C by the constant temperature heating device. Next, the above mixture is injected into a flow pool, and fluorescence (400 nm to 480 nm) is excited by a 360 nm LED. Two photodiodes of the same type with the wavelength range from 300 nm to 500 nm are used to detect the fluorescent and LED reference signals, while the ammonia nitrogen content is calculated via the orthogonal reference algorithm. A robust reference procedure is proposed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the operational amplifier algorithm used in the analysis by way of simplifying the microprocessor logical operation process. The embedded processing and microfluidic analysis technology used in the proposed method offers a good portable alternative to a fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results of performed in situ tests and their analysis are closely correlated with those obtained in laboratory conditions by the conventional method (R² = 0.997). Within the salinity range of 24 to 32, a linear relationship between the fluorescent intensity and ammonia concentration from 3 to 500 μg/L is observed, with the standard deviation not exceeding 5%. The most critical advantage of the proposed detection method over the available ones is its real-time data acquisition and processing: the time required for a single measurement is less than 10 minutes. The results obtained strongly suggest that the proposed method has good feasibility and practicability, which can be used for in-situ measurement of ammonia nitrogen.

Liu, X. and Zhang, L., 2018. Study on optimization of sea ice concentration with adjoint method. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 44–50. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Obtaining initial sea ice concentration (SIC) values with high accuracy that are consistent with other models have been a hot topic in both sea ice prediction and sea ice modeling studies. Here, an ocean-sea ice coupled numerical model and its adjoint code have been utilized to carry out numerical experiments to optimize the initial SIC values. In the experiments, the cost function was defined as the difference between the SIC values from the reanalysis dataset and the modeled results. The gradient of cost function, relative to SIC and other model variables, was computed by the adjoint model, and a linear search algorithm was employed to optimize the SIC values by minimizing the cost function. The influences of the weight coefficients of the cost function, the extent of the geographical region, and the seawater temperature and sea ice thickness initial values on the optimization results have been analyzed. The weight coefficients of the cost function had little effect on the SIC distribution pattern but substantial influence on the SIC values. The optimized SIC in the Greenland Sea, Okhotsk Sea, and the Arctic Ocean, with a constant weight coefficient, is better than that with variable weight coefficients. The errors in the initial model fields, other than SIC, may deteriorate the overall result, implying that optimizing multiple model fields simultaneously may improve the optimization effect. Decreasing the size of the geographical region for optimization does not improve the SIC optimization results substantially. Compared to the results from a global cost function, the Barents Sea SIC values from a northern hemispheric cost function are poorly optimized.

Deng, F.; Wang, Y.; Ouyang, J., and Ma, Y., 2018. Genetic diversity of active ammonia oxidizing archaea and variation during macrobenthic bioremediation in mudflats of Sansha Bay, China. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 51–57. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Archaea are abundant and wide-spread in nature environments, and occupy one third of the prokaryotes in the oceanic ecosystem. It is reported that the ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) are more important ammonia oxidizers than ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), since the amoA gene (encoding a subunit of the key enzyme ammonia monooxy genase) copies of archaea are far more abundant than bacterial amoA genes. Here we constructed clone libraries of amoA gene and investigated the community structure of active AOA and dynamic variations during macrobenthic bioremediation (Tegillarca granosa and Perinereissp.) in mudflats of Sansha Bay, China. Statistical analysis of the clone libraries and phylogenetic analyses of the cloned sequences showed that the distribution of active AOA showed characteristics of seawater/marine sediments. Active AOA mainly belonged to the seawater and marine sediment derived group Cluster M, while two clones (accounting for about 0.47%) belonged to Cluster S, originating from land soil or fresh water sediments. Cluster M could be subdivided into nine clusters. Clusters 1 and 2 were dominant in all samples, occupying 35.1% and 44.4% of total clones, respectively. Cluster 3 (12.8%) and Cluster 8 (4.7%) were common groups; however, were absent in some samples. Other clusters were only detected in individual samples with low abundance (< 1%). The diversity of active AOA was maximal in the winter sample, while differences among other seasons were not significant. The bioremediation of macrobenthos tended to increase the active AOA diversity, thus benefiting Clusters 1 and 3 derived from the original natural environment, while suppressing the aquaculture-derived Cluster 2.

Li, S.; Bi, F.; Hou, Y., and Yang, H., 2018. Characterization of wind-sea and swell in the South China Sea based on HY-2 satellite data. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 58–62. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Utilizing simultaneous measurements of sea surface wind speed from the Chinese HY-2 satellite scatterometer and significant wave height from its altimeter, the wind-sea and swell in the South China Sea (SCS) for the period 2012–2013 were characterized, based on a statistical-based swell probability (SP) index and a physical-based wave age (WA) index. The two indexes were higher in the central sea (SP > 0.5, WA > 1.4), where mixed wave conditions dominate, while the wind-sea was more common (SP < 0.3, and WA < 1.2) in offshore regions, which include the Beibu Gulf, the area southwest of Taiwan island and the region between Vietnam and the Nansha islands. Seasonally, the indexes showed maximum values in spring, and the seasonal variabilities in the northern (latitude > 17° N) and southern SCS (latitude <12° N) were more prominent than in the middle SCS. These results may have practical applications in coastal engineering design, wave forecasting and various sea going activities.

Kong, X.F.; Lv, J.; Gao, N.; Peng, X., and Zhang, J., 2018. An experimental study of galvanic corrosion on an underwater weld joint. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 63–68. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

This study aimed to explore the galvanic corrosion behavior of an underwater weld joint using the polarization curve, galvanic current test, and microcurrent distribution test. The results revealed that galvanic corrosion evidently occurred in the area of the underwater weld joint, accelerating the corrosion process. The weld metal acted as the cathode, whereas the base metal (BM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) acted as anodes. The maximum value of the cathode current in the weld region reached 3.5 μA. Corrosion current density was mainly decided by the diffusion process of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the seawater. As the immersion time increased, the oxygen diffusion process was hindered by the biofilm and sedimentary cover on the surface of the weld region, whereas the oxygen reduction reaction was suppressed. Therefore, the galvanic corrosion between the weld region and BM was further weakened.

Lv, X.; Yu, P.; Mao, W., and Li, Y., 2018. Vertical variations in bacterial community composition and environmental factors in the culture pond sediment of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 69–76. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The bacterial communities in culture pond sediments play important roles in the decomposition of organic matter, the release of nutrients and conservation of water quality. To explore the vertical variations in the microbial communities and environmental factors in the sediment accumulation of the sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus Selenka) culture pond, microbial community compositions were determined by high-throughput sequencing and environmental factors were measured using samples collected at different sediment depths. A total of 113,161 high-quality reads and 17,317 operational taxonomic units (OUTs) were obtained from different sediment samples. The results showed that the sediment of culture ponds has the characteristics of high organic matter, nitrogen, and sulfur contents and low phosphate contents. The bacterial richness was higher in the surface layer of the sediment. In total, 31 phyla were identified, among which the Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, Gemmatimonadetes and Nitrospirae were the dominant phyla in the sediment. Principle component analysis (PCA) showed that total-phosphate, salinity, NH₄⁺, pH and PO₄³⁻ were the main factors that influenced the microbial communities. This study will deepen our understanding of aquaculture environmental regulation and provide theoretical guidance for the exploitation of probiotics.

Xia, W.; Li, J.; Han, L.; Liu, L.; Yang, X.; Hao, S., and Zhang, M., 2018. Influence of dispersant/oil ratio on the bacterial community structure and petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation in seawater. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 77–81. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Dispersant is widely used in spill oil response treatment, and the addition of dispersant may influence the biodegradation of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH). Dispersant GM-2 was applied to the petroleum polluted seawater in a simulated experiment of an oil spill accident. PCR- RFLP (Restricted Fragment Length Polymorphisms) technique was used to explore the bacterial community structure when dispersant/oil ratio (DOR) is 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively. Results showed the predominant bacterial genera in seawater after the addition of dispersant includes: Alcanivorax, Marinomonas, Flavobacterium, Achromobacter, Parvibaculum, Thalassospira xianhensis and Ochrobactrum. Compared with the most similar bacteria strains after sequencing and analyzing, it is found that the proportion of bacteria unable to hydrolyze Tween80 decrease as well as the alkane degrading bacteria. However, the percentage of the PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulfonate) degrading bacteria increases. Results from the biodegradation study showed that the degradation half-time of TPH decrease from 26.7 d to 19.8 d, 16.1 d and 15.1 d when DOR increased from 0 to 10%, 20% and 30%, so the degradation half-time reduced by 25.7%, 39.5% and 43.5%, respectively. The experiment indicated that in the process of adding GM-2 to oil polluted seawater until DOR reached 30%, the percentage of bacteria that adapt to the surfactant or specialized in the degradation of PAHs and LAS increase, and this spontaneous adjustment accelerates the biodegradation rate of TPH.

Gao, Y.; Wang, H.; Lu, X.; Xu, Y.; Zhang, Z., and Schmidt, A.R., 2018. Hydrologic impact of urbanization on catchment and river system downstream from Taihu Lake. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 82–88. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

This study examined the hydrologic impacts from rapid urbanization of a river valley and associated floodplain. The catchment downstream of the Taihu Lake was selected as the study region. Remote sensing images and topographic data for the period of post-1990 were employed to estimate hydrologic indicators for analyzing evolutionary features of the river system. Time series methods were adopted to analyze the hydrological effects on the watershed and river network resulting from rapid urbanization over the past 20 years. The results demonstrated that: (1) the number, length, and drainage density of rivers decreased from 1991 to 2006. The overall number of rivers decreased by 36.3%, and the overall river length was reduced by 25.5%; (2) the relationship between river length, river number, and stream order showed a geometric series over time, indicating a self-similarity in the river network that persisted even as the network changed due to urbanization; (3) the river network fractal dimension and complexity showed a decreasing trend over time, which indicated a simplification of the river system. In 1991, 2001, and 2006, the river network fractal dimension values were 2.24, 2.12, and 1.9, respectively; (4) excluding the influence of meteorological factors, there were at different levels increases in regional and seasonal precipitation. In addition, the difference in precipitation between urban and suburban areas increased gradually. Water levels also rose when the influence of precipitation was excluded.

Huang, X.; Chen, Y., and Fang, G., 2018. Optimal allocation model of water resources in tidal flat development of coastal areas. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 89–93. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

As a result of economic and population development in coastal areas, the conflict of water utilization is becoming increasingly serious. To ensure rational utilization, the optimal allocation model of water resources was constructed for the development of coastal tidal flats based on the analysis of the coastal area development model. The goal of optimal allocation was to achieve optimal economic, social, and ecological benefits under the conditions of coordinated use of water and soil resources. Due to the complexity of the water resources system, the model used various land areas, in addition to economic, social, and ecological data, to establish target measures, and a multi-objective genetic algorithm was used to solve the problem. Following each iteration, individuals' fitness was ranked and constantly updated according to population evolution, since individuals learn from the fittest and genes are improved accordingly. The coastal area of Dongtai in Jiangsu province, China, was considered a case study, in which the scheme of the city's water resources was optimized. The optimal allocation results show that by 2020, the agricultural and construction land will have increased, and the unused land will decrease, with the construction land area being 36185 hm²; thus, conforming to the future trend of Dongtai land utilization. The results verify the rationality and feasibility of the model and the algorithm, which provides ideas and experience for the optimal allocation of water resources during beach development in coastal areas.

Kong, B.; Huang, S.; Ma, L., and Huang, Q., 2018. Spatio-temporal changes in potential evaporation and possible causes based on SCRAQ method: A case study in the Wei River Basin, China. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 94–102. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

It is important for regional agricultural production as well as water resources planning and management to better understand the spatial and temporal variations of potential evaporation (PET) and their possible causes from a perspective of climate change. In this study, the spatial and temporal changes in monthly and annual PET covering 1960~2006 in the Wei River Basin (WRB), a typical arid and semi-arid region in China, were thoroughly examined based on the modified Mann-Kendall trend test method. Additionally, the slope change ratio of accumulative quantity (SCRAQ) method was used to quantify the effects of precipitation, air temperature, percentage of sunshine, and wind speed on PET variations. Results indicated that: (1) the PET in this basin gradually increased from west to east, which had general negative correlations with its corresponding elevation; (2) the WRB was dominated by increasing monthly PET, and obviously decreasing tendencies were observed in summer in the middle basin; (3) the decreasing PET in 1974–1993 in the whole basin was primarily caused by the decreasing percentage of sunshine, whilst the increasing PET in 1994–2006 is mainly induced by the upward air temperature in the WRB.

Fu, Q.; Wang, N.; Lin, W.-N., and Wu, N., 2018. Comparing the environmental effects of terrestrial and offshore airports: The case of Dalian City, China. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 103–108. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

To increase an airport's capabilities, it is a common practice to expand the airport and add a new runway. However, this expansion occupies more land and space and produces more noise from aircraft, which can be a nuisance to surrounding residents. There are many cities facing this problem, with one being Dalian City in northern China. Unlike many inland cities, Dalian City is a peninsula city surrounded by sea on three sides with abundant marine resources, but limited land. Therefore, building a new offshore airport away from the urban core has been proposed as an effective solution to remit the contradiction of urban and environment. It is necessary to evaluate the effects of offshore airport construction on the marine ecology and terrestrial airport construction on urban lives. In this paper, from the perspective of lost value, the environmental effects of expanding the existing terrestrial airport and of building an offshore airport on the marine environment are compared by conducting many field investigations on Dian International Airport site selection. The results show that the offshore airport plan would be distant from the urban core than the terrestrial airport plan, and the effect of offshore airport plan aircraft noise on surrounding residents would be small, as would its effect on fish in surrounding areas. Therefore, compared with expanding the terrestrial airport, establishing an offshore airport could effectively improve the urban environment and decrease the adverse effects on the marine ecosystem. This result is valuable for airport site selection for Dalian City and provides guidance for airport site selection for other coastal cities.

Li, J.; Song, Y.; Mao, C., and Li, T., 2018. Assessing the distribution characteristics of surface water geochemistry and pollution of heavy metals within soil in the Changjiang River Delta, China. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 109–113. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

This study aimed to understand the spatial distribution and geochemical characteristics of heavy metals in soil in Changjiang River Delta, and also the impact of surface water geochemistry on the mobility of heavy metals in soil. The levels of Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ in surface water reached 80% of total cation level, ranging 33.00–97.50 mg/L and 9.00–334.90 mg/L, respectively. HCO₃⁻ was more than 50% of total anion concentration, making the type of surface water as Ca-HCO₃ or Ca-Na-HCO₃. The concentration of cations and anions followed the order: coastal > middle > inland. The soils were strongly polluted with Cd in this study. More than 50% of Cd concentration exceeded the standard. Spatial changes in As, Cd, and Pb levels followed the order: middle > coastal > inland, same as that for soil pH. Speciation results of heavy metals showed that more than 50% of Cd was exchangeable. Principal component analysis results showed that the change in exchangeable fraction of As, Hg, and Pb followed the same order: middle > coastal > inland. Exchangeable Cd followed a trend different from that of Cr. Three areas were characterized by the mobility of As, Hg, and Pb. Scores of samples from different areas implied the influence of surface water on the mobility of heavy metals in soil. Geochemical variation in surface water indicated the mobility of heavy metals through correlation and spatial analysis of geochemistry of surface water and speciation of heavy metals in soil.

Huang, H.; Cai, L.; Luo, Y.; Wang, J.; Liu, Y.; Sun, X.; Lin, H., and Wang, W., 2018. Distribution and potential ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments of Xiamen Bay. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 125–133. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The present work envisages the potential ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments of Xiamen Bay. Based on the survey of the surface sediments in May 2012, the concentrations of heavy metals Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg and As in sediments were 1.2~57.2, 6.7~76.6, 13.3~150.0, 0.035~0.531, 1.48~92.7, 0.018~0.164, 1.9~10.9 mg.kg⁻¹, respectively. Significant positive correlations were observed amongst the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Hg and As and Total Organic Carbon (TOC). PCA analysis data showed the first three main factors shared 72.70% of the total variance. All stations in the studied area recorded Eⁱr < 40 for Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and As, which were low risk, while Cd reported the highest ecological risk. The results of refractive index (RI) showed that 40.9% of stations in the Xiamen Bay were at a low risk, 45.5% of them were at a moderate risk, while 13.6% were at high ecological risk.

Li, Y.; Huang, S.; Ma, L.; Huang, Q.; Wu, L.; Hou, B., and Leng, G., 2018. Spatiotemporal changes in extreme wet and dry conditions and linkages with planetary oscillations. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 134–143. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Exploration of the spatiotemporal changes in extreme wet and dry events and their linkages with planetary oscillations is highly necessary for regional hazards mitigation. In this study, a standardized Surface Humid Index was applied for characterizing extreme dry and wet conditions (hereafter referred to as EDWC) in the Wei River Basin (WRB), China. Then, the heuristic segmentation method was adopted to determine the stationarity of extreme dry and wet frequency. The cross wavelet transform and coherence were used to reveal the linkages between EDWC and planetary oscillations. Results indicated that: (1) the standardized Surface Humid Index in the WRB has a striking trend towards wetter condition in summer and winter, whilst that in spring and autumn has a marked trend towards drier condition; (2) the northern basin has the highest extreme wet frequency, while the western basin has the lowest extreme dry and wet frequency; (3) the stationarity of the extreme dry and wet frequency series in the WRB is valid; (4) the planetary oscillations strongly affect the EDWC in the WRB. El Niño Southern Oscillation exhibits the strongest impacts on its EDWC, while Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation shows the weakest impacts on its EDWC.

Jhan, H.-T.; Chiang, H.-T.; Lin, Y.-F.; Liu, W.-H., and Ting, K.-H., 2018. Trade-off analysis for marine recreation activities management along the Tainan Gold Coast. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 144–148. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Marine recreation activities have been flourishing in Taiwan recently. “Gold Coast” with a beautiful and long gold beach in Tainan City has excellent natural environmental conditions for marine recreation activities. However, how marine recreation activities coexist with offshore oyster farming becomes an important issue. This study explored the trade-off analysis of Tainan Gold Coast recreation activities with stakeholders' perspective, in order to make various sea uses coexist and develop. The approach of trade-off analysis adopts a framework of Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) to organize information and facilitate evaluation of the options and their impacts. This study developed 3 scenarios of “Gold Coast” sea use. The areas of oyster farming and marine recreation activities (with power and with non-power) along the “Gold Coast” were presented with different use proportions. The values of 3 scenarios based on social, economical and ecological criteria and their 6 indicators were derived with the contingent valuation method and official statistical data. Finally, this study used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to gain the weights of 3 criteria and 6 indicators from stakeholders including oyster farmers, water recreation enthusiasts, local residents and officers in Tainan City. The findings indicate that the scenario C that oyster farming and marine recreation activities use the proportion of the waters area along “Gold Coast” as 3:7 over the conflicting zone is the optimum solution.

Li, Y.; Huang, S.-L., and Domagalski, J., 2018. Temporal and spatial distributions of water and sediment yield in the Luanhe River Basin, China. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 149–162. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

Water and soil loss is a serious threat in the North China, especially in the Luanhe River Basin, which is considered to cause severe sand hazards in the vicinity of the basin, especially Beijing and Tianjin. To alleviate the hazards, Phase 1 of the Sandification Combating Program has been carried out since 2000, which is intended to affect water and sediment yield of the basin accordingly. The SWAT model was applied to contrast and analyze the effect of the policy on spatial and temporal distribution of the water and sediment yield in the basin before the implementation of the program (1976–1999) and after the implementation of the program (2000–2012) and identify critical zones of water and soil loss to provide valuable information for effectively managing water loss and soil erosion in the Luanhe River Basin. The SWAT model was calibrated against field data from 1976 to 1983 and validated from 1984 to 1991 at five gauging stations in the studied area. Satisfactory results of simulating runoff and sediment yield both in the calibration period (Ens: 0.73–0.92, R2: 0.73–0.95) and in the validation period (Ens: 0.65–0.87, R2: 0.73–0.87) were obtained. By the use of the justified model parameters and daily meteorological data from 1992 to 2012, the runoff and sediment yield from 1992 to 2012 were extended by the model in the basin. The results showed that the water and soil loss in most zones of Luanhe River Basin was expectedly serious before the implementation of the sandification combating program (1976–1999). And after the implementation of the program (2000–2012), total water and sediment yield, water and soil loss intensity and erosion area are all significantly decreased. It was also found that water loss in lower zones of the Luanhe River was more serious than that in upper and middle zones. A few upper and middle zones are still experiencing very serious soil erosion. The results also revealed that the critical time period for water and sediment yield is the wet season (June–September), especially in July and August during the two stages. The critical land use types of contributing the highest water and sediment are identified to be respectively the development area and agriculture land in the Luanhe River Basin.

Zhang, J., 2018. Estimating sediment moving into the Yellow River based on moving process analysis. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 163–168. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The sediment moving into the Yellow River has decreased in recent years. For instance, the measured annual mean sediment amount at Tongguan station showed a sharp decreasing trend from 15.9 × 10⁸ t/a during 1919–1960 to only 2.5 × 10⁸ t/a during 2000–2015, a change of 84%. This led to an increased interest in the movement of sediments into the Yellow River. However, the results and conclusions were quite different due to different data and methods used in different studies. Consequently, no widely acceptable understanding existed regarding the sediment movement into the Yellow River. In this study, firstly the main process of sediment moving into the Yellow River was analyzed in the area where the sediments mainly yielded due to hydraulic erosion, gravitational erosion, and sediment transport by water flow in the riverbed. Then, referring to soil erosion as the “three lines of defense”, the effects of water and soil conservation projects were discussed to estimate the amount of sediment moving into the Yellow River. Considering the effects of water and soil conservation projects, climate change, and human activities, the sediment in the Yellow River used in engineering design should be between 8 × 10⁸ and 12 × 10⁸ t/a for safety purpose, and at least 10 × 10⁸ t/a for suggestion.

Wang, K.F., 2018. Investigation and evaluation of the ecological and geological environment quality of high-efficiency ecological economic zone (HEEEZ) coastal regions within the Yellow River Delta. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 169–180. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The high-efficiency ecological economic zone (HEEEZ) in the Yellow River Delta is an economic area that comprises the alluvial plain of the Yellow River, the northern coastal regions of Shandong Province, China. Of all delta-based economic zones in China, the HEEEZ boasts the greatest development potential. It plays a central role in driving the economic development in the Bohai rim area and the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Due to its location along the land–sea transition and the young age of the land, this zone's ecological and geological environment (EGE) appears to be changeable, unstable, and vulnerable. This study investigated the coastal EGE of the HEEEZ. Based on the investigation results, an ecological and geological environment quality (EGEQ) evaluation system was developed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). This system consists of 18 indicators, which are organized into 7 dominant factors, including water and soil environments, geological environment and hazards, coastal geological resources, coastal landform and ocean dynamics, coastline change, coastal wetland change, and engineering and economic activities. Grading criteria for these indicators were provided. Then the coastal EGEQ of the HEEEZ was evaluated using a weighted aggregate index (WAI), with each county-level administrative division being an evaluation unit. The results show that the coastal EGEQ of different evaluation divisions can be rated on a scale of excellent, good, fair, and poor. Kenli County is the only county with an excellent coastal EGEQ. Wudi and Changyi counties are rated as good. Zhanhua County, Hekou District of Dongying City, and Laizhou City have a fair coastal EGEQ. Regions rated as poor include Dongying District of Dongying City, Guangrao County, Shouguang County, and Hanting District of Weifang City. The findings prove reliable and can offer a helpful guide on how to improve the coastal EGE of these regions.