CAREER: The Delta Connectome: Structure and Transport Dynamic of Delta Networks across Scales and Disciplines

三角洲拥有丰富的生态系统多样性和经济资源，居住着大约 5 亿人口。 然而，人为干扰、自然沉降和海平面上升是三角洲受到威胁的主要原因，管理和保护这些动态活动中心势在必行。 这个职业项目创建了一个研究/教育框架，即三角洲连接体，其基本思想是三角洲作为连接路径的有向网络，它在广泛的空间和时间尺度上持续相互作用，决定系统对变化的响应。 这种关系已经在许多领域建立起来，从代谢网络和食物网到神经相互作用，但三角洲系统的类似工作尚未开展。 该项目将使用网络理论框架，结合遥感数据分析、数值建模和现场观测，开发软件来表征三角洲的空间和时间变化，并量化这些系统内变量之间的耦合。 然后将确定系统如何响应变化及其在不同空间和时间尺度上对自然和人为扰动的恢复能力。 该项目的具体目标包括：（i）客观量化三角洲形态特征，以确定植被特征、人为干扰以及三角洲形成和演化的过程； ㈡ 开发基于自动图像处理的工具，用于从遥感数据中提取相关信息； (iii) 通过提取特征的耦合分析来识别对航道网络和海岸线动态的环境控制； (iv) 关键变量之间耦合的强度、方向性、统计显着性和规模的量化以及人为干扰和变化对此类耦合的影响。 最终，该软件将为研究三角洲系统和为海岸恢复提供宝贵的工具。 人类活动和气候变化正在对世界各地的三角洲产生重大影响。对三角洲的形式和结构及其动态的定量描述对于解决它们如何应对气候力量和人类压力的变化至关重要。 该项目提供了教学、培训、学习和传播活动的创新组合，向研究界、公众和未来的科学家传达这些影响。 该项目开发的工具将通过社区表面动力学建模系统（CSDMS）存储库和国家地球表面动力学中心（NCED）网站作为开源软件发布。 NCED 夏季学院将提供有关软件使用的年度教程，这些工具也将集成到德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校 (UT-Austin) 教授的课程中。 此外，还将为 UT-Austin 的 UTeach 工程项目开发一个针对高中生的探索单元。 在这个单元中，遥感图像和视觉艺术将用于呈现环境问题，例如海岸恢复以及人类和气候对自然环境的影响。

Rich in ecosystem diversity and economic resources, deltas host approximately half a billion people. However, anthropogenic disturbance, natural subsidence, and eustatic sea-level rise are major causes of threat to deltas and managing and preserving these dynamic centers of activity is imperative. This CAREER project creates a research/educational framework, the Delta Connectome, based on the general idea of a delta as a directed network of connected paths, which interact continuously at a broad range of spatial and temporal scales that dictate system response to change. Such relationships have been established in many fields, from metabolic networks and food webs, to neural interactions, but similar work on deltaic systems has yet to be developed. The project will use a network-theoretic framework, incorporating remote sensing data analysis, numerical modeling, and field observations, to develop software that will characterize the spatial and temporal variability of deltas and quantify couplings among variables within these systems. How the system responds to change and its resilience to natural and anthropogenic perturbations at varying spatial and temporal scales will then be determined. Specific goals of this project include: (i) the objective quantification of delta morphologic features to identify the signature of vegetation, anthropogenic disturbance, and processes responsible for delta formation and evolution; (ii) the development of an automatic image processing-based tool for the extraction of relevant information from remotely sensed data; (iii) the identification of the environmental controls on channel network and shoreline dynamics through coupled analysis of extracted features; and (iv) the quantification of strength, directionality, statistical significance, and scale of couplings among key variables and the effect of anthropogenic disturbance and change on such couplings. Ultimately, the software will provide a valuable tool for studying deltaic systems and informing coastal restoration. Human-induced activities and climatic shifts are significantly impacting deltas around the world. A quantitative description of the form and structure of deltas and their dynamics is fundamental to address how they react to changes in climatic forces and human pressure. The project provides an innovative combination of teaching, training, learning, and dissemination activities to communicate these impacts to the research community, the public, and future scientists. The tools developed from the project will be released as open source software through the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) repository and National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics (NCED) website. NCED Summer Institutes will provide annual tutorials on software use and the tools will also be integrated into courses taught at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). Additionally, an Exploration Unit directed to high school students will be developed for the UTeach Engineering Program at UT-Austin. In this unit, remote sensing imagery and visual arts will be used to present environmental problems such as coastal restoration and the effect of humans and climate on the natural environment.