Characteristics and consequences of the cruise traffic seasonality on ports: the Spanish Mediterranean case

Cruise traffic is a maritime business and tourist typology that has expanded significantly in the past two decades. The seasonality of the industry affects maritime traffic, generating negative effects for the primary stakeholders involved in the configuration of a cruise itinerary. This article focuses on cruise traffic seasonality from the perspective of cruise ports by analysing a sample of 13 ports on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The variable used was cruise passenger movements during the period 2000–2015. The main objective of this article is to analyse cruise traffic seasonality in order to identify a pattern, classify through a cluster analysis, and identify the changes in seasonality during the period. Specifically, a threefold analysis has been performed, with the additional goal of providing a series of counter-seasonal suggestions and strategies to apply in the management of cruise ports. First, the seasonality pattern of each port was determined. Second, a cluster analysis was conducted to classify ports into clusters with homogeneous seasonality patterns. Third, an analysis was conducted to identify the changes in seasonality during the period of analysis using the coefficient of variation and the Gini coefficient. This article concludes the existence of two port clusters with different seasonal patterns.     

公路特大型泥石流治理综合模式及应用

公路特大型泥石流是迄今尚未解决的公路病害,遵循公路泥石流防治的特殊性所开发的速流结构、底埋隧道、翼型墩汇流技术及糙桩技术是该类泥石流极其有效的防治技术[1,2].笔者根据这些单体技术构建了4类综合治理模式,即1)拦渣坝+速流结构,2)底埋隧道+速流结构,3)翼型墩汇流结构+底埋隧道,4)糙底群桩+速流结构,对每类综合模式的适用条件及关键技术进行了分析.从1999年以来实施了多个示范工程,显示出极其良好的治理效果,为同类型的特大型公路泥石流治理提供了重要技术借鉴.     

我国西部交通运输开发建设对策

西部大开发的首要问题是加强地区交通运输基础设施建设,目前西部交通运输存在如基础设施布局、交通技术结构、交通区域结构等方面的问题。文章通过对现状、资金、环境、人才因素的考虑,提出了以“强化技术改造,提高运输能力,拓展内外通,适应发展需要”为基本思路的一系列西部交通开发建设对策。     

上海西郊临虹桥空港商务区开发的综合战略分析

面临发达的交通枢纽建设、紧迫的高端商务需求、上海的产业结构调整、郊区的整体崛起等发展机遇,上海西郊临虹桥空港商务区将在联动中心城区、带动青浦、辐射西郊、服务长三角等方面发挥巨大作用。临虹桥空港商务区具有优异的地理位置、便捷的交通、良好的生态环境、高档的房产集群、丰富的旅游资源、优越的基础条件等开发优势;但也存在着地理环境较复杂、对临虹桥空港商务区的特色发展和功能定位要求较高、位于虹桥综合交通枢纽西侧等不利因素。预测了需求的不确定性、交通的高流动性、商业发展的高竞争性等开发风险。提出了上海西郊临虹桥空港商务区的发展战略:借建设交通枢纽之机构建信息枢纽,吸引国内外大型知名企业总部加入;以发展现代服务业为重点,以高端商务人士为目标客户群,努力实现商务截留、商务延伸和商务增值;做到功能定位的差异性和超前性,并吸引高尚消费、带动周边高档商住人群,抢占商务高地等。     

Exploring relationships between recruitment of European hake (Merluccius merluccius L. 1758) and environmental factors in the Ligurian Sea and the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean)

This paper explores the relationships between the spatial patterns of the distribution of the young hakes of the year (YOY) and the oceanographical features in two areas of the Central Mediterranean (the Ligurian Sea and the Strait of Sicily), characterised by the occurrence of straits and channels. Comparative and correlative approaches were used to investigate coupling between biological and physical patterns. Density indices of the YOY were derived from annual trawl surveys from 1994 to 2004 in spring and autumn. Mean patterns of the YOY distributions were compared with the mesoscale oceanographical features reported in literature. No evident trends in recruitment strength were found in either areas. Inter-annual variability in YOY abundance in the Ligurian Sea was higher than in the Strait of Sicily. The location of nursery grounds in the study areas coincides with zones of relatively higher production, where upwelling and other enrichment processes regularly occur. The presence of predictable eddies and the frontal systems play a major role in the localization of nursery areas in the Strait of Sicily, maintaining their stable position throughout the years. The strongest transport of southern waters from the Tyrrhenian to the Ligurian Sea, due to the East Corsica Current, which is negatively correlated to winter North Atlantic Oscillation, is associated with the highest abundance of hake recruits in the nurseries of the Northern Ligurian Sea.     

The effect of precession-induced changes in the Mediterranean freshwater budget on circulation at shallow and intermediate depth

The Neogene marine sedimentary record of the Mediterranean basin is characterised by the regular occurrence of organic-rich layers or sapropels. These sapropels are known to correlate with the precession cycle: their deposition coincides with precession minima. This correlation is thought to be caused to a large extent by a precession-induced increase in the amount of freshwater reaching the Mediterranean Sea. In the literature, various sources of this extra freshwater have been identified and different mechanisms as to how this freshwater flux leads to sapropels have been proposed. In this study we investigate the effects of precession-induced changes in the freshwater budget using a regional ocean general circulation model of the Mediterranean Sea. Emphasis is on the effects at the surface and at intermediate depth. The forcing of the ocean model is adjusted to precession minimum conditions on a parameter by parameter basis. Novel to our approach is that the value of the required adjustments is taken from a global coupled climate model with which experiments have been performed for the present day (close to precession maximum) and precession minimum. With the ocean model we focus on the extent to which extra runoff from either south (specifically: the river Nile) or north and changes in net precipitation over the sea itself lead to a more stable stratification; this we judge by the associated reduction of the sea surface salinity and mixed layer depth in the regions of intermediate and deep water formation. Our main finding is that the effects of (1) increased discharge of the rivers coming from the north, and (2) the increase in net precipitation over the sea itself, are of equal or greater importance than that of increase in Nile discharge.     

Evaluation of two atmospheric models for wind–wave modelling in the NW Mediterranean

The NW Mediterranean experiences, as illustrated by the last decade, strong and rapidly varying storms with severe waves and winds. This has motivated a continuous validation of models and the efforts to improve wave and wind predictions. In this paper we use two atmospherics models, MASS (from SMC-Meteorological Office of Catalunya) and ARPEGE (from Météo-France), to force two third generation wave models: WAM and SWAN. The evaluation and comparison has been carried out for two severe storms registered in November 2001 and March–April 2002.The ARPEGE and MASS models predicted higher 10 m wind speeds than coastal meteorological stations, a fact attributed to local land influences. Regarding the 10 m wind direction, models do not present large differences, although considerable deviations from recorded data were found during some dates. ARPEGE presents less scatter and lower errors than MASS when compared with QuikSCAT data.The 10m wind fields from both atmospheric models were used to force the two selected wave models and analyse the errors and sensitivities when predicting severe wave storms. The wave model simulations show some interesting results; during the storm, the spatial wave pattern using ARPEGE showed a higher maximum, although the values of significant wave height at the buoys were lower than the ones forced by MASS (with both WAM and SWAN). The SWAN simulations show a better agreement in predicting the growing and waning of the storm peaks. The prediction of mean period was improved when using the ARPEGE wind field. However the underestimation by SWAN due to the large energy at high frequencies was evident. Validation of spectral shape predictions showed that it still has considerable error when predicting the full frequency spectra. The storms showed bimodal spectral features which were not always reproduced by wave models and are likely to be responsible for part of the discrepancies.     

积极引导，强化服务，推动西部交通建设科技成果推广应用

文章总结了“十五”期间，重庆市交通行业的西部项目取得的成绩及重庆市在西部项目成果推广方面采取的措施，指出了西部项目的实施对推动重庆交通行业科技创新体系的建立和完善，以及吸引、培养、留住人才，解决重庆交通基础设施建设中的关键技术问题等方面的作用。     

强化专业特色,提高人才培养质量,努力开创重庆交通大学航海教育新局面

我国西部大开发战略决策的实施,国际、国内海运业的快速发展的新形势,以及重庆建成西部教育高地和长江上游航运中心的新要求,重庆交通大学航海教育获得了空前发展。     

Distribution of total dissolved and C18 extractable copper and nickel in relation to dissolved organic matter sources, in the Thermaikos Gulf (eastern Mediterranean)

Organically complexed and total dissolved copper and nickel were measured in the Thermaikos Gulf waters during winter 1998. Total concentrations ranged from 1.13 nmol/L to 7.02 nmol/L for copper and from 3.04 nmol/L to 9.50 nmol/L for nickel. The C18 Sep-Pak solid phase extraction technique was used in order to determine the amount of copper and nickel complexed with the hydrophobic component of the dissolved organic matter (DOM). Up to 32.4% of total copper and 4.57% of total nickel were complexed with the DOM extracted by C18. By applying HPLC analysis it was shown that the majority of the organic compounds retained by C18 had intermediate to low polarity. Using the absorbance ratio a₂₅₄/a₄₃₆ it was possible to unravel that humic substances of both terrestrial and marine origin were present in the Thermaikos Gulf and their distribution followed the dilution of riverine waters. Moreover our results indicated that organic binding of both Cu and Ni was stronger with the hydrophobic compounds of terrestrial origin than with those of marine origin.