Regional trend analysis of surface ozone observations from monitoring networks in eastern North America, Europe and East Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, K. L.; Petropavlovskikh, I. V.; Cooper, O. R.; Schultz, M.; Wang, T.

2017-12-01

Surface ozone is a greenhouse gas and pollutant detrimental to human health and crop and ecosystem productivity. The Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) is designed to provide the research community with an up-to-date observation-based overview of tropospheric ozone's global distribution and trends. The TOAR Surface Ozone Database contains ozone metrics at thousands of monitoring sites around the world, densely clustered across mid-latitude North America, western Europe and East Asia. Calculating regional ozone trends across these locations is challenging due to the uneven spacing of the monitoring sites across urban and rural areas. To meet this challenge we conducted a spatial and temporal trend analysis of several TOAR ozone metrics across these three regions for summertime (April-September) 2000-2014, using the generalized additive mixed model (GAMM). Our analysis indicates that East Asia has the greatest human and plant exposure to ozone pollution among investigating regions, with increasing ozone levels through 2014. The results also show that ozone mixing ratios continue to decline significantly over eastern North America and Europe, however, there is less evidence for decreases of daytime average ozone at urban sites. The present-day spatial coverage of ozone monitors in East Asia (South Korea and Japan) and eastern North America is adequate for estimating regional trends by simply taking the average of the individual trends at each site. However the European network is more sparsely populated across its northern and eastern regions and therefore a simple average of the individual trends at each site does not yield an accurate regional trend. This analysis demonstrates that the GAMM technique can be used to assess the regional representativeness of existing monitoring networks, indicating those networks for which a regional trend can be obtained by simply averaging the trends of all individual sites and those networks that require a more

Trends and annual cycles in soundings of Arctic tropospheric ozone

Science.gov (United States)

Christiansen, Bo; Jepsen, Nis; Kivi, Rigel; Hansen, Georg; Larsen, Niels; Smith Korsholm, Ulrik

2017-08-01

Ozone soundings from nine Nordic stations have been homogenized and interpolated to standard pressure levels. The different stations have very different data coverage; the longest period with data is from the end of the 1980s to 2014. At each pressure level the homogenized ozone time series have been analysed with a model that includes both low-frequency variability in the form of a polynomial, an annual cycle with harmonics, the possibility for low-frequency variability in the annual amplitude and phasing, and either white noise or noise given by a first-order autoregressive process. The fitting of the parameters is performed with a Bayesian approach not only giving the mean values but also confidence intervals. The results show that all stations agree on a well-defined annual cycle in the free troposphere with a relatively confined maximum in the early summer. Regarding the low-frequency variability, it is found that Scoresbysund, Ny Ålesund, Sodankylä, Eureka, and Ørland show similar, significant signals with a maximum near 2005 followed by a decrease. This change is characteristic for all pressure levels in the free troposphere. A significant change in the annual cycle was found for Ny Ålesund, Scoresbysund, and Sodankylä. The changes at these stations are in agreement with the interpretation that the early summer maximum is appearing earlier in the year. The results are shown to be robust to the different settings of the model parameters such as the order of the polynomial, number of harmonics in the annual cycle, and the type of noise.

Total Ozone Data From a European Network 1951-1957

Science.gov (United States)

Brönnimann, S.; Brönnimann, S.; Farmer, S.

2001-12-01

Soon after its foundation in 1948, the International Ozone Commission (IOC) established a total ozone network in Europe, together with the Gassiot Committee of the Royal Socitey, UNESCO, the London Meteorological Office and national services. The network was built-up in 1950 with Dobson spectrophotometers equipped with photomultipliers, which were calibrated in Oxford before shipping to the stations. In 1957, some of the stations became part of the network of the IGY, and these data can be found today at the WOUDC. The earlier data were compiled and archived in Oxford by the secretary of the IOC, Charles Normand, but have never been published and only rarely appeared in the scientific literature [Normand, QJRMS 67 (1951) 474 and QJRMS 69 (1953) 39]. The copies of the data sheets stored at UK Met Office [MO/19/3/9 Part I] comprise daily values from the following stations/time periods: Aarhus (DK, 6/52-12/59, Dobson #41), Aldergrove (UK, 6/52-4/57, #35?), Arosa (CH, 6/52-12/58 #15), Cagliari/Elmas (IT, 12/54-5/59, #48), Camborne (UK, 1/52-12/59, #32), Eskdalemuir (UK, 9/57-12/59, #35), Hemsby (UK, 6/52-9/55), Lerwick (UK, 6/52-12/59, #7), Magny les Hameaux (FR, 1/55-9/57, #49?), Messina (IT, 7/54-6/58, #46), Oxford (UK, 6/52-12/59, #1), Paris/Montsouris (FR, 10/57-8/58, #49), Reykjavik (IS, 6/52-10/59, #50), Rome/Vigna di Valle (IT, 4/54-12/59 #47), Santa Maria/Azores (ES, 2/53-7/56, #13), Spitzbergen (NO, 11/50-7/58, #8), Tromsoe (NO, 6/52-5/59, #14), Uccle (BE, 6/52-12/58, #40), and Uppsala (SE, 6/52-12/58, #30). These data could be useful to supplement the currently available total ozone measurement series. Together with existing meteorological data, they enable us to study the relation between atmospheric circulation and total ozone in a chemically largely unperturbed time period. The daily values from 1951 to 1957 have now been digitized. Using appropriate statistical methods, the quality of each series will be addressed. The data will be homogenized and re

Assessing and optimizing infra-sound networks to monitor volcanic eruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tailpied, Dorianne

2016-01-01

Understanding infra-sound signals is essential to monitor compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test ban Treaty, and also to demonstrate the potential of the global monitoring infra-sound network for civil and scientific applications. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a robust tool to estimate and optimize the performance of any infra-sound network to monitor explosive sources such as volcanic eruptions. Unlike previous studies, the developed method has the advantage to consider realistic atmospheric specifications along the propagation path, source frequency and noise levels at the stations. It allows to predict the attenuation and the minimum detectable source amplitude. By simulating the performances of any infra-sound networks, it is then possible to define the optimal configuration of the network to monitor a specific region, during a given period. When carefully adding a station to the existing network, performance can be improved by a factor of 2. However, it is not always possible to complete the network. A good knowledge of detection capabilities at large distances is thus essential. To provide a more realistic picture of the performance, we integrate the atmospheric longitudinal variability along the infra-sound propagation path in our simulations. This thesis also contributes in providing a confidence index taking into account the uncertainties related to propagation and atmospheric models. At high frequencies, the error can reach 40 dB. Volcanic eruptions are natural, powerful and valuable calibrating sources of infra-sound, worldwide detected. In this study, the well instrumented volcanoes Yasur, in Vanuatu, and Etna, in Italy, offer a unique opportunity to validate our attenuation model. In particular, accurate comparisons between near-field recordings and far-field detections of these volcanoes have helped to highlight the potential of our simulation tool to remotely monitor volcanoes. Such work could significantly help to prevent

Measurements of total and tropospheric ozone from IASI: comparison with correlative satellite, ground-based and ozonesonde observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Boynard

2009-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present measurements of total and tropospheric ozone, retrieved from infrared radiance spectra recorded by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI, which was launched on board the MetOp-A European satellite in October 2006. We compare IASI total ozone columns to Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2 observations and ground-based measurements from the Dobson and Brewer network for one full year of observations (2008. The IASI total ozone columns are shown to be in good agreement with both GOME-2 and ground-based data, with correlation coefficients of about 0.9 and 0.85, respectively. On average, IASI ozone retrievals exhibit a positive bias of about 9 DU (3.3% compared to both GOME-2 and ground-based measurements. In addition to total ozone columns, the good spectral resolution of IASI enables the retrieval of tropospheric ozone concentrations. Comparisons of IASI tropospheric columns to 490 collocated ozone soundings available from several stations around the globe have been performed for the period of June 2007–August 2008. IASI tropospheric ozone columns compare well with sonde observations, with correlation coefficients of 0.95 and 0.77 for the [surface–6 km] and [surface–12 km] partial columns, respectively. IASI retrievals tend to overestimate the tropospheric ozone columns in comparison with ozonesonde measurements. Positive average biases of 0.15 DU (1.2% and 3 DU (11% are found for the [surface–6 km] and for the [surface–12 km] partial columns respectively.

Trends and annual cycles in soundings of Arctic tropospheric ozone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Christiansen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Ozone soundings from nine Nordic stations have been homogenized and interpolated to standard pressure levels. The different stations have very different data coverage; the longest period with data is from the end of the 1980s to 2014. At each pressure level the homogenized ozone time series have been analysed with a model that includes both low-frequency variability in the form of a polynomial, an annual cycle with harmonics, the possibility for low-frequency variability in the annual amplitude and phasing, and either white noise or noise given by a first-order autoregressive process. The fitting of the parameters is performed with a Bayesian approach not only giving the mean values but also confidence intervals. The results show that all stations agree on a well-defined annual cycle in the free troposphere with a relatively confined maximum in the early summer. Regarding the low-frequency variability, it is found that Scoresbysund, Ny Ålesund, Sodankylä, Eureka, and Ørland show similar, significant signals with a maximum near 2005 followed by a decrease. This change is characteristic for all pressure levels in the free troposphere. A significant change in the annual cycle was found for Ny Ålesund, Scoresbysund, and Sodankylä. The changes at these stations are in agreement with the interpretation that the early summer maximum is appearing earlier in the year. The results are shown to be robust to the different settings of the model parameters such as the order of the polynomial, number of harmonics in the annual cycle, and the type of noise.

Tropospheric Ozone from the TOMS TDOT (TOMS-Direct-Ozone-in-Troposphere) Technique During SAFARI-2000

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, J. B.; Thompson, A. M.; Frolov, A. D.; Hudson, R. D.; Bhartia, P. K. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

There are a number of published residual-type methods for deriving tropospheric ozone from TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer). The basic concept of these methods is that within a zone of constant stratospheric ozone, the tropospheric ozone column can be computed by subtracting stratospheric ozone from the TOMS Level 2 total ozone column, We used the modified-residual method for retrieving tropospheric ozone during SAFARI-2000 and found disagreements with in-situ ozone data over Africa in September 2000. Using the newly developed TDOT (TOMS-Direct-Ozone-in-Troposphere) method that uses TOMS radiances and a modified lookup table based on actual profiles during high ozone pollution periods, new maps were prepared and found to compare better to soundings over Lusaka, Zambia (15.5 S, 28 E), Nairobi and several African cities where MOZAIC aircraft operated in September 2000. The TDOT technique and comparisons are described in detail.

Combined Ozone Retrieval From METOP Sensors Using META-Training Of Deep Neural Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Felder, Martin; Sehnke, Frank; Kaifel, Anton

2013-12-01

The newest installment of our well-proven Neural Net- work Ozone Retrieval System (NNORSY) combines the METOP sensors GOME-2 and IASI with cloud information from AVHRR. Through the use of advanced meta- learning techniques like automatic feature selection and automatic architecture search applied to a set of deep neural networks, having at least two or three hidden layers, we have been able to avoid many technical issues normally encountered during the construction of such a joint retrieval system. This has been made possible by harnessing the processing power of modern consumer graphics cards with high performance graphic processors (GPU), which decreases training times by about two orders of magnitude. The system was trained on data from 2009 and 2010, including target ozone profiles from ozone sondes, ACE- FTS and MLS-AURA. To make maximum use of tropospheric information in the spectra, the data were partitioned into several sets of different cloud fraction ranges with the GOME-2 FOV, on which specialized retrieval networks are being trained. For the final ozone retrieval processing the different specialized networks are combined. The resulting retrieval system is very stable and does not show any systematic dependence on solar zenith angle, scan angle or sensor degradation. We present several sensitivity studies with regard to cloud fraction and target sensor type, as well as the performance in several latitude bands and with respect to independent validation stations. A visual cross-comparison against high-resolution ozone profiles from the KNMI EUMETSAT Ozone SAF product has also been performed and shows some distinctive features which we will briefly discuss. Overall, we demonstrate that a complex retrieval system can now be constructed with a minimum of ma- chine learning knowledge, using automated algorithms for many design decisions previously requiring expert knowledge. Provided sufficient training data and computation power of GPUs is available, the

Tropospheric Enhancement of Ozone over the UAE

Science.gov (United States)

Abbasi, Naveed Ali; Majeed, Tariq; Iqbal, Mazhar; Kaminski, Jacek; Struzewska, Joanna; Durka, Pawel; Tarasick, David; Davies, Jonathan

2015-04-01

We use the Global Environmental Multiscale - Air Quality (GEM-AQ) model to interpret the vertical profiles of ozone acquired with ozone sounding experiments at the meteorological site located at the Abu Dhabi airport. The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the chemical and dynamical structures in the atmosphere of this unique subtropical location (latitude 24.45N; longitude 54.22E). Ozone observations for years 2012 - 2013 reveal elevated ozone abundances in the range from 70 ppbv to 120 ppbv near 500-400 hPa during summer. The ozone abundances in other seasons are much lower than these values. The preliminary results indicate that summertime enhancement in ozone is associated with the Arabian anticyclones centered over the Zagros Mountains in Iran and the Asir and Hijaz Mountain ranges in Saudi Arabia, and is consistent with TES observations of deuterated water. The model also shows considerable seasonal variation in the tropospheric ozone which is transported from the stratosphere by dynamical processes. The domestic production of ozone in the middle troposphere is estimated and compared GEM-AQ model. It is estimated that about 40-50% of ozone in the UAE is transported from the neighbouring petrochemical industries in the Gulf region. We will present ozone sounding data and GEM-AQ results including a discussion on the high levels of the tropospheric ozone responsible for contaminating the air quality in the UAE. This work is supported by National Research Foundation, UAE.

North American Tropospheric Ozone Profiles from IONS (INTEX Ozonesonde Network Study, 2004, 2006): Ozone Budgets, Polution Statistics, Satellite Retrievals

Science.gov (United States)

Dougherty, M.; Thompson, A. M.; Witte, J. C.; Miller, S. K.; Oltmans, S. J.; Cooper, O. R.; Tarasick, D. W.; Chatfield, R. B.; Taubman, B. F.; Joseph, E.; Baumgardner, D.; Merrill, J. T.; Morris, G. A.; Rappenglueck, B.; Lefer, B.; Forbes, G.; Newchurch, M. J.; Schmidlin, F. J.; Pierce, R. B.; Leblanc, T.; Dubey, M.; Minschwaner, K.

2007-12-01

During INTEX-B (both Milagro and IMPEX phases in Spring 2006) and during the summer TEXAQS- 2006/GOMACCS period, the INTEX Ozonesonde Network Study (IONS-06) coordinated ozonesonde launches over North America for Aura overpasses. IONS-06 supported aircraft operations and provided profiles for ozone budgets and pollution transport, satellite validation and evaluation of models. In contrast to IONS-04, IONS-06 had a greater range (all but one 2004 IONS site plus a dozen in California, New Mexico, Mexico City, Barbados and southwestern Canada), yielding more than 700 profiles. Tropospheric pollution statistics to guide Aura satellite retrievals and contrasts in UT-LS (upper tropospheric-lower stratospheric) ozone between 2004 and 2006 are presented. With IONS-04 dominated by low-pressure conditions over northeastern North America, UT ozone originated 25% from the stratosphere [Thompson et al., 2007a,b] with significant amounts from aged or relatively fresh pollution and lightning [Cooper et al., 2006; Morris et al., 2006]. Both IONS-04 and IONS-06 summer periods displayed a persistent UT ozone maximum [Cooper et al., 2007] over the south-central US. March 2006 IONS sondes over Mexico manifested persistent UT/LS gravity wave influence and more sporadic pollution. Regional and seasonal contrasts in IONS-06 ozone distributions are described. intexb/ions06.html

Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) Ozone Climatology (2005-2009): Tropospheric and Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) Profiles with Comparisons to Omi-based Ozone Products

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Anne M.; Miller, Sonya K.; Tilmes, Simone; Kollonige, Debra W.; Witte, Jacquelyn C.; Oltmans, Samuel J.; Johnson, Brian J.; Fujiwara, Masatomo; Schmidlin, F. J.; Coetzee, G. J. R.;

SAFETY ON UNTRUSTED NETWORK DEVICES (SOUND)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-10

and LSD-41 labs to show how it can work at scale to protect a ship network. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Communities of trust, SAFE architecture, adaptable... environment . Then, SOUND development would extend the SAFE implementation from the CRASH program to allow SAFE hosts to operate in a heterogeneous...hardware level on a SAFE processor (developed under the DARPA CRASH program). This section summarizes our work ; more details can be found in [K+14

Prediction of ozone tropospheric degradation rate constant of organic compounds by using artificial neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fatemi, M.H.

2006-01-01

Ozone tropospheric degradation of organic compound is very important in environmental chemistry. The lifetime of organic chemicals in the atmosphere can be calculated from the knowledge of the rate constant of their reaction with free radicals such as OH and NO 3 or O 3 . In the present work, the rate constant for the tropospheric degradation of 137 organic compounds by reaction with ozone, the least widely and successfully modeled degradation process, are predicted by quantitative structure activity relationships modeling based on a variety of theoretical descriptors, which screened and selected by genetic algorithm variable subset selection procedure. These descriptors which can be used as inputs for generated artificial neural networks are; HOMO-LUMO gap, number of double bonds, number of single bonds, maximum net charge on C atom, minimum (>0.1) bond order of C atom and Minimum e-e repulsion of H atom. After generation, optimization and training of artificial neural network, network was used for the prediction of log KO 3 for the validation set. The root mean square error for the neural network calculated log KO 3 for training, prediction and validation set are 0.357, 0.460 and 0.481, respectively, which are smaller than those obtained by multiple linear regressions model (1.217, 0.870 and 0.968, respectively). Results obtained reveal the reliability and good predictivity of neural network model for the prediction of ozone tropospheric degradations rate constant of organic compounds

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING BACKGROUND FOR STATION NETWORKS OF VERTICAL IONOSPHERE SOUNDING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Y. Grishentsev

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with analysis of the network stations structure for ionosphere vertical sounding. Design features and creation principle of the program complexes for automated processing, analysis and storage of ionosphere sounding are considered. Conceptual model of complex database control system is created. The results of work are used in research practice of leading national organizations to study the ionosphere. Obtained application results of suggested algorithms and programs for automated processing and analysis of ionosphere vertical sounding are shown.

An assessment of 10-year NOAA aircraft-based tropospheric ozone profiling in Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Mark; Petropavlovskikh, Irina; Lin, Meiyun; McClure-Begley, Audra; Johnson, Bryan J.; Oltmans, Samuel J.; Tarasick, David

2017-06-01

The Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network Aircraft Program at NOAA has sampled ozone and other atmospheric trace constituents in North America for over a decade (2005-present). The method to derive tropospheric ozone climatology from the light aircraft measurements equipped with the 2B Technology instruments is described in this paper. Since ozone instruments at most of aircraft locations are flown once a month, this raises the question of whether the sampling frequency allows for deriving a climatology that can adequately represent ozone seasonal and vertical variability over various locations. Here we interpret the representativeness of the tropospheric ozone climatology derived from these under-sampled observations using hindcast simulations conducted with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory chemistry-climate model (GFDL-AM3). We first focus on ozone measurements from monthly aircraft profiles over the Front Range of Colorado and weekly ozonesondes launched in Boulder, Colorado. The climatology is presented as monthly values separated in 5th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 95th percentiles, and averaged at three vertical layers: lower (1.6-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and upper (6-8 km) troposphere. The aircraft-based climatology is compared to the climatology derived from the nearest located ozonesondes launched from Boulder, Colorado, from GFDL-AM3 co-sampled in time with in-situ observations, and from GFDL-AM3 continuous 3-h samples. Based on these analyses, we recommend the sampling frequency to obtain adequate representation of ozone climatology in the free troposphere. The 3-h sampled AM3 model is used as a benchmark reference for the under-sampled time series. We find that the minimal number of soundings required per month for the all altitude bins (1.6-3, 3-6, and 6-8 km) to sufficiently match the 95% confidence level of the fully sampled monthly ozone means vary between 3 and 5 sounding per month, except in August with a minimum of 6 soundings per month. The

Analysis of sound data streamed over the network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiří Fejfar

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we inspect a difference between original sound recording and signal captured after streaming this original recording over a network loaded with a heavy traffic. There are several kinds of failures occurring in the captured recording caused by network congestion. We try to find a method how to evaluate correctness of streamed audio. Usually there are metrics based on a human perception of a signal such as “signal is clear, without audible failures”, “signal is having some failures but it is understandable”, or “signal is inarticulate”. These approaches need to be statistically evaluated on a broad set of respondents, which is time and resource consuming. We try to propose some metrics based on signal properties allowing us to compare the original and captured recording. We use algorithm called Dynamic Time Warping (Müller, 2007 commonly used for time series comparison in this paper. Some other time series exploration approaches can be found in (Fejfar, 2011 and (Fejfar, 2012. The data was acquired in our network laboratory simulating network traffic by downloading files, streaming audio and video simultaneously. Our former experiment inspected Quality of Service (QoS and its impact on failures of received audio data stream. This experiment is focused on the comparison of sound recordings rather than network mechanism.We focus, in this paper, on a real time audio stream such as a telephone call, where it is not possible to stream audio in advance to a “pool”. Instead it is necessary to achieve as small delay as possible (between speaker voice recording and listener voice replay. We are using RTP protocol for streaming audio.

Internal-state analysis in layered artificial neural network trained to categorize lung sounds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oud, M

2002-01-01

In regular use of artificial neural networks, only input and output states of the network are known to the user. Weight and bias values can be extracted but are difficult to interpret. We analyzed internal states of networks trained to map asthmatic lung sound spectra onto lung function parameters.

Monitoring Anthropogenic Ocean Sound from Shipping Using an Acoustic Sensor Network and a Compressive Sensing Approach †

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Peter; Philip, Rachel; Robinson, Stephen; Wang, Lian

2016-01-01

Monitoring ocean acoustic noise has been the subject of considerable recent study, motivated by the desire to assess the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine life. A combination of measuring ocean sound using an acoustic sensor network and modelling sources of sound and sound propagation has been proposed as an approach to estimating the acoustic noise map within a region of interest. However, strategies for developing a monitoring network are not well established. In this paper, considerations for designing a network are investigated using a simulated scenario based on the measurement of sound from ships in a shipping lane. Using models for the sources of the sound and for sound propagation, a noise map is calculated and measurements of the noise map by a sensor network within the region of interest are simulated. A compressive sensing algorithm, which exploits the sparsity of the representation of the noise map in terms of the sources, is used to estimate the locations and levels of the sources and thence the entire noise map within the region of interest. It is shown that although the spatial resolution to which the sound sources can be identified is generally limited, estimates of aggregated measures of the noise map can be obtained that are more reliable compared with those provided by other approaches. PMID:27011187

Eight years of stratospheric ozone observations at Marambio, Antarctica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Damski, J; Taalas, P [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). Section of Ozone and UV Research

1996-12-31

In this work behaviour of the stratospheric ozone using the total ozone and ozone sounding measurements from Marambio (64 deg 14`S, 56 deg 37`W) at Antarctic Peninsula has been studied. The effects of depleted stratospheric ozone to the UV-B-radiation are investigated employing a radiative transfer model, and the Marambio total ozone measurements. The levels of UV-B radiation have been studied from the point of the erythemal UV-B-doses on the horizontal human epidermis. The low values of total ozone at Marambio are also reflected to the received UV-doses which have increased roughly 20-80% (compared to long term average) during austral spring and summer. In respective to the total amount of ozone, the model calculations show that during October the UV-B-doses can be at the same level they should be during normal summer

Eight years of stratospheric ozone observations at Marambio, Antarctica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Damski, J.; Taalas, P. [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). Section of Ozone and UV Research

1995-12-31

In this work behaviour of the stratospheric ozone using the total ozone and ozone sounding measurements from Marambio (64 deg 14`S, 56 deg 37`W) at Antarctic Peninsula has been studied. The effects of depleted stratospheric ozone to the UV-B-radiation are investigated employing a radiative transfer model, and the Marambio total ozone measurements. The levels of UV-B radiation have been studied from the point of the erythemal UV-B-doses on the horizontal human epidermis. The low values of total ozone at Marambio are also reflected to the received UV-doses which have increased roughly 20-80% (compared to long term average) during austral spring and summer. In respective to the total amount of ozone, the model calculations show that during October the UV-B-doses can be at the same level they should be during normal summer

Evidence for midwinter chemical ozone destruction over Antartica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Voemel, H. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Hoffmann, D.J.; Oltmans, S.J.; Harris, J.M. [NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory, Boulder, CO (United States)

1995-09-01

Two ozone profiles on June 15 and June 19, obtained over McMurdo, Antartica, showed a strong depletion in stratospheric ozone, and a simultaneous profile of water vapor on June 19 showed the first clear signs of dehydration. The observation of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) beginning with the first sounding showing ozone depletion, the indication of rehydration layers, which could be a sign for recent dehydration, and trajectory calculations indicate that the observed low ozone was not the result of transport from lower latitudes. during this time the vortex was strongly distorted, transporting PSC processed air well into sunlit latitudes where photochemical ozone destruction may have occurred. The correlation of ozone depletion and dehydration indicates that water ice PSCs provided the dominant surface for chlorine activation. An analysis of the time when the observed air masses could have formed type II PSCs for the first time limits the time scale for the observed ozone destruction to about 4 days.

Ozone-induced changes in the chloroplast structure of conifer needles, and their use in ozone diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kivimaeenpaeae, M.; Sellden, G.; Sutinen, S.

2005-01-01

Ozone induces characteristic symptoms in the chloroplasts of the needles of several coniferous species. Chloroplasts are (1) reduced in size and (2) the stroma is electron dense. Moreover (3) these chloroplast alterations are more pronounced in the outer mesophyll cell layers and in the upper side of the needle compared to the inner layers and lower side. The syndrome, including the three symptoms (1)-(3), is found in the green needles of Scots pine and Norway spruce not only in the experimental fumigations, but also in mature trees in the field, and has potential for diagnosis of ozone stress. For sound ozone diagnostics all three symptoms must be present in the samples studied. The symptoms in relation to needle anatomy and physiology is discussed, and recommendations for sampling and analysis are given. - Ozone-induced alterations in chloroplast structure of conifer needles are reviewed, and recommendations for field monitoring given

A Lagrangian analysis of mid-latitude stratospheric ozone variability and long-term trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, G.; Wernli, H.; Staehelin, J.; Peter, T.

2002-05-01

A systematic Lagrangian investigation is performed of wintertime high-resolution stratospheric ozone soundings at Payerne, Switzerland, from January 1970 to March 2001. For every ozone sounding, 10-day backward trajectories have been calculated on 16 isentropic levels using NCEP reanalysis data. Both the minimum/maximum latitude and potential vorticity (PV) averaged along the trajectories are used as indicators of the air parcels' ``origin''. The importance of transport for the understandin g of single ozone profiles is confirmed by a statistical analysis which shows that negative/positive ozone deviations gener ally coincide with transport from regions with climatologically low/high ozone values. The stable relationship between PV and ozone for the 32 year period indicates either no direct chemical impact or no temporal change of this impact. In the upper layer the PV-ozone relationship changes significantly after 1987 and a separate trend analysis for air masses transported from the polar, midlatitude and subtropical regions shows negative ozone trends in all three categories (with a maximum for the polar region). This is not direct evidence for, but would be in agreement with, an increased chemical ozone depletion in the Arctic since the late 1980s. The reasons for the negative trend in the mid-stratospheric air masses with subtropical origin that are in qualitative agreement with recent satellite observations are presently unknown.

Ozone sonde cell current measurements and implications for observations of near-zero ozone concentrations in the tropical upper troposphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Vömel

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Laboratory measurements of the Electrochemical Concentration Cell (ECC ozone sonde cell current using ozone free air as well as defined amounts of ozone reveal that background current measurements during sonde preparation are neither constant as a function of time, nor constant as a function of ozone concentration. Using a background current, measured at a defined timed after exposure to high ozone may often overestimate the real background, leading to artificially low ozone concentrations in the upper tropical troposphere, and may frequently lead to operator dependent uncertainties. Based on these laboratory measurements an improved cell current to partial pressure conversion is proposed, which removes operator dependent variability in the background reading and possible artifacts in this measurement. Data from the Central Equatorial Pacific Experiment (CEPEX have been reprocessed using the improved background treatment based on these laboratory measurements. In the reprocessed data set near-zero ozone events no longer occur. At Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, and San Cristóbal, nearly all near-zero ozone concentrations occur in soundings with larger background currents. To a large extent, these events are no longer observed in the reprocessed data set using the improved background treatment.

Development of Ozone Detector for Ksr-Iii and Preliminary Test Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seung-Hyun Hwang

2000-12-01

Full Text Available KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute has measured the ozone density profiles over the Korean Peninsular since the launch of the Korean Sounding Rocket-I (KSR-I in 1993. The purpose of ozone measurements is to obtain the stratospheric and mesospheric vertical ozone density profiles over the Korean Peninsular with solar UV radiometers. With the visible channel of the radiometer, the attitude variation of the rocket was corrected and compensated. Developed system is based on ozone detector designs onboard the KSR-I and KSR-II. We discuss the development of ozone detector which will be onboard the KSR-III and its circuit and vibration test results for EM Model.

What is Sound?

OpenAIRE

Nelson, Peter

2014-01-01

What is sound? This question is posed in contradiction to the every-day understanding that sound is a phenomenon apart from us, to be heard, made, shaped and organised. Thinking through the history of computer music, and considering the current configuration of digital communi-cations, sound is reconfigured as a type of network. This network is envisaged as non-hierarchical, in keeping with currents of thought that refuse to prioritise the human in the world. The relationship of sound to musi...

New dynamic NNORSY ozone profile climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Kaifel, A. K.; Felder, M.; Declercq, C.; Lambert, J.-C.

2012-01-01

Climatological ozone profile data are widely used as a-priori information for total ozone using DOAS type retrievals as well as for ozone profile retrieval using optimal estimation, for data assimilation or evaluation of 3-D chemistry-transport models and a lot of other applications in atmospheric sciences and remote sensing. For most applications it is important that the climatology represents not only long term mean values but also the links between ozone and dynamic input parameters. These dynamic input parameters should be easily accessible from auxiliary datasets or easily measureable, and obviously should have a high correlation with ozone. For ozone profile these parameters are mainly total ozone column and temperature profile data. This was the outcome of a user consultation carried out in the framework of developing a new, dynamic ozone profile climatology. The new ozone profile climatology is based on the Neural Network Ozone Retrieval System (NNORSY) widely used for ozone profile retrieval from UV and IR satellite sounder data. NNORSY allows implicit modelling of any non-linear correspondence between input parameters (predictors) and ozone profile target vector. This paper presents the approach, setup and validation of a new family of ozone profile climatologies with static as well as dynamic input parameters (total ozone and temperature profile). The neural network training relies on ozone profile measurement data of well known quality provided by ground based (ozonesondes) and satellite based (SAGE II, HALOE, and POAM-III) measurements over the years 1995-2007. In total, four different combinations (modes) for input parameters (date, geolocation, total ozone column and temperature profile) are available. The geophysical validation spans from pole to pole using independent ozonesonde, lidar and satellite data (ACE-FTS, AURA-MLS) for individual and time series comparisons as well as for analysing the vertical and meridian structure of different modes of

Urban and Rural Ozone Collect over Lusaka (Zambia, 15.5 S, 28 E) during SAFARI-2000 (September 2000)

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Anne M.; Witte, Jacquelyn C.; Freiman, M. Tai; Phalane, N. Agnes; Coetzee, Gert J. R.

2002-01-01

In early September, throughout south central Africa, seasonal clearing of dry vegetation and the production of charcoal for cooking leads to intense smoke haze and ozone formation. Ozone soundings made over Lusaka in early September 2000 recorded layers of high ozone (greater than 125 ppbv at 5 km) during two stagnant periods, broken by a frontal passage that reduced boundary layer ozone by 30%. During the 6-day measurement period, surface ozone concentrations ranged from 50-95 ppbv and integrated tropospheric ozone from the soundings was 39-54 Dobson Units (note 1.3 km elevation at the launch site). A stable layer of high ozone at 2-5 km was advected from rural burning regions in western Zambia and neighboring countries, making Lusaka a collection point for transboundary pollution. This is confirmed by trajectories that show ozone leaving Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa before heading toward the Indian Ocean and returning to Lusaka via Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Ozone in the mixed layer at Lusaka is heavily influenced by local sources.

Tropospheric ozone over a tropical Atlantic station in the Northern Hemisphere: Paramaribo, Surinam (6°N, 55°W)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peters, W.; Krol, M. C.; Fortuin, J. P. F.; Kelder, H. M.; Thompson, A. M.; Becker, C. R.; Lelieveld, J.; Crutzen, P. J.

2004-01-01

We present an analysis of 2.5 yr of weekly ozone soundings conducted at a new monitoring station in Paramaribo, Surinam (6°N, 55°W). This is currently one of only three ozone sounding stations in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) tropics, and the only one in the equatorial Atlantic region. Paramaribo is

Tropospheric ozone observations - How well can we assess tropospheric ozone changes?

Science.gov (United States)

Tarasick, D. W.; Galbally, I. E.; Ancellet, G.; Leblanc, T.; Wallington, T. J.; Ziemke, J. R.; Steinbacher, M.; Stähelin, J.; Vigouroux, C.; Hannigan, J. W.; García, O. E.; Foret, G.; Zanis, P.; Liu, X.; Weatherhead, E. C.; Petropavlovskikh, I. V.; Worden, H. M.; Osman, M.; Liu, J.; Lin, M.; Cooper, O. R.; Schultz, M. G.; Granados-Muñoz, M. J.; Thompson, A. M.; Cuesta, J.; Dufour, G.; Thouret, V.; Hassler, B.; Trickl, T.

2017-12-01

Since the early 20th century, measurements of ozone in the free troposphere have evolved and changed. Data records have different uncertainties and biases, and differ with respect to coverage, information content, and representativeness. Almost all validation studies employ ECC ozonesondes. These have been compared to UV-absorption measurements in a number of intercomparison studies, and show a modest ( 1-5%) high bias in the troposphere, with an uncertainty of 5%, but no evidence of a change over time. Umkehr, lidar, FTIR, and commercial aircraft all show modest low biases relative to the ECCs, and so -- if the ECC biases are transferable -- all agree within 1σ with the modern UV standard. Relative to the UV standard, Brewer-Mast sondes show a 20% increase in sensitivity from 1970-1995, while Japanese KC sondes show an increase of 5-10%. Combined with the shift of the global ozonesonde network to ECCs, this can induce a false positive trend, in analyses based on sonde data. Passive sounding methods -- Umkehr, FTIR and satellites -- have much lower vertical resolution than active methods, and this can limit the attribution of trends. Satellite biases are larger than those of other measurement systems, ranging between -10% and +20%, and standard deviations are large: about 10-30%, versus 5-10% for sondes, aircraft, lidar and ground-based FTIR. There is currently little information on measurement drift for satellite measurements of tropospheric ozone. This is an evident area of concern if satellite retrievals are used for trend studies. The importance of ECC sondes as a transfer standard for satellite validation means that efforts to homogenize existing records, by correcting for known changes and by adopting strict standard operating procedures, should continue, and additional research effort should be put into understanding and reducing sonde uncertainties. Representativeness is also a potential source of large errors, which are difficult to quantify. The global

Assessing the risk of foliar injury from ozone on vegetation in parks in the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohut, Robert

2007-01-01

The risk of ozone injury to plants was assessed in support of the National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network program. The assessment examined bioindicator species, evaluated levels of ozone exposure, and investigated soil moisture conditions during periods of exposure for a 5-year period in each park. The assessment assigned each park a risk rating of high, moderate, or low. For the 244 parks for which assessments were conducted, the risk of foliar injury was high in 65 parks, moderate in 46 parks, and low in 131 parks. Among the well-known parks with a high risk of ozone injury are Gettysburg, Valley Forge, Delaware Water Gap, Cape Cod, Fire Island, Antietam, Harpers Ferry, Manassas, Wolf Trap Farm Park, Mammoth Cave, Shiloh, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Great Smoky Mountains, Joshua Tree, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. - An assessment of the risk of foliar ozone injury on plants was conducted for 269 parks in support of the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network Program

A Compact Mobile Ozone Lidar for Atmospheric Ozone and Aerosol Profiling

Science.gov (United States)

De Young, Russell; Carrion, William; Pliutau, Denis

2014-01-01

A compact mobile differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system has been developed at NASA Langley Research Center to provide ozone, aerosol and cloud atmospheric measurements in a mobile trailer for ground-based atmospheric ozone air quality campaigns. This lidar is integrated into the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) currently made up of four other ozone lidars across the country. The lidar system consists of a UV and green laser transmitter, a telescope and an optical signal receiver with associated Licel photon counting and analog channels. The laser transmitter consist of a Q-switched Nd:YLF inter-cavity doubled laser pumping a Ce:LiCAF tunable UV laser with all the associated power and lidar control support units on a single system rack. The system has been configured to enable mobile operation from a trailer and was deployed to Denver, CO July 15-August 15, 2014 supporting the DISCOVER-AQ campaign. Ozone curtain plots and the resulting science are presented.

Vertical ozone characteristics in urban boundary layer in Beijing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhiqiang; Xu, Honghui; Meng, Wei; Zhang, Xiaoling; Xu, Jing; Liu, Quan; Wang, Yuesi

2013-07-01

Vertical ozone and meteorological parameters were measured by tethered balloon in the boundary layer in the summer of 2009 in Beijing, China. A total of 77 tethersonde soundings were taken during the 27-day campaign. The surface ozone concentrations measured by ozonesondes and TEI 49C showed good agreement, albeit with temporal difference between the two instruments. Two case studies of nocturnal secondary ozone maxima are discussed in detail. The development of the low-level jet played a critical role leading to the observed ozone peak concentrations in nocturnal boundary layer (NBL). The maximum of surface ozone was 161.7 ppbv during the campaign, which could be attributed to abundant precursors storage near surface layer at nighttime. Vertical distribution of ozone was also measured utilizing conventional continuous analyzers on 325-m meteorological observation tower. The results showed the NBL height was between 47 and 280 m, which were consistent with the balloon data. Southerly air flow could bring ozone-rich air to Beijing, and the ozone concentrations exceeded the China's hourly ozone standard (approximately 100 ppb) above 600 m for more than 12 h.

A neuronal network model with simplified tonotopicity for tinnitus generation and its relief by sound therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagashino, Hirofumi; Kinouchi, Yohsuke; Danesh, Ali A; Pandya, Abhijit S

2013-01-01

Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the ears or in the head where no external source is present. Sound therapy is one of the most effective techniques for tinnitus treatment that have been proposed. In order to investigate mechanisms of tinnitus generation and the clinical effects of sound therapy, we have proposed conceptual and computational models with plasticity using a neural oscillator or a neuronal network model. In the present paper, we propose a neuronal network model with simplified tonotopicity of the auditory system as more detailed structure. In this model an integrate-and-fire neuron model is employed and homeostatic plasticity is incorporated. The computer simulation results show that the present model can show the generation of oscillation and its cessation by external input. It suggests that the present framework is promising as a modeling for the tinnitus generation and the effects of sound therapy.

Neural networks for the dimensionality reduction of GOME measurement vector in the estimation of ozone profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Del Frate, F.; Iapaolo, M.; Casadio, S.; Godin-Beekmann, S.; Petitdidier, M.

2005-01-01

Dimensionality reduction can be of crucial importance in the application of inversion schemes to atmospheric remote sensing data. In this study the problem of dimensionality reduction in the retrieval of ozone concentration profiles from the radiance measurements provided by the instrument Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) on board of ESA satellite ERS-2 is considered. By means of radiative transfer modelling, neural networks and pruning algorithms, a complete procedure has been designed to extract the GOME spectral ranges most crucial for the inversion. The quality of the resulting retrieval algorithm has been evaluated by comparing its performance to that yielded by other schemes and co-located profiles obtained with lidar measurements

Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report: Database and Metrics Data of Global Surface Ozone Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin G. Schultz

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In support of the first Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR a relational database of global surface ozone observations has been developed and populated with hourly measurement data and enhanced metadata. A comprehensive suite of ozone data products including standard statistics, health and vegetation impact metrics, and trend information, are made available through a common data portal and a web interface. These data form the basis of the TOAR analyses focusing on human health, vegetation, and climate relevant ozone issues, which are part of this special feature. Cooperation among many data centers and individual researchers worldwide made it possible to build the world's largest collection of 'in-situ' hourly surface ozone data covering the period from 1970 to 2015. By combining the data from almost 10,000 measurement sites around the world with global metadata information, new analyses of surface ozone have become possible, such as the first globally consistent characterisations of measurement sites as either urban or rural/remote. Exploitation of these global metadata allows for new insights into the global distribution, and seasonal and long-term changes of tropospheric ozone and they enable TOAR to perform the first, globally consistent analysis of present-day ozone concentrations and recent ozone changes with relevance to health, agriculture, and climate. Considerable effort was made to harmonize and synthesize data formats and metadata information from various networks and individual data submissions. Extensive quality control was applied to identify questionable and erroneous data, including changes in apparent instrument offsets or calibrations. Such data were excluded from TOAR data products. Limitations of 'a posteriori' data quality assurance are discussed. As a result of the work presented here, global coverage of surface ozone data for scientific analysis has been significantly extended. Yet, large gaps remain in the surface

Urban Ozone Concentration Forecasting with Artificial Neural Network in Corsica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamas Wani

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric pollutants concentration forecasting is an important issue in air quality monitoring. Qualitair Corse, the organization responsible for monitoring air quality in Corsica (France, needs to develop a short-term prediction model to lead its mission of information towards the public. Various deterministic models exist for local forecasting, but need important computing resources, a good knowledge of atmospheric processes and can be inaccurate because of local climatical or geographical particularities, as observed in Corsica, a mountainous island located in the Mediterranean Sea. As a result, we focus in this study on statistical models, and particularly Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs that have shown good results in the prediction of ozone concentration one hour ahead with data measured locally. The purpose of this study is to build a predictor realizing predictions of ozone 24 hours ahead in Corsica in order to be able to anticipate pollution peaks formation and to take appropriate preventive measures. Specific meteorological conditions are known to lead to particular pollution event in Corsica (e.g. Saharan dust events. Therefore, an ANN model will be used with pollutant and meteorological data for operational forecasting. Index of agreement of this model was calculated with a one year test dataset and reached 0.88.

Urban and Rural Ozone Pollution Over Lusaka (Zambia, 15.5S, 25E) During SAFARI-2000 (September 2000)

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Anne M.; Herman, J. R.; Witte, J. C.; Phahlane, A.; Coetzee, G. J. R.; Mukula, C.; Hudson, R. D.; Frolov, A. D.; Bhartia, P. K. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

In early September, throughout south central Africa, seasonal clearing of dry vegetation and the production of charcoal for cooking leads to intense smoke haze and ozone formation. Ozone soundings made over Lusaka during a six-day period in early September 2000 recorded layers of high ozone (greater than 125 ppbv at 5 km) during two stagnant periods, interspersed by a frontal passage that reduced boundary layer ozone by 30 percent. Smoke aerosol column variations aloft and total ozone were monitored by a sun photometer. During the 6-day measurement period, surface ozone concentrations ranged from 50-95 ppbv and integrated tropospheric ozone from the soundings was 39- 54 Dobson Units (note 1.3 km elevation at the launch site). High ozone concentrations above the mixed and inversion layers were advected from rural burning regions in western Zambia where SAFARI aircraft and ground-based instruments observed intense biomass fires and elevated aerosol and trace gas amounts. TOMS tropospheric ozone and smoke aerosols products show the distribution of biomass burning and associated pollution throughout southern Africa in September 2000. Animations of satellite images and trajectories confirm pollutant recirculation over south central African fires, exit of ozone from Mozambique and Tanzania to the Indian Ocean and the characteristic buildup of tropospheric ozone over the Atlantic from western African outflow.

Influence of ultrasonic irradiation on ozone generation in a dielectric barrier discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kusano, Y; Drews, J; Leipold, F; Fateev, A; Bardenshtein, A; Krebs, N

2012-01-01

An atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was generated in an N 2 /O 2 gas mixture at room temperature with and without ultrasonic irradiation to investigate ozone production. Powerful ultrasonic irradiation with the sound pressure level of approximately 150 dB into the DBD can enhance ozone production especially when the DBD was driven at a frequency of 15 kHz.

Evaluation of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone trends over Western Europe from ground-based FTIR network observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Vigouroux

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Within the European project UFTIR (Time series of Upper Free Troposphere observations from an European ground-based FTIR network, six ground-based stations in Western Europe, from 79° N to 28° N, all equipped with Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR instruments and part of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC, have joined their efforts to evaluate the trends of several direct and indirect greenhouse gases over the period 1995–2004. The retrievals of CO, CH₄, C₂H₆, N₂O, CHClF₂, and O₃ have been optimized. Using the optimal estimation method, some vertical information can be obtained in addition to total column amounts. A bootstrap resampling method has been implemented to determine annual partial and total column trends for the target gases. The present work focuses on the ozone results. The retrieved time series of partial and total ozone columns are validated with ground-based correlative data (Brewer, Dobson, UV-Vis, ozonesondes, and Lidar. The observed total column ozone trends are in agreement with previous studies: 1 no total column ozone trend is seen at the lowest latitude station Izaña (28° N; 2 slightly positive total column trends are seen at the two mid-latitude stations Zugspitze and Jungfraujoch (47° N, only one of them being significant; 3 the highest latitude stations Harestua (60° N, Kiruna (68° N and Ny-Ålesund (79° N show significant positive total column trends. Following the vertical information contained in the ozone FTIR retrievals, we provide partial columns trends for the layers: ground-10 km, 10–18 km, 18–27 km, and 27–42 km, which helps to distinguish the contributions from dynamical and chemical changes on the total column ozone trends. We obtain no statistically significant trends in the ground-10 km layer for five out of the six ground-based stations. We find significant positive trends for the lowermost

Reinterpretation of ozone data from Base Roi Baudouin

Science.gov (United States)

Kelder, H.; Muller, C.

1994-01-01

The ozone Dobson measurements obtained in Antarctica at the Belgian 'Base Roi Baudouin' (70 deg 26 min S, 24 deg 19 min E) in 1965 and 1966 were retrieved from the KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) archives in De Bilt. Despite excellent treatment at the time by the meteorologists in charge at the KNMI (Wisse and Meerburg, 1969), a study of the original observers notes was made in order to check possible seasonal ozone phenomena. No systematic anomaly in the first analysis was found; meteorological data from the site together with Brewer-Mast ozone soundings concur that the conditions did not correspond either in 1965 nor 1966 to the current ozone hole (Farman et al., 1985) situation, however, the data yields excellent correlation with stratospheric temperature and shows in 1966 a clear November maximum in opposition to an October value around 344 Dobson units.

Radial Basis Function Networks for Conversion of Sound Spectra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlo Drioli

2001-03-01

Full Text Available In many advanced signal processing tasks, such as pitch shifting, voice conversion or sound synthesis, accurate spectral processing is required. Here, the use of Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFN is proposed for the modeling of the spectral changes (or conversions related to the control of important sound parameters, such as pitch or intensity. The identification of such conversion functions is based on a procedure which learns the shape of the conversion from few couples of target spectra from a data set. The generalization properties of RBFNs provides for interpolation with respect to the pitch range. In the construction of the training set, mel-cepstral encoding of the spectrum is used to catch the perceptually most relevant spectral changes. Moreover, a singular value decomposition (SVD approach is used to reduce the dimension of conversion functions. The RBFN conversion functions introduced are characterized by a perceptually-based fast training procedure, desirable interpolation properties and computational efficiency.

Ozone profiles at Juelich, FRG, during 1988 and 1989

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smit, H.G.J.; Straeter, W.; Loup, H.; Kley, D.

1989-12-01

Ozone soundings were performed regular at Juelich, FRG (50deg 41' N, 6deg 24' E). This report, the first one of an intended series, contains information on technical aspects and presents vertical profiles obtained during 1988 and 1989. (orig.) [de

An alternative respiratory sounds classification system utilizing artificial neural networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rami J Oweis

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Computerized lung sound analysis involves recording lung sound via an electronic device, followed by computer analysis and classification based on specific signal characteristics as non-linearity and nonstationarity caused by air turbulence. An automatic analysis is necessary to avoid dependence on expert skills. Methods: This work revolves around exploiting autocorrelation in the feature extraction stage. All process stages were implemented in MATLAB. The classification process was performed comparatively using both artificial neural networks (ANNs and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS toolboxes. The methods have been applied to 10 different respiratory sounds for classification. Results: The ANN was superior to the ANFIS system and returned superior performance parameters. Its accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity were 98.6%, 100%, and 97.8%, respectively. The obtained parameters showed superiority to many recent approaches. Conclusions: The promising proposed method is an efficient fast tool for the intended purpose as manifested in the performance parameters, specifically, accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. Furthermore, it may be added that utilizing the autocorrelation function in the feature extraction in such applications results in enhanced performance and avoids undesired computation complexities compared to other techniques.

Analysis of surface ozone using a recurrent neural network.

Science.gov (United States)

Biancofiore, Fabio; Verdecchia, Marco; Di Carlo, Piero; Tomassetti, Barbara; Aruffo, Eleonora; Busilacchio, Marcella; Bianco, Sebastiano; Di Tommaso, Sinibaldo; Colangeli, Carlo

2015-05-01

Hourly concentrations of ozone (O₃) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) have been measured for 16 years, from 1998 to 2013, in a seaside town in central Italy. The seasonal trends of O₃ and NO₂ recorded in this period have been studied. Furthermore, we used the data collected during one year (2005), to define the characteristics of a multiple linear regression model and a neural network model. Both models are used to model the hourly O₃ concentration, using, two scenarios: 1) in the first as inputs, only meteorological parameters and 2) in the second adding photochemical parameters at those of the first scenario. In order to evaluate the performance of the model four statistical criteria are used: correlation coefficient, fractional bias, normalized mean squared error and a factor of two. All the criteria show that the neural network gives better results, compared to the regression model, in all the model scenarios. Predictions of O₃ have been carried out by many authors using a feed forward neural architecture. In this paper we show that a recurrent architecture significantly improves the performances of neural predictors. Using only the meteorological parameters as input, the recurrent architecture shows performance better than the multiple linear regression model that uses meteorological and photochemical data as input, making the neural network model with recurrent architecture a more useful tool in areas where only weather measurements are available. Finally, we used the neural network model to forecast the O₃ hourly concentrations 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h ahead. The performances of the model in predicting O₃ levels are discussed. Emphasis is given to the possibility of using the neural network model in operational ways in areas where only meteorological data are available, in order to predict O₃ also in sites where it has not been measured yet. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing the risk of foliar injury from ozone on vegetation in parks in the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kohut, Robert [Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)], E-mail: rjk9@cornell.edu

2007-10-15

The risk of ozone injury to plants was assessed in support of the National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network program. The assessment examined bioindicator species, evaluated levels of ozone exposure, and investigated soil moisture conditions during periods of exposure for a 5-year period in each park. The assessment assigned each park a risk rating of high, moderate, or low. For the 244 parks for which assessments were conducted, the risk of foliar injury was high in 65 parks, moderate in 46 parks, and low in 131 parks. Among the well-known parks with a high risk of ozone injury are Gettysburg, Valley Forge, Delaware Water Gap, Cape Cod, Fire Island, Antietam, Harpers Ferry, Manassas, Wolf Trap Farm Park, Mammoth Cave, Shiloh, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Great Smoky Mountains, Joshua Tree, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. - An assessment of the risk of foliar ozone injury on plants was conducted for 269 parks in support of the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network Program.

Sound quality prediction of vehicle interior noise and mathematical modeling using a back propagation neural network (BPNN) based on particle swarm optimization (PSO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Enlai; Hou, Liang; Shen, Chao; Shi, Yingliang; Zhang, Yaxiang

2016-01-01

To better solve the complex non-linear problem between the subjective sound quality evaluation results and objective psychoacoustics parameters, a method for the prediction of the sound quality is put forward by using a back propagation neural network (BPNN) based on particle swarm optimization (PSO), which is optimizing the initial weights and thresholds of BP network neurons through the PSO. In order to verify the effectiveness and accuracy of this approach, the noise signals of the B-Class vehicles from the idle speed to 120 km h −1 measured by the artificial head, are taken as a target. In addition, this paper describes a subjective evaluation experiment on the sound quality annoyance inside the vehicles through a grade evaluation method, by which the annoyance of each sample is obtained. With the use of Artemis software, the main objective psychoacoustic parameters of each noise sample are calculated. These parameters include loudness, sharpness, roughness, fluctuation, tonality, articulation index (AI) and A-weighted sound pressure level. Furthermore, three evaluation models with the same artificial neural network (ANN) structure are built: the standard BPNN model, the genetic algorithm-back-propagation neural network (GA-BPNN) model and the PSO-back-propagation neural network (PSO-BPNN) model. After the network training and the evaluation prediction on the three models’ network based on experimental data, it proves that the PSO-BPNN method can achieve convergence more quickly and improve the prediction accuracy of sound quality, which can further lay a foundation for the control of the sound quality inside vehicles. (paper)

Lusaka, Zambia during SAFARI-2000: A Collection Point for Ozone Pollution

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Anne M.; Witte, Jacquelyn C.; Freiman, M. Tal; Phahlane, N. Agnes; Coetzee, G. J. R.; Bhartia, P. K. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

In August and September, throughout south central Africa, seasonal clearing of dry vegetation and other fire-related activities lead to intense smoke haze and ozone formation. The first ozone soundings in the heart of the southern African burning region were taken at Lusaka, Zambia (155 deg S, 28 deg E) in early September 2000. Over 90 ppbv ozone was recorded at the surface (1.3 km elevation) and column tropospheric ozone was greater than 50 DU during a stagnant period. These values are much higher than concurrent measurements over Nairobi (1 deg S, 38 deg E) and Irene (25 deg S, 28 deg E, near Pretoria). The heaviest ozone pollution layer (800-500 hPa) over Lusaka is due to recirculated trans-boundary ozone. Starting out over Zambia, Angola, and Namibia, ozone heads east to the Indian Ocean, before turning back over Mozambique and Zimbabwe, heading toward Lusaka. Thus, Lusaka is a collection point for pollution, consistent with a picture of absolutely stable layers recirculating in a gyre over southern Africa.

Multi-year assimilation of IASI and MLS ozone retrievals: variability of tropospheric ozone over the tropics in response to ENSO

Science.gov (United States)

Peiro, Hélène; Emili, Emanuele; Cariolle, Daniel; Barret, Brice; Le Flochmoën, Eric

2018-05-01

The Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Instrument (IASI) allows global coverage with very high spatial resolution and its measurements are promising for long-term ozone monitoring. In this study, Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) O3 profiles and IASI O3 partial columns (1013.25-345 hPa) are assimilated in a chemistry transport model to produce 6-hourly analyses of tropospheric ozone for 6 years (2008-2013). We have compared and evaluated the IASI-MLS analysis and the MLS analysis to assess the added value of IASI measurements. The global chemical transport model MOCAGE (MOdèle de Chimie Atmosphérique à Grande Echelle) has been used with a linear ozone chemistry scheme and meteorological forcing fields from ERA-Interim (ECMWF global reanalysis) with a horizontal resolution of 2° × 2° and 60 vertical levels. The MLS and IASI O3 retrievals have been assimilated with a 4-D variational algorithm to constrain stratospheric and tropospheric ozone respectively. The ozone analyses are validated against ozone soundings and tropospheric column ozone (TCO) from the OMI-MLS residual method. In addition, an Ozone ENSO Index (OEI) is computed from the analysis to validate the TCO variability during the ENSO events. We show that the assimilation of IASI reproduces the variability of tropospheric ozone well during the period under study. The variability deduced from the IASI-MLS analysis and the OMI-MLS measurements are similar for the period of study. The IASI-MLS analysis can reproduce the extreme oscillation of tropospheric ozone caused by ENSO events over the tropical Pacific Ocean, although a correction is required to reduce a constant bias present in the IASI-MLS analysis.

Design of a rocket-borne radiometer for stratospheric ozone measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, R.A.; Simeth, P.G.

1989-01-01

A four-filter ultraviolet radiometer for measuring stratospheric ozone is described. The payload is launched aboard a Super-Loki rocket to an apogee of 70 km. The instrument measures the solar ultraviolet irradiance over its filter wavelengths as it descends on a parachute. The amount of ozone in the path between the radiometer and the sun is calculated from the attenuation of solar flux using the Beer-Lambert law. Radar at the launch site measures the height of the instrument throughout its flight. The fundamental ozone value measured by the ROCOZ-A radiometer is the vertical ozone overburden as a function of geometric altitude. Ozone measurements are obtained for altitudes from 55 to 20 km, extending well above the altitude range of balloon-borne ozone-measuring instruments. The optics and electronics in the radiometer have been designed within relatively severe size and weight limitations imposed by the launch vehicle. The electronics in the improved rocket ozonesonde (ROCOZ-A) provide essentially drift-free outputs throughout 40-min ozone soundings at stratospheric temperatures. The modest cost of the payload precludes recovery and makes the instrument a versatile tool compared to larger ozonesondes

Artificial neural networks for breathing and snoring episode detection in sleep sounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emoto, Takahiro; Akutagawa, Masatake; Kinouchi, Yohsuke; Abeyratne, Udantha R; Chen, Yongjian; Kawata, Ikuji

2012-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious disorder characterized by intermittent events of upper airway collapse during sleep. Snoring is the most common nocturnal symptom of OSA. Almost all OSA patients snore, but not all snorers have the disease. Recently, researchers have attempted to develop automated snore analysis technology for the purpose of OSA diagnosis. These technologies commonly require, as the first step, the automated identification of snore/breathing episodes (SBE) in sleep sound recordings. Snore intensity may occupy a wide dynamic range (>95 dB) spanning from the barely audible to loud sounds. Low-intensity SBE sounds are sometimes seen buried within the background noise floor, even in high-fidelity sound recordings made within a sleep laboratory. The complexity of SBE sounds makes it a challenging task to develop automated snore segmentation algorithms, especially in the presence of background noise. In this paper, we propose a fundamentally novel approach based on artificial neural network (ANN) technology to detect SBEs. Working on clinical data, we show that the proposed method can detect SBE at a sensitivity and specificity exceeding 0.892 and 0.874 respectively, even when the signal is completely buried in background noise (SNR <0 dB). We compare the performance of the proposed technology with those of the existing methods (short-term energy, zero-crossing rates) and illustrate that the proposed method vastly outperforms conventional techniques. (paper)

Listening to an audio drama activates two processing networks, one for all sounds, another exclusively for speech.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Boldt

Full Text Available Earlier studies have shown considerable intersubject synchronization of brain activity when subjects watch the same movie or listen to the same story. Here we investigated the across-subjects similarity of brain responses to speech and non-speech sounds in a continuous audio drama designed for blind people. Thirteen healthy adults listened for ∼19 min to the audio drama while their brain activity was measured with 3 T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. An intersubject-correlation (ISC map, computed across the whole experiment to assess the stimulus-driven extrinsic brain network, indicated statistically significant ISC in temporal, frontal and parietal cortices, cingulate cortex, and amygdala. Group-level independent component (IC analysis was used to parcel out the brain signals into functionally coupled networks, and the dependence of the ICs on external stimuli was tested by comparing them with the ISC map. This procedure revealed four extrinsic ICs of which two-covering non-overlapping areas of the auditory cortex-were modulated by both speech and non-speech sounds. The two other extrinsic ICs, one left-hemisphere-lateralized and the other right-hemisphere-lateralized, were speech-related and comprised the superior and middle temporal gyri, temporal poles, and the left angular and inferior orbital gyri. In areas of low ISC four ICs that were defined intrinsic fluctuated similarly as the time-courses of either the speech-sound-related or all-sounds-related extrinsic ICs. These ICs included the superior temporal gyrus, the anterior insula, and the frontal, parietal and midline occipital cortices. Taken together, substantial intersubject synchronization of cortical activity was observed in subjects listening to an audio drama, with results suggesting that speech is processed in two separate networks, one dedicated to the processing of speech sounds and the other to both speech and non-speech sounds.

An overview of two years of ozone radio soundings over Cotonou as part of AMMA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Thouret

2009-08-01

Full Text Available As part of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA program, a total of 98 ozone vertical profiles over Cotonou, Benin, have been measured during a 26 month period (December 2004–January 2007. These regular measurements broadly document the seasonal and interannual variability of ozone in both the troposphere and the lower stratosphere over West Africa for the first time. This data set is complementary to the MOZAIC observations made from Lagos between 0 and 12 km during the period 1998–2004. Both data sets highlight the unique way in which West Africa is impacted by two biomass burning seasons: in December–February (dry season due to burning in the Sahelian band and in June-August (wet season due to burning in southern Africa. High interannual variabilities between Cotonou and Lagos data sets and within each data set are observed and are found to be a major characteristic of this region. In particular, the dry and wet seasons are discussed in order to set the data of the Special Observing Periods (SOPs into a climatological context. Compared to other dry and wet seasons, the 2006 dry and wet season campaigns took place in rather high ozone environments. During the sampled wet seasons, southern intrusions of biomass burning were particularly frequent with concentrations up to 120 ppbv of ozone in the lower troposphere. An insight into the ozone distribution in the upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere (up to 26 km is given. The first tropospheric columns of ozone based on in-situ data over West Africa are assessed. They compare well with satellite products on seasonal and interannual time-scales, provided that the layer below 850 hPa where the remote instrument is less sensitive to ozone, is removed.

Quantifying TOLNet Ozone Lidar Accuracy During the 2014 DISCOVER-AQ and FRAPPE Campaigns

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lihua; Newchurch, Michael J.; Alvarez, Raul J., II; Berkoff, Timothy A.; Brown, Steven S.; Carrion, William; De Young, Russell J.; Johnson, Bryan J.; Ganoe, Rene; Gronoff, Guillaume;

Some current problems in atmospheric ozone chemistry; role of chemical kinetics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cox, R.A.

1987-03-01

A review is given on selected aspects of the reaction mechanisms of current interest in the chemistry of atmospheric ozone. Atmospheric ozone is produced and removed by a complex series of elementary gas-phase photochemical reactions involving O/sub x/, HO/sub x/, NO/sub x/, CIO/sub x/ and hydrocarbon species. At the present time there is a good knowledge of the basic processes involved in ozone chemistry in the stratosphere and the troposphere and the kinetics of most of the key reactions are well defined. There are a number of difficulties in the theoretical descriptions of observed ozone behaviour which may be due to uncertainties in the chemistry. Examples are the failure to predict present day ozone in the photochemically controlled region above 35 Km altitude and the large reductions in the ozone column in the Antartic Spring which has been observed in recent years. In the troposphere there is growing evidence that ozone and other trace gases have changed appreciably from pre-industrial concentrations, due to chemical reactions involving man-made pollutants. Quantitative investigation of the mechanisms by which these changes may occur requires a sound laboratory kinetics data base.

Evaluation of the Performance of Feedforward and Recurrent Neural Networks in Active Cancellation of Sound Noise

OpenAIRE

Mehrshad Salmasi; Homayoun Mahdavi-Nasab

2012-01-01

Active noise control is based on the destructive interference between the primary noise and generated noise from the secondary source. An antinoise of equal amplitude and opposite phase is generated and combined with the primary noise. In this paper, performance of the neural networks is evaluated in active cancellation of sound noise. For this reason, feedforward and recurrent neural networks are designed and trained. After training, performance of the feedforwrad and recurrent networks in n...

Long-term evolution of upper stratospheric ozone at selected stations of the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steinbrecht, W; Claude, H; Schönenborn, F; McDermid, I S; Leblanc, T; Godin, S; Song, T; Swart, D P J; Meijer, Y J; Bodeker, G E; Connor, B J; Kämpfer, N; Hocke, K; Calisesi, Y; Schneider, N; Noë, J de la; Parrish, A D; Boyd, I S; Brühl, C; Steil, B; Giorgetta, M A; Manzini, E; Thomason, L W; Zawodny, J M; McCormick, M P; Russell, J M; Bhartia, P K; Stolarski, R S; Hollandsworth-Frith, S M

2006-01-01

The long-term evolution of upper stratospheric ozone has been recorded by lidars and microwave radiometers within the ground-based Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC), and by the space-borne Solar Backscatter Ultra-Violet instruments (SBUV), Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas

Validation of Copernicus Height-resolved Ozone data Products from Sentinel-5P TROPOMI using global sonde and lidar networks (CHEOPS-5P)

Science.gov (United States)

Keppens, Arno; Lambert, Jean-Christopher; Hubert, Daan; Verhoelst, Tijl; Granville, José; Ancellet, Gérard; Balis, Dimitris; Delcloo, Andy; Duflot, Valentin; Godin-Beekmann, Sophie; Koukouli, Marilisa; Leblanc, Thierry; Stavrakou, Trissevgeni; Steinbrecht, Wolfgang; Stübi, Réné; Thompson, Anne

2017-04-01

Monitoring of and research on air quality, stratospheric ozone and climate change require global and long-term observation of the vertical distribution of atmospheric ozone, at ever-improving resolution and accuracy. Global tropospheric and stratospheric ozone profile measurement capabilities from space have therefore improved substantially over the last decades. Being a part of the space segment of the Copernicus Atmosphere and Climate Services that is currently under implementation, the upcoming Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) mission with its imaging spectrometer TROPOMI (Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument) is dedicated to the measurement of nadir atmospheric radiance and solar irradiance in the UV-VIS-NIR-SWIR spectral range. Ozone profile and tropospheric ozone column data will be retrieved from these measurements by use of several complementary retrieval methods. The geophysical validation of the enhanced height-resolved ozone data products, as well as support to the continuous evolution of the associated retrieval algorithms, is a key objective of the CHEOPS-5P project, a contributor to the ESA-led S5P Validation Team (S5PVT). This work describes the principles and implementation of the CHEOPS-5P quality assessment (QA) and validation system. The QA/validation methodology relies on the analysis of S5P retrieval diagnostics and on comparisons of S5P data with reference ozone profile measurements. The latter are collected from ozonesonde, stratospheric lidar and tropospheric lidar stations performing network operation in the context of WMO's Global Atmosphere Watch, including the NDACC global and SHADOZ tropical networks. After adaptation of the Multi-TASTE versatile satellite validation environment currently operational in the context of ESA's CCI, EUMETSAT O3M-SAF, and CEOS and SPARC initiatives, a list of S5P data Quality Indicators (QI) will be derived from complementary investigations: (1) data content and information content studies of the S5P data retrievals

Spatial and temporal variability of tropospheric ozone over Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scheel, H.E.; Sladkovic, R. [Fraunhofer Inst. (IFU), Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany); Ancellet, G. [Universite Paris 6 (France). Service d`Aeronomie du CNRS; Areskoug, H. [Air Pollution Lab., Inst. of Applied Environmental Research, Stockholm Univ. (Sweden); Beck, J.; Waal, L. de [RIVM-LLO, Bilthoven (Netherlands); Boesenberg, J.; Grabbe, G. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Muer, D. de [Meteorological Inst. of Belgium (KMI), Brussels (Belgium); Dutot, A.L.; Etienne, A.; Perros, P.; Toupance, G. [Universite Paris XII-Creteil (France). Lab. de Physico-Chimie de l`Environment; Egelov, A.H.; Granby, K. [National Environmental Research Inst., Roskilde (Denmark); Esser, P.; Roemer, M. [IMW-TNO, Delft (Netherlands); Ferenczi, Z.; Haszpra, L. [Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Budapest (Hungary); Geiss, H.; Smit, H. [Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany). Inst. fuer Chemie und Dynamik der Geosphaere (ICG-2); Gomiscek, B. [Ljubljana Univ. (Slovenia). Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Kezele, N.; Klasinc, L. [Institut Rudjer Boskovic, Zagreb (Croatia); Laurila, T. [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). Dept. of Air Quality; Lindskog, A.; Mowrer, J. [Swedish Environmental Research Inst. (IVL), Goeteborg (Sweden); Nielsen, T. [Risoe National Laboratory, Roskilde (Denmark); Schmitt, R. [Meteorologie Consult GmbH, Glashuetten (Germany); Simmonds, P. [International Science Consultants, Ringwood (United Kingdom); Solberg, S. [NILU, Kjeller (Norway); Varotsos, C. [Athens Univ. (Greece); TOR Task Group 1

1997-12-31

The first section is concerned with the characteristics of the TOR-measurement sites and the data used. It describes the methodologies employed for the selection of data in order to obtain representative ozone concentrations with minimum bias caused by the individual location. The question of representativeness of the O{sub 3} concentrations at the TOR sites was given special attention, since it is a crucial point for all conclusions drawn from the observations. Therefore several studies were focused on this issue. The further sections of the report deal with results on the spatial and seasonal variations of ozone concentrations over Europe. Results obtained from in-situ measurements in the boundary layer/lower free troposphere and from vertical soundings in the free troposphere are regarded separately. Finally, trend estimates are presented for ozone as well as for some of its precursors. (orig./KW)

Spatial and temporal variability of tropospheric ozone over Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scheel, H E; Sladkovic, R [Fraunhofer Inst. (IFU), Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany); Ancellet, G [Universite Paris 6 (France). Service d` Aeronomie du CNRS; Areskoug, H [Air Pollution Lab., Inst. of Applied Environmental Research, Stockholm Univ. (Sweden); Beck, J; Waal, L de [RIVM-LLO, Bilthoven (Netherlands); Boesenberg, J; Grabbe, G [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Muer, D de [Meteorological Inst. of Belgium (KMI), Brussels (Belgium); Dutot, A L; Etienne, A; Perros, P; Toupance, G [Universite Paris XII-Creteil (France). Lab. de Physico-Chimie de l` Environment; Egelov, A H; Granby, K [National Environmental Research Inst., Roskilde (Denmark); Esser, P; Roemer, M [IMW-TNO, Delft (Netherlands); Ferenczi, Z; Haszpra, L [Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Budapest (Hungary); Geiss, H; Smit, H [Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany). Inst. fuer Chemie und Dynamik der Geosphaere (ICG-2); Gomiscek, B [Ljubljana Univ. (Slovenia). Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Kezele, N; Klasinc, L [Institut Rudjer Boskovic, Zagreb (Croatia); Laurila, T [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). Dept. of Air Quality; Lindskog, A; Mowrer, J [Swedish Environmental Research Inst. (IVL), Goeteborg (Sweden); Nielsen, T [Risoe National Laboratory, Roskilde (Denmark); Schmitt, R [Meteorologie Consult GmbH, Glashuetten (Germany); Simmonds, P [International Science Consultants, Ringwood (United Kingdom); Solberg, S [NILU, Kjeller (Norway); Varotsos, C [Athens Univ. (Greece); TOR Task Group 1

1998-12-31

The first section is concerned with the characteristics of the TOR-measurement sites and the data used. It describes the methodologies employed for the selection of data in order to obtain representative ozone concentrations with minimum bias caused by the individual location. The question of representativeness of the O{sub 3} concentrations at the TOR sites was given special attention, since it is a crucial point for all conclusions drawn from the observations. Therefore several studies were focused on this issue. The further sections of the report deal with results on the spatial and seasonal variations of ozone concentrations over Europe. Results obtained from in-situ measurements in the boundary layer/lower free troposphere and from vertical soundings in the free troposphere are regarded separately. Finally, trend estimates are presented for ozone as well as for some of its precursors. (orig./KW)

TOLNet ozone lidar intercomparison during the discover-aq and frappé campaigns

Science.gov (United States)

Newchurch, Michael J.; Alvarez, Raul J.; Berkoff, Timothy A.; Carrion, William; DeYoung, Russell J.; Ganoe, Rene; Gronoff, Guillaume; Kirgis, Guillaume; Kuang, Shi; Langford, Andy O.; Leblanc, Thierry; McGee, Thomas J.; Pliutau, Denis; Senff, Christoph; Sullivan, John T.; Sumnicht, Grant; Twigg, Laurence W.; Wang, Lihua

2018-04-01

The Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) is a unique network of lidar systems that measure atmospheric profiles of ozone and aerosols, to contribute to air-quality studies, atmospheric modeling, and satellite validation efforts. The accurate characterization of these lidars is of critical interest, and is necessary to determine cross-instrument calibration uniformity. From July to August 2014, three lidars, the TROPospheric OZone (TROPOZ) lidar, the Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone (TOPAZ) lidar, and the Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar (LMOL), of TOLNet participated in the "Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality" (DISCOVER-AQ) mission and the "Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment" (FRAPPÉ) to measure sub-hourly ozone variations from near the surface to the top of the troposphere. Although large differences occur at few individual altitudes in the near field and far field range, the TOLNet lidars agree with each other within ±4%. These results indicate excellent measurement accuracy for the TOLNet lidars that is suitable for use in air-quality and ozone modeling efforts.

Evidence of a 50-year increase in tropospheric ozone in Upper Bavaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Schmidt

Full Text Available In a series of ozone-sonde soundings at the Hohenpeißenberg observatory, starting in 1967, the most striking features are increases of sim2.2% per year in all tropospheric heights up to 8 km during the past 24 years. These facts have recently been published and discussed by several authors. In this paper, we present some evidence for the increase of tropospheric ozone concentrations during the past 50 years 1940-1990 in the territory of the northern edge of the Bavarian Alps, including the Hohenpeißenberg data. In December 1940 and August 1942, probably the first exact wet-chemical vertical soundings of ozone up to 9 km height were made by an aircraft in the region mentioned. These results were published in the earlier literature. We have converted the results of the flights on 4 days in December 1940 and on 6 days in August 1942 to modern units and have compared them with the Hohenpeißenberg ozone-sonde data of the December and August months. We also compared the data at the ground with the August results of Paris-Montsouris 1886-1898. Our results show an increase of ozone concentration at all tropospheric heights in Upper Bavaria during the past 50 years, compared with the Montsouris data in August during the past 105 years. In the recently published papers, the increases since 1967 were approximated linearly.Our results, extended to the past, show non-linear trends, with steeper increases since 1975-1979. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed. Quite recently (in case of the December months since 1986/87, the August months since 1990, the ozone mixing ratios at and above Hohenpeißenberg seem to have decreased.

Evidence of a 50-year increase in tropospheric ozone in Upper Bavaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Schmidt

1994-12-01

Full Text Available In a series of ozone-sonde soundings at the Hohenpeißenberg observatory, starting in 1967, the most striking features are increases of \\sim2.2% per year in all tropospheric heights up to 8 km during the past 24 years. These facts have recently been published and discussed by several authors. In this paper, we present some evidence for the increase of tropospheric ozone concentrations during the past 50 years 1940-1990 in the territory of the northern edge of the Bavarian Alps, including the Hohenpeißenberg data. In December 1940 and August 1942, probably the first exact wet-chemical vertical soundings of ozone up to 9 km height were made by an aircraft in the region mentioned. These results were published in the earlier literature. We have converted the results of the flights on 4 days in December 1940 and on 6 days in August 1942 to modern units and have compared them with the Hohenpeißenberg ozone-sonde data of the December and August months. We also compared the data at the ground with the August results of Paris-Montsouris 1886-1898. Our results show an increase of ozone concentration at all tropospheric heights in Upper Bavaria during the past 50 years, compared with the Montsouris data in August during the past 105 years. In the recently published papers, the increases since 1967 were approximated linearly.Our results, extended to the past, show non-linear trends, with steeper increases since 1975-1979. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed. Quite recently (in case of the December months since 1986/87, the August months since 1990, the ozone mixing ratios at and above Hohenpeißenberg seem to have decreased.

Results of ozone measurements in Northern Germany: A case study

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Manfred

1994-01-01

At most of the German ozone recording stations which have records over a sufficiently long period, the results of the summer months of 1989 showed the highest values since the beginning of the measurements. One of the reasons for this phenomenon was the high duration of sunshine in that summer; for example, in Potsdam near Berlin in May 1989 the sunshine duration was the highest in May since the beginning of the records in 1893. For that reason we selected this summer for a case study. The basis for the study was mainly the ozone measuring stations of the network of Lower Saxony and the Federal Office of Environment (Umweltbundesamt). The results of these summer measurements point to intense sources of ozone, probably in form of gaseous precursors, in the Middle German industrial areas near Leipzig and Halle and in Northwestern Czechoslovakia, with coal-mining, chemical and petrochemical industries, coking plants and others. The maps of average ozone concentrations, number or days with high ozone maxima, ozone-windroses of the stations, etc., suggest that these areas could be a main source of precursors and of photochemical ozone production in summer smog episodes in Central Europe. Stations on the North Sea coast, at which early ozone measurements were made by our institute in 1973/74 are compared with similarly located stations of the Lower Saxon network in 1989 and the results show a reversal of the ozone-windroses. In 1973/74, the highest ozone concentrations were correlated with wind directions from the sea while in 1989 these concentrations were correlated with directions from the continent. In the recent years, photochemical ozone production on the continent is probably predominant, while in former years the higher ozone content of the maritime subpolar air masses has been explained by stratospheric-tropospheric exchange.

A Bayesian analysis of trends in ozone sounding data series from 9 Nordic stations

Science.gov (United States)

Christiansen, Bo; Jepsen, Nis; Larsen, Niels; Korsholm, Ulrik S.

2016-04-01

Ozone soundings from 9 Nordic stations have been homogenized and interpolated to standard pressure levels. The different stations have very different data coverage; the longest period with data is from the end of the 1980ies to 2013. We apply a model which includes both low-frequency variability in form of a polynomial, an annual cycle with harmonics, the possibility for low-frequency variability in the annual amplitude and phasing, and either white noise or AR1 noise. The fitting of the parameters is performed with a Bayesian approach not only giving the posterior mean values but also credible intervals. We find that all stations agree on an well-defined annual cycle in the free troposphere with a relatively confined maximum in the early summer. Regarding the low-frequency variability we find that Scoresbysund, Ny Aalesund, and Sodankyla show similar structures with a maximum near 2005 followed by a decrease. However, these results are only weakly significant. A significant change in the amplitude of the annual cycle was only found for Ny Aalesund. Here the peak-to-peak amplitude changes from 0.9 to 0.8 mhPa between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012. The results are shown to be robust to the different settings of the model parameters (order of the polynomial, number of harmonics in the annual cycle, type of noise, etc). The results are also shown to be characteristic for all pressure levels in the free troposphere.

Albemarle Sound demonstration study of the national monitoring network for US coastal waters and their tributaries

Science.gov (United States)

Michelle Moorman; Sharon Fitzgerald; Keith Loftin; Elizabeth Fensin

2016-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) is implementing a demonstration project in the Albemarle Sound for the National Monitoring Network for U.S. coastal waters and their tributaries. The goal of the National Monitoring Network is to provide information about the health of our oceans and coastal ecosystems and inland influences on coastal waters for improved resource...

Coincident Observations of Surface Ozone and NMVOCs over Abu Dhabi

Science.gov (United States)

Abbasi, Naveed; Majeed, Tariq; Iqbal, Mazhar; Tarasick, David; Davies, Jonathan; Riemer, Daniel; Apel, Eric

2016-07-01

The vertical profiles of ozone are measured coincidently with non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) at the meteorological site located at the Abu Dhabi international airport (latitude 24.45N; longitude 54.22E) during the years 2012 - 2014. Some of the profiles show elevated surface ozone >95 ppbv during the winter months (December, January and February). The ground-level NMVOCs obtained from the gas chromatography-flame ionization detection/mass spectrometry system also show elevated values of acetylene, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, benzene, and toluene. NMVOCs and ozone abundances in other seasons are much lower than the values in winter season. NMVOCs are emitted from an extensive number of sources in urban environments including fuel production, distribution, and consumption, and serve as precursor of ozone. Transport sources contribute a substantial portion of the NMVOC burden to the urban atmosphere in developed regions. Abu Dhabi is located at the edge of the Arabian Gulf and is highly affected by emissions from petrochemical industries in the neighboring Gulf region. The preliminary results indicate that wintertime enhancement in ozone is associated with large values of NMVOCs at Abu Dhabi. The domestic production of surface ozone is estimated from the combination of oxygen recombination and NMVOCs and compared with the data. It is estimated that about 40-50% of ozone in Abu Dhabi is transported from the neighbouring petrochemical industries. We will present ozone sounding and NMVOCs data and our model estimates of surface ozone, including a discussion on the high levels of the tropospheric ozone responsible for contaminating the air quality in the UAE. This work is supported by National Research Foundation, UAE.

Applying cybernetic technology to diagnose human pulmonary sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Mei-Yung; Chou, Cheng-Han

2014-06-01

Chest auscultation is a crucial and efficient method for diagnosing lung disease; however, it is a subjective process that relies on physician experience and the ability to differentiate between various sound patterns. Because the physiological signals composed of heart sounds and pulmonary sounds (PSs) are greater than 120 Hz and the human ear is not sensitive to low frequencies, successfully making diagnostic classifications is difficult. To solve this problem, we constructed various PS recognition systems for classifying six PS classes: vesicular breath sounds, bronchial breath sounds, tracheal breath sounds, crackles, wheezes, and stridor sounds. First, we used a piezoelectric microphone and data acquisition card to acquire PS signals and perform signal preprocessing. A wavelet transform was used for feature extraction, and the PS signals were decomposed into frequency subbands. Using a statistical method, we extracted 17 features that were used as the input vectors of a neural network. We proposed a 2-stage classifier combined with a back-propagation (BP) neural network and learning vector quantization (LVQ) neural network, which improves classification accuracy by using a haploid neural network. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve verifies the high performance level of the neural network. To expand traditional auscultation methods, we constructed various PS diagnostic systems that can correctly classify the six common PSs. The proposed device overcomes the lack of human sensitivity to low-frequency sounds and various PS waves, characteristic values, and a spectral analysis charts are provided to elucidate the design of the human-machine interface.

Influence of ultrasonic irradiation on ozone generation in a dielectric barrier discharge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusano, Yukihiro; Drews, J.; Leipold, Frank

2012-01-01

An atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was generated in an N2/O2 gas mixture at room temperature with and without ultrasonic irradiation to investigate ozone production. Powerful ultrasonic irradiation with the sound pressure level of approximately 150 dB into the DBD can...

Robust segmentation and retrieval of environmental sounds

Science.gov (United States)

Wichern, Gordon

The proliferation of mobile computing has provided much of the world with the ability to record any sound of interest, or possibly every sound heard in a lifetime. The technology to continuously record the auditory world has applications in surveillance, biological monitoring of non-human animal sounds, and urban planning. Unfortunately, the ability to record anything has led to an audio data deluge, where there are more recordings than time to listen. Thus, access to these archives depends on efficient techniques for segmentation (determining where sound events begin and end), indexing (storing sufficient information with each event to distinguish it from other events), and retrieval (searching for and finding desired events). While many such techniques have been developed for speech and music sounds, the environmental and natural sounds that compose the majority of our aural world are often overlooked. The process of analyzing audio signals typically begins with the process of acoustic feature extraction where a frame of raw audio (e.g., 50 milliseconds) is converted into a feature vector summarizing the audio content. In this dissertation, a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) is used to monitor changes in acoustic features in order to determine the segmentation of continuously recorded audio signals. Experiments demonstrate effective segmentation performance on test sets of environmental sounds recorded in both indoor and outdoor environments. Once segmented, every sound event is indexed with a probabilistic model, summarizing the evolution of acoustic features over the course of the event. Indexed sound events are then retrieved from the database using different query modalities. Two important query types are sound queries (query-by-example) and semantic queries (query-by-text). By treating each sound event and semantic concept in the database as a node in an undirected graph, a hybrid (content/semantic) network structure is developed. This hybrid network can

Evaluation of the Performance of Feedforward and Recurrent Neural Networks in Active Cancellation of Sound Noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehrshad Salmasi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Active noise control is based on the destructive interference between the primary noise and generated noise from the secondary source. An antinoise of equal amplitude and opposite phase is generated and combined with the primary noise. In this paper, performance of the neural networks is evaluated in active cancellation of sound noise. For this reason, feedforward and recurrent neural networks are designed and trained. After training, performance of the feedforwrad and recurrent networks in noise attenuation are compared. We use Elman network as a recurrent neural network. For simulations, noise signals from a SPIB database are used. In order to compare the networks appropriately, equal number of layers and neurons are considered for the networks. Moreover, training and test samples are similar. Simulation results show that feedforward and recurrent neural networks present good performance in noise cancellation. As it is seen, the ability of recurrent neural network in noise attenuation is better than feedforward network.

Observation of stratospheric ozone with NIES lidar system in Tsukuba, Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakane, H.; Hayashida, S.; Sasano, Y.; Sugimoto, N.; Matsui, I.; Minato, A.

1992-01-01

Lidars are expected to play important roles in an international monitoring network of the stratosphere such as the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC). The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in Tsukuba constructed an ozone lidar system in March 1988 and started observation in August 1988. The lidar system has a 2-m telescope and injection locked XeCl and XeF excimer lasers which can measure ozone profiles (15-45 km) and temperature profiles (30-80 km). From December 1991, lidar observations have been carried out in which the second Stokes line of the stimulated Raman scattering of a KrF laser has been used. Ozone profiles obtained with the NIES lidar system are compared with the data provided by the SAGE II satellite sensor. Results showed good agreement for the individual and the zonal mean profiles. Variations of ozone with various time scales at each altitude can be studied using the data obtained with the NIES ozone lidar system. Seasonal variations are easily found at 20 km, 30 km, and 35 km, which are qualitatively understood as a result of dynamical and photochemical effects. Systematic errors of ozone profiles due to the Pinatubo stratospheric aerosols have been detected using multi-wavelength observation

A more realistic simulation of the performance of the infra-sound monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Pichon, A.; Vergoz, J.; Blanc, E.

2008-01-01

The first global maps showing the performance of the infra-sound network of the international monitoring system were set in the nineties. Recent measurement of the background noise by the 36 operating stations combined with advanced models of wind give now a more realistic mapping. It has become possible to validate simulations by measuring real events. For instance the explosion that happened in March 2008 in an ammunition storehouse in Albania was detected till Zalesovo (Russia) 4920 km away. These new simulations confirm the detection capability of the network to detect and localize atmospheric explosions whose energy is over 1 kt. It is also shown that the detection performance are very sensitive to both time and places. (A.C.)

Analysis of European ozone trends in the period 1995-2014

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Yingying; Pozzer, Andrea; Ojha, Narendra; Lin, Jintai; Lelieveld, Jos

2018-04-01

Surface-based measurements from the EMEP and Airbase networks are used to estimate the changes in surface ozone levels during the 1995-2014 period over Europe. We find significant ozone enhancements (0.20-0.59 µg m-3 yr-1 for the annual means; P-value climate model EMAC, the importance of anthropogenic emissions changes in determining these changes over background sites are investigated. The EMAC model is found to successfully capture the observed temporal variability in mean ozone concentrations, as well as the contrast in the trends of 95th and 5th percentile ozone over Europe. Sensitivity simulations and statistical analysis show that a decrease in European anthropogenic emissions had contrasting effects on surface ozone trends between the 95th and 5th percentile levels and that background ozone levels have been influenced by hemispheric transport, while climate variability generally regulated the inter-annual variations of surface ozone in Europe.

SEACIONS During the 2012 Asian Monsoon: A Strategic Approach to Determining Convective Impacts on Tropospheric Ozone and TTL Gravity Waves

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Anne M. (Principal Investigator); Young, George S. (Principal Investigator); Morris, Gary; Johnson, Bryan; Oltmans, Samuel; Selkirk, Henry B.

2016-01-01

Purpose of making ozone and water vapor profiles measurements in SEAC4RS is to give consistent coverage of the vertical structure at fixed sites to (1) complement 2 campaign aircraft sampling; (2) ground-truth satellite measurements of H O and ozone; (3) provide profiles for model evaluation; (4) study processes responsible for day-to-day variability at each site. Revised objective for 2013, due to cancellation of the 2012 and 2013 plans to operate in Southeast Asia: rapidly re-configure the original "SEACIONS," Southeast Asian Consortium for Intensive Ozonesonde Network Study, to a SouthEast American plan (SEACIONS) for collecting daily ozonesonde data during DC-8 and ER-2 flights throughout the southeastern US. As in previous IONS (2004, 2006, 2008), students were trained at St Louis, Tallahassee, Houston, Penn State, Huntsville, Socorro. Images of the soundings and related flight-planning products were posted each day at NASA and Penn State (PSU) websites. With the aircraft based at Ellington Field (Houston), water CFH (cryogenic frost-point hygrometer) sondes in addition to ozonesondes, were to be taken launched at that site.

Proposed standardized definitions for vertical resolution and uncertainty in the NDACC lidar ozone and temperature algorithms - Part 2: Ozone DIAL uncertainty budget

Science.gov (United States)

Leblanc, Thierry; Sica, Robert J.; van Gijsel, Joanna A. E.; Godin-Beekmann, Sophie; Haefele, Alexander; Trickl, Thomas; Payen, Guillaume; Liberti, Gianluigi

2016-08-01

A standardized approach for the definition, propagation, and reporting of uncertainty in the ozone differential absorption lidar data products contributing to the Network for the Detection for Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) database is proposed. One essential aspect of the proposed approach is the propagation in parallel of all independent uncertainty components through the data processing chain before they are combined together to form the ozone combined standard uncertainty. The independent uncertainty components contributing to the overall budget include random noise associated with signal detection, uncertainty due to saturation correction, background noise extraction, the absorption cross sections of O3, NO2, SO2, and O2, the molecular extinction cross sections, and the number densities of the air, NO2, and SO2. The expression of the individual uncertainty components and their step-by-step propagation through the ozone differential absorption lidar (DIAL) processing chain are thoroughly estimated. All sources of uncertainty except detection noise imply correlated terms in the vertical dimension, which requires knowledge of the covariance matrix when the lidar signal is vertically filtered. In addition, the covariance terms must be taken into account if the same detection hardware is shared by the lidar receiver channels at the absorbed and non-absorbed wavelengths. The ozone uncertainty budget is presented as much as possible in a generic form (i.e., as a function of instrument performance and wavelength) so that all NDACC ozone DIAL investigators across the network can estimate, for their own instrument and in a straightforward manner, the expected impact of each reviewed uncertainty component. In addition, two actual examples of full uncertainty budget are provided, using nighttime measurements from the tropospheric ozone DIAL located at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Table Mountain Facility, California, and nighttime measurements from the JPL

National Plan for Stratospheric Ozone Monitoring and Early Detection of Change, 1981-1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-02-01

A transition from reliance on a ground-based, geographically-biased ozone observing network operated by cooperating nations to a combined satellite and ground-based monitoring program that will provide global coverage of the vertical distribution of stratospheric ozone, as well as total ozone overburden is discussed. The strategy, instrumentation, and monitoring products to be prepared during this transition period are also discussed. Global atmospheric monitoring for protection of the ultraviolet shielding properties of atmospheric ozone is considered. The operational satellite ozone vertical profile monitoring system to be flown on the NOAA Tiros N operational satellite series to carry on ozone measurements initiated on the NASA R D satellites is also considered

Merged ozone profiles from four MIPAS processors

Science.gov (United States)

Laeng, Alexandra; von Clarmann, Thomas; Stiller, Gabriele; Dinelli, Bianca Maria; Dudhia, Anu; Raspollini, Piera; Glatthor, Norbert; Grabowski, Udo; Sofieva, Viktoria; Froidevaux, Lucien; Walker, Kaley A.; Zehner, Claus

2017-04-01

The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) was an infrared (IR) limb emission spectrometer on the Envisat platform. Currently, there are four MIPAS ozone data products, including the operational Level-2 ozone product processed at ESA, with the scientific prototype processor being operated at IFAC Florence, and three independent research products developed by the Istituto di Fisica Applicata Nello Carrara (ISAC-CNR)/University of Bologna, Oxford University, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology-Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research/Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (KIT-IMK/IAA). Here we present a dataset of ozone vertical profiles obtained by merging ozone retrievals from four independent Level-2 MIPAS processors. We also discuss the advantages and the shortcomings of this merged product. As the four processors retrieve ozone in different parts of the spectra (microwindows), the source measurements can be considered as nearly independent with respect to measurement noise. Hence, the information content of the merged product is greater and the precision is better than those of any parent (source) dataset. The merging is performed on a profile per profile basis. Parent ozone profiles are weighted based on the corresponding error covariance matrices; the error correlations between different profile levels are taken into account. The intercorrelations between the processors' errors are evaluated statistically and are used in the merging. The height range of the merged product is 20-55 km, and error covariance matrices are provided as diagnostics. Validation of the merged dataset is performed by comparison with ozone profiles from ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment-Fourier Transform Spectrometer) and MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder). Even though the merging is not supposed to remove the biases of the parent datasets, around the ozone volume mixing ratio peak the merged product is found to have a smaller (up to 0.1 ppmv

Experimental demonstration of topologically protected efficient sound propagation in an acoustic waveguide network

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Qi; Tian, Ye; Zuo, Shu-Yu; Cheng, Ying; Liu, Xiao-Jun

2017-03-01

Acoustic topological states support sound propagation along the boundary in a one-way direction with inherent robustness against defects and disorders, leading to the revolution of the manipulation on acoustic waves. A variety of acoustic topological states relying on circulating fluid, chiral coupling, or temporal modulation have been proposed theoretically. However, experimental demonstration has so far remained a significant challenge, due to the critical limitations such as structural complexity and high losses. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an acoustic anomalous Floquet topological insulator in a waveguide network. The acoustic gapless edge states can be found in the band gap when the waveguides are strongly coupled. The scheme features simple structure and high-energy throughput, leading to the experimental demonstration of efficient and robust topologically protected sound propagation along the boundary. The proposal may offer a unique, promising application for design of acoustic devices in acoustic guiding, switching, isolating, filtering, etc.

A joint data record of tropospheric ozone from Aura-TES and MetOp-IASI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Oetjen

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES on Aura and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI on MetOp-A together provide a time series of 10 years of free-tropospheric ozone with an overlap of 3 years. We characterise the differences between TES and IASI ozone measurements and find that IASI's coarser vertical sensitivity leads to a small (< 5 ppb low bias relative to TES for the free troposphere. The TES-IASI differences are not dependent on season or any other factor and hence the measurements from the two instruments can be merged, after correcting for the offset, in order to study decadal-scale changes in tropospheric ozone. We calculate time series of regional monthly mean ozone in the free troposphere over eastern Asia, the western United States (US, and Europe, carefully accounting for differences in spatial sampling between the instruments. We show that free-tropospheric ozone over Europe and the western US has remained relatively constant over the past decade but that, contrary to expectations, ozone over Asia in recent years does not continue the rapid rate of increase observed from 2004 to 2010.

Analysis and validation of ozone variability observed by lidar during the ESCOMPTE-2001 campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Ancellet, G.; Ravetta, F.

2005-03-01

An ozone lidar was successfully operated as a ground-based instrument during the ESCOMPTE experiment in June/July 2001. Ozone profiles were measured between 0.5 and 5 km. Moreover, simultaneous measurements of the lidar scattering ratio (SR) at 316 nm diagnosed the diurnal evolution of the PBL top. Comparison of this data set with in-situ measurements by ultralight aircraft (ULM) and balloon soundings supports the existence of well-defined layers over the whole altitude range. Differences between measurements techniques are not due to instrumental inaccuracies but point towards the existence of ozone plumes with sharp horizontal gradients. This is indeed supported by aircraft horizontal cross-section available twice a day at two different levels in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and the free troposphere. Analysis of the ozone data set has shown a good correlation between surface meteorological conditions, surface ozone measurements and lidar ozone profiles in the PBL. Observed ozone maxima or minima are linked either to sea breeze circulation bringing polluted air masses over the lidar or synoptic flows bringing air with background O 3 values into the region. The observed variability of the ozone field is very large over the whole altitude range. Although it is the result of local temporal variability and advection of spatial inhomogenities, the latter proved to be an important contribution.

Two case studies on the interaction of large-scale transport, mesoscale photochemistry, and boundary-layer processes on the lower tropospheric ozone dynamics in early spring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Broennimann, S.; Siegrist, F.C.; Eugster, W.; Cattin, R.; Sidle, C.; Wanner, H. [Inst. of Geography, Univ. of Bern (Switzerland); Hirschberg, M.M. [Lehrstuhl fuer Bioklimatologie und Immissionsforschung, TU Muenchen, Freising-Weihenstephan (Germany); Schneiter, D. [MeteoSwiss, Station Aerologique, Payerne (Switzerland); Perego, S. [IBM Switzerland, Zuerich (Switzerland)

2001-04-01

The vertical distribution of ozone in the lower troposphere over the Swiss Plateau is investigated in detail for two episodes in early spring (February 1998 and March 1999). Profile measurements of boundary-layer ozone performed during two field campaigns with a tethered balloon sounding system and a kite are investigated using regular aerological and ozone soundings from a nearby site, measurements from monitoring stations at various altitudes, backward trajectories, and synoptic analyses of meteorological fields. Additionally, the effect of in situ photochemistry was estimated for one of the episodes employing the Metphomod Eulerian photochemical model. Although the meteorological situations were completely different, both cases had elevated layers with high ozone concentrations, which is not untypical for late winter and early spring. In the February episode, the highest ozone concentrations of 55 to 60 ppb, which were found at around 1100 m asl, were partly advected from Southern France, but a considerable contribution of in situ photochemistry is also predicted by the model. Below that elevation, the local chemical sinks and surface deposition probably overcompensated chemical production, and the vertical ozone distribution was governed by boundary-layer dynamics. In the March episode, the results suggest that ozone-rich air parcels, probably of stratospheric or upper tropospheric origin, were advected aloft the boundary layer on the Swiss Plateau. (orig.)

Monitoring the consequences of decreased ozone protection: The NSF ultraviolet radiation monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1993-01-01

The effects of decreased protection from ultraviolet radiation are as troubling as the continuing depletion of stratospheric ozone. Evidence exists to clearly link ozone depletion to changes in the antarctic marine environment. Results of two 1992 papers are summarized here. Enhanced exposure to mid-range UV radiation was found to be affecting marine ecosystems with a recorded 6-12 percent reduction in primary productivity directly related to the ozone layer depletion. In another experiment, a model was developed indicating that the ozone hole could reduce near-surface photosynthesis by as much as 12-15 percent. The NSF UV monitoring system in place for these and other experiments uses a spectroradiometer, making hourly, high-resolution measurements of the distribution of UV surface irradiance

Validation of low-cost ozone measurement instruments suitable for use in an air-quality monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, David E; Henshaw, Geoff S; Bart, Mark; Laing, Greer; Wagner, John; Naisbitt, Simon; Salmond, Jennifer A

2013-01-01

This paper presents a novel low-cost instrument that uses a sensor based on conductivity changes of heated tungstic oxide, which is capable of accurately measuring ambient concentrations of ozone. A combination of temperature steps and air flow-rate steps is used to continually reset and re-zero the sensor. A two-stage calibration procedure is presented, in which a nonlinear transformation converts sensor resistance to a signal linear in ozone concentration, then a linear correlation is used to align the calibration with a reference instrument. The required calibration functions specific for the sensor, and control system for air flow rate and sensor temperature, are housed with the sensor in a compact, simple-to-exchange assembly. The instrument can be operated on solar power and uses cell phone technology to enable monitoring in remote locations. Data from field trials are presented here to demonstrate that both the accuracy and the stability of the instrument over periods of months are within a few parts-per-billion by volume. We show that common failure modes can be detected through measurement of signals available from the instrument. The combination of long-term stability, self-diagnosis, and simple, inexpensive repair means that the cost of operation and calibration of the instruments is significantly reduced in comparison with traditional reference instrumentation. These instruments enable the economical construction and operation of ozone monitoring networks of accuracy, time resolution and spatial density sufficient to resolve the local gradients that are characteristic of urban air pollution. (paper)

Two case studies on the interaction of large-scale transport, mesoscale photochemistry, and boundary-layer processes on the lower tropospheric ozone dynamics in early spring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Brönnimann

2001-04-01

Full Text Available The vertical distribution of ozone in the lower troposphere over the Swiss Plateau is investigated in detail for two episodes in early spring (February 1998 and March 1999. Profile measurements of boundary-layer ozone performed during two field campaigns with a tethered balloon sounding system and a kite are investigated using regular aerological and ozone soundings from a nearby site, measurements from monitoring stations at various altitudes, backward trajectories, and synoptic analyses of meteorological fields. Additionally, the effect of in situ photochemistry was estimated for one of the episodes employing the Metphomod Eulerian photochemical model. Although the meteorological situations were completely different, both cases had elevated layers with high ozone concentrations, which is not untypical for late winter and early spring. In the February episode, the highest ozone concentrations of 55 to 60 ppb, which were found at around 1100 m asl, were partly advected from Southern France, but a considerable contribution of in situ photochemistry is also predicted by the model. Below that elevation, the local chemical sinks and surface deposition probably overcompensated chemical production, and the vertical ozone distribution was governed by boundary-layer dynamics. In the March episode, the results suggest that ozone-rich air parcels, probably of stratospheric or upper tropospheric origin, were advected aloft the boundary layer on the Swiss Plateau.Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (pollution – urban and regional; troposphere – composition and  chemistry – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (mesoscale meteorology

Unequivocal detection of ozone recovery in the Antarctic Ozone Hole through significant increases in atmospheric layers with minimum ozone

Science.gov (United States)

de Laat, Jos; van Weele, Michiel; van der A, Ronald

2015-04-01

An important new landmark in present day ozone research is presented through MLS satellite observations of significant ozone increases during the ozone hole season that are attributed unequivocally to declining ozone depleting substances. For many decades the Antarctic ozone hole has been the prime example of both the detrimental effects of human activities on our environment as well as how to construct effective and successful environmental policies. Nowadays atmospheric concentrations of ozone depleting substances are on the decline and first signs of recovery of stratospheric ozone and ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole have been observed. The claimed detection of significant recovery, however, is still subject of debate. In this talk we will discuss first current uncertainties in the assessment of ozone recovery in the Antarctic ozone hole by using multi-variate regression methods, and, secondly present an alternative approach to identify ozone hole recovery unequivocally. Even though multi-variate regression methods help to reduce uncertainties in estimates of ozone recovery, great care has to be taken in their application due to the existence of uncertainties and degrees of freedom in the choice of independent variables. We show that taking all uncertainties into account in the regressions the formal recovery of ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole cannot be established yet, though is likely before the end of the decade (before 2020). Rather than focusing on time and area averages of total ozone columns or ozone profiles, we argue that the time evolution of the probability distribution of vertically resolved ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole contains a better fingerprint for the detection of ozone recovery in the Antarctic ozone hole. The advantages of this method over more tradition methods of trend analyses based on spatio-temporal average ozone are discussed. The 10-year record of MLS satellite measurements of ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole shows a

Report of a large depletion in the ozone layer over southern Brazil and Uruguay by using multi-instrumental data

Science.gov (United States)

Bresciani, Caroline; Dornelles Bittencourt, Gabriela; Valentin Bageston, José; Kirsch Pinheiro, Damaris; Schuch, Nelson Jorge; Bencherif, Hassan; Paes Leme, Neusa; Vaz Peres, Lucas

2018-03-01

Ozone is one of the chemical compounds that form part of the atmosphere. It plays a key role in the stratosphere where the ozone layer is located and absorbs large amounts of ultraviolet radiation. However, during austral spring (August-November), there is a massive destruction of the ozone layer, which is known as the Antarctic ozone hole. This phenomenon decreases ozone concentration in that region, which may affect other regions in addition to the polar one. This anomaly may also reach mid-latitudes; hence, it is called the secondary effect of the Antarctic ozone hole. Therefore, this study aims to identify the passage of an ozone secondary effect (OSE) event in the region of the city of Santa Maria - RS (29.68° S, 53.80° W) by means of a multi-instrumental analysis using the satellites TIMED/SABER, AURA/MLS, and OMI-ERS. Measurements were made in São Martinho da Serra/RS - Brazil (29.53° S, 53.85° W) using a sounding balloon and a Brewer Spectrophotometer. In addition, the present study aims to describe and analyse the influence that this stratospheric ozone reduction has on temperatures presented by these instruments, including data collected through the radio occultation technique. The event was first identified by the AURA/MLS satellite on 19 October 2016 over Uruguay. This reduction in ozone concentration was found by comparing the climatology for the years 1996-1998 for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which is close to Uruguay. This event was already observed in Santa Maria/RS-Brazil on 20 October 2016 as presented by the OMI-ERS satellite and the Brewer Spectrophotometer. Moreover, a significant decrease was reported by the TIMED/SABER satellite in Uruguay. On 21 October, the poor ozone air mass was still over the region of interest, according to the OMI-ERS satellite, data from the sounding balloon launched in Santa Maria/RS-Brazil, and measurements made by the AURA/MLS satellite. Furthermore, the influence of ozone on the stratosphere temperature

Ozonation for source treatment of pharmaceuticals in hospital wastewater - ozone lifetime and required ozone dose

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kamilla Marie Speht; Spiliotopoulou, Aikaterini; Chhetri, Ravi Kumar

2016-01-01

Ozonation aimed at removing pharmaceuticals was studied in an effluent from an experimental pilot system using staged moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) tanks for the optimal biological treatment of wastewater from a medical care unit of Aarhus University Hospital. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC......) and pH in samples varied considerably, and the effect of these two parameters on ozone lifetime and the efficiency of ozone in removing pharmaceuticals were determined. The pH in the effluent varied from 5.0 to 9.0 resulting in approximately a doubling of the required ozone dose at the highest p......H for each pharmaceutical. DOC varied from 6 to 20 mg-DOC/L. The ozone required for removing each pharmaceutical, varied linearly with DOC and thus, ozone doses normalized to DOC (specific ozone dose) agreed between water samples (typically within 15%). At neutral pH the specific ozone dose required...

Ozone Sensor for Application in Medium Voltage Switchboard

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Letizia De Maria

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The application of a new spectroscopic type fiber sensor for ozone detection in electrical components of Medium Voltage (MV network is evaluated. The sensor layout is based on the use of an optical retroreflector, to improve the detection sensitivity, and it was especially designed for detecting in situ rapid changes of ozone concentration. Preliminary tests were performed in a typical MV switchboard. Artificial defects simulated predischarge phenomena arising during real operating conditions. Results are discussed by a comparison with data simultaneously acquired with a standard partial discharge system.

Mind-wandering and alterations to default mode network connectivity when listening to naturalistic versus artificial sounds

OpenAIRE

Gould van Praag, CD; Garfinkel, SN; Sparasci, O; Mees, A; Philippides, AO; Ware, M; Ottaviani, C; Critchley, HD

2017-01-01

Naturalistic environments have been demonstrated to promote relaxation and wellbeing. We assess opposing theoretical accounts for these effects through investigation of autonomic arousal and alterations of activation and functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) of the brain while participants listened to sounds from artificial and natural environments. We found no evidence for increased DMN activity in the naturalistic compared to artificial or control condition, however,...

Beginning of the ozone recovery over Europe? − Analysis of the total ozone data from the ground-based observations, 1964−2004

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. W. Krzyścin

2005-07-01

Full Text Available The total ozone variations over Europe (~50° N in the period 1964–2004 are analyzed for detection of signals of ozone recovery. The ozone deviations from the long-term monthly means (1964–1980 for selected European stations, where the ozone observations (by the Dobson spectrophotometers have been carried out continuously for at least 3–4 decades, are averaged and examined by a regression model. A new method is proposed to disclose both the ozone trend variations and date of the trend turnaround. The regression model contains a piecewise linear trend component and the terms describing the ozone response to forcing by "natural" changes in the atmosphere. Standard proxies for the dynamically driven ozone variations are used. The Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS methodology and principal component analysis are used to find an optimal set of the explanatory variables and the trend pattern. The turnaround of the ozone trend in 1994 is suggested from the pattern of the piecewise linear trend component. Thus, the changes in the ozone mean level are calculated over the periods 1970–1994 and 1994–2003, for both the original time series and the time series having "natural" variations removed. Statistical significance of the changes are derived by bootstrapping. A first stage of recovery (according to the definition of the International Ozone Commission, i.e. lessening of a negative trend, is found over Europe. It seems possible that the increase in the ozone mean level since 1994 of about 1–2% is due to superposition of the "natural" processes. Comparison of the total ozone ground-based network (the Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers and the satellite (TOMS, version 8 data over Europe shows the small bias in the mean values for the period 1996–2004, but the differences between the daily ozone values from these instruments are not trendless, and this may hamper an identification of the next stage of the ozone recovery over

Two case studies on the interaction of large-scale transport, mesoscale photochemistry, and boundary-layer processes on the lower tropospheric ozone dynamics in early spring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Brönnimann

Full Text Available The vertical distribution of ozone in the lower troposphere over the Swiss Plateau is investigated in detail for two episodes in early spring (February 1998 and March 1999. Profile measurements of boundary-layer ozone performed during two field campaigns with a tethered balloon sounding system and a kite are investigated using regular aerological and ozone soundings from a nearby site, measurements from monitoring stations at various altitudes, backward trajectories, and synoptic analyses of meteorological fields. Additionally, the effect of in situ photochemistry was estimated for one of the episodes employing the Metphomod Eulerian photochemical model. Although the meteorological situations were completely different, both cases had elevated layers with high ozone concentrations, which is not untypical for late winter and early spring. In the February episode, the highest ozone concentrations of 55 to 60 ppb, which were found at around 1100 m asl, were partly advected from Southern France, but a considerable contribution of in situ photochemistry is also predicted by the model. Below that elevation, the local chemical sinks and surface deposition probably overcompensated chemical production, and the vertical ozone distribution was governed by boundary-layer dynamics. In the March episode, the results suggest that ozone-rich air parcels, probably of stratospheric or upper tropospheric origin, were advected aloft the boundary layer on the Swiss Plateau.

Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (pollution – urban and regional; troposphere – composition and  chemistry – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (mesoscale meteorology

Ozone Layer Protection

Science.gov (United States)

... and Research Centers Contact Us Share Ozone Layer Protection The stratospheric ozone layer is Earth’s “sunscreen” – protecting ... GreenChill Partnership Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) Program Ozone Protection vs. Ozone Pollution This website addresses stratospheric ozone ...

Trends of Ozone in Switzerland since 1992 (TROZOS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ordonez, C.; Mathis, H.; Furger, M.; Prevot, A.S.H

2004-07-01

This work reports on the trends of the daily afternoon (noon to midnight) maximum ozone concentrations at 15 of the 16 stations of the Swiss air quality monitoring network (NABEL) during the period 1992-2002. The use of numerous meteorological parameters and additional data allowed a detailed seasonal analysis of the influence of the weather on the ozone maxima at the different stations. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed separately for each station and season in order to detect the parameters which best explain the variability of the daily ozone maximum concentrations. During the warm seasons (summer and spring) the most explanatory parameters are those related to the ozone production, in particular the afternoon temperature. In winter, the most explanatory variables are the ones influencing the vertical mixing and thus the ozone destruction by titration with NO and dry deposition, like the afternoon global radiation. The trends of both the measured and meteorologically corrected ozone maxima were calculated. The year-to-year variability in the ozone maxima was lowered by a factor of 3 by the meteorological correction. Significantly positive trends of corrected ozone maxima of 0.3 - 1.1 ppb/year were found at the low altitude stations in winter and autumn as well as at Lausanne - urban station - in all the seasons, mainly due to the lower loss of ozone by reaction with NO as a consequence of the decreased emissions of primary pollutants during the 90s. This could be partially confirmed by the lower trends of O{sub X} (sum O{sub 3} of and NO{sub 2}) maxima compared to the trends in ozone maxima. The absence of negative trends of the median or mean ozone maxima north of the Alps in summer suggests that the decrease in the emissions of ozone precursors did not have a strong impact on the afternoon maximum ozone concentrations during the last decade. In contrast to the project TOSS (Trends of Ozone in Southern Switzerland), no significantly negative

Trends of Ozone in Switzerland since 1992 (TROZOS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ordonez, C.; Mathis, H.; Furger, M.; Prevot, A.S.H.

2004-07-01

This work reports on the trends of the daily afternoon (noon to midnight) maximum ozone concentrations at 15 of the 16 stations of the Swiss air quality monitoring network (NABEL) during the period 1992-2002. The use of numerous meteorological parameters and additional data allowed a detailed seasonal analysis of the influence of the weather on the ozone maxima at the different stations. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed separately for each station and season in order to detect the parameters which best explain the variability of the daily ozone maximum concentrations. During the warm seasons (summer and spring) the most explanatory parameters are those related to the ozone production, in particular the afternoon temperature. In winter, the most explanatory variables are the ones influencing the vertical mixing and thus the ozone destruction by titration with NO and dry deposition, like the afternoon global radiation. The trends of both the measured and meteorologically corrected ozone maxima were calculated. The year-to-year variability in the ozone maxima was lowered by a factor of 3 by the meteorological correction. Significantly positive trends of corrected ozone maxima of 0.3 - 1.1 ppb/year were found at the low altitude stations in winter and autumn as well as at Lausanne - urban station - in all the seasons, mainly due to the lower loss of ozone by reaction with NO as a consequence of the decreased emissions of primary pollutants during the 90s. This could be partially confirmed by the lower trends of O X (sum O 3 of and NO 2 ) maxima compared to the trends in ozone maxima. The absence of negative trends of the median or mean ozone maxima north of the Alps in summer suggests that the decrease in the emissions of ozone precursors did not have a strong impact on the afternoon maximum ozone concentrations during the last decade. In contrast to the project TOSS (Trends of Ozone in Southern Switzerland), no significantly negative trends of ozone

Comparative study of ozonized olive oil and ozonized sunflower oil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Díaz Maritza F.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In this study the ozonized olive and sunflower oils are chemical and microbiologically compared. These oils were introduced into a reactor with bubbling ozone gas in a water bath at room temperature until they were solidified. The peroxide, acidity and iodine values along with antimicrobial activity were determined. Ozonization effects on the fatty acid composition of these oils were analyzed using Gas-Liquid Chromatographic Technique. An increase in peroxidation and acidity values was observed in both oils but they were higher in ozonized sunflower oil. Iodine value was zero in ozonized olive oil whereas in ozonized sunflower was 8.8 g Iodine per 100 g. The antimicrobial activity was similar for both ozonized oils except for Minimum Bactericidal Concentrations of Pseudomona aeruginosa. Composition of fatty acids in both ozonized oils showed gradual decrease in unsaturated fatty acids (C18:1, C18:2 with gradual increase in ozone doses.

Antarctic ozone loss in 1989-2010: evidence for ozone recovery?

Science.gov (United States)

Kuttippurath, J.; Lefèvre, F.; Pommereau, J.-P.; Roscoe, H. K.; Goutail, F.; Pazmiño, A.; Shanklin, J. D.

2012-04-01

We present a detailed estimation of chemical ozone loss in the Antarctic polar vortex from 1989 to 2010. The analyses include ozone loss estimates for 12 Antarctic ground-based (GB) stations. All GB observations show minimum ozone in the late September-early October period. Among the stations, the lowest minimum ozone values are observed at South Pole and the highest at Dumont d'Urville. The ozone loss starts by mid-June at the vortex edge and then progresses towards the vortex core with time. The loss intensifies in August-September, peaks by the end of September-early October, and recovers thereafter. The average ozone loss in the Antarctic is revealed to be about 33-50% in 1989-1992 in agreement with the increase in halogens during this period, and then stayed at around 48% due to saturation of the loss. The ozone loss in the warmer winters (e.g. 2002, and 2004) is lower (37-46%) and in the colder winters (e.g. 2003, and 2006) is higher (52-55%). Because of small inter-annual variability, the correlation between ozone loss and the volume of polar stratospheric clouds yields ~0.51. The GB ozone and ozone loss values are in good agreement with those found from the space-based observations of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer/Ozone Monitoring Instrument (TOMS/OMI), the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME), the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY), and the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), where the differences are within ±5% and are mostly within the error bars of the measurements. The piece-wise linear trends computed from the September-November vortex average GB and TOMS/OMI ozone show about -4 to -5.6 DU (Dobson Unit) yr-1 in 1989-1996 and about +1 DU yr-1 in 1997-2010. The trend during the former period is significant at 95% confidence intervals, but the trend in 1997-2010 is significant only at 85% confidence intervals. Our analyses suggest a period of about 9-10 yr to get the first detectable ozone

Ozone's impact on public health: Contributions from indoor exposures to ozone and products of ozone-initiated chemistry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weschler, Charles J.

2006-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The associations between ozone concentrations measured outdoors and both morbidity and mortality may be partially due to indoor exposures to ozone and ozone-initiated oxidation products. In this article I examine the contributions of such indoor exposures to overall ozone-related heal...

Ozone modeling within plasmas for ozone sensor applications

OpenAIRE

Arshak, Khalil; Forde, Edward; Guiney, Ivor

2007-01-01

peer-reviewed Ozone (03) is potentially hazardous to human health and accurate prediction and measurement of this gas is essential in addressing its associated health risks. This paper presents theory to predict the levels of ozone concentration emittedfrom a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma for ozone sensing applications. This is done by postulating the kinetic model for ozone generation, with a DBD plasma at atmospheric pressure in air, in the form of a set of rate equations....

Variation of the Korotkoff Stethoscope Sounds During Blood Pressure Measurement: Analysis Using a Convolutional Neural Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Fan; He, Peiyu; Liu, Chengyu; Li, Taiyong; Murray, Alan; Zheng, Dingchang

2017-11-01

Korotkoff sounds are known to change their characteristics during blood pressure (BP) measurement, resulting in some uncertainties for systolic and diastolic pressure (SBP and DBP) determinations. The aim of this study was to assess the variation of Korotkoff sounds during BP measurement by examining all stethoscope sounds associated with each heartbeat from above systole to below diastole during linear cuff deflation. Three repeat BP measurements were taken from 140 healthy subjects (age 21 to 73 years; 62 female and 78 male) by a trained observer, giving 420 measurements. During the BP measurements, the cuff pressure and stethoscope signals were simultaneously recorded digitally to a computer for subsequent analysis. Heartbeats were identified from the oscillometric cuff pressure pulses. The presence of each beat was used to create a time window (1 s, 2000 samples) centered on the oscillometric pulse peak for extracting beat-by-beat stethoscope sounds. A time-frequency two-dimensional matrix was obtained for the stethoscope sounds associated with each beat, and all beats between the manually determined SBPs and DBPs were labeled as "Korotkoff." A convolutional neural network was then used to analyze consistency in sound patterns that were associated with Korotkoff sounds. A 10-fold cross-validation strategy was applied to the stethoscope sounds from all 140 subjects, with the data from ten groups of 14 subjects being analyzed separately, allowing consistency to be evaluated between groups. Next, within-subject variation of the Korotkoff sounds analyzed from the three repeats was quantified, separately for each stethoscope sound beat. There was consistency between folds with no significant differences between groups of 14 subjects (P = 0.09 to P = 0.62). Our results showed that 80.7% beats at SBP and 69.5% at DBP were analyzed as Korotkoff sounds, with significant differences between adjacent beats at systole (13.1%, P = 0.001) and diastole (17.4%, P < 0

Three-dimensional sound localisation with a lizard peripheral auditory model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjær Schmidt, Michael; Shaikh, Danish

the networks learned a transfer function that translated the three-dimensional non-linear mapping into estimated azimuth and elevation values for the acoustic target. The neural network with two hidden layers as expected performed better than that with only one hidden layer. Our approach assumes that for any...... location of an acoustic target in three dimensions. Our approach utilises a model of the peripheral auditory system of lizards [Christensen-Dalsgaard and Manley 2005] coupled with a multi-layer perceptron neural network. The peripheral auditory model’s response to sound input encodes sound direction...... information in a single plane which by itself is insufficient to localise the acoustic target in three dimensions. A multi-layer perceptron neural network is used to combine two independent responses of the model, corresponding to two rotational movements, into an estimate of the sound direction in terms...

Surface ozone in China: present-day distribution and long-term changes

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, X.; Lin, W.; Xu, W.

2017-12-01

Reliable knowledge of spatio-temporal variations of surface ozone is highly needed to assess the impacts of ozone on human health, ecosystem and climate. Although regional distributions and trends of surface ozone in European and North American countries have been well characterized, little is known about the variability of surface ozone in many other countries, including China, where emissions of ozone precursors have been changing rapidly in recent decades. Here we present the first comprehensive description of present-day (2013-2017) distribution and long-term changes of surface ozone in mainland China. Recent ozone measurements from China's air quality monitoring network (AQMN) are analyzed to show present-day distributions of a few ozone exposure metrics for urban environment. Long-term measurements of ozone at six background sites, a rural site and an urban are used to study the trends of ozone in background, rural and urban air, respectively. The average levels of ozone at the AQMN sites (mainly urban) are close to those found at many European and North American sites. However, ozone at most of the sites shows very large diurnal and seasonal variations so that ozone nonattainment can occur in many cities, particularly those in the North China Plain (NCP), the south of Northeast China (NEC), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the Pearl River Delta (PRD), and the Sichuan Basin-Chongqing region (SCB). In all these regions, particularly in the NCP, the maximum daily 8-h average (MDA8) ozone concentration can significantly exceed the national limit (75 ppb). High annual sum of ozone means over 35 ppb (SOMO35) exist mainly in the NCP, NEC and YRD, with regional averages over 4000 ppb·d. Surface ozone has significantly increased at Waliguan (a baseline site in western China) and Shangdianzi (a background site in the NCP), and decreased in winter and spring at Longfengshan (a background site in Northeast China). No clear trend can be derived from long-term measurements

Effects of ozone treatment on Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in relation to horticultural product quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharpe, Deana; Fan, Lihua; McRae, Ken; Walker, Brad; MacKay, Ron; Doucette, Craig

2009-08-01

Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum are fungal pathogens that cause the decay of many fruits and vegetables. Ozone may be used as an antimicrobial agent to control the decay. The effect of gaseous ozone on spore viability of B. cinerea and mycelial growth of B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum were investigated. Spore viability of B. cinerea was reduced by over 99.5% (P < 0.01) and height of the aerial mycelium was reduced from 4.7 mm in the control to less than 1 mm after exposure to 450 or 600 ppb ozone for 48 h at 20 degrees C. Sporulation of B. cinerea was also substantially inhibited by ozone treatments. However, ozone had no significant effect on mycelial growth of S. sclerotiorum in vitro. Decay and quality parameters including color, chlorophyll fluorescence (CF), and ozone injury were further assessed for various horticultural commodities (apple, grape, highbush blueberry, and carrot) treated with 450 ppb of ozone for 48 h at 20 degrees C over a period of 12 d. Lesion size and height of the aerial mycelium were significantly reduced by the ozone treatment on carrots inoculated with mycelial agar plugs of B. cinerea or S. sclerotiorum. Lesion size was also reduced on treated apples inoculated with 5 x 10(6) spores/mL of B. cinerea, and decay incidence of treated grapes was reduced. The 450 ppb ozone for 48 h treatment had no significant effect on color of carrots and apples or on CF of apples and grapes. Ozone, an environmentally sound antimicrobial agent, inactivates microorganisms through oxidization and residual ozone spontaneously decomposes to nontoxic products. It may be applied to fruits and vegetables to reduce decay and extend shelf life.

Ozone distribution in remote ecologically vulnerable terrain of the southern Sierra Nevada, CA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panek, Jeanne; Saah, David; Esperanza, Annie; Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Fraczek, Witold; Cisneros, Ricardo

2013-01-01

Ozone concentration spatial patterns remain largely uncharacterized across the extensive wilderness areas of the Sierra Nevada, CA, despite being downwind of major pollution sources. These natural areas, including four national parks and four national forests, contain forest species that are susceptible to ozone injury. Forests stressed by ozone are also more vulnerable to other agents of mortality, including insects, pathogens, climate change, and ultimately fire. Here we analyze three years of passive ozone monitor data from the southern Sierra Nevada and interpolate landscape-scale spatial and temporal patterns during the summer-through-fall high ozone concentration period. Segmentation analysis revealed three types of ozone exposure sub-regions: high, low, and variable. Consistently high ozone exposure regions are expected to be most vulnerable to forest mortality. One high exposure sub-region has been documented elsewhere as being further vulnerable to increased drought and fire potential. Identifying such hot-spots of forest vulnerability has utility for prioritizing management. -- Highlights: •Three years of passive ozone sampler data over 49,000 km 2 were analyzed spatially. •Spatial and temporal ozone patterns were mapped across the Sierra Nevada, CA. •Sub-regions of consistently high, low and variable ozone exposure were identified. •The 1700–2400 m elevation band delineated a distinct break in ozone concentration. •This approach has utility for prioritizing management across vulnerable landscapes. -- A passive ozone sampler network in combination with spatial analysis techniques was used to characterize landscape-scale ozone patterns and dynamics, identifying regions of consistently high and low ozone exposure for forest management prioritization

Evaluating A Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Matthew S.; Sullivan, John T.; Liu, Xiong; Newchurch, Mike; Kuang, Shi; McGee, Thomas J.; Langford, Andrew O'Neil; Senff, Christoph J.; Leblanc, Thierry; Berkoff, Timothy;

Evaluating A Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, M. S.; Sullivan, J. T.; Liu, X.; Newchurch, M.; Kuang, S.; McGee, T. J.; Langford, A. O.; Senff, C. J.; Leblanc, T.; Berkoff, T.; Gronoff, G.; Chen, G.; Strawbridge, K. B.

2016-12-01

Ozone (O3) is a greenhouse gas and toxic pollutant which plays a major role in air quality. Typically, monitoring of surface air quality and O3 mixing ratios is primarily conducted using in situ measurement networks. This is partially due to high-quality information related to air quality being limited from space-borne platforms due to coarse spatial resolution, limited temporal frequency, and minimal sensitivity to lower tropospheric and surface-level O3. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite is designed to address these limitations of current space-based platforms and to improve our ability to monitor North American air quality. TEMPO will provide hourly data of total column and vertical profiles of O3 with high spatial resolution to be used as a near-real-time air quality product. TEMPO O3 retrievals will apply the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory profile algorithm developed based on work from GOME, GOME-2, and OMI. This algorithm uses a priori O3 profile information from a climatological data-base developed from long-term ozone-sonde measurements (tropopause-based (TB) O3 climatology). It has been shown that satellite O3 retrievals are sensitive to a priori O3 profiles and covariance matrices. During this work we investigate the climatological data to be used in TEMPO algorithms (TB O3) and simulated data from the NASA GMAO Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) Forward Processing (FP) near-real-time (NRT) model products. These two data products will be evaluated with ground-based lidar data from the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) at various locations of the US. This study evaluates the TB climatology, GEOS-5 climatology, and 3-hourly GEOS-5 data compared to lower tropospheric observations to demonstrate the accuracy of a priori information to potentially be used in TEMPO O3 algorithms. Here we present our initial analysis and the theoretical impact on TEMPO retrievals in the lower troposphere.

Ozone decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Batakliev Todor

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Catalytic ozone decomposition is of great significance because ozone is a toxic substance commonly found or generated in human environments (aircraft cabins, offices with photocopiers, laser printers, sterilizers. Considerable work has been done on ozone decomposition reported in the literature. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the literature, concentrating on analysis of the physico-chemical properties, synthesis and catalytic decomposition of ozone. This is supplemented by a review on kinetics and catalyst characterization which ties together the previously reported results. Noble metals and oxides of transition metals have been found to be the most active substances for ozone decomposition. The high price of precious metals stimulated the use of metal oxide catalysts and particularly the catalysts based on manganese oxide. It has been determined that the kinetics of ozone decomposition is of first order importance. A mechanism of the reaction of catalytic ozone decomposition is discussed, based on detailed spectroscopic investigations of the catalytic surface, showing the existence of peroxide and superoxide surface intermediates

Toward Inverse Control of Physics-Based Sound Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Pfalz, A.; Berdahl, E.

2017-05-01

Long Short-Term Memory networks (LSTMs) can be trained to realize inverse control of physics-based sound synthesizers. Physics-based sound synthesizers simulate the laws of physics to produce output sound according to input gesture signals. When a user's gestures are measured in real time, she or he can use them to control physics-based sound synthesizers, thereby creating simulated virtual instruments. An intriguing question is how to program a computer to learn to play such physics-based models. This work demonstrates that LSTMs can be trained to accomplish this inverse control task with four physics-based sound synthesizers.

Convective Lofting Links Indian Ocean Air Pollution to Recurrent South Atlantic Ozone Maxima

Science.gov (United States)

Chatfield, R. B.; Guan, H.; Thompson, A. M.; Witte, J.

2003-12-01

We extend on our analysis of equatorial tropospheric ozone to illustrate the contributions of South Asian pollution export in forming episodes of high O3 over the Atlantic Ocean. We amplify on an earlier description of a broad resolution of the "Atlantic Paradox," for the Jan-Feb-March period, which included initial indications of a very long-distance contribution from South Asia. The approach has been to describe typical periods of significant maximum and minimum tropospheric ozone for early 1999, exploiting TOMS tropospheric ozone estimates jointly with characteristic features of the SHADOZ (Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes) ozone soundings. Further investigation of the Total Tropospheric Ozone (TTO) record for all of 1999 suggests that there are repeated periods of very long-distance Asian influence crossing Africa, with an apparent effect on those portions of the Atlantic Equatorial troposphere which are downwind. Trajectory analyses suggest that the pattern over the Indian Ocean is complex: a sequence invoving multiple or mixed combustion sources, low level transport, cumulonimbus venting, and high-level transport to the west seem to be indicated by the TTO record. Biomass burning, fossil and biofuel combustion, and lighting seem to all contribute. For the Atlantic, burning and lighting on adjacent continents as well as episodes of this cross-Africa long-distance transport are all linked in a coordinated seasonal march: all are related by movement of the sun. However, interseasonal tropical variability related to the Madden-Julian oscillation allows intermittent ozone buildups that depart from the seasonal norm.

Ozone decay in chemical reactor for ozone-dynamical disintegration of used tyres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golota, V.I.; Manuilenko, O.V.; Taran, G.V.; Dotsenko, Yu.V.; Pismenetskii, A.S.; Zamuriev, A.A.; Benitskaja, V.A.

2011-01-01

The ozone decay kinetics in the chemical reactor intended for used tyres disintegration is investigated experimentally and theoretically. Ozone was synthesized in barrierless ozonizers based on the streamer discharge. The chemical reactor for tyres disintegration in the ozone-air environment represents the cylindrical chamber, which feeds from the ozonizer by ozone-air mixture with the specified rate of volume flow, and with known ozone concentration. The output of the used mixture, which rate of volume flow is also known, is carried out through the ozone destructor. As a result of ozone decay in the volume and on the reactor walls, and output of the used mixture from the reactor, the ozone concentration in the reactor depends from time. In the paper, the analytical expression for dependence of ozone concentration in the reactor from time and from the parameters of a problem such as the volumetric feed rate, ozone concentration on the input in the reactor, volume flow rate of the used mixture, the volume of the reactor and the area of its internal surface is obtained. It is shown that experimental results coincide with good accuracy with analytical ones.

Reconciliation of Halogen-Induced Ozone Loss with the Total-Column Ozone Record

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, T. G.; Plummer, D. A.; Scinocca, J. F.; Hegglin, M. I.; Fioletov, V. E.; Reader, M. C.; Remsberg, E.; von Clarmann, T.; Wang, H. J.

2014-01-01

The observed depletion of the ozone layer from the 1980s onwards is attributed to halogen source gases emitted by human activities. However, the precision of this attribution is complicated by year-to-year variations in meteorology, that is, dynamical variability, and by changes in tropospheric ozone concentrations. As such, key aspects of the total-column ozone record, which combines changes in both tropospheric and stratospheric ozone, remain unexplained, such as the apparent absence of a decline in total-column ozone levels before 1980, and of any long-term decline in total-column ozone levels in the tropics. Here we use a chemistry-climate model to estimate changes in halogen-induced ozone loss between 1960 and 2010; the model is constrained by observed meteorology to remove the eects of dynamical variability, and driven by emissions of tropospheric ozone precursors to separate out changes in tropospheric ozone. We show that halogen-induced ozone loss closely followed stratospheric halogen loading over the studied period. Pronounced enhancements in ozone loss were apparent in both hemispheres following the volcanic eruptions of El Chichon and, in particular, Mount Pinatubo, which significantly enhanced stratospheric aerosol loads. We further show that approximately 40% of the long-term non-volcanic ozone loss occurred before 1980, and that long-term ozone loss also occurred in the tropical stratosphere. Finally, we show that halogeninduced ozone loss has declined by over 10% since stratospheric halogen loading peaked in the late 1990s, indicating that the recovery of the ozone layer is well underway.

Geophysical validation of MIPAS-ENVISAT operational ozone data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Cortesi

2007-09-01

, using common criteria for the selection of individual validation data sets, and similar methods for the comparisons. This enabled merging the individual results from a variety of independent reference measurements of proven quality (i.e. well characterized error budget into an overall evaluation of MIPAS O₃ data quality, having both statistical strength and the widest spatial and temporal coverage. Collocated measurements from ozone sondes and ground-based lidar and microwave radiometers of the Network for the Detection Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC were selected to carry out comparisons with time series of MIPAS O₃ partial columns and to identify groups of stations and time periods with a uniform pattern of ozone differences, that were subsequently used for a vertically resolved statistical analysis. The results of the comparison are classified according to synoptic and regional systems and to altitude intervals, showing a generally good agreement within the comparison error bars in the upper and middle stratosphere. Significant differences emerge in the lower stratosphere and are only partly explained by the larger contributions of horizontal and vertical smoothing differences and of collocation errors to the total uncertainty. Further results obtained from a purely statistical analysis of the same data set from NDACC ground-based lidar stations, as well as from additional ozone soundings at middle latitudes and from NDACC ground-based FTIR measurements, confirm the validity of MIPAS O₃ profiles down to the lower stratosphere, with evidence of larger discrepancies at the lowest altitudes. The validation against O₃ VMR profiles using collocated observations performed by other satellite sensors (SAGE II, POAM III, ODIN-SMR, ACE-FTS, HALOE, GOME and ECMWF assimilated ozone fields leads to consistent results, that are to a great extent compatible with those obtained from the comparison with ground-based measurements

Retrieval of Surface Ozone from UV-MFRSR Irradiances using Deep Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, M.; Sun, Z.; Davis, J.; Zempila, M.; Liu, C.; Gao, W.

2017-12-01

High concentration of surface ozone is harmful to humans and plants. USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program (UVMRP) uses Ultraviolet (UV) version of Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (UV-MFRSR) to measure direct, diffuse, and total irradiances every three minutes at seven UV channels (i.e. 300, 305, 311, 317, 325, 332, and 368 nm channels with 2 nm full width at half maximum). Based on the wavelength dependency of aerosol optical depths, there have been plenty of literatures exploring retrieval methods of total column ozone from UV-MFRSR measurements. However, few has explored the retrieval of surface ozone. The total column ozone is the integral of the multiplication of ozone concentration (varying by height and time) and cross section (varying by wavelength and temperature) over height. Because of the distinctive values of ozone cross section in the UV region, the irradiances at seven UV channels have the potential to resolve the ozone concentration at multiple vertical layers. If the UV irradiances at multiple time points are considered together, the uncertainty or the vertical resolution of ozone concentrations can be further improved. In this study, the surface ozone amounts at the UVMRP station located at Billings, Oklahoma are estimated from the adjacent (i.e. within 200 miles) US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) surface ozone observations using the spatial analysis technique. Then, the (direct normal) irradiances of UVMRP at one or more time points as inputs and the corresponding estimated surface ozone from EPA as outputs are fed into a pre-trained (dense) deep neural network (DNN) to explore the hidden non-linear relationship between them. This process could improve our understanding of their physical/mathematical relationship. Finally, the optimized DNN is tested with the preserved 5% of the dataset, which are not used during training, to verify the relationship.

Effect of ozone gas on the shear bond strength to enamel.

Science.gov (United States)

Pires, Patrícia Teixeira; Ferreira, João Cardoso; Oliveira, Sofia Arantes; Silva, Mário Jorge; Melo, Paulo Ribeiro

2013-01-01

Ozone is an important disinfecting agent, however its influence on enamel adhesion has not yet been clarified. Evaluate the influence of ozone pretreatment on the shear strength of an etch-and-rinse and a self-etch system to enamel and analyze the respective failure modes. Sixty sound bovine incisors were used. Specimens were randomly assigned to four experimental groups (n=15): Group G1 (Excite® with ozone) and group G3 (AdheSE® with ozone) were prepared with ozone gas from the HealOzone unit (Kavo®) for 20 s prior to adhesion, and groups G2 (Excite®) and G4 (AdheSE®) were used as control. Teeth were bisected and polished to simulate a smear layer just before the application of the adhesive systems. The adhesives were applied according to the manufacturer's instructions to a standardized 3 mm diameter surface, and a composite (Synergy D6, Coltene Whaledent) cylinder with 2 mm increments was build. Specimens were stored in 100% humidity for 24 h at 37°C and then subjected to a thermal cycling regimen of 500 cycles. Shear bond tests were performed with a Watanabe device in a universal testing machine at 5 mm/min. The failure mode was analyzed under scanning electron microscope. Means and standard deviation of shear bond strength (SBS) were calculated and difference between the groups was analyzed using ANOVA, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Levene and Bonferroni. Chi-squared statistical tests were used to evaluate the failure modes. Mean bond strength values and failure modes were as follows: G1--26.85±6.18 MPa (33.3% of adhesive cohesive failure); G2--27.95±5.58 MPa (53.8% of adhesive failures between enamel and adhesive); G3--15.0±3.84 MPa (77.8% of adhesive failures between enamel and adhesive) and G4--13.1±3.68 MPa (36.4% of adhesive failures between enamel and adhesive). Shear bond strength values of both adhesives tested on enamel were not influenced by the previous application of ozone gas.

CONTRIBUTION TO INDOOR OZONE LEVELS OF AN OZONE GENERATOR

Science.gov (United States)

This report gives results of a study of a commonly used commercially available ozone generator, undertaken to determine its impact on indoor ozone levels. xperiment were conducted in a typical mechanically ventilated office and in a test house. he generated ozone and the in-room ...

Development of Compact Ozonizer with High Ozone Output by Pulsed Power

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Fumiaki; Ueda, Satoru; Kouno, Kanako; Sakugawa, Takashi; Akiyama, Hidenori; Kinoshita, Youhei

Conventional ozonizer with a high ozone output using silent or surface discharges needs a cooling system and a dielectric barrier, and therefore becomes a large machine. A compact ozonizer without the cooling system and the dielectric barrier has been developed by using a pulsed power generated discharge. The wire to plane electrodes made of metal have been used. However, the ozone output was low. Here, a compact and high repetition rate pulsed power generator is used as an electric source of a compact ozonizer. The ozone output of 6.1 g/h and the ozone yield of 86 g/kWh are achieved at 500 pulses per second, input average power of 280 W and an air flow rate of 20 L/min.

Ozone Measurements Monitoring Using Data-Based Approach

KAUST Repository

Harrou, Fouzi; Kadri, Farid; Khadraoui, Sofiane; Sun, Ying

2016-01-01

The complexity of ozone (O3) formation mechanisms in the troposphere make the fast and accurate modeling of ozone very challenging. In the absence of a process model, principal component analysis (PCA) has been extensively used as a data-based monitoring technique for highly correlated process variables; however conventional PCA-based detection indices often fail to detect small or moderate anomalies. In this work, we propose an innovative method for detecting small anomalies in highly correlated multivariate data. The developed method combine the multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA) monitoring scheme with PCA modelling in order to enhance anomaly detection performance. Such a choice is mainly motivated by the greater ability of the MEWMA monitoring scheme to detect small changes in the process mean. The proposed PCA-based MEWMA monitoring scheme is successfully applied to ozone measurements data collected from Upper Normandy region, France, via the network of air quality monitoring stations. The detection results of the proposed method are compared to that declared by Air Normand air monitoring association.

Ozone Measurements Monitoring Using Data-Based Approach

KAUST Repository

Harrou, Fouzi

2016-02-01

The complexity of ozone (O3) formation mechanisms in the troposphere make the fast and accurate modeling of ozone very challenging. In the absence of a process model, principal component analysis (PCA) has been extensively used as a data-based monitoring technique for highly correlated process variables; however conventional PCA-based detection indices often fail to detect small or moderate anomalies. In this work, we propose an innovative method for detecting small anomalies in highly correlated multivariate data. The developed method combine the multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA) monitoring scheme with PCA modelling in order to enhance anomaly detection performance. Such a choice is mainly motivated by the greater ability of the MEWMA monitoring scheme to detect small changes in the process mean. The proposed PCA-based MEWMA monitoring scheme is successfully applied to ozone measurements data collected from Upper Normandy region, France, via the network of air quality monitoring stations. The detection results of the proposed method are compared to that declared by Air Normand air monitoring association.

A Two-Level Sound Classification Platform for Environmental Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stelios A. Mitilineos

2018-01-01

Full Text Available STORM is an ongoing European research project that aims at developing an integrated platform for monitoring, protecting, and managing cultural heritage sites through technical and organizational innovation. Part of the scheduled preventive actions for the protection of cultural heritage is the development of wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs that will be used for assessing the impact of human-generated activities as well as for monitoring potentially hazardous environmental phenomena. Collected sound samples will be forwarded to a central server where they will be automatically classified in a hierarchical manner; anthropogenic and environmental activity will be monitored, and stakeholders will be alarmed in the case of potential malevolent behavior or natural phenomena like excess rainfall, fire, gale, high tides, and waves. Herein, we present an integrated platform that includes sound sample denoising using wavelets, feature extraction from sound samples, Gaussian mixture modeling of these features, and a powerful two-layer neural network for automatic classification. We contribute to previous work by extending the proposed classification platform to perform low-level classification too, i.e., classify sounds to further subclasses that include airplane, car, and pistol sounds for the anthropogenic sound class; bird, dog, and snake sounds for the biophysical sound class; and fire, waterfall, and gale for the geophysical sound class. Classification results exhibit outstanding classification accuracy in both high-level and low-level classification thus demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Convective lofting links Indian Ocean air pollution to paradoxical South Atlantic ozone maxima

Science.gov (United States)

Chatfield, R. B.; Guan, H.; Thompson, A. M.; Witte, J. C.

2005-01-01

We describe a broad resolution of the Atlantic Parado concerning the seasonal and geographic distribution, of tropical tropospheric ozone. We highlight periods of significant maximum tropospheric O3 for Jan.- April, 1999, exploiting satellite estimates and SHADOZ (Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes). Trajectory analyses connecting sondes and Total Tropospheric Ozone (TTO) maps suggest a complex influence from the Indian Ocean: beginning with mixed combustion sources, then low level transport, cumulonimbus venting, possible stratospheric input, and finally high-level transport to the west, with possible mixing over Africa. For the Jan.-March highest column-O3 periods in the Atlantic, distinct sounding peaks trace to specific NO sources, especially lightning, while in the same episodes, recurring every 20-50 days, more diffuse buildups of Indian-to-Atlantic pollution make important contributions.

The stratospheric ozone and the ozone layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zea Mazo, Jorge Anibal; Leon Aristizabal Gloria Esperanza; Eslava Ramirez Jesus Antonio

2000-01-01

An overview is presented of the principal characteristics of the stratospheric ozone in the Earth's atmosphere, with particular emphasis on the tropics and the ozone hole over the poles. Some effects produced in the atmosphere as a consequence of the different human activities will be described, and some data on stratospheric ozone will be shown. We point out the existence of a nucleus of least ozone in the tropics, stretching from South America to central Africa, with annual mean values less than 240 DU, a value lower than in the middle latitudes and close to the mean values at the South Pole. The existence of such a minimum is confirmed by mean values from measurements made on satellites or with earthbound instruments, for different sectors in Colombia, like Medellin, Bogota and Leticia

Does ozone enhance the remineralizing potential of nanohydroxyapatite on artificially demineralized enamel? A laser induced fluorescence study

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivasan, Samuelraj; Prabhu, Vijendra; Chandra, Subhash; Koshy, Shalini; Acharya, Shashidhar; Mahato, Krishna K.

2014-02-01

The present era of minimal invasive dentistry emphasizes the early detection and remineralization of initial enamel caries. Ozone has been shown to reverse the initial demineralization before the integrity of the enamel surface is lost. Nano-hydroxyapatite is a proven remineralizing agent for early enamel caries. In the present study, the effect of ozone in enhancing the remineralizing potential of nano-hydroxyapatite on artificially demineralized enamel was investigated using laser induced fluorescence. Thirty five sound human premolars were collected from healthy subjects undergoing orthodontic treatment. Fluorescence was recorded by exciting the mesial surfaces using 325 nm He-Cd laser with 2 mW power. Tooth specimens were subjected to demineralization to create initial enamel caries. Following which the specimens were divided into three groups, i.e ozone (ozonated water for 2 min), without ozone and artificial saliva. Remineralization regimen was followed for 3 weeks. The fluorescence spectra of the specimens were recorded from all the three experimental groups at baseline, after demineralization and remineralization. The average spectrum for each experimental group was used for statistical analysis. Fluorescence intensities of Ozone treated specimens following remineralization were higher than that of artificial saliva, and this difference was found to be statistically significant (P<0.0001). In a nutshell, ozone enhanced the remineralizing potential of nanohydroxyapatite, and laser induced fluorescence was found to be effective in assessing the surface mineral changes in enamel. Ozone can be considered an effective agent in reversing the initial enamel caries there by preventing the tooth from entering into the repetitive restorative cycle.

By the sound of it. An ERP investigation of human action sound processing in 7-month-old infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Geangu

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Recent evidence suggests that human adults perceive human action sounds as a distinct category from human vocalizations, environmental, and mechanical sounds, activating different neural networks (Engel et al., 2009; Lewis et al., 2011. Yet, little is known about the development of such specialization. Using event-related potentials (ERP, this study investigated neural correlates of 7-month-olds’ processing of human action (HA sounds in comparison to human vocalizations (HV, environmental (ENV, and mechanical (MEC sounds. Relative to the other categories, HA sounds led to increased positive amplitudes between 470 and 570 ms post-stimulus onset at left anterior temporal locations, while HV led to increased negative amplitudes at the more posterior temporal locations in both hemispheres. Collectively, human produced sounds (HA + HV led to significantly different response profiles compared to non-living sound sources (ENV + MEC at parietal and frontal locations in both hemispheres. Overall, by 7 months of age human action sounds are being differentially processed in the brain, consistent with a dichotomy for processing living versus non-living things. This provides novel evidence regarding the typical categorical processing of socially relevant sounds.

Tropospheric and total ozone columns over Paris (France measured using medium-resolution ground-based solar-absorption Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Viatte

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Ground-based Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR solar absorption spectroscopy is a powerful remote sensing technique providing information on the vertical distribution of various atmospheric constituents. This work presents the first evaluation of a mid-resolution ground-based FTIR to measure tropospheric ozone, independently of stratospheric ozone. This is demonstrated using a new atmospheric observatory (named OASIS for "Observations of the Atmosphere by Solar absorption Infrared Spectroscopy", installed in Créteil (France. The capacity of the technique to separate stratospheric and tropospheric ozone is demonstrated. Daily mean tropospheric ozone columns derived from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI and from OASIS measurements are compared for summer 2009 and a good agreement of −5.6 (±16.1 % is observed. Also, a qualitative comparison between in-situ surface ozone measurements and OASIS data reveals OASIS's capacity to monitor seasonal tropospheric ozone variations, as well as ozone pollution episodes in summer 2009 around Paris. Two extreme pollution events are identified (on the 1 July and 6 August 2009 for which ozone partial columns from OASIS and predictions from a regional air-quality model (CHIMERE are compared following strict criteria of temporal and spatial coincidence. An average bias of 0.2%, a mean square error deviation of 7.6%, and a correlation coefficient of 0.91 is found between CHIMERE and OASIS, demonstrating the potential of a mid-resolution FTIR instrument in ground-based solar absorption geometry for tropospheric ozone monitoring.

A comparative analysis of UV nadir-backscatter and infrared limb-emission ozone data assimilation

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R. Dragani

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a comparative assessment of ultraviolet nadir-backscatter and infrared limb-emission ozone profile assimilation. The Meteorological Operational Satellite A (MetOp-A Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 (GOME-2 nadir and the ENVISAT Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS limb profiles, generated by the ozone consortium of the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (ESA O3-CCI, were individually added to a reference set of ozone observations and assimilated in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF data assimilation system (DAS. The two sets of resulting analyses were compared with that from a control experiment, only constrained by the reference dataset, and independent, unassimilated observations. Comparisons with independent observations show that both datasets improve the stratospheric ozone distribution. The changes inferred by the limb-based observations are more localized and, in places, more important than those implied by the nadir profiles, albeit they have a much lower number of observations. A small degradation (up to 0.25 mg kg−1 for GOME-2 and 0.5 mg kg−1 for MIPAS in the mass mixing ratio is found in the tropics between 20 and 30 hPa. In the lowermost troposphere below its vertical coverage, the limb data are found to be able to modify the ozone distribution with changes as large as 60 %. Comparisons of the ozone analyses with sonde data show that at those levels the assimilation of GOME-2 leads to about 1 Dobson Unit (DU smaller root mean square error (RMSE than that of MIPAS. However, the assimilation of MIPAS can still improve the quality of the ozone analyses and – with a reduction in the RMSE of up to about 2 DU – outperform the control experiment thanks to its synergistic assimilation with total-column ozone data within the DAS. High vertical resolution ozone profile observations are essential to accurately monitor and

Earth's ozone layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lasa, J.

1991-01-01

The paper contain the actual results of investigations of the influence of the human activity on the Earth's ozone layer. History of the ozone measurements and of the changes in its concentrations within the last few years are given. The influence of the trace gases on both local and global ozone concentrations are discussed. The probable changes of the ozone concentrations are presented on the basis of the modelling investigations. The effect of a decrease in global ozone concentration on human health and on biosphere are also presented. (author). 33 refs, 36 figs, 5 tabs

Urban Summertime Ozone of China: Peak Ozone Hour and Nighttime Mixing

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, H.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, R.

2017-12-01

We investigate the observed diurnal cycle of summertime ozone in the cities of China using a regional chemical transport model. The simulated daytime ozone is in general agreement with the observations. Model simulations suggest that the ozone peak time and peak concentration are a function of NOx (NO + NO2) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. The differences between simulated and observed ozone peak time and peak concentration in some regions can be applied to understand biases in the emission inventories. For example, the VOCs emissions are underestimated over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, and either NOx emissions are underestimated or VOC emissions are overestimated over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) regions. In contrast to the general good daytime ozone simulations, the simulated nighttime ozone has a large low bias of up to 40 ppbv. Nighttime ozone in urban areas is sensitive to the nocturnal boundary-layer mixing, and enhanced nighttime mixing (from the surface to 200-500 m) is necessary for the model to reproduce the observed level of ozone.

Total ozone changes in the 1987 Antarctic ozone hole

Science.gov (United States)

Krueger, Arlin J.; Schoeberl, Mark R.; Doiron, Scott D.; Sechrist, Frank; Galimore, Reginald

1988-01-01

The development of the Antarctic ozone minimum was observed in 1987 with the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument. In the first half of August the near-polar (60 and 70 deg S) ozone levels were similar to those of recent years. By September, however, the ozone at 70 and 80 deg S was clearly lower than any previous year including 1985, the prior record low year. The levels continued to decrease throughout September until October 5 when a new record low of 109 DU was established at a point near the South Pole. This value is 29 DU less than the lowest observed in 1985 and 48 DU less than the 1986 low. The zonal mean total ozone at 60 deg S remained constant throughout the time of ozone hole formation. The ozone decline was punctuated by local minima formed away from the polar night boundary at about 75 deg S. The first of these, on August 15 to 17, formed just east of the Palmer Peninsula and appears to be a mountain wave. The second major minimum formed on September 5 to 7 again downwind of the Palmer Peninsula. This event was larger in scale than the August minimum and initiated the decline of ozone across the polar region. The 1987 ozone hole was nearly circular and pole centered for its entire life. In previous years the hole was perturbed by intrusions of the circumpolar maximum into the polar regions, thus causing the hole to be elliptical. The 1987 hole also remained in place until the end of November, a few days longer than in 1985, and this persistence resulted in the latest time for recovery to normal values yet observed.

Ozonation control and effects of ozone on water quality in recirculating aquaculture systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spiliotopoulou, Aikaterini; Rojas-Tirado, Paula Andrea; Chetri, Ravi K.

2018-01-01

To address the undesired effect of chemotherapeutants in aquaculture, ozone has been suggested as an alternative to improve water quality. To ensure safe and robust treatment, it is vital to define the ozone demand and ozone kinetics of the specific water matrix to avoid ozone overdose. Different...... ozone dosages were applied to water in freshwater recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). Experiments were performed to investigate ozone kinetics and demand, and to evaluate the effects on the water quality, particularly in relation to fluorescent organic matter. This study aimed at predicting...... a suitable ozone dosage for water treatment based on daily ozone demand via laboratory studies. These ozone dosages will be eventually applied and maintained at these levels in pilot-scale RAS to verify predictions. Selected water quality parameters were measured, including natural fluorescence and organic...

Ozone modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McIllvaine, C.M.

1994-01-01

Exhaust gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels contain concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitric oxide (NO), particulate matter, hydrocarbon compounds and trace metals. Estimated emissions from the operation of a hypothetical 500 MW coal-fired power plant are given. Ozone is considered a secondary pollutant, since it is not emitted directly into the atmosphere but is formed from other air pollutants, specifically, nitrogen oxides (NO), and non-methane organic compounds (NMOQ) in the presence of sunlight. (NMOC are sometimes referred to as hydrocarbons, HC, or volatile organic compounds, VOC, and they may or may not include methane). Additionally, ozone formation Alternative is a function of the ratio of NMOC concentrations to NO x concentrations. A typical ozone isopleth is shown, generated with the Empirical Kinetic Modeling Approach (EKMA) option of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Ozone Isopleth Plotting Mechanism (OZIPM-4) model. Ozone isopleth diagrams, originally generated with smog chamber data, are more commonly generated with photochemical reaction mechanisms and tested against smog chamber data. The shape of the isopleth curves is a function of the region (i.e. background conditions) where ozone concentrations are simulated. The location of an ozone concentration on the isopleth diagram is defined by the ratio of NMOC and NO x coordinates of the point, known as the NMOC/NO x ratio. Results obtained by the described model are presented

New recursive-least-squares algorithms for nonlinear active control of sound and vibration using neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, M

2001-01-01

In recent years, a few articles describing the use of neural networks for nonlinear active control of sound and vibration were published. Using a control structure with two multilayer feedforward neural networks (one as a nonlinear controller and one as a nonlinear plant model), steepest descent algorithms based on two distinct gradient approaches were introduced for the training of the controller network. The two gradient approaches were sometimes called the filtered-x approach and the adjoint approach. Some recursive-least-squares algorithms were also introduced, using the adjoint approach. In this paper, an heuristic procedure is introduced for the development of recursive-least-squares algorithms based on the filtered-x and the adjoint gradient approaches. This leads to the development of new recursive-least-squares algorithms for the training of the controller neural network in the two networks structure. These new algorithms produce a better convergence performance than previously published algorithms. Differences in the performance of algorithms using the filtered-x and the adjoint gradient approaches are discussed in the paper. The computational load of the algorithms discussed in the paper is evaluated for multichannel systems of nonlinear active control. Simulation results are presented to compare the convergence performance of the algorithms, showing the convergence gain provided by the new algorithms.

``Hiss, clicks and pops'' - The enigmatic sounds of meteors

Science.gov (United States)

Finnegan, J. A.

2015-04-01

The improbability of sounds heard simultaneously with meteors allows the phenomenon to remain on the margins of scientific interest and research. This is unjustified, since these audibly perceived electric field effects indicate complex, inconsistent and still unresolved electric-magnetic coupling and charge dynamics; interacting between the meteor; the ionosphere and mesosphere; stratosphere; troposphere and the surface of the earth. This paper reviews meteor acoustic effects, presents illustrating reports and hypotheses and includes a summary of similar and additional phenomena observed during the 2013 February 15 asteroid fragment disintegration above the Russian district of Chelyabinsk. An augmenting theory involving near ground, non uniform electric field production of Ozone, as a stimulated geo-physical phenomenon to explain some hissing `meteor sounds' is suggested in section 2.2. Unlike previous theories, electric-magnetic field fluctuation rates are not required to occur in the audio frequency range for this process to acoustically emit hissing and intermittent impulsive sounds; removing the requirements of direct conversion, passive human transduction or excited, localised acoustic `emitters'. Links to the Armagh Observatory All-sky meteor cameras, electrophonic meteor research and full construction plans for an extremely low frequency (ELF) receiver are also included.

Sound and sound sources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Ole Næsbye; Wahlberg, Magnus

2017-01-01

There is no difference in principle between the infrasonic and ultrasonic sounds, which are inaudible to humans (or other animals) and the sounds that we can hear. In all cases, sound is a wave of pressure and particle oscillations propagating through an elastic medium, such as air. This chapter...... is about the physical laws that govern how animals produce sound signals and how physical principles determine the signals’ frequency content and sound level, the nature of the sound field (sound pressure versus particle vibrations) as well as directional properties of the emitted signal. Many...... of these properties are dictated by simple physical relationships between the size of the sound emitter and the wavelength of emitted sound. The wavelengths of the signals need to be sufficiently short in relation to the size of the emitter to allow for the efficient production of propagating sound pressure waves...

Ozone modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McIllvaine, C M

1994-07-01

Exhaust gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels contain concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}), nitric oxide (NO), particulate matter, hydrocarbon compounds and trace metals. Estimated emissions from the operation of a hypothetical 500 MW coal-fired power plant are given. Ozone is considered a secondary pollutant, since it is not emitted directly into the atmosphere but is formed from other air pollutants, specifically, nitrogen oxides (NO), and non-methane organic compounds (NMOQ) in the presence of sunlight. (NMOC are sometimes referred to as hydrocarbons, HC, or volatile organic compounds, VOC, and they may or may not include methane). Additionally, ozone formation Alternative is a function of the ratio of NMOC concentrations to NO{sub x} concentrations. A typical ozone isopleth is shown, generated with the Empirical Kinetic Modeling Approach (EKMA) option of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Ozone Isopleth Plotting Mechanism (OZIPM-4) model. Ozone isopleth diagrams, originally generated with smog chamber data, are more commonly generated with photochemical reaction mechanisms and tested against smog chamber data. The shape of the isopleth curves is a function of the region (i.e. background conditions) where ozone concentrations are simulated. The location of an ozone concentration on the isopleth diagram is defined by the ratio of NMOC and NO{sub x} coordinates of the point, known as the NMOC/NO{sub x} ratio. Results obtained by the described model are presented.

A Survey of Sound Source Localization Methods in Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks

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Maximo Cobos

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs are formed by a distributed group of acoustic-sensing devices featuring audio playing and recording capabilities. Current mobile computing platforms offer great possibilities for the design of audio-related applications involving acoustic-sensing nodes. In this context, acoustic source localization is one of the application domains that have attracted the most attention of the research community along the last decades. In general terms, the localization of acoustic sources can be achieved by studying energy and temporal and/or directional features from the incoming sound at different microphones and using a suitable model that relates those features with the spatial location of the source (or sources of interest. This paper reviews common approaches for source localization in WASNs that are focused on different types of acoustic features, namely, the energy of the incoming signals, their time of arrival (TOA or time difference of arrival (TDOA, the direction of arrival (DOA, and the steered response power (SRP resulting from combining multiple microphone signals. Additionally, we discuss methods not only aimed at localizing acoustic sources but also designed to locate the nodes themselves in the network. Finally, we discuss current challenges and frontiers in this field.

Contribution of ozone to airborne aldehyde formation in Paris homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Rancière, Fanny; Dassonville, Claire; Roda, Célina; Laurent, Anne-Marie; Le Moullec, Yvon; Momas, Isabelle

2011-09-15

Indoor aldehydes may result from ozone-initiated chemistry, mainly documented by experimental studies. As part of an environmental investigation included in the PARIS birth cohort, the aim of this study was to examine ozone contribution to airborne aldehyde formation in Paris homes. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and hexaldehyde levels, as well as styrene, nitrogen dioxide and nicotine concentrations, comfort parameters and carbon dioxide levels, were measured twice during the first year of life of the babies. Ambient ozone concentrations were collected from the closest background station of the regional air monitoring network. Traffic-related nitrogen oxide concentrations in front of the dwellings were estimated by an air pollution dispersion model. Home characteristics and families' way of life were described by questionnaires. Stepwise multiple linear regression models were used to link aldehyde levels with ambient ozone concentrations and a few aldehyde precursors involved in oxidation reactions, adjusting for other indoor aldehyde sources, comfort parameters and traffic-related nitrogen oxides. A 4 and 11% increase in formaldehyde and hexaldehyde levels was pointed out when 8-hour ozone concentrations increased by 20 μg/m(3). The influence of potential precursors such as indoor styrene level and frequent use of air fresheners, containing unsaturated volatile organic compounds as terpenes, was also found. Thus, our results suggest that ambient ozone can significantly impact indoor air quality, especially with regard to formaldehyde and hexaldehyde levels. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Formulation based on artificial neural network of thermodynamic properties of ozone friendly refrigerant/absorbent couples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soezen, Adnan; Arcaklioglu, Erol; Oezalp, Mehmet

2005-01-01

This paper presents a new approach based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) to determine the properties of liquid and two phase boiling and condensing of two alternative refrigerant/absorbent couples (methanol/LiBr and methanol/LiCl). These couples do not cause ozone depletion and use in the absorption thermal systems (ATSs). ANNs are able to learn the key information patterns within multidimensional information domain. ANNs operate such as a 'black box' model, requiring no detailed information about the system. On the other hand, they learn the relationship between the input and the output. In order to train the neural network, limited experimental measurements were used as training data and test data. In this study, in input layer, there are temperatures in the range of 298-498 K, pressures (0.1-40 MPa) and concentrations of 2%, 7%, 12% of the couples; specific volume is in output layer. The back-propagation learning algorithm with three different variants, namely scaled conjugate gradient (SCG), Pola-Ribiere conjugate gradient (CGP), and Levenberg-Marquardt (LM), and logistic sigmoid transfer function were used in the network so that the best approach can find. The most suitable algorithm and neuron number in the hidden layer are found as SCG with 8 neurons. For this number level, after the training, it is found that maximum error is less than 3%, average error is about 1% and R 2 value are 99.999%. As seen from the results obtained the thermodynamic equations for each pair by using the weights of network have been obviously predicted within acceptable errors. This paper shows that values predicted with ANN can be used to define the thermodynamic properties instead of approximate and complex analytic equations

The Antarctic ozone hole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Anna E

2008-01-01

Since the mid 1970s, the ozone layer over Antarctica has experienced massive destruction during every spring. In this article, we will consider the atmosphere, and what ozone and the ozone layer actually are. We explore the chemistry responsible for the ozone destruction, and learn about why conditions favour ozone destruction over Antarctica. For the historical perspective, the events leading up to the discovery of the 'hole' are presented, as well as the response from the international community and the measures taken to protect the ozone layer now and into the future

Evidence for a continuous decline in lower stratospheric ozone offsetting ozone layer recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, William T.; Alsing, Justin; Mortlock, Daniel J.; Staehelin, Johannes; Haigh, Joanna D.; Peter, Thomas; Tummon, Fiona; Stübi, Rene; Stenke, Andrea; Anderson, John; Bourassa, Adam; Davis, Sean M.; Degenstein, Doug; Frith, Stacey; Froidevaux, Lucien; Roth, Chris; Sofieva, Viktoria; Wang, Ray; Wild, Jeannette; Yu, Pengfei; Ziemke, Jerald R.; Rozanov, Eugene V.

2018-02-01

Ozone forms in the Earth's atmosphere from the photodissociation of molecular oxygen, primarily in the tropical stratosphere. It is then transported to the extratropics by the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC), forming a protective ozone layer around the globe. Human emissions of halogen-containing ozone-depleting substances (hODSs) led to a decline in stratospheric ozone until they were banned by the Montreal Protocol, and since 1998 ozone in the upper stratosphere is rising again, likely the recovery from halogen-induced losses. Total column measurements of ozone between the Earth's surface and the top of the atmosphere indicate that the ozone layer has stopped declining across the globe, but no clear increase has been observed at latitudes between 60° S and 60° N outside the polar regions (60-90°). Here we report evidence from multiple satellite measurements that ozone in the lower stratosphere between 60° S and 60° N has indeed continued to decline since 1998. We find that, even though upper stratospheric ozone is recovering, the continuing downward trend in the lower stratosphere prevails, resulting in a downward trend in stratospheric column ozone between 60° S and 60° N. We find that total column ozone between 60° S and 60° N appears not to have decreased only because of increases in tropospheric column ozone that compensate for the stratospheric decreases. The reasons for the continued reduction of lower stratospheric ozone are not clear; models do not reproduce these trends, and thus the causes now urgently need to be established.

Evidence for a Continuous Decline in Lower Stratospheric Ozone Offsetting Ozone Layer Recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, William T.; Alsing, Justin; Mortlock, Daniel J.; Staehelin, Johannes; Haigh, Joanna D.; Peter, Thomas; Tummon, Fiona; Stuebi, Rene; Stenke, Andrea; Anderson, John;

Ozonated Olive Oils and Troubles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bulent Uysal

2014-04-01

Full Text Available One of the commonly used methods for ozone therapy is ozonated oils. Most prominent type of used oils is extra virgin olive oil. But still, each type of unsaturated oils may be used for ozonation. There are a lot of wrong knowledge on the internet about ozonated oils and its use as well. Just like other ozone therapy studies, also the studies about ozone oils are inadequate to avoid incorrect knowledge. Current data about ozone oil and its benefits are produced by supplier who oversees financial interests and make misinformation. Despite the rapidly increasing ozone oil sales through the internet, its quality and efficacy is still controversial. Dozens of companies and web sites may be easily found to buy ozonated oil. But, very few of these products are reliable, and contain sufficiently ozonated oil. This article aimed to introduce the troubles about ozonated oils and so to inform ozonated oil users. [J Intercult Ethnopharmacol 2014; 3(2.000: 49-50

SMM mesospheric ozone measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Aikin, A. C.

1990-01-01

The main objective was to understand the secular and seasonal behavior of ozone in the lower mesosphere, 50 to 70 km. This altitude region is important in understanding the factors which determine ozone behavior. A secondary objective is the study of stratospheric ozone in the polar regions. Use is made of results from the SBUV satellite borne instrument. In the Arctic the interaction between chlorine compounds and low molecular weight hydrocarbons is studied. More than 30,000 profiles were obtained using the UVSP instrument on the SMM spacecraft. Several orbits of ozone data per day were obtained allowing study of the current rise in solar activity from the minimum until the present. Analysis of Nimbus 7 SBUV data in Antarctic spring indicates that ozone is depleted within the polar vortex relative to ozone outside the vortex. This depletion confirms the picture of ozone loss at altitudes where polar stratospheric clouds exist. In addition, there is ozone loss above the cloud level indicating that there is another mechanism in addition to ozone loss initiated by heterogeneous chlorine reactions on cloud particles.

Efficacy of gaseous ozone to counteract postharvest table grape sour rot.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, L; Caputo, L; Quintieri, L; de Candia, S; Baruzzi, F

2017-09-01

This work aims at studying the efficacy of low doses of gaseous ozone in postharvest control of the table grape sour rot, a disease generally attributed to a consortium of non-Saccharomyces yeasts (NSY) and acetic acid bacteria (AAB). Sour rot incidence of wounded berries, inoculated with 8 NSYstrains, or 7 AAB, or 56 yeast-bacterium associations, was monitored at 25 °C up to six days. Sour rot incidence in wounded berries inoculated with yeast-bacterium associations resulted higher than in berries inoculated with one single NSY or AAB strain. Among all NSY-AAB associations, the yeast-bacterium association composed of Candida zemplinina CBS 9494 (Cz) and Acetobacter syzygii LMG 21419 (As) showed the highest prevalence of sour rot; thus, after preliminary in vitro assays, this simplified As-Cz microbial consortium was inoculated in wounded berries that were stored at 4 °C for ten days under ozone (2.14 mg m -3 ) or in air. At the end of cold storage, no berries showed sour-rot symptoms although ozonation mainly affected As viable cell count. After additional 12 days at 25 °C, the sour rot index of inoculated As-Cz berries previously cold-stored under ozone or in air accounted for 22.6 ± 3.7% and 66.7 ± 4.5%, respectively. Molecular analyses of dominant AAB and NSY populations of both sound and rotten berries during post-refrigeration period revealed the appearance of new strains mainly belonging to Gluconobacter albidus and Hanseniaspora uvarum species, respectively. Cold ozonation resulted an effective approach to extend the shelf-life of table grapes also after cold storage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of linear ozone photochemistry parametrizations in a stratosphere-troposphere data assimilation system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. J. Geer

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This paper evaluates the performance of various linear ozone photochemistry parametrizations using the stratosphere-troposphere data assimilation system of the Met Office. A set of experiments were run for the period 23 September 2003 to 5 November 2003 using the Cariolle (v1.0 and v2.1, LINOZ and Chem2D-OPP (v0.1 and v2.1 parametrizations. All operational meteorological observations were assimilated, together with ozone retrievals from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS. Experiments were validated against independent data from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE and ozonesondes. Additionally, a simple offline method for comparing the parametrizations is introduced. It is shown that in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere, outside the polar night, ozone analyses are controlled by the photochemistry parametrizations and not by the assimilated observations. The most important factor in getting good results at these levels is to pay attention to the ozone and temperature climatologies in the parametrizations. There should be no discrepancies between the climatologies and the assimilated observations or the model, but there is also a competing demand that the climatologies be objectively accurate in themselves. Conversely, in the lower stratosphere outside regions of heterogeneous ozone depletion, the ozone analyses are dominated by observational increments and the photochemistry parametrizations have little influence. We investigate a number of known problems in LINOZ and Cariolle v1.0 in more detail than previously, and we find discrepancies in Cariolle v2.1 and Chem2D-OPP v2.1, which are demonstrated to have been removed in the latest available versions (v2.8 and v2.6 respectively. In general, however, all the parametrizations work well through much of the stratosphere, helped by the presence of good quality assimilated MIPAS observations.

Effect of ozone gas on the shear bond strength to enamel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrícia Teixeira Pires

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Ozone is an important disinfecting agent, however its influence on enamel adhesion has not yet been clarified. Objective: Evaluate the influence of ozone pretreatment on the shear strength of an etch-and-rinse and a self-etch system to enamel and analyze the respective failure modes. Material and Methods: Sixty sound bovine incisors were used. Specimens were randomly assigned to four experimental groups (n=15: Group G1 (Excite® with ozone and group G3 (AdheSE® with ozone were prepared with ozone gas from the HealOzone unit (Kavo® for 20 s prior to adhesion, and groups G2 (Excite® and G4 (AdheSE® were used as control. Teeth were bisected and polished to simulate a smear layer just before the application of the adhesive systems. The adhesives were applied according to the manufacturer's instructions to a standardized 3 mm diameter surface, and a composite (Synergy D6, Coltene Whaledent cylinder with 2 mm increments was build. Specimens were stored in 100% humidity for 24 h at 37°C and then subjected to a thermal cycling regimen of 500 cycles. Shear bond tests were performed with a Watanabe device in a universal testing machine at 5 mm/min. The failure mode was analyzed under scanning electron microscope. Means and standard deviation of shear bond strength (SBS were calculated and difference between the groups was analyzed using ANOVA, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Levene and Bonferroni. Chi-squared statistical tests were used to evaluate the failure modes. Results: Mean bond strength values and failure modes were as follows: G1- 26.85±6.18 MPa (33.3% of adhesive cohesive failure; G2 - 27.95±5.58 MPa (53.8% of adhesive failures between enamel and adhesive; G3 - 15.0±3.84 MPa (77.8% of adhesive failures between enamel and adhesive and G4 - 13.1±3.68 MPa (36.4% of adhesive failures between enamel and adhesive. Conclusions: Shear bond strength values of both adhesives tested on enamel were not influenced by the previous application of ozone gas.

Ozone Antimicrobial Efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Ozone is a potent germicide that has been used extensively for water purification. In Europe, 90 percent of the municipal water systems are treated with ozone, and in France, ozone has been used to treat drinking water since 1903. However, there is limited information on the bioc...

Intercomparison of ozone measurements between Lidar and ECC-sondes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grabbe, G.C. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Boesenberg, J. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Dier, H. [Meteorologisches Obs., Lindenberg (Germany); Goersdorf, U. [Meteorologisches Obs., Lindenberg (Germany); Matthias, V. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Peters, G. [Meteorologisches Obs., Lindenberg (Germany); Schaberl, T. [Hamburg Univ. (Germany). Meteorologisches Inst.; Senff, C. [Hamburg Univ. (Germany). Meteorologisches Inst.

1996-02-01

An intercomparison experiment for measurements of ozone vertical profiles in the lower troposphere was performed using a ground-based ozone DIAL (DIfferential Absorption Lidar) and ECC-sondes (Electrochemical Concentration Cell) attached to tethered as well as free flying balloons, which took place in June of 1994. The tethered balloon was used for ozone soundings in the planetary boundary layer up to an altitude of 500 m, while in the free troposphere free flying balloons were used. For the time series of up to 90 min obtained with the tethersondes both averages and standard deviations are compared. The mean difference for all measurements amounted to 3.5 {mu}g/m{sup 3} only, corresponding to 3.5%. For the instantaneous profiles compared to the free flying sondes the differences were only marginally larger, with a mean value of 3.6 {mu}g/m{sup 3} corresponding to 4.1%. With two exceptions all averages for a single profile stayed below 7 {mu}g/m{sup 3}. Larger individual excursions were observed. In some cases, in particular in regions of steep aerosol gradients at layer boundaries, most probably the lidar values cause the deviation, while in other cases the ECC-sonde is suspected to yield erroneous results. For the measured standard deviation those retrieved from DIAL measurements are generally larger than measured by the ECC-sondes, especially in regions of inhomogeneous aerosol distribution. For the measurements reported here, this is attributed to residual errors in the aerosol correction of the DIAL measurements. The general agreement found in this intercomparison is regarded as excellent, DIAL is proven to be a very valuable tool for detailed studies of the ozone distribution in the lower troposphere. (orig.)

Technical Note: Validation of Odin/SMR limb observations of ozone, comparisons with OSIRIS, POAM III, ground-based and balloon-borne instruments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Jégou

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The Odin satellite carries two instruments capable of determining stratospheric ozone profiles by limb sounding: the Sub-Millimetre Radiometer (SMR and the UV-visible spectrograph of the OSIRIS (Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System instrument. A large number of ozone profiles measurements were performed during six years from November 2001 to present. This ozone dataset is here used to make quantitative comparisons with satellite measurements in order to assess the quality of the Odin/SMR ozone measurements. In a first step, we compare Swedish SMR retrievals version 2.1, French SMR ozone retrievals version 222 (both from the 501.8 GHz band, and the OSIRIS retrievals version 3.0, with the operational version 4.0 ozone product from POAM III (Polar Ozone Atmospheric Measurement. In a second step, we refine the Odin/SMR validation by comparisons with ground-based instruments and balloon-borne observations. We use observations carried out within the framework of the Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC and balloon flight missions conducted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA, the Laboratoire de Physique et de Chimie de l'{}Environnement (LPCE, Orléans, France, and the Service d'Aéronomie (SA, Paris, France. Coincidence criteria were 5° in latitude×10° in longitude, and 5 h in time in Odin/POAM III comparisons, 12 h in Odin/NDACC comparisons, and 72 h in Odin/balloons comparisons. An agreement is found with the POAM III experiment (10–60 km within −0.3±0.2 ppmv (bias±standard deviation for SMR (v222, v2.1 and within −0.5±0.2 ppmv for OSIRIS (v3.0. Odin ozone mixing ratio products are systematically slightly lower than the POAM III data and show an ozone maximum lower by 1–5 km in altitude. The comparisons with the NDACC data (10–34 km for ozonesonde, 10–50 km for lidar, 10–60 for microwave instruments yield a good agreement within −0.15±0.3 ppmv for the SMR data and −0.3±0.3 ppmv

Multi-model assessment of stratospheric ozone return dates and ozone recovery in CCMVal-2 models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Eyring

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Projections of stratospheric ozone from a suite of chemistry-climate models (CCMs have been analyzed. In addition to a reference simulation where anthropogenic halogenated ozone depleting substances (ODSs and greenhouse gases (GHGs vary with time, sensitivity simulations with either ODS or GHG concentrations fixed at 1960 levels were performed to disaggregate the drivers of projected ozone changes. These simulations were also used to assess the two distinct milestones of ozone returning to historical values (ozone return dates and ozone no longer being influenced by ODSs (full ozone recovery. The date of ozone returning to historical values does not indicate complete recovery from ODSs in most cases, because GHG-induced changes accelerate or decelerate ozone changes in many regions. In the upper stratosphere where CO₂-induced stratospheric cooling increases ozone, full ozone recovery is projected to not likely have occurred by 2100 even though ozone returns to its 1980 or even 1960 levels well before (~2025 and 2040, respectively. In contrast, in the tropical lower stratosphere ozone decreases continuously from 1960 to 2100 due to projected increases in tropical upwelling, while by around 2040 it is already very likely that full recovery from the effects of ODSs has occurred, although ODS concentrations are still elevated by this date. In the midlatitude lower stratosphere the evolution differs from that in the tropics, and rather than a steady decrease in ozone, first a decrease in ozone is simulated from 1960 to 2000, which is then followed by a steady increase through the 21st century. Ozone in the midlatitude lower stratosphere returns to 1980 levels by ~2045 in the Northern Hemisphere (NH and by ~2055 in the Southern Hemisphere (SH, and full ozone recovery is likely reached by 2100 in both hemispheres. Overall, in all regions except the tropical lower stratosphere, full ozone recovery from ODSs occurs significantly later than the

Merged SAGE II, Ozone_cci and OMPS ozone profile dataset and evaluation of ozone trends in the stratosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. F. Sofieva

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a merged dataset of ozone profiles from several satellite instruments: SAGE II on ERBS, GOMOS, SCIAMACHY and MIPAS on Envisat, OSIRIS on Odin, ACE-FTS on SCISAT, and OMPS on Suomi-NPP. The merged dataset is created in the framework of the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (Ozone_cci with the aim of analyzing stratospheric ozone trends. For the merged dataset, we used the latest versions of the original ozone datasets. The datasets from the individual instruments have been extensively validated and intercompared; only those datasets which are in good agreement, and do not exhibit significant drifts with respect to collocated ground-based observations and with respect to each other, are used for merging. The long-term SAGE–CCI–OMPS dataset is created by computation and merging of deseasonalized anomalies from individual instruments. The merged SAGE–CCI–OMPS dataset consists of deseasonalized anomalies of ozone in 10° latitude bands from 90° S to 90° N and from 10 to 50 km in steps of 1 km covering the period from October 1984 to July 2016. This newly created dataset is used for evaluating ozone trends in the stratosphere through multiple linear regression. Negative ozone trends in the upper stratosphere are observed before 1997 and positive trends are found after 1997. The upper stratospheric trends are statistically significant at midlatitudes and indicate ozone recovery, as expected from the decrease of stratospheric halogens that started in the middle of the 1990s and stratospheric cooling.

An upper tropospheric ‘ozone river’ from Africa to India during the 2008 Asian post-monsoon season

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Flore Tocquer

2015-03-01

Full Text Available We have used ozone data from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer to follow an event of ozone-enriched air-masses in the upper troposphere from eastern Africa to northern India. The ozone transport (hereafter called ‘ozone river’ or O3R occurred during the Asian post-monsoon season in 2008 and was associated with Rossby wave propagation. The persistence of the O3R in a narrow channel was confirmed by MOZAIC airborne data over the northwestern Indian coast. The regions of origin of the O3R were identified by a transport analysis based on the Lagrangian model FLEXPART. The Lagrangian simulations combined with potential vorticity fields indicate that stratospheric intrusions are not likely to be the most important contributor to the observed O3 enhancements. A high-resolution Eulerian model, Meso-NH, with tagged tracers was used to discriminate between African biomass burning, lightnings and Indian anthropogenic pollution as potential sources of precursors for the O3R. Lightning NOx emissions, associated with convective clouds over Africa, were found to be the principal contributor to the ozone enhancement over the Indian Ocean taking advantage of a northeastward jet. This case study illustrates African lightning emissions as an important source for enhanced O3 in the upper troposphere over the Indian Ocean region during the post-monsoon season.

A Review of Atmospheric Ozone and Current Thinking on the Antarctic Ozone Hole.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-01-01

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 0 A Review of Atmospheric ozone and Current Thinking on the Antartic Ozone Hole A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the...4. TI TLE (Pit 5,1tlfie) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PFRIOO COVERED A Review of Atmospheric Ozone and Current THESIS/DA/;J.At1AAU00 Thinking on the Antartic ...THESIS A Review of Atmospheric Ozone and Current Thinking on the Antartic Ozone Hole by Randolph Antoine Fix Master of Science in Atmospheric Science

Extreme ozone depletion in the 2010–2011 Arctic winter stratosphere as observed by MIPAS/ENVISAT using a 2-D tomographic approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Arnone

2012-10-01

Full Text Available We present observations of the 2010–2011 Arctic winter stratosphere from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS onboard ENVISAT. Limb sounding infrared measurements were taken by MIPAS during the Northern polar winter and into the subsequent spring, giving a continuous vertically resolved view of the Arctic dynamics, chemistry and polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs. We adopted a 2-D tomographic retrieval approach to account for the strong horizontal inhomogeneity of the atmosphere present under vortex conditions, self-consistently comparing 2011 to the 2-D analysis of 2003–2010. Unlike most Arctic winters, 2011 was characterized by a strong stratospheric vortex lasting until early April. Lower stratospheric temperatures persistently remained below the threshold for PSC formation, extending the PSC season up to mid-March, resulting in significant chlorine activation leading to ozone destruction. On 3 January 2011, PSCs were detected up to 30.5 ± 0.9 km altitude, representing the highest PSCs ever reported in the Arctic. Through inspection of MIPAS spectra, 83% of PSCs were identified as supercooled ternary solution (STS or STS mixed with nitric acid trihydrate (NAT, 17% formed mostly by NAT particles, and only two cases by ice. In the lower stratosphere at potential temperature 450 K, vortex average ozone showed a daily depletion rate reaching 100 ppbv day⁻¹. In early April at 18 km altitude, 10% of vortex measurements displayed total depletion of ozone, and vortex average values dropped to 0.6 ppmv. This corresponds to a chemical loss from early winter greater than 80%. Ozone loss was accompanied by activation of ClO, associated depletion of its reservoir ClONO₂, and significant denitrification, which further delayed the recovery of ozone in spring. Once the PSC season halted, ClO was reconverted primarily into ClONO₂. Compared to MIPAS observed 2003–2010 Arctic average values

Time and frequency weightings and the assessment of sound exposure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ordoñez, Rodrigo Pizarro; de Toro, Miguel Angel Aranda; Hammershøi, Dorte

2010-01-01

Since the development of averaging/integrating sound level meters and frequency weighting networks in the 1950’s, measurement of the physical characteristics of sound has not changed a great deal. Advances have occurred in how the measured values are used (day-night averages, limit and action...... of the exposure. This information is being used to investigate metrics that can differentiate temporal characteristics (impulsive, fluctuating) as well as frequency characteristics (narrow-band or tonal dominance) of sound exposures. This presentation gives an overview of the existing sound measurement...... and analysis methods, that can provide a better representation of the effects of sound exposures on the hearing system...

Ozone depletion calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luther, F.M.; Chang, J.S.; Wuebbles, D.J.; Penner, J.E.

1992-01-01

Models of stratospheric chemistry have been primarily directed toward an understanding of the behavior of stratospheric ozone. Initially this interest reflected the diagnostic role of ozone in the understanding of atmospheric transport processes. More recently, interest in stratospheric ozone has arisen from concern that human activities might affect the amount of stratospheric ozone, thereby affecting the ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth's surface and perhaps also affecting the climate with various potentially severe consequences for human welfare. This concern has inspired a substantial effort to develop both diagnostic and prognostic models of stratospheric ozone. During the past decade, several chemical agents have been determined to have potentially significant impacts on stratospheric ozone if they are released to the atmosphere in large quantities. These include oxides of nitrogen, oxides of hydrogen, chlorofluorocarbons, bromine compounds, fluorine compounds and carbon dioxide. In order to assess the potential impact of the perturbations caused by these chemicals, mathematical models have been developed to handle the complex coupling between chemical, radiative, and dynamical processes. Basic concepts in stratospheric modeling are reviewed

Balance of the tropospheric ozone and its relation to stratospheric intrusions indicated by cosmogenic radionuclides. Technical progress report, 1 November 1978-30 June 1979

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiter, R.; Kanter, H.J.; Poetzl, K.; Sladkovic, R.; Jaeger, H.; Mueller, H.

The balance of the tropospheric ozone as a function of atmospheric pollutants, tropospheric transport, and stratospheric intrusions is under active investigation. Continuous recordings of the ozone concentration at three levels (3000 m, 1800 m, and 700 m a.s.l.) and of the cosmogenic radionuclides Be 7 , P 32 , P 33 , and the CO 2 are available and used for subject purposes. Results of a statistical evaluation concerning the frequency of high concentrations (> 70 ppB) of the tropospheric ozone are presented and possible sources discussed. Observations of changes in the fine structure of the ozone profile in the lower stratosphere after solar events are shown by balloon-borne ozone soundings up to 35 km altitude and discussed in connection with parameters of the stratospheric-tropospheric exchange. Monitoring of the stratospheric aerosol layer by lidar was continued. The accuracy of these measurements was considerably enhanced by significant system improvements. Intercomparisons with the results of nearby Dobson stations allowed conclusions to be drawn on the suitability of a filter spectrophotometer for the determination of the total ozone. Solar-terrestrial relationships were investigated and are discussed

An acoustical model based monitoring network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wessels, P.W.; Basten, T.G.H.; Eerden, F.J.M. van der

2010-01-01

In this paper the approach for an acoustical model based monitoring network is demonstrated. This network is capable of reconstructing a noise map, based on the combination of measured sound levels and an acoustic model of the area. By pre-calculating the sound attenuation within the network the

[Ozone concentration distribution of urban].

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yong-quan; Li, Chang-mei; Ma, Gui-xia; Cui, Zhao-jie

2004-11-01

The increase of ozone concentration in urban is one of the most important research topics on environmental science. With the increase of nitrogen oxides and hydrogen-carbon compounds which are exhausted from cars, the ozone concentration in urban is obviously increased on sunlight, and threat of photochemistry smog will be possible. Therefore, it is very important to monitor and study the ozone concentration distribution in urban. The frequency-distribution, diurnal variation and monthly variation of ozone concentration were studied on the campus of Shandong University during six months monitoring. The influence of solar radiation and weather conditions on ozone concentration were discussed. The frequency of ozone concentration less than 200 microg/m3 is 96.88%. The ozone concentration has an obvious diurnal variation. The ozone concentration in the afternoon is higher than in the morning and in the evening. The maximum appears in June, when it is the strong solar radiation and high air-temperature. The weather conditions also influence the ozone concentration. The ozone concentration in clear day is higher than in rainy and cloudy day.

Ozone time scale decomposition and trend assessment from surface observations

Science.gov (United States)

Boleti, Eirini; Hueglin, Christoph; Takahama, Satoshi

2017-04-01

Emissions of ozone precursors have been regulated in Europe since around 1990 with control measures primarily targeting to industries and traffic. In order to understand how these measures have affected air quality, it is now important to investigate concentrations of tropospheric ozone in different types of environments, based on their NOx burden, and in different geographic regions. In this study, we analyze high quality data sets for Switzerland (NABEL network) and whole Europe (AirBase) for the last 25 years to calculate long-term trends of ozone concentrations. A sophisticated time scale decomposition method, called the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) (Huang,1998;Wu,2009), is used for decomposition of the different time scales of the variation of ozone, namely the long-term trend, seasonal and short-term variability. This allows subtraction of the seasonal pattern of ozone from the observations and estimation of long-term changes of ozone concentrations with lower uncertainty ranges compared to typical methodologies used. We observe that, despite the implementation of regulations, for most of the measurement sites ozone daily mean values have been increasing until around mid-2000s. Afterwards, we observe a decline or a leveling off in the concentrations; certainly a late effect of limitations in ozone precursor emissions. On the other hand, the peak ozone concentrations have been decreasing for almost all regions. The evolution in the trend exhibits some differences between the different types of measurement. In addition, ozone is known to be strongly affected by meteorology. In the applied approach, some of the meteorological effects are already captured by the seasonal signal and already removed in the de-seasonalized ozone time series. For adjustment of the influence of meteorology on the higher frequency ozone variation, a statistical approach based on Generalized Additive Models (GAM) (Hastie,1990;Wood,2006), which corrects for meteorological

Ozone kinetics in low-pressure discharges: vibrationally excited ozone and molecule formation on surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Marinov, Daniil; Guerra, Vasco; Guaitella, Olivier; Booth, Jean-Paul; Rousseau, Antoine

2013-10-01

A combined experimental and modeling investigation of the ozone kinetics in the afterglow of pulsed direct current discharges in oxygen is carried out. The discharge is generated in a cylindrical silica tube of radius 1 cm, with short pulse durations between 0.5 and 2 ms, pressures in the range 1-5 Torr and discharge currents ˜40-120 mA. Time-resolved absolute concentrations of ground-state atoms and ozone molecules were measured simultaneously in situ, by two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence and ultraviolet absorption, respectively. The experiments were complemented by a self-consistent model developed to interpret the results and, in particular, to evaluate the roles of vibrationally excited ozone and of ozone formation on surfaces. It is found that vibrationally excited ozone, O_3^{*} , plays an important role in the ozone kinetics, leading to a decrease in the ozone concentration and an increase in its formation time. In turn, the kinetics of O_3^{*} is strongly coupled with those of atomic oxygen and O2(a 1Δg) metastables. Ozone formation at the wall does not contribute significantly to the total ozone production under the present conditions. Upper limits for the effective heterogeneous recombination probability of O atoms into ozone are established.

Ozone kinetics in low-pressure discharges: vibrationally excited ozone and molecule formation on surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinov, Daniil; Guaitella, Olivier; Booth, Jean-Paul; Rousseau, Antoine; Guerra, Vasco

2013-01-01

A combined experimental and modeling investigation of the ozone kinetics in the afterglow of pulsed direct current discharges in oxygen is carried out. The discharge is generated in a cylindrical silica tube of radius 1 cm, with short pulse durations between 0.5 and 2 ms, pressures in the range 1–5 Torr and discharge currents ∼40–120 mA. Time-resolved absolute concentrations of ground-state atoms and ozone molecules were measured simultaneously in situ, by two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence and ultraviolet absorption, respectively. The experiments were complemented by a self-consistent model developed to interpret the results and, in particular, to evaluate the roles of vibrationally excited ozone and of ozone formation on surfaces. It is found that vibrationally excited ozone, O 3 * , plays an important role in the ozone kinetics, leading to a decrease in the ozone concentration and an increase in its formation time. In turn, the kinetics of O 3 * is strongly coupled with those of atomic oxygen and O 2 (a 1 Δ g ) metastables. Ozone formation at the wall does not contribute significantly to the total ozone production under the present conditions. Upper limits for the effective heterogeneous recombination probability of O atoms into ozone are established. (paper)

Improvement of ozone yield by a multi-discharge type ozonizer using superposition of silent discharge plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Hyun-Jig; Chun, Byung-Joon; Lee, Kwang-Sik

2004-01-01

In order to improve ozone generation, we experimentally investigated the silent discharge plasma and ozone generation characteristics of a multi-discharge type ozonizer. Ozone in a multi-discharge type ozonizer is generated by superposition of a silent discharge plasma, which is simultaneously generated in separated discharge spaces. A multi-discharge type ozonizer is composed of three different kinds of superposed silent discharge type ozonizers, depending on the method of applying power to each electrode. We observed that the discharge period of the current pulse for a multi discharge type ozonizer can be longer than that of silent discharge type ozonizer with two electrodes and one gap. Hence, ozone generation is improved up to 17185 ppm and 783 g/kwh in the case of the superposed silent discharge type ozonizer for which an AC high voltages with a 180 .deg. phase difference were applied to the internal electrode and the external electrode, respectively, with the central electrode being grounded.

Comparative Analysis of the Surface Ozone Regime Over Russia and Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Kuznetsov, G. I.; Tarasova, O. A.; Elansky, N. F.; Beloglazov, M. I.

2004-05-01

The data of the measurements of the surface ozone concentration (SOC) at several Russian cites, in TROICA expeditions, data of EMEP network as well as the results of LOTOS model application were used to compare the main characteristics of ozone spatial and temporal variability over Russia and Europe. To carry out this investigation the number of new methods of data analysis were developed and applied. Their complex application gave us possibility to separate clearly the contribution of photochemical processes having mainly periodical component (daily and seasonal). Hence more attention could be paid to the dynamical mechanism impacting SOC regime, their spatial and temporal variability including trends estimation. Spectral windowing application to the filtered database of EMEP network showed that among the different processes providing annual and shorter variability the main part (about 40% of dispersion) is governed by local and synoptical scale processes in the range of 2-7 days. At the same time the spatial distribution of these percentage contribution is non-uniform over Europe. One of the important mechanisms providing this type of variability as well as the longer ones is air transport. To study the impact of air transport the correlation fields were calculated for the transport indices using 2D NILU trajectories and SOC at EMEP network. They showed that at the Eastern border of Europe the growth of the westerlies provides not the decrease but the growth of observed SOC. This approach was use to study the features of the zonal and meridianal transport, its seasonal characteristics and annual variability. Moreover at Kislovodsk High Mountain Station the changes of the transport patters can partly explain even observed trend of SOC. Comparison of the regime at the different locations using TROICA data shows that in the most of Russian cities ozone destruction is observed. The generation of the surface ozone is only possible in the cases of combination of

Towards the retrieval of tropospheric ozone with the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mielonen, T.; De Haan, J.F.; Van Peet, J.C.A.; Eremenko, M.; Veefkind, J.P.

2015-01-01

We have assessed the sensitivity of the operational Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) ozone profile retrieval algorithm to a number of a priori and radiative transfer assumptions. We studied the effect of stray light correction, surface albedo assumptions and a priori ozone profiles on the retrieved

Comparative study of ozonized olive oil and ozonized sunflower oil

OpenAIRE

Díaz,Maritza F.; Hernández,Rebeca; Martínez,Goitybell; Vidal,Genny; Gómez,Magali; Fernández,Harold; Garcés,Rafael

2006-01-01

In this study the ozonized olive and sunflower oils are chemical and microbiologically compared. These oils were introduced into a reactor with bubbling ozone gas in a water bath at room temperature until they were solidified. The peroxide, acidity and iodine values along with antimicrobial activity were determined. Ozonization effects on the fatty acid composition of these oils were analyzed using Gas-Liquid Chromatographic Technique. An increase in peroxidation and acidity values was observ...

Effects of ozone-vegetation coupling on surface ozone air quality via biogeochemical and meteorological feedbacks

Science.gov (United States)

Sadiq, Mehliyar; Tai, Amos P. K.; Lombardozzi, Danica; Martin, Maria Val

2017-02-01

Tropospheric ozone is one of the most hazardous air pollutants as it harms both human health and plant productivity. Foliage uptake of ozone via dry deposition damages photosynthesis and causes stomatal closure. These foliage changes could lead to a cascade of biogeochemical and biogeophysical effects that not only modulate the carbon cycle, regional hydrometeorology and climate, but also cause feedbacks onto surface ozone concentration itself. In this study, we implement a semi-empirical parameterization of ozone damage on vegetation in the Community Earth System Model to enable online ozone-vegetation coupling, so that for the first time ecosystem structure and ozone concentration can coevolve in fully coupled land-atmosphere simulations. With ozone-vegetation coupling, present-day surface ozone is simulated to be higher by up to 4-6 ppbv over Europe, North America and China. Reduced dry deposition velocity following ozone damage contributes to ˜ 40-100 % of those increases, constituting a significant positive biogeochemical feedback on ozone air quality. Enhanced biogenic isoprene emission is found to contribute to most of the remaining increases, and is driven mainly by higher vegetation temperature that results from lower transpiration rate. This isoprene-driven pathway represents an indirect, positive meteorological feedback. The reduction in both dry deposition and transpiration is mostly associated with reduced stomatal conductance following ozone damage, whereas the modification of photosynthesis and further changes in ecosystem productivity are found to play a smaller role in contributing to the ozone-vegetation feedbacks. Our results highlight the need to consider two-way ozone-vegetation coupling in Earth system models to derive a more complete understanding and yield more reliable future predictions of ozone air quality.

Locating and classification of structure-borne sound occurrence using wavelet transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winterstein, Martin; Thurnreiter, Martina

2011-01-01

For the surveillance of nuclear facilities with respect to detached or loose parts within the pressure boundary structure-borne sound detector systems are used. The impact of loose parts on the wall causes energy transfer to the wall that is measured a so called singular sound event. The run-time differences of sound signals allow a rough locating of the loose part. The authors performed a finite element based simulation of structure-borne sound measurements using real geometries. New knowledge on sound wave propagation, signal analysis and processing, neuronal networks or hidden Markov models were considered. Using the wavelet transformation it is possible to improve the localization of structure-borne sound events.

The influence of south Foehn on the ozone distribution in the Alpine Rhine valley - results from the MAP field phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baumann, K.; Maurer, H.; Rau, G. [Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, Vienna (AT)] (and others)

2001-07-01

During the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) special observation period (SOP) between 7 September and 15 November 1999, ground-based and airborne measurements have been conducted in the Rhine valley south of the Lake of Constance to investigate the unstationary aspects of Foehn and related phenomena, like the impact of Foehn on the ozone concentrations in the valley. Foehn events occurred with above-average frequency and high diversity. Foehn induced ozone peaks in October and November are found to be much lower than the September Foehn case of the period. An inversion layer in the lake area with ozone concentrations below 10ppb often shields the monitoring stations from the Foehn air aloft. Trajectory calculations for the Foehn period between 19 and 24 October 1999 reveal that the Foehn air originated from below 1 to 1.5km above the Po Basin and the Mediterranean Sea. Tethered balloon soundings in the source area south of the Alps, ozone measurements at the mountain station Jungfraujoch (3580m a.s.l.) and airborne measurements across the Alpine crests reveal that the ozone levels found in the Foehn air correspond to the concentrations just above the mixing height in the Po Basin and are transported across the Alpine crest within the lowest flow layer. (author)

Estonian total ozone climatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Eerme

Full Text Available The climatological characteristics of total ozone over Estonia based on the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS data are discussed. The mean annual cycle during 1979–2000 for the site at 58.3° N and 26.5° E is compiled. The available ground-level data interpolated before TOMS, have been used for trend detection. During the last two decades, the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO corrected systematic decrease of total ozone from February–April was 3 ± 2.6% per decade. Before 1980, a spring decrease was not detectable. No decreasing trend was found in either the late autumn ozone minimum or in the summer total ozone. The QBO related signal in the spring total ozone has an amplitude of ± 20 DU and phase lag of 20 months. Between 1987–1992, the lagged covariance between the Singapore wind and the studied total ozone was weak. The spring (April–May and summer (June–August total ozone have the best correlation (coefficient 0.7 in the yearly cycle. The correlation between the May and August total ozone is higher than the one between the other summer months. Seasonal power spectra of the total ozone variance show preferred periods with an over 95% significance level. Since 1986, during the winter/spring, the contribution period of 32 days prevails instead of the earlier dominating 26 days. The spectral densities of the periods from 4 days to 2 weeks exhibit high interannual variability.

Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (middle atmosphere – composition and chemistry; volcanic effects – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology

Seasonal Changes in Tropospheric Ozone Concentrations over South Korea and Its Link to Ozone Precursors

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, H. C.; Moon, B. K.; Wie, J.

2017-12-01

Concentration of tropospheric ozone over South Korea has steadily been on the rise in the last decades, mainly due to rapid industrializing and urbanizing in the Eastern Asia. To identify the characteristics of tropospheric ozone in South Korea, we fitted a sine function to the surface ozone concentration data from 2005 to 2014. Based on fitted sine curves, we analyzed the shifts in the dates on which ozone concentration reached its peak in the calendar year. Ozone monitoring sites can be classified into type types: where the highest annual ozone concentration kept occurring sooner (Esites) and those that kept occurring later (Lsites). The seasonal analysis shows that the surface ozone had increased more rapidly in Esites than in Lsites in the past decade during springtime and vice-versa during summertime. We tried to find the reason for the different seasonal trends with the relationship between ozone and ozone precursors. As a result, it was found that the changes in the ground-level ozone concentration in the spring and summer times are considerably influenced by changes in nitrogen dioxide concentration, and this is closely linked to the destruction (production) process of ozone by nitrogen dioxide in spring (summer). The link between tropospheric ozone and nitrogen dioxide discussed in this study will have to be thoroughly examined through climate-chemistry modeling in the future. Acknowledgements This research was supported by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) as "Climate Change Correspondence Program."

Dobson spectrophotometer ozone measurements during international ozone rocketsonde intercomparison

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, C. L.

1980-01-01

Measurements of the total ozone content of the atmosphere, made with seven ground based instruments at a site near Wallops Island, Virginia, are discussed in terms for serving as control values with which the rocketborne sensor data products can be compared. These products are profiles of O3 concentration with altitude. By integrating over the range of altitudes from the surface to the rocket apogee and by appropriately estimating the residual ozone amount from apogee to the top of the atmosphere, a total ozone amount can be computed from the profiles that can be directly compared with the ground based instrumentation results. Dobson spectrophotometers were used for two of the ground-based instruments. Preliminary data collected during the IORI from Dobson spectrophotometers 72 and 38 are presented. The agreement between the two and the variability of total ozone overburden through the experiment period are discussed.

Ozone Transport Aloft Drives Surface Ozone Maxima Across the Mojave Desert

Science.gov (United States)

VanCuren, R. A.

2014-12-01

A persistent layer of polluted air in the lower free troposphere over the Mojave Desert (California and Nevada) drives spring and summer surface ozone maxima as deep afternoon mixing delivers ozone and ozone precursors to surface measurement sites 200 km or more downwind of the mountains that separate the deserts from the heavily populated coastal areas of California. Pollutants in this elevated layer derive from California source regions (the Los Angeles megacity region and the intensive agricultural region of the San Joaquin Valley), and from long-range transport from Asia. Recognition of this poorly studied persistent layer explains and expands the significance of previously published reports of ozone and other pollutants observed in and over the Mojave Desert, resolves an apparent paradox in the timing of ozone peaks due to transport from the upwind basins, and provides a new perspective on the long-range downwind impacts of megacity pollution plumes.

Why do Models Overestimate Surface Ozone in the Southeastern United States?

Science.gov (United States)

Travis, Katherine R.; Jacob, Daniel J.; Fisher, Jenny A.; Kim, Patrick S.; Marais, Eloise A.; Zhu, Lei; Yu, Karen; Miller, Christopher C.; Yantosca, Robert M.; Sulprizio, Melissa P.; Thompson, Anne M.; Wennberg, Paul O.; Crounse, John D.; St Clair, Jason M.; Cohen, Ronald C.; Laughner, Joshua L.; Dibb, Jack E.; Hall, Samuel R.; Ullmann, Kirk; Wolfe, Glenn M.; Pollack, Illana B.; Peischl, Jeff; Neuman, Jonathan A.; Zhou, Xianliang

2018-01-01

Ozone pollution in the Southeast US involves complex chemistry driven by emissions of anthropogenic nitrogen oxide radicals (NOx ≡ NO + NO2) and biogenic isoprene. Model estimates of surface ozone concentrations tend to be biased high in the region and this is of concern for designing effective emission control strategies to meet air quality standards. We use detailed chemical observations from the SEAC4RS aircraft campaign in August and September 2013, interpreted with the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model at 0.25°×0.3125° horizontal resolution, to better understand the factors controlling surface ozone in the Southeast US. We find that the National Emission Inventory (NEI) for NOx from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is too high. This finding is based on SEAC4RS observations of NOx and its oxidation products, surface network observations of nitrate wet deposition fluxes, and OMI satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 columns. Our results indicate that NEI NOx emissions from mobile and industrial sources must be reduced by 30–60%, dependent on the assumption of the contribution by soil NOx emissions. Upper tropospheric NO2 from lightning makes a large contribution to satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 that must be accounted for when using these data to estimate surface NOx emissions. We find that only half of isoprene oxidation proceeds by the high-NOx pathway to produce ozone; this fraction is only moderately sensitive to changes in NOx emissions because isoprene and NOx emissions are spatially segregated. GEOS-Chem with reduced NOx emissions provides an unbiased simulation of ozone observations from the aircraft, and reproduces the observed ozone production efficiency in the boundary layer as derived from a regression of ozone and NOx oxidation products. However, the model is still biased high by 8±13 ppb relative to observed surface ozone in the Southeast US. Ozonesondes launched during midday hours show a 7 ppb ozone decrease

Why do models overestimate surface ozone in the Southeast United States?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. R. Travis

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Ozone pollution in the Southeast US involves complex chemistry driven by emissions of anthropogenic nitrogen oxide radicals (NOx  ≡  NO + NO2 and biogenic isoprene. Model estimates of surface ozone concentrations tend to be biased high in the region and this is of concern for designing effective emission control strategies to meet air quality standards. We use detailed chemical observations from the SEAC4RS aircraft campaign in August and September 2013, interpreted with the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model at 0.25°  ×  0.3125° horizontal resolution, to better understand the factors controlling surface ozone in the Southeast US. We find that the National Emission Inventory (NEI for NOx from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA is too high. This finding is based on SEAC4RS observations of NOx and its oxidation products, surface network observations of nitrate wet deposition fluxes, and OMI satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 columns. Our results indicate that NEI NOx emissions from mobile and industrial sources must be reduced by 30–60 %, dependent on the assumption of the contribution by soil NOx emissions. Upper-tropospheric NO2 from lightning makes a large contribution to satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 that must be accounted for when using these data to estimate surface NOx emissions. We find that only half of isoprene oxidation proceeds by the high-NOx pathway to produce ozone; this fraction is only moderately sensitive to changes in NOx emissions because isoprene and NOx emissions are spatially segregated. GEOS-Chem with reduced NOx emissions provides an unbiased simulation of ozone observations from the aircraft and reproduces the observed ozone production efficiency in the boundary layer as derived from a regression of ozone and NOx oxidation products. However, the model is still biased high by 6 ± 14 ppb relative to observed surface ozone in the Southeast US. Ozonesondes

Why do Models Overestimate Surface Ozone in the Southeastern United States?

Science.gov (United States)

Travis, Katherine R.; Jacob, Daniel J.; Fisher, Jenny A.; Kim, Patrick S.; Marais, Eloise A.; Zhu, Lei; Yu, Karen; Miller, Christopher C.; Yantosca, Robert M.; Sulprizio, Melissa P.;

Mind-wandering and alterations to default mode network connectivity when listening to naturalistic versus artificial sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould van Praag, Cassandra D; Garfinkel, Sarah N; Sparasci, Oliver; Mees, Alex; Philippides, Andrew O; Ware, Mark; Ottaviani, Cristina; Critchley, Hugo D

2017-03-27

Naturalistic environments have been demonstrated to promote relaxation and wellbeing. We assess opposing theoretical accounts for these effects through investigation of autonomic arousal and alterations of activation and functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) of the brain while participants listened to sounds from artificial and natural environments. We found no evidence for increased DMN activity in the naturalistic compared to artificial or control condition, however, seed based functional connectivity showed a shift from anterior to posterior midline functional coupling in the naturalistic condition. These changes were accompanied by an increase in peak high frequency heart rate variability, indicating an increase in parasympathetic activity in the naturalistic condition in line with the Stress Recovery Theory of nature exposure. Changes in heart rate and the peak high frequency were correlated with baseline functional connectivity within the DMN and baseline parasympathetic tone respectively, highlighting the importance of individual neural and autonomic differences in the response to nature exposure. Our findings may help explain reported health benefits of exposure to natural environments, through identification of alterations to autonomic activity and functional coupling within the DMN when listening to naturalistic sounds.

A neurally inspired musical instrument classification system based upon the sound onset.

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, Michael J; Smith, Leslie S

2012-06-01

Physiological evidence suggests that sound onset detection in the auditory system may be performed by specialized neurons as early as the cochlear nucleus. Psychoacoustic evidence shows that the sound onset can be important for the recognition of musical sounds. Here the sound onset is used in isolation to form tone descriptors for a musical instrument classification task. The task involves 2085 isolated musical tones from the McGill dataset across five instrument categories. A neurally inspired tone descriptor is created using a model of the auditory system's response to sound onset. A gammatone filterbank and spiking onset detectors, built from dynamic synapses and leaky integrate-and-fire neurons, create parallel spike trains that emphasize the sound onset. These are coded as a descriptor called the onset fingerprint. Classification uses a time-domain neural network, the echo state network. Reference strategies, based upon mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, evaluated either over the whole tone or only during the sound onset, provide context to the method. Classification success rates for the neurally-inspired method are around 75%. The cepstral methods perform between 73% and 76%. Further testing with tones from the Iowa MIS collection shows that the neurally inspired method is considerably more robust when tested with data from an unrelated dataset.

Measurement of Ozone Production Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Cazorla

2010-05-01

Full Text Available A new ambient air monitor, the Measurement of Ozone Production Sensor (MOPS, measures directly the rate of ozone production in the atmosphere. The sensor consists of two 11.3 L environmental chambers made of UV-transmitting Teflon film, a unit to convert NO₂ to O₃, and a modified ozone monitor. In the sample chamber, flowing ambient air is exposed to the sunlight so that ozone is produced just as it is in the atmosphere. In the second chamber, called the reference chamber, a UV-blocking film over the Teflon film prevents ozone formation but allows other processes to occur as they do in the sample chamber. The air flows that exit the two chambers are sampled by an ozone monitor operating in differential mode so that the difference between the two ozone signals, divided by the exposure time in the chambers, gives the ozone production rate. High-efficiency conversion of NO₂ to O₃ prior to detection in the ozone monitor accounts for differences in the NO_x photostationary state that can occur in the two chambers. The MOPS measures the ozone production rate, but with the addition of NO to the sampled air flow, the MOPS can be used to study the sensitivity of ozone production to NO. Preliminary studies with the MOPS on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University show the potential of this new technique.

Source attribution of tropospheric ozone

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, T. M.

2015-12-01

Tropospheric ozone is a harmful pollutant with adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. As well as these effects, tropospheric ozone is also a powerful greenhouse gas, with an anthropogenic radiative forcing one quarter of that of CO2. Along with methane and atmospheric aerosol, tropospheric ozone belongs to the so-called Short Lived Climate forcing Pollutants, or SLCP. Recent work has shown that efforts to reduce concentrations of SLCP in the atmosphere have the potential to slow the rate of near-term climate change, while simultaneously improving public health and reducing crop losses. Unlike many other SLCP, tropospehric ozone is not directly emitted, but is instead influenced by two distinct sources: transport of air from the ozone-rich stratosphere; and photochemical production in the troposphere from the emitted precursors NOx (oxides of nitrogen), CO (Carbon Monoxide), and VOC (volatile organic compounds, including methane). Better understanding of the relationship between ozone production and the emissions of its precursors is essential for the development of targeted emission reduction strategies. Several modeling methods have been employed to relate the production of tropospheric ozone to emissions of its precursors; emissions perturbation, tagging, and adjoint sensitivity methods all deliver complementary information about modelled ozone production. Most studies using tagging methods have focused on attribution of tropospheric ozone production to emissions of NOx, even though perturbation methods have suggested that tropospheric ozone is also sensitive to VOC, particularly methane. In this study we describe the implementation into a global chemistry-climate model of a scheme for tagging emissions of NOx and VOC with an arbitrary number of labels, which are followed through the chemical reactions of tropospheric ozone production in order to perform attribution of tropospehric ozone to its emitted precursors. Attribution is performed to both

The ozone backlash

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taubes, G.

1993-01-01

While evidence for the role of chlorofluorocarbons in ozone depletion grows stronger, researchers have recently been subjected to vocal public criticism of their theories-and their motives. Their understanding of the mechanisms of ozone destruction-especially the annual ozone hole that appears in the Antarctic-has grown stronger, yet everywhere they go these days, they seem to be confronted by critics attacking their theories as baseless. For instance, Rush Limbaugh, the conservative political talk-show host and now-best-selling author of The Way Things Ought to Be, regularly insists that the theory of ozone depletion by CFCs is a hoax: bladerdash and poppycock. Zoologist Dixy Lee Ray, former governor of the state of Washington and former head of the Atomic Energy Commission, makes the same argument in her book, Trashing the Planet. The Wall Street Journal and National Review have run commentaries by S. Fred Singer, a former chief scientists for the Department of Transportation, purporting to shoot holes in the theory of ozone depletion. Even the June issue of Omni, a magazine with a circulation of more than 1 million that publishes a mixture of science and science fiction, printed a feature article claiming to expose ozone research as a politically motivated scam

Regionalization based on spatial and seasonal variation in ground-level ozone concentrations across China.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Linjun; Wang, Shuai; Gong, Zhengyu; Li, Hong; Yang, Qi; Wang, Yeyao

2018-05-01

Owing to the vast territory of China and strong regional characteristic of ozone pollution, it's desirable for policy makers to have a targeted and prioritized regulation and ozone pollution control strategy in China based on scientific evidences. It's important to assess its current pollution status as well as spatial and temporal variation patterns across China. Recent advances of national monitoring networks provide an opportunity to insight the actions of ozone pollution. Here, we present rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis that was used on studying the spatiotemporal characteristics of daily ozone concentrations. Based on results of REOF analysis in pollution seasons for 3years' observations, twelve regions with clear patterns were identified in China. The patterns of temporal variation of ozone in each region were separated well and different from each other, reflecting local meteorological, photochemical or pollution features. A rising trend in annual averaged Eight-hour Average Ozone Concentrations (O 3 -8hr) from 2014 to 2016 was observed for all regions, except for the Tibetan Plateau. The mean values of annual and 90 percentile concentrations for all 338 cities were 82.6±14.6 and 133.9±25.8μg/m 3 , respectively, in 2015. The regionalization results of ozone were found to be influenced greatly by terrain features, indicating significant terrain and landform effects on ozone spatial correlations. Among 12 regions, North China Plain, Huanghuai Plain, Central Yangtze River Plain, Pearl River Delta and Sichuan Basin were realized as priority regions for mitigation strategies, due to their higher ozone concentrations and dense population. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Evaluation of Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) ozone profiles from nine different algorithms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, Y.J.; Swart, D.P.J.; Baier, F.; Bhartia, P.K.; Bodeker, G.E.; Casadio, S.; Chance, K.; Frate, Del F.; Erbertseder, T.; Felder, M.D.; Flynn, L.E.; Godin-Beekmann, S.; Hansen, G.; Hasekamp, O.P.; Kaifel, A.; Kelder, H.M.; Kerridge, B.J.; Lambert, J.-C.; Landgraf, J.; Latter, B.G.; Liu, X.; McDermid, I.S.; Pachepsky, Y.; Rozanov, V.; Siddans, R.; Tellmann, S.; A, van der R.J.; Oss, van R.F.; Weber, M.; Zehner, C.

2006-01-01

An evaluation is made of ozone profiles retrieved from measurements of the nadir-viewing Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) instrument. Currently, four different approaches are used to retrieve ozone profile information from GOME measurements, which differ in the use of external information

Intelligent Systems Approaches to Product Sound Quality Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Pietila, Glenn M.

As a product market becomes more competitive, consumers become more discriminating in the way in which they differentiate between engineered products. The consumer often makes a purchasing decision based on the sound emitted from the product during operation by using the sound to judge quality or annoyance. Therefore, in recent years, many sound quality analysis tools have been developed to evaluate the consumer preference as it relates to a product sound and to quantify this preference based on objective measurements. This understanding can be used to direct a product design process in order to help differentiate the product from competitive products or to establish an impression on consumers regarding a product's quality or robustness. The sound quality process is typically a statistical tool that is used to model subjective preference, or merit score, based on objective measurements, or metrics. In this way, new product developments can be evaluated in an objective manner without the laborious process of gathering a sample population of consumers for subjective studies each time. The most common model used today is the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), although recently non-linear Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approaches are gaining popularity. This dissertation will review publicly available published literature and present additional intelligent systems approaches that can be used to improve on the current sound quality process. The focus of this work is to address shortcomings in the current paired comparison approach to sound quality analysis. This research will propose a framework for an adaptive jury analysis approach as an alternative to the current Bradley-Terry model. The adaptive jury framework uses statistical hypothesis testing to focus on sound pairings that are most interesting and is expected to address some of the restrictions required by the Bradley-Terry model. It will also provide a more amicable framework for an intelligent systems approach

Ozone: The secret greenhouse gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berntsen, Terje; Tjernshaugen, Andreas

2001-01-01

The atmospheric ozone not only protects against harmful ultraviolet radiation; it also contributes to the greenhouse effect. Ozone is one of the jokers to make it difficult to calculate the climatic effect of anthropogenic emissions. The greenhouse effect and the ozone layer should not be confused. The greenhouse effect creates problems when it becomes enhanced, so that the earth becomes warmer. The problem with the ozone layer, on the contrary, is that it becomes thinner and so more of the harmful ultraviolet radiation gets through to the earth. However, ozone is also a greenhouse gas and so the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer are connected

Sound and recording applications and theory

CERN Document Server

Rumsey, Francis

2014-01-01

Providing vital reading for audio students and trainee engineers, this guide is ideal for anyone who wants a solid grounding in both theory and industry practices in audio, sound and recording. There are many books on the market covering ""how to work it"" when it comes to audio equipment-but Sound and Recording isn't one of them. Instead, you'll gain an understanding of ""how it works"" with this approachable guide to audio systems.New to this edition:Digital audio section revised substantially to include the latest developments in audio networking (e.g. RAVENNA, AES X-192, AVB), high-resolut

Foley Sounds vs Real Sounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trento, Stefano; Götzen, Amalia De

2011-01-01

This paper is an initial attempt to study the world of sound effects for motion pictures, also known as Foley sounds. Throughout several audio and audio-video tests we have compared both Foley and real sounds originated by an identical action. The main purpose was to evaluate if sound effects...

Ground Level Ozone Peak Forecast using Neural Networks and Kalman Filter

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelikán, Emil; Eben, Kryštof; Vondráček, Jiří; Krejčíř, Pavel; Keder, J.

2000-01-01

Roč. 3, č. 2 (2000), s. 3-8 ISSN 1335-339X Grant - others:APPETISE(XE) IST-99-11764; MŽP ČR(CZ) ZZ520/2/97; MŠMT ČR(CZ) VS96008 Institutional research plan: AV0Z1030915 Keywords : ozone forecast * neural classifications * Kalman filter * genetic algorithms * Kohonen maps * Czech Republic Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research

Ozone therapy in periodontics.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, G; Mansi, B

2012-02-22

Gingival and Periodontal diseases represent a major concern both in dentistry and medicine. The majority of the contributing factors and causes in the etiology of these diseases are reduced or treated with ozone in all its application forms (gas, water, oil). The beneficial biological effects of ozone, its anti-microbial activity, oxidation of bio-molecules precursors and microbial toxins implicated in periodontal diseases and its healing and tissue regeneration properties, make the use of ozone well indicated in all stages of gingival and periodontal diseases. The primary objective of this article is to provide a general review about the clinical applications of ozone in periodontics. The secondary objective is to summarize the available in vitro and in vivo studies in Periodontics in which ozone has been used. This objective would be of importance to future researchers in terms of what has been tried and what the potentials are for the clinical application of ozone in Periodontics.

OZONE ABSORPTION IN RAW WATERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LJILJANA TAKIĆ

2008-03-01

Full Text Available The ozone absorption in raw water entering the main ozonization step at the Belgrade drinking water supply plant was investigated in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR. A slow chemical reaction rate of dissolved ozone and pollutants present in raw water have been experimentally determined. The modified Hatta number was defined and calculated as a criterion which determines whether and to which extent the reactions of ozone and pollutants influence the rate of the pure physical ozone absorption.

Influence of the ozone profile above Madrid (Spain) on Brewer estimation of ozone air mass factor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anton, M. [Univ. de Extremadura, Badajoz (Spain). Dept. de Fisica; Evora Univ. (PT). Goephysics Centre of Evora (CGE); Lopez, M.; Banon, M. [Agenica Estatal de Meteorologia (AEMET), Madrid (Spain); Costa, M.J.; Silva, A.M. [Evora Univ. (PT). Goephysics Centre of Evora (CGE); Evora Univ. (Portugal). Dept. of Physics; Serrano, A. [Univ. de Extremadura, Badajoz (Spain). Dept. de Fisica; Bortoli, D. [Evora Univ. (PT). Goephysics Centre of Evora (CGE); Vilaplana, J.M. [Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Huelva (Spain). Estacion de Sondeos Atmosferico ' ' El Arenosillo' '

2009-07-01

The methodology used by Brewer spectroradiometers to estimate the ozone column is based on differential absorption spectroscopy. This methodology employs the ozone air mass factor (AMF) to derive the total ozone column from the slant path ozone amount. For the calculating the ozone AMF, the Brewer algorithm assumes that the ozone layer is located at a fixed height of 22 km. However, for a real specific site the ozone presents a certain profile, which varies spatially and temporally depending on the latitude, altitude and dynamical conditions of the atmosphere above the site of measurements. In this sense, this work address the reliability of the mentioned assumption and analyses the influence of the ozone profiles measured above Madrid (Spain) in the ozone AMF calculations. The approximated ozone AMF used by the Brewer algorithm is compared with simulations obtained using the libRadtran radiative transfer model code. The results show an excellent agreement between the simulated and the approximated AMF values for solar zenith angle lower than 75 . In addition, the relative differences remain lower than 2% at 85 . These good results are mainly due to the fact that the altitude of the ozone layer assumed constant by the Brewer algorithm for all latitudes notably can be considered representative of the real profile of ozone above Madrid (average value of 21.7{+-}1.8 km). The operational ozone AMF calculations for Brewer instruments are limited, in general, to SZA below 80 . Extending the usable SZA range is especially relevant for Brewer instruments located at high mid-latitudes. (orig.)

78 FR 13869 - Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-01

...-123-LNG; 12-128-NG; 12-148-NG; 12- 158-NG] Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; CE FLNG, LLC; Consolidated...-NG Puget Sound Energy, Inc Order granting long- term authority to import/export natural gas from/to...

Machine learning analysis of binaural rowing sounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johard, Leonard; Ruffaldi, Emanuele; Hoffmann, Pablo F.

2011-01-01

Techniques for machine hearing are increasing their potentiality due to new application domains. In this work we are addressing the analysis of rowing sounds in natural context for the purpose of supporting a training system based on virtual environments. This paper presents the acquisition metho...... methodology and the evaluation of different machine learning techniques for classifying rowing-sound data. We see that a combination of principal component analysis and shallow networks perform equally well as deep architectures, while being much faster to train.......Techniques for machine hearing are increasing their potentiality due to new application domains. In this work we are addressing the analysis of rowing sounds in natural context for the purpose of supporting a training system based on virtual environments. This paper presents the acquisition...

An investigation of ozone and planetary boundary layer dynamics over the complex topography of Grenoble combining measurements and modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Couach

2003-01-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns an evaluation of ozone (O3 and planetary boundary layer (PBL dynamics over the complex topography of the Grenoble region through a combination of measurements and mesoscale model (METPHOMOD predictions for three days, during July 1999. The measurements of O3 and PBL structure were obtained with a Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL system, situated 20 km south of Grenoble at Vif (310 m ASL. The combined lidar observations and model calculations are in good agreement with atmospheric measurements obtained with an instrumented aircraft (METAIR. Ozone fluxes were calculated using lidar measurements of ozone vertical profiles concentrations and the horizontal wind speeds measured with a Radar Doppler wind profiler (DEGREANE. The ozone flux patterns indicate that the diurnal cycle of ozone production is controlled by local thermal winds. The convective PBL maximum height was some 2700 m above the land surface while the nighttime residual ozone layer was generally found between 1200 and 2200 m. Finally we evaluate the magnitude of the ozone processes at different altitudes in order to estimate the photochemical ozone production due to the primary pollutants emissions of Grenoble city and the regional network of automobile traffic.

Evaluation of ozone profile and tropospheric ozone retrievals from GEMS and OMI spectra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Bak

2013-02-01

Full Text Available South Korea is planning to launch the GEMS (Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer instrument into the GeoKOMPSAT (Geostationary Korea Multi-Purpose SATellite platform in 2018 to monitor tropospheric air pollutants on an hourly basis over East Asia. GEMS will measure backscattered UV radiances covering the 300–500 nm wavelength range with a spectral resolution of 0.6 nm. The main objective of this study is to evaluate ozone profiles and stratospheric column ozone amounts retrieved from simulated GEMS measurements. Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI Level 1B radiances, which have the spectral range 270–500 nm at spectral resolution of 0.42–0.63 nm, are used to simulate the GEMS radiances. An optimal estimation-based ozone profile algorithm is used to retrieve ozone profiles from simulated GEMS radiances. Firstly, we compare the retrieval characteristics (including averaging kernels, degrees of freedom for signal, and retrieval error derived from the 270–330 nm (OMI and 300–330 nm (GEMS wavelength ranges. This comparison shows that the effect of not using measurements below 300 nm on retrieval characteristics in the troposphere is insignificant. However, the stratospheric ozone information in terms of DFS decreases greatly from OMI to GEMS, by a factor of ∼2. The number of the independent pieces of information available from GEMS measurements is estimated to 3 on average in the stratosphere, with associated retrieval errors of ~1% in stratospheric column ozone. The difference between OMI and GEMS retrieval characteristics is apparent for retrieving ozone layers above ~20 km, with a reduction in the sensitivity and an increase in the retrieval errors for GEMS. We further investigate whether GEMS can resolve the stratospheric ozone variation observed from high vertical resolution Earth Observing System (EOS Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS. The differences in stratospheric ozone profiles between GEMS and MLS are comparable to those

Ozone as an air pollutant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berg, Rolf W.

1996-01-01

A Danish new book on ozone as an air pollutant has been reviewed. The Book is "Ozon som luftforurening" by Jes Fenger, Published by "Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser, 1995.......A Danish new book on ozone as an air pollutant has been reviewed. The Book is "Ozon som luftforurening" by Jes Fenger, Published by "Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser, 1995....

Determination of the Optimum Ozone Product on the Plasma Ozonizer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agus Purwadi; Widdi Usada; Suryadi; Isyuniarto; Sri Sukmajaya

2002-01-01

An experiment of the optimum ozone product determination on the cylindrical plasma ozonizer has been done. The experiment is carried out by using alternating high voltage power supply, oscilloscope CS-1577 A, flow meter and spectronik-20 instrument for the absorbance solution samples which produced by varying the physics parameter values of the discharge alternating high voltage and velocity of oxygen gas input. The plasma ozonizer is made of cylinder stainless steel as the electrode and cylinder glass as the dielectric with 1.00 mm of the discharge gap and 7.225 mm 3 of the discharge tube volume. The experiment results shows that the optimum ozone product is 0.360 mg/s obtained at the the discharge of alternating high voltage of 25.50 kV, the frequency of 1.00 kHz and the rate of oxygen gas input of 1.00 lpm. (author)

Tropospheric Ozone Pollution from Space: New Views from the TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Anne M.; Hudson, Robert D.; Frolov, Alexander D.; Witte, Jacquelyn C.; Kucsera, Tom L.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

New products from the TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) >satellite instrument can resolve pollution events in tropical and mid-latitudes, Over the past several years, we have developed tropospheric ozone data sets by two methods. The modified-residual technique [Hudson and Thompson, 1998; Thompson and Hudson, 1999] uses v. 7 TOMS total ozone and is applicable to tropical regimes in which the wave-one pattern in total ozone is observed. The TOMSdirect method [Hudson et at., 2000] represents a new algorithm that uses TOMS radiances to extract tropospheric ozone in regions of constant stratospheric ozone and tropospheric ozone displaying high mixing ratios and variability characteristic of pollution, Absorbing aerosols (dust and smoke; Herman et at., 1997 Hsu et al., 1999), a standard TOMS product, provide transport and/or source marker information to interpret tropospheric ozone. For the Nimbus 7/TOMS observing period (1979-1992), modified-residual TTO (tropical tropospheric ozone) appears as two maps/month at I-degree latitude 2-degree longitude resolution at a homepage and digital data are available (20S to 20N) by ftp at http://metosrv2. umd.edu/tropo/ 14y_data.d. Preliminary modified-residual TTO data from the operational Earth-Probe/TOMS (1996- present) are posted in near-real-time at the same website. Analyses with the new tropospheric ozone and aerosol data are illustrated by the following (I)Signals in tropical tropospheric ozone column and smoke amount during ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) events, e.g. 1982-1983 and the intense ENSO induced biomass fires of 1997-1998 over the Indonesian region [Thompson et a[, 2000a, Thompson and Hudson, 1999]. (2) Trends in tropospheric ozone and smoke aerosols in various tropical regions (Atlantic, Pacific, Africa, Brazil). No significant trends were found for ozone from1980-1990 [Thompson and Hudson, 19991 although smoke aerosols increased during the period [Hsu et al.,1999]. (3) Temporal and spatial offsets

Analysis of Respiratory Sounds: State of the Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Reichert

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Objective This paper describes state of the art, scientific publications and ongoing research related to the methods of analysis of respiratory sounds. Methods and material Review of the current medical and technological literature using Pubmed and personal experience. Results The study includes a description of the various techniques that are being used to collect auscultation sounds, a physical description of known pathologic sounds for which automatic detection tools were developed. Modern tools are based on artificial intelligence and on technics such as artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems, and genetic algorithms… Conclusion The next step will consist in finding new markers so as to increase the efficiency of decision aid algorithms and tools.

Quantifying the contributions to stratospheric ozone changes from ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. A. Plummer

2010-09-01

Full Text Available A state-of-the-art chemistry climate model coupled to a three-dimensional ocean model is used to produce three experiments, all seamlessly covering the period 1950–2100, forced by different combinations of long-lived Greenhouse Gases (GHGs and Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs. The experiments are designed to quantify the separate effects of GHGs and ODSs on the evolution of ozone, as well as the extent to which these effects are independent of each other, by alternately holding one set of these two forcings constant in combination with a third experiment where both ODSs and GHGs vary. We estimate that up to the year 2000 the net decrease in the column amount of ozone above 20 hPa is approximately 75% of the decrease that can be attributed to ODSs due to the offsetting effects of cooling by increased CO₂. Over the 21st century, as ODSs decrease, continued cooling from CO₂ is projected to account for more than 50% of the projected increase in ozone above 20 hPa. Changes in ozone below 20 hPa show a redistribution of ozone from tropical to extra-tropical latitudes with an increase in the Brewer-Dobson circulation. In addition to a latitudinal redistribution of ozone, we find that the globally averaged column amount of ozone below 20 hPa decreases over the 21st century, which significantly mitigates the effect of upper stratospheric cooling on total column ozone. Analysis by linear regression shows that the recovery of ozone from the effects of ODSs generally follows the decline in reactive chlorine and bromine levels, with the exception of the lower polar stratosphere where recovery of ozone in the second half of the 21st century is slower than would be indicated by the decline in reactive chlorine and bromine concentrations. These results also reveal the degree to which GHG-related effects mute the chemical effects of N₂O on ozone in the standard future scenario used for the WMO Ozone Assessment. Increases in the

Why are models unable to reproduce multi-decadal trends in lower tropospheric baseline ozone levels?

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, L.; Liu, J.; Mickley, L. J.; Strahan, S. E.; Steenrod, S.

2017-12-01

Assessments of tropospheric ozone radiative forcing rely on accurate model simulations. Parrish et al (2014) found that three chemistry-climate models (CCMs) overestimate present-day O3 mixing ratios and capture only 50% of the observed O3 increase over the last five decades at 12 baseline sites in the northern mid-latitudes, indicating large uncertainties in our understanding of the ozone trends and their implications for radiative forcing. Here we present comparisons of outputs from two chemical transport models (CTMs) - GEOS-Chem and the Global Modeling Initiative model - with O3 observations from the same sites and from the global ozonesonde network. Both CTMs are driven by reanalysis meteorological data (MERRA or MERRA2) and thus are expected to be different in atmospheric transport processes relative to those freely running CCMs. We test whether recent model developments leading to more active ozone chemistry affect the computed ozone sensitivity to perturbations in emissions. Preliminary results suggest these CTMs can reproduce present-day ozone levels but fail to capture the multi-decadal trend since 1980. Both models yield widespread overpredictions of free tropospheric ozone in the 1980s. Sensitivity studies in GEOS-Chem suggest that the model estimate of natural background ozone is too high. We discuss factors that contribute to the variability and trends of tropospheric ozone over the last 30 years, with a focus on intermodel differences in spatial resolution and in the representation of stratospheric chemistry, stratosphere-troposphere exchange, halogen chemistry, and biogenic VOC emissions and chemistry. We also discuss uncertainty in the historical emission inventories used in models, and how these affect the simulated ozone trends.

Sound for Health

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2016-01-01

From astronomy to biomedical sciences: music and sound as tools for scientific investigation Music and science are probably two of the most intrinsically linked disciplines in the spectrum of human knowledge. Science and technology have revolutionised the way artists work, interact, and create. The impact of innovative materials, new communication media, more powerful computers, and faster networks on the creative process is evident: we all can become artists in the digital era. What is less known, is that arts, and music in particular, are having a profound impact the way scientists operate, and think. From the early experiments by Kepler to the modern data sonification applications in medicine – sound and music are playing an increasingly crucial role in supporting science and driving innovation. In this talk. Dr. Domenico Vicinanza will be highlighting the complementarity and the natural synergy between music and science, with specific reference to biomedical sciences. Dr. Vicinanza will take t...

Future heat waves and surface ozone

Science.gov (United States)

Meehl, Gerald A.; Tebaldi, Claudia; Tilmes, Simone; Lamarque, Jean-Francois; Bates, Susan; Pendergrass, Angeline; Lombardozzi, Danica

2018-06-01

A global Earth system model is used to study the relationship between heat waves and surface ozone levels over land areas around the world that could experience either large decreases or little change in future ozone precursor emissions. The model is driven by emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone precursors from a medium-high emission scenario (Representative Concentration Pathway 6.0–RCP6.0) and is compared to an experiment with anthropogenic ozone precursor emissions fixed at 2005 levels. With ongoing increases in greenhouse gases and corresponding increases in average temperature in both experiments, heat waves are projected to become more intense over most global land areas (greater maximum temperatures during heat waves). However, surface ozone concentrations on future heat wave days decrease proportionately more than on non-heat wave days in areas where ozone precursors are prescribed to decrease in RCP6.0 (e.g. most of North America and Europe), while surface ozone concentrations in heat waves increase in areas where ozone precursors either increase or have little change (e.g. central Asia, the Mideast, northern Africa). In the stabilized ozone precursor experiment, surface ozone concentrations increase on future heat wave days compared to non-heat wave days in most regions except in areas where there is ozone suppression that contributes to decreases in ozone in future heat waves. This is likely associated with effects of changes in isoprene emissions at high temperatures (e.g. west coast and southeastern North America, eastern Europe).

Ozone health effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Easterly, C.

1994-01-01

Ozone is a principal component of photochemical air pollution endogenous to numerous metropolitan areas. It is primarily formed by the oxidation of NOx in the presence of sunlight and reactive organic compounds. Ozone is a highly active oxidizing agent capable of causing injury to the lung. Lung injury may take the form of irritant effects on the respiratory tract that impair pulmonary function and result in subjective symptoms of respiratory discomfort. These symptoms include, but are not limited to, cough and shortness of breath, and they can limit exercise performance. The effects of ozone observed in humans have been primarily limited to alterations in respiratory function, and a range of respiratory physiological parameters have been measured as a function of ozone exposure in adults and children. These affects have been observed under widely varying (clinical experimental and environmental settings) conditions

"OZONE SOURCE APPORTIONMENT IN CMAQ' | Science ...

Science.gov (United States)

Ozone source attribution has been used to support various policy purposes including interstate transport (Cross State Air Pollution Rule) by U.S. EPA and ozone nonattainment area designations by State agencies. Common scientific applications include tracking intercontinental transport of ozone and ozone precursors and delineating anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic contribution to ozone in North America. As in the public release due in September 2013, CMAQ’s Integrated Source Apportionment Method (ISAM) attributes PM EC/OC, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, ozone and its precursors NOx and VOC, to sectors/regions of users’ interest. Although the peroxide-to-nitric acid productions ratio has been the most common indicator to distinguish NOx-limited ozone production from VOC-limited one, other indicators are implemented in addition to allowing for an ensemble decision based on a total of 9 available indicator ratios. Moreover, an alternative approach of ozone attribution based on the idea of chemical sensitivity in a linearized system that has formed the basis of chemical treatment in forward DDM/backward adjoint tools has been implemented in CMAQ. This method does not require categorization into either ozone regime. In this study, ISAM will simulate the 2010 North America ozone using all of the above gas-phase attribution methods. The results are to be compared with zero-out difference out of those sectors in the host model runs. In addition, ozone contribution wil

Advanced treatment of biotreated textile industry wastewater with ozone, virgin/ozonated granular activated carbon and their combination.

Science.gov (United States)

Arslan-Alaton, Idil; Seremet, Ozden

2004-01-01

Biotreated textile wastewater (CODo = 248 mg L(-1); TOCo = 58 mg L(-1); A620 = 0.007 cm(-1); A525 = 0.181 cm(-1); A436 = 0.198 cm(-1)) was subjected to advanced treatment with ozonation, granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption in serial and simultaneous applications. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of applied ozone dose, ozone absorption rate, specific ozone absorption efficiency, GAC dose, and reaction pH on the treatment performance of the selected tertiary treatment scheme. In separate experiments, the impact of virgin GAC ozonation on its adsorptive capacity for biotreated and biotreated + ozonated textile effluent was also investigated. Ozonation appeared to be more effective for decolorization (kd = 0.15 min(-1) at pH = 3), whereas GAC adsorption yielded higher COD removal rates (54% at pH = 3). It was also found that GAC addition (4 g/L) at pH = 7 and 9 enhanced the COD abatement rate of the ozonation process significantly and that the sequential application of ozonation (at pH = 3-11, 675 mg L(-1) O3) followed by GAC adsorption (at pH = 3-7, 10 g L(-1) GAC) resulted in the highest treatment performances both in terms of color and COD reduction. Simultaneous application of GAC and ozone at acidic and alkaline pH seriously inhibited COD abatement rates as a consequence of competitive adsorption and partial oxidation of textile components and GAC. It could also be established that ozone absorption efficiency decreased after color removal was complete. Ozonation of biotreated textile wastewater with 113 mg L(-1) ozone resulted in an appreciable enhancement of GAC adsorptive capacity in terms of residual color removal. Ozonation of GAC at relatively low doses (= 10.8 mg/g GAC) did not improve its overall adsorption capacity.

Prior Visual Experience Modulates Learning of Sound Localization Among Blind Individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Qian; Chan, Chetwyn C H; Luo, Yue-Jia; Li, Jian-Jun; Ting, Kin-Hung; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Wang, Jun; Lee, Tatia M C

2017-05-01

Cross-modal learning requires the use of information from different sensory modalities. This study investigated how the prior visual experience of late blind individuals could modulate neural processes associated with learning of sound localization. Learning was realized by standardized training on sound localization processing, and experience was investigated by comparing brain activations elicited from a sound localization task in individuals with (late blind, LB) and without (early blind, EB) prior visual experience. After the training, EB showed decreased activation in the precuneus, which was functionally connected to a limbic-multisensory network. In contrast, LB showed the increased activation of the precuneus. A subgroup of LB participants who demonstrated higher visuospatial working memory capabilities (LB-HVM) exhibited an enhanced precuneus-lingual gyrus network. This differential connectivity suggests that visuospatial working memory due to the prior visual experience gained via LB-HVM enhanced learning of sound localization. Active visuospatial navigation processes could have occurred in LB-HVM compared to the retrieval of previously bound information from long-term memory for EB. The precuneus appears to play a crucial role in learning of sound localization, disregarding prior visual experience. Prior visual experience, however, could enhance cross-modal learning by extending binding to the integration of unprocessed information, mediated by the cognitive functions that these experiences develop.

Optical remote measurement of ozone in cirrus clouds; Optische Fernmessung von Ozon in Zirruswolken

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reichardt, J. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Physikalische und Chemische Analytik

1998-12-31

The subject of this thesis is theoretical and experimental investigations into the simultaneous optical remote measurement of atmospheric ozone concentration and particle properties. A lidar system was developed that combines the Raman-lidar and the polarization-lidar with the Raman-DIAL technique. An error analysis is given for ozone measurements in clouds. It turns out that the wavelength dependencies of photon multiple scattering and of the particle extinction coefficient necessitate a correction of the measured ozone concentration. To quantify the cloud influence, model calculations based on particle size distributions of spheres are carried out. The most important experimental result of this thesis is the measured evidence of pronounced minima in the ozone distribution in a humid upper troposphere shortly before and during cirrus observation. Good correlation between ozone-depleted altitude ranges and ice clouds is found. This finding is in contrast to ozone profiles measured in a dry and cloud-free troposphere. (orig.) 151 refs.

Experimental study of ozone synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garamoon, A A; Elakshar, F F; Nossair, A M; Kotp, E F

2002-01-01

A silent discharge ozonizer has been constructed with a design that enables the study of ozone concentration behaviour as a function of different parameters when oxygen used as a working gas. The behaviour of ozone concentration as a function of discharge current density has four characteristic regions. The concentration is enhanced by more than threefold whenever gas pressure is reduced by a factor of two. The flow rate of the working gas is a more effective parameter on ozone concentration than the gas pressure. When the flow rate is kept constant, and the pressure is decreased by 100%, the ozone concentration increases by only 10%. On the other hand, when the flow rate is decreased by 13%, the ozone concentration increases by 200%, whenever the gas pressure is kept constant. The concentration is nearly doubled when the gap space is increased by four times under the same conditions. The length of the discharge region, the thickness and the dielectric constant of the insulating materials are found to have a considerable effect on the generated ozone concentration. Also, the ozone concentration is ten times less when air is used instead of oxygen as a working gas. A maximum efficiency of 185 g/kWh, is obtained for the present system

Ozone kinetics in low-pressure discharges

Science.gov (United States)

Guerra, Vasco; Marinov, Daniil; Guaitella, Olivier; Rousseau, Antoine

2012-10-01

Ozone kinetics is quite well established at atmospheric pressure, due to the importance of ozone in atmospheric chemistry and to the development of industrial ozone reactors. However, as the pressure is decreased and the dominant three-body reactions lose importance, the main mechanisms involved in the creation and destruction of ozone are still surrounded by important uncertainties. In this work we develop a self-consistent model for a pulsed discharge and its afterglow operating in a Pyrex reactor with inner radius 1 cm, at pressures in the range 1-5 Torr and discharge currents of 40-120 mA. The model couples the electron Boltzmann equation with a system of equations for the time evolution of the heavy particles. The calculations are compared with time-dependent measurements of ozone and atomic oxygen. Parametric studies are performed in order to clarify the role of vibrationally excited ozone in the overall kinetics and to establish the conditions where ozone production on the surface may become important. It is shown that vibrationally excited ozone does play a significant role, by increasing the time constants of ozone formation. Moreover, an upper limit for the ozone formation at the wall in these conditions is set at 10(-4).

Physicochemical patterns of ozone absorption by wood

Science.gov (United States)

Mamleeva, N. A.; Lunin, V. V.

2016-11-01

Results from studying aspen and pine wood ozonation are presented. The effect the concentration of ozone, the reagent residence time, and the content of water in a sample of wood has on ozone consumption rate and ozone demand are analyzed. The residence time is shown to determine the degree of ozone conversion degree and the depth of substrate destruction. The main patterns of ozone absorption by wood with different moisture content are found. Ways of optimizing the ozonation of plant biomass are outlined.

Environmental Sound Recognition Using Time-Frequency Intersection Patterns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuan Guo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Environmental sound recognition is an important function of robots and intelligent computer systems. In this research, we use a multistage perceptron neural network system for environmental sound recognition. The input data is a combination of time-variance pattern of instantaneous powers and frequency-variance pattern with instantaneous spectrum at the power peak, referred to as a time-frequency intersection pattern. Spectra of many environmental sounds change more slowly than those of speech or voice, so the intersectional time-frequency pattern will preserve the major features of environmental sounds but with drastically reduced data requirements. Two experiments were conducted using an original database and an open database created by the RWCP project. The recognition rate for 20 kinds of environmental sounds was 92%. The recognition rate of the new method was about 12% higher than methods using only an instantaneous spectrum. The results are also comparable with HMM-based methods, although those methods need to treat the time variance of an input vector series with more complicated computations.

Validation of MIPAS IMK/IAA V5R_O3_224 ozone profiles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Laeng

2014-11-01

Full Text Available We present the results of an extensive validation program of the most recent version of ozone vertical profiles retrieved with the IMK/IAA (Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research/Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding research level 2 processor from version 5 spectral level 1 data. The time period covered corresponds to the reduced spectral resolution period of the MIPAS instrument, i.e., January 2005–April 2012. The comparison with satellite instruments includes all post-2005 satellite limb and occultation sensors that have measured the vertical profiles of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone: ACE-FTS, GOMOS, HALOE, HIRDLS, MLS, OSIRIS, POAM, SAGE II, SCIAMACHY, SMILES, and SMR. In addition, balloon-borne MkIV solar occultation measurements and ground-based Umkehr measurements have been included, as well as two nadir sensors: IASI and SBUV. For each reference data set, bias determination and precision assessment are performed. Better agreement with reference instruments than for the previous data version, V5R_O3_220 (Laeng et al., 2014, is found: the known high bias around the ozone vmr (volume mixing ratio peak is significantly reduced and the vertical resolution at 35 km has been improved. The agreement with limb and solar occultation reference instruments that have a known small bias vs. ozonesondes is within 7% in the lower and middle stratosphere and 5% in the upper troposphere. Around the ozone vmr peak, the agreement with most of the satellite reference instruments is within 5%; this bias is as low as 3% for ACE-FTS, MLS, OSIRIS, POAM and SBUV.

Stratospheric ozone intrusion events and their impacts on tropospheric ozone in the Southern Hemisphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. W. Greenslade

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Stratosphere-to-troposphere transport (STT provides an important natural source of ozone to the upper troposphere, but the characteristics of STT events in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics and their contribution to the regional tropospheric ozone budget remain poorly constrained. Here, we develop a quantitative method to identify STT events from ozonesonde profiles. Using this method we estimate the seasonality of STT events and quantify the ozone transported across the tropopause over Davis (69° S, 2006–2013, Macquarie Island (54° S, 2004–2013, and Melbourne (38° S, 2004–2013. STT seasonality is determined by two distinct methods: a Fourier bandpass filter of the vertical ozone profile and an analysis of the Brunt–Väisälä frequency. Using a bandpass filter on 7–9 years of ozone profiles from each site provides clear detection of STT events, with maximum occurrences during summer and minimum during winter for all three sites. The majority of tropospheric ozone enhancements owing to STT events occur within 2.5 and 3 km of the tropopause at Davis and Macquarie Island respectively. Events are more spread out at Melbourne, occurring frequently up to 6 km from the tropopause. The mean fraction of total tropospheric ozone attributed to STT during STT events is  ∼ 1. 0–3. 5 % at each site; however, during individual events, over 10 % of tropospheric ozone may be directly transported from the stratosphere. The cause of STTs is determined to be largely due to synoptic low-pressure frontal systems, determined using coincident ERA-Interim reanalysis meteorological data. Ozone enhancements can also be caused by biomass burning plumes transported from Africa and South America, which are apparent during austral winter and spring and are determined using satellite measurements of CO. To provide regional context for the ozonesonde observations, we use the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, which is too coarsely

Stratospheric ozone chemistry in the Antarctic: what determines the lowest ozone values reached and their recovery?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.-U. Grooß

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Balloon-borne observations of ozone from the South Pole Station have been reported to reach ozone mixing ratios below the detection limit of about 10 ppbv at the 70 hPa level by late September. After reaching a minimum, ozone mixing ratios increase to above 1 ppmv on the 70 hPa level by late December. While the basic mechanisms causing the ozone hole have been known for more than 20 yr, the detailed chemical processes determining how low the local concentration can fall, and how it recovers from the minimum have not been explored so far. Both of these aspects are investigated here by analysing results from the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS. As ozone falls below about 0.5 ppmv, a balance is maintained by gas phase production of both HCl and HOCl followed by heterogeneous reaction between these two compounds in these simulations. Thereafter, a very rapid, irreversible chlorine deactivation into HCl can occur, either when ozone drops to values low enough for gas phase HCl production to exceed chlorine activation processes or when temperatures increase above the polar stratospheric cloud (PSC threshold. As a consequence, the timing and mixing ratio of the minimum ozone depends sensitively on model parameters, including the ozone initialisation. The subsequent ozone increase between October and December is linked mainly to photochemical ozone production, caused by oxygen photolysis and by the oxidation of carbon monoxide and methane.

Destruction of concentrated chlorofluorocarbons in India demonstrates an effective option to simultaneously curb climate change and ozone depletion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karstensen, Kåre Helge; Parlikar, Ulhas V.; Ahuja, Deepak; Sharma, Shiv; Chakraborty, Moumita A.; Maurya, Harivansh Prasad; Mallik, Mrinal; Gupta, P.K.; Kamyotra, J.S.; Bala, S.S.; Kapadia, B.V.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Chlorofluorocarbons and halons are potent ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases. • No provisions in the Montreal or in Kyoto Protocol to destroy stockpiles of concentrated CFCs. • The UNEP recommends 11 technologies for destruction of concentrated CFCs. • No studies have up to now investigated the potential of using cement kilns in developing countries. • The test demonstrated that the local Indian cement kiln was able to destroy high feeding rates of several concentrated CFC-gases effectively. - Abstract: The Montreal Protocol aims to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out production of substances that contribute to ozone depletion, currently covering over 200 individual substances. As most of these compounds are synthetic greenhouse gases, there is an opportunity to curb both ozone depletion and climate change simultaneously by requiring Parties of both the Montreal and the Kyoto Protocol to destroy their existing stocks of concentrated chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Many emerging countries still possess stocks which need to be destroyed in an environmentally sound manner but costs may be prohibitive. The UNEP Technology and Economic Assessment Panel identified in 2002 eleven destruction technologies which meet the criteria for environmentally sound destruction of chlorofluorocarbons. Cement kilns were among these, but no study has been reported in scientific literature assessing its destruction performance under real developing country conditions up to now. In contrast to incinerators and other treatment techniques, high temperature cement kilns are already in place in virtually every country and can, if found technical feasible, be retrofitted and adapted cost-efficiently to destroy chemicals like CFCs. India has the second largest cement industry in the world and several hazardous waste categories have been tested successfully in recent years. The objective of this study was to carry out the first full scale

The Development of Spelling-Sound Relationships in a Model of Phonological Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Zorzi, Marco; Houghton, George; Butterworth, Brian

1998-01-01

Developmental aspects of spelling-to-sound mapping for English monosyllabic words are investigated with a simple two-layer network model using a simple, general learning rule. The model is trained on both regularly and irregularly spelled words but extracts regular spelling to sound relationships, which it can apply to new words. Training-related…

Influence of low ozone episodes on erythemal UV-B radiation in Austria

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarz, Matthias; Baumgartner, Dietmar J.; Pietsch, Helga; Blumthaler, Mario; Weihs, Philipp; Rieder, Harald E.

2017-06-01

This study investigates the influence of low ozone episodes on UV-B radiation in Austria during the period 1999 to 2015. To this aim observations of total column ozone (TCO) in the Greater Alpine Region (Arosa, Switzerland; Hohenpeissenberg, Germany; Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic; Sonnblick, Austria), and erythemal UV-B radiation, available from 12 sites of the Austrian UV-B monitoring network, are analyzed. As previous definitions for low ozone episodes are not particularly suited to investigate effects on UV radiation, a novel threshold approach—considering anomalies—is developed to provide a joint framework for the analysis of extremes. TCO and UV extremes are negatively correlated, although modulating effects of sunshine duration impact the robustness of the statistical relationship. Therefore, information on relative sunshine duration (SDrel), available at (or nearby) UV-B monitoring sites, is included as explanatory variable in the analysis. The joint analysis of anomalies of both UV index (UVI) and total ozone (∆UVI, ∆TCO) and SDrel across sites shows that more than 65% of observations with strongly negative ozone anomalies (∆TCO 1), we find (across all sites) that about 90% correspond to negative ∆TCO. The remaining 10% of days occurred during fair weather conditions (SDrel ≥ 80%) explaining the appearance of ∆UVI > 1 despite positive TCO anomalies. Further, we introduce an anomaly amplification factor (AAF), which quantifies the expected change of the ∆UVI for a given change in ∆TCO.

Ozone Therapy in Dentistry

Science.gov (United States)

Domb, William C

2014-01-01

Summary The 21st century dental practice is quite dynamic. New treatment protocols and new materials are being developed at a rapid pace. Ozone dental therapy falls into the category of new treatment protocols in dentistry, yet ozone is not new at all. Ozone therapy is already a major treatment modality in Europe, South America and a number of other countries. What is provided here will not be an exhaustive scientific treatise so much as a brief general introduction into what dentists are now doing with ozone therapies and the numerous oral/systemic links that make this subject so important for physicians so that, ultimately, they may serve their patients more effectively and productively. PMID:25363268

Demonstration of Aerosol Property Profiling by Multiwavelength Lidar Under Varying Relative Humidity Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Veselovskii, I.; Whiteman, D. N.; Kolgotin, A.; Andrews, E.; Korenskii, M.

2009-01-01

During the months of July-August 2007 NASA conducted a research campaign called the Tropical Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling (TC4) experiment. Vertical profiles of ozone were measured daily using an instrument known as an ozonesonde, which is attached to a weather balloon and launch to altitudes in excess of 30 km. These ozone profiles were measured over coastal Las Tablas, Panama (7.8N, 80W) and several times per week at Alajuela, Costa Rica (ION, 84W). Meteorological systems in the form of waves, detected most prominently in 100-300 in thick ozone layer in the tropical tropopause layer, occurred in 50% (Las Tablas) and 40% (Alajuela) of the soundings. These layers, associated with vertical displacements and classified as gravity waves ("GW," possibly Kelvin waves), occur with similar stricture and frequency over the Paramaribo (5.8N, 55W) and San Cristobal (0.925, 90W) sites of the Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) network. The gravity wave labeled layers in individual soundings correspond to cloud outflow as indicated by the tracers measured from the NASA DC-8 and other aircraft data, confirming convective initiation of equatorial waves. Layers representing quasi-horizontal displacements, referred to as Rossby waves, are robust features in soundings from 23 July to 5 August. The features associated with Rossby waves correspond to extra-tropical influence, possibly stratospheric, and sometimes to pollution transport. Comparison of Las Tablas and Alajuela ozone budgets with 1999-2007 Paramaribo and San Cristobal soundings shows that TC4 is typical of climatology for the equatorial Americas. Overall during TC4, convection and associated meteorological waves appear to dominate ozone transport in the tropical tropopause layer.

First Reprocessing of Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) Ozone Profiles (1998-2016): 2. Comparisons With Satellites and Ground-Based Instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Anne M.; Witte, Jacquelyn C.; Sterling, Chance; Jordan, Allen; Johnson, Bryan J.; Oltmans, Samuel J.; Fujiwara, Masatomo; Vömel, Holger; Allaart, Marc; Piters, Ankie; Coetzee, Gert J. R.; Posny, Françoise; Corrales, Ernesto; Diaz, Jorge Andres; Félix, Christian; Komala, Ninong; Lai, Nga; Ahn Nguyen, H. T.; Maata, Matakite; Mani, Francis; Zainal, Zamuna; Ogino, Shin-ya; Paredes, Francisco; Penha, Tercio Luiz Bezerra; da Silva, Francisco Raimundo; Sallons-Mitro, Sukarni; Selkirk, Henry B.; Schmidlin, F. J.; Stübi, Rene; Thiongo, Kennedy

2017-12-01

The Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesonde (SHADOZ) network was assembled to validate a new generation of ozone-monitoring satellites and to better characterize the vertical structure of tropical ozone in the troposphere and stratosphere. Beginning with nine stations in 1998, more than 7,000 ozone and P-T-U profiles are available from 14 SHADOZ sites that have operated continuously for at least a decade. We analyze ozone profiles from the recently reprocessed SHADOZ data set that is based on adjustments for inconsistencies caused by varying ozonesonde instruments and operating techniques. First, sonde-derived total ozone column amounts are compared to the overpasses from the Earth Probe/Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, Ozone Monitoring Instrument, and Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite satellites that cover 1998-2016. Second, characteristics of the stratospheric and tropospheric columns are examined along with ozone structure in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL). We find that (1) relative to our earlier evaluations of SHADOZ data, in 2003, 2007, and 2012, sonde-satellite total ozone column offsets at 12 stations are 2% or less, a significant improvement; (2) as in prior studies, the 10 tropical SHADOZ stations, defined as within ±19° latitude, display statistically uniform stratospheric column ozone, 229 ± 3.9 DU (Dobson units), and a tropospheric zonal wave-one pattern with a 14 DU mean amplitude; (3) the TTL ozone column, which is also zonally uniform, masks complex vertical structure, and this argues against using satellites for lower stratospheric ozone trends; and (4) reprocessing has led to more uniform stratospheric column amounts across sites and reduced bias in stratospheric profiles. As a consequence, the uncertainty in total column ozone now averages 5%.

Sound

CERN Document Server

Robertson, William C

2003-01-01

Muddled about what makes music? Stuck on the study of harmonics? Dumbfounded by how sound gets around? Now you no longer have to struggle to teach concepts you really don t grasp yourself. Sound takes an intentionally light touch to help out all those adults science teachers, parents wanting to help with homework, home-schoolers seeking necessary scientific background to teach middle school physics with confidence. The book introduces sound waves and uses that model to explain sound-related occurrences. Starting with the basics of what causes sound and how it travels, you'll learn how musical instruments work, how sound waves add and subtract, how the human ear works, and even why you can sound like a Munchkin when you inhale helium. Sound is the fourth book in the award-winning Stop Faking It! Series, published by NSTA Press. Like the other popular volumes, it is written by irreverent educator Bill Robertson, who offers this Sound recommendation: One of the coolest activities is whacking a spinning metal rod...

New Directions: Ozone-initiated reaction products indoors may be more harmful than ozone itself

Science.gov (United States)

Weschler, Charles J.

2004-10-01

Epidemiological studies have found associations between ozone concentrations measured at outdoor monitoring stations and certain adverse health outcomes. As a recent example, Gent et al. (2003, Journal of the American Medical Association 290, 1859-1867) have observed an association between ozone levels and respiratory symptoms as well as the use of maintenance medication by 271 asthmatic children living in Connecticut and the Springfield area of Massachusetts. In another example, Gilliland et al. (2001, Epidemiology 12, 43-54) detected an association between short-term increases in ozone levels and increased absences among 4th grade students from 12 southern California communities during the period from January to June 1996. Although children may spend a significant amount of time outdoors, especially during periods when ozone levels are elevated, they spend a much larger fraction of their time indoors. I hypothesize that exposure to the products of ozone-initiated indoor chemistry is more directly responsible for the health effects observed in the cited epidemiological studies than is exposure to outdoor ozone itself.

Analysis of adventitious lung sounds originating from pulmonary tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, K W; Scheffer, C; Blanckenberg, M M; Diacon, A H

2013-01-01

Tuberculosis is a common and potentially deadly infectious disease, usually affecting the respiratory system and causing the sound properties of symptomatic infected lungs to differ from non-infected lungs. Auscultation is often ruled out as a reliable diagnostic technique for TB due to the random distribution of the infection and the varying severity of damage to the lungs. However, advancements in signal processing techniques for respiratory sounds can improve the potential of auscultation far beyond the capabilities of the conventional mechanical stethoscope. Though computer-based signal analysis of respiratory sounds has produced a significant body of research, there have not been any recent investigations into the computer-aided analysis of lung sounds associated with pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB), despite the severity of the disease in many countries. In this paper, respiratory sounds were recorded from 14 locations around the posterior and anterior chest walls of healthy volunteers and patients infected with pulmonary TB. The most significant signal features in both the time and frequency domains associated with the presence of TB, were identified by using the statistical overlap factor (SOF). These features were then employed to train a neural network to automatically classify the auscultation recordings into their respective healthy or TB-origin categories. The neural network yielded a diagnostic accuracy of 73%, but it is believed that automated filtering of the noise in the clinics, more training samples and perhaps other signal processing methods can improve the results of future studies. This work demonstrates the potential of computer-aided auscultation as an aid for the diagnosis and treatment of TB.

Lung function interpolation by analysis of means of neural-network-supported respiration sounds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oud, M

Respiration sounds of individual asthmatic patients were analysed in the scope of the development of a method for computerised recognition of the degree of airways obstruction. Respiration sounds were recorded during laboratory sessions of allergen provoked airways obstruction, during several stages

The 2002 Antarctic Ozone Hole

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, P. A.; Nash, E. R.; Douglass, A. R.; Kawa, S. R.

2003-01-01

Since 1979, the ozone hole has grown from near zero size to over 24 Million km2. This area is most strongly controlled by levels of inorganic chlorine and bromine oncentrations. In addition, dynamical variations modulate the size of the ozone hole by either cooling or warming the polar vortex collar region. We will review the size observations, the size trends, and the interannual variability of the size. Using a simple trajectory model, we will demonstrate the sensitivity of the ozone hole to dynamical forcing, and we will use these observations to discuss the size of the ozone hole during the 2002 Austral spring. We will further show how the Cly decreases in the stratosphere will cause the ozone hole to decrease by 1-1.5% per year. We will also show results from a 3-D chemical transport model (CTM) that has been continuously run since 1999. These CTM results directly show how strong dynamics acts to reduce the size of the ozone hole.

The Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR): A community-wide effort to quantify tropospheric ozone in a rapidly changing world

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, O. R.; Schultz, M.; Paoletti, E.; Galbally, I. E.; Naja, M. K.; Tarasick, D. W.; Evans, M. J.; Thompson, A. M.

2017-12-01

Tropospheric ozone is a greenhouse gas and pollutant detrimental to human health and crop and ecosystem productivity. Since 1990 a large portion of the anthropogenic emissions that react in the atmosphere to produce ozone has shifted from North America and Europe to Asia. This rapid shift, coupled with limited ozone monitoring in developing nations, left scientists unable to answer the most basic questions: Which regions of the world have the greatest human and plant exposure to ozone pollution? Is ozone continuing to decline in nations with strong emissions controls? To what extent is ozone increasing in the developing world? How can the atmospheric sciences community facilitate access to the ozone metrics necessary for quantifying ozone's impact on human health and crop/ecosystem productivity? To answer these questions the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project (IGAC) initiated the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR). With over 220 member scientists and air quality specialists from 36 nations, TOAR's mission is to provide the research community with an up-to-date scientific assessment of tropospheric ozone's global distribution and trends from the surface to the tropopause. TOAR has also built the world's largest database of surface ozone observations and generated ozone exposure and dose metrics at thousands of measurement sites around the world, freely accessible for research on the global-scale impact of ozone on climate, human health and crop/ecosystem productivity. Plots of these metrics show the regions of the world with the greatest ozone exposure for humans and crops/ecosystems, at least in areas where observations are available. The results also highlight regions where air quality is improving and where it has degraded. TOAR has also conducted the first intercomparison of tropospheric column ozone from ozonesondes and multiple satellite instruments, which provide similar estimates of the present-day tropospheric ozone burden.

Analysis of Damped Mass-Spring Systems for Sound Synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Don Morgan

2009-01-01

Full Text Available There are many ways of synthesizing sound on a computer. The method that we consider, called a mass-spring system, synthesizes sound by simulating the vibrations of a network of interconnected masses, springs, and dampers. Numerical methods are required to approximate the differential equation of a mass-spring system. The standard numerical method used in implementing mass-spring systems for use in sound synthesis is the symplectic Euler method. Implementers and users of mass-spring systems should be aware of the limitations of the numerical methods used; in particular we are interested in the stability and accuracy of the numerical methods used. We present an analysis of the symplectic Euler method that shows the conditions under which the method is stable and the accuracy of the decay rates and frequencies of the sounds produced.

Ozone depletion following future volcanic eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Eric Klobas, J.; Wilmouth, David M.; Weisenstein, Debra K.; Anderson, James G.; Salawitch, Ross J.

2017-07-01

While explosive volcanic eruptions cause ozone loss in the current atmosphere due to an enhancement in the availability of reactive chlorine following the stratospheric injection of sulfur, future eruptions are expected to increase total column ozone as halogen loading approaches preindustrial levels. The timing of this shift in the impact of major volcanic eruptions on the thickness of the ozone layer is poorly known. Modeling four possible climate futures, we show that scenarios with the smallest increase in greenhouse gas concentrations lead to the greatest risk to ozone from heterogeneous chemical processing following future eruptions. We also show that the presence in the stratosphere of bromine from natural, very short-lived biogenic compounds is critically important for determining whether future eruptions will lead to ozone depletion. If volcanic eruptions inject hydrogen halides into the stratosphere, an effect not considered in current ozone assessments, potentially profound reductions in column ozone would result.

Ozone-depleting Substances (ODS)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This site includes all of the ozone-depleting substances (ODS) recognized by the Montreal Protocol. The data include ozone depletion potentials (ODP), global warming...

Ozone sensitivity to varying greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances in CCMI-1 simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Morgenstern

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Ozone fields simulated for the first phase of the Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCMI-1 will be used as forcing data in the 6th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Here we assess, using reference and sensitivity simulations produced for CCMI-1, the suitability of CCMI-1 model results for this process, investigating the degree of consistency amongst models regarding their responses to variations in individual forcings. We consider the influences of methane, nitrous oxide, a combination of chlorinated or brominated ozone-depleting substances, and a combination of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We find varying degrees of consistency in the models' responses in ozone to these individual forcings, including some considerable disagreement. In particular, the response of total-column ozone to these forcings is less consistent across the multi-model ensemble than profile comparisons. We analyse how stratospheric age of air, a commonly used diagnostic of stratospheric transport, responds to the forcings. For this diagnostic we find some salient differences in model behaviour, which may explain some of the findings for ozone. The findings imply that the ozone fields derived from CCMI-1 are subject to considerable uncertainties regarding the impacts of these anthropogenic forcings. We offer some thoughts on how to best approach the problem of generating a consensus ozone database from a multi-model ensemble such as CCMI-1.

Ozone Sensitivity to Varying Greenhouse Gases and Ozone-Depleting Substances in CCMI-1 Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Morgenstern, Olaf; Stone, Kane A.; Schofield, Robyn; Akiyoshi, Hideharu; Yamashita, Yousuke; Kinnison, Douglas E.; Garcia, Rolando R.; Sudo, Kengo; Plummer, David A.; Scinocca, John;

Neural processing of auditory signals and modular neural control for sound tropism of walking machines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manoonpong, Poramate; Pasemann, Frank; Fischer, Joern

2005-01-01

and a neural preprocessing system together with a modular neural controller are used to generate a sound tropism of a four-legged walking machine. The neural preprocessing network is acting as a low-pass filter and it is followed by a network which discerns between signals coming from the left or the right....... The parameters of these networks are optimized by an evolutionary algorithm. In addition, a simple modular neural controller then generates the desired different walking patterns such that the machine walks straight, then turns towards a switched-on sound source, and then stops near to it....

Technical Note: Continuity of MIPAS-ENVISAT operational ozone data quality from full- to reduced-spectral-resolution operation mode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Ceccherini

2008-04-01

Full Text Available MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding is operating on the ENVIronmental SATellite (ENVISAT since March 2002. After two years of nearly continuous limb scanning measurements, at the end of March 2004, the instrument was stopped due to problems with the mirror drive of the interferometer. Operations with reduced maximum path difference, corresponding to both a reduced-spectral-resolution and a shorter measurement time, were resumed on January 2005. In order to exploit the reduction in measurement time, the measurement scenario was changed adopting a finer vertical limb scanning. The change of spectral resolution and of measurement scenario entailed an update of the data processing strategy. The aim of this paper is the assessment of the differences in the quality of the MIPAS ozone data acquired before and after the stop of the operations. Two sets of MIPAS ozone profiles acquired in 2003–2004 (full-resolution measurements and in 2005–2006 (reduced-resolution measurements are compared with collocated ozone profiles obtained by GOMOS (Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars, itself also onboard ENVISAT. The continuity of the GOMOS data quality allows to assess a possible discontinuity of the MIPAS performances. The relative bias and precision of MIPAS ozone profiles with respect to the GOMOS ones have been compared for the measurements acquired before and after the stop of the MIPAS operations. The results of the comparison show that, in general, the quality of the MIPAS ozone profiles retrieved from reduced-resolution measurements is comparable or better than that obtained from the full-resolution dataset. The only significant change in MIPAS performances is observed at pressures around 2 unit{hPa}, where the relative bias of the instruments increases by a factor of 2 from the 2003–2004 to 2005–2006 measurements.

Caffeine degradation in water by gamma irradiation, ozonation and ozonation/gamma irradiation

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Torun Murat

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Aqueous solutions of caffeine were treated with ozone and gamma irradiation. The amounts of remaining caffeine were determined after solid phase extraction as a function of absorbed dose and ozonation time. In addition to this, some important parameters such as inorganic ions, chemical oxygen demand (COD dissolved oxygen and total acidity changes were followed. Caffeine (50 ppm is found to be completely decomposed at 3.0 kGy and 1.2 kGy doses in the absence of H2O2 and in 1.20 mM H2O2 solutions, respectively. In the case of gamma irradiation after ozonation, 50 ppm caffeine was removed at 0.2 kGy when the solution was ozonized for 100 s at a rate of 10 g O3 h-1 in 400 mL 50 ppm paracetamol solution.

ROCOZ-A (improved rocket launched ozone sensor) for middle atmosphere ozone measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, H.S.; Parsons, C.L.

1987-01-01

An improved interference filter based ultraviolet photometer (ROCOZ-A) for measuring stratospheric ozone is discussed. The payload is launched aboard a Super-Loki to a typical apogee of 70 km. The instrument measures the solar ultraviolet irradiance as it descends on a parachute. The total cumulative ozone is then calculated based on the Beer-Lambert law. The cumulative ozone precision measured in this way is 2.0% to 2.5% over an altitude range of 20 and 55 km. Results of the intercomparison with the SBUV overpass data and ROCOZ-A data are also discussed

Sound Propagation Considerations for a Deep-Ocean Acoustic Network

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-01

classic “ tea cup” surveillance volume for a bottom sensor. 27 Figure 18. TL of a 100-Hz, 3995-m source using a 4000-m Munk sound speed profile B...18. LTJG Pongaskorn Sommai, Royal Thai Navy Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, California 19. ENS William Jenkins, USN Naval Postgraduate School

Technical Note: Interference errors in infrared remote sounding of the atmosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Sussmann

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Classical error analysis in remote sounding distinguishes between four classes: "smoothing errors," "model parameter errors," "forward model errors," and "retrieval noise errors". For infrared sounding "interference errors", which, in general, cannot be described by these four terms, can be significant. Interference errors originate from spectral residuals due to "interfering species" whose spectral features overlap with the signatures of the target species. A general method for quantification of interference errors is presented, which covers all possible algorithmic implementations, i.e., fine-grid retrievals of the interfering species or coarse-grid retrievals, and cases where the interfering species are not retrieved. In classical retrieval setups interference errors can exceed smoothing errors and can vary by orders of magnitude due to state dependency. An optimum strategy is suggested which practically eliminates interference errors by systematically minimizing the regularization strength applied to joint profile retrieval of the interfering species. This leads to an interfering-species selective deweighting of the retrieval. Details of microwindow selection are no longer critical for this optimum retrieval and widened microwindows even lead to reduced overall (smoothing and interference errors. Since computational power will increase, more and more operational algorithms will be able to utilize this optimum strategy in the future. The findings of this paper can be applied to soundings of all infrared-active atmospheric species, which include more than two dozen different gases relevant to climate and ozone. This holds for all kinds of infrared remote sounding systems, i.e., retrievals from ground-based, balloon-borne, airborne, or satellite spectroradiometers.

Automatic Bowel Motility Evaluation Technique for Noncontact Sound Recordings

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Ryunosuke Sato

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Information on bowel motility can be obtained via magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs and X-ray imaging. However, these approaches require expensive medical instruments and are unsuitable for frequent monitoring. Bowel sounds (BS can be conveniently obtained using electronic stethoscopes and have recently been employed for the evaluation of bowel motility. More recently, our group proposed a novel method to evaluate bowel motility on the basis of BS acquired using a noncontact microphone. However, the method required manually detecting BS in the sound recordings, and manual segmentation is inconvenient and time consuming. To address this issue, herein, we propose a new method to automatically evaluate bowel motility for noncontact sound recordings. Using simulations for the sound recordings obtained from 20 human participants, we showed that the proposed method achieves an accuracy of approximately 90% in automatic bowel sound detection when acoustic feature power-normalized cepstral coefficients are used as inputs to artificial neural networks. Furthermore, we showed that bowel motility can be evaluated based on the three acoustic features in the time domain extracted by our method: BS per minute, signal-to-noise ratio, and sound-to-sound interval. The proposed method has the potential to contribute towards the development of noncontact evaluation methods for bowel motility.

Ozone adsorption on carbon nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Chassard, Guillaume; Gosselin, Sylvie; Visez, Nicolas; Petitprez, Denis

2014-05-01

Carbonaceous particles produced by incomplete combustion or thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. On these particles are adsorbed hundreds of chemical species. Those of great concern to health are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). During atmospheric transport, particulate PAHs react with gaseous oxidants. The induced chemical transformations may change toxicity and hygroscopicity of these potentially inhalable particles. The interaction between ozone and carbon particles has been extensively investigated in literature. However ozone adsorption and surface reaction mechanisms are still ambiguous. Some studies described a fast catalytic decomposition of ozone initiated by an atomic oxygen chemisorption followed by a molecular oxygen release [1-3]. Others suggested a reversible ozone adsorption according to Langmuir-type behaviour [4,5]. The aim of this present study is a better understanding of ozone interaction with carbon surfaces. An aerosol of carbon nanoparticles was generated by flowing synthetic air in a glass tube containing pure carbon (primary particles studied. Accordingly to literature, it has been observed that the number of gas-phase ozone molecules lost per unit particle surface area tends towards a plateau for high ozone concentration suggesting a reversible ozone adsorption according to a Langmuir mechanism. We calculated the initial reaction probability between O3 and carbon particles.An initial uptake coefficient of 1.10-4 was obtained. Similar experiments were realized by selecting the particles size with a differential mobility analyser. We observed a strong size-dependent increase in reactivity with the decrease of particles size. This result is relevant for the health issues. Indeed the smallest particles are most likely to penetrate deep into the lungs. Competitive reactions between ozone and other species like H2O or atomic oxygen were also considered. Oxygen atoms were generated by photolysis of O3

Objective Scaling of Sound Quality for Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Lars Bramsløw

) Subjective sound quality ratings of clean and distorted speech and music signals, by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, to provide reference data, 2) An auditory model of the ear, including the effects of hearing loss, based on existing psychoacoustic knowledge, coupled to 3) An artificial neural......A new method for the objective estimation of sound quality for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners has been presented: OSSQAR (Objective Scaling of Sound Quality and Reproduction). OSSQAR is based on three main parts, which have been carried out and documented separately: 1...... network, which was trained to predict the sound quality ratings. OSSQAR predicts the perceived sound quality on two independent perceptual rating scales: Clearness and Sharpness. These two scales were shown to be the most relevant for assessment of sound quality, and they were interpreted the same way...

Tropospheric ozone. Formation, properties, effects. Expert opinion; Ozon in der Troposphaere. Bildung, Eigenschaften, Wirkungen. Gutachten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elstner, E.F. [Technische Univ. Muenchen (Germany). Lehrstuhl fuer Phytopathologie

1996-06-01

The formation and dispersion of tropospheric ozone are discussed only marginally in this expert opinion; the key interest is in the effects of ground level ozone on plants, animals, and humans. The expert opinion is based on an analysis of the available scientific publications. (orig./MG) [Deutsch] Das Gutachten nimmt nur am Rande die Problematik der Bildung und Ausbreitung von troposphaerischen Ozon auf; Im Mittelpunkt steht die Auseinandersetzung mit den Wirkungen des bodennahen Ozons auf Pflanze, Tier und Mensch. Das Gutachten basiert auf einer Analyse der zugaenglichen wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten. (orig./MG)

Ozone killing action against bacterial and fungal species; microbiological testing of a domestic ozone generator.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyas, A; Boughton, B J; Das, B C

1983-10-01

The action of ozone generated from a small domestic device was examined with a view to using it in clinical isolation units accommodating immunosuppressed patients. Over a six-hour period in an average size room the device did not generate sufficient ozone to suppress bacterial and fungal growth. A useful bactericidal action, against a variety of human pathogens was achieved with ozone concentrations between 0.3 to 0.9 ppm. Bactericidal ozone concentrations are close to the limit permitted for human exposure however and further experiments are indicated.

Issues in Stratospheric Ozone Depletion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd, Steven Andrew

Following the announcement of the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in 1985 there have arisen a multitude of questions pertaining to the nature and consequences of polar ozone depletion. This thesis addresses several of these specific questions, using both computer models of chemical kinetics and the Earth's radiation field as well as laboratory kinetic experiments. A coupled chemical kinetic-radiative numerical model was developed to assist in the analysis of in situ field measurements of several radical and neutral species in the polar and mid-latitude lower stratosphere. Modeling was used in the analysis of enhanced polar ClO, mid-latitude diurnal variation of ClO, and simultaneous measurements of OH, HO_2, H_2 O and O_3. Most importantly, such modeling was instrumental in establishing the link between the observed ClO and BrO concentrations in the Antarctic polar vortex and the observed rate of ozone depletion. The principal medical concern of stratospheric ozone depletion is that ozone loss will lead to the enhancement of ground-level UV-B radiation. Global ozone climatology (40^circS to 50^ circN latitude) was incorporated into a radiation field model to calculate the biologically accumulated dosage (BAD) of UV-B radiation, integrated over days, months, and years. The slope of the annual BAD as a function of latitude was found to correspond to epidemiological data for non-melanoma skin cancers for 30^circ -50^circN. Various ozone loss scenarios were investigated. It was found that a small ozone loss in the tropics can provide as much additional biologically effective UV-B as a much larger ozone loss at higher latitudes. Also, for ozone depletions of > 5%, the BAD of UV-B increases exponentially with decreasing ozone levels. An important key player in determining whether polar ozone depletion can propagate into the populated mid-latitudes is chlorine nitrate, ClONO_2 . As yet this molecule is only indirectly accounted for in computer models and field

Intercomparison of ground-based ozone and NO2 measurements during the MANTRA 2004 campaign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Strong

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The MANTRA (Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen TRend Assessment 2004 campaign took place in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, Canada (52° N, 107° W from 3 August to 15 September, 2004. In support of the main balloon launch, a suite of five zenith-sky and direct-Sun-viewing UV-visible ground-based spectrometers was deployed, primarily measuring ozone and NO2 total columns. Three Fourier transform spectrometers (FTSs that were part of the balloon payload also performed ground-based measurements of several species, including ozone. Ground-based measurements of ozone and NO2 differential slant column densities from the zenith-viewing UV-visible instruments are presented herein. They are found to partially agree within NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change standards for instruments certified for process studies and satellite validation. Vertical column densities of ozone from the zenith-sky UV-visible instruments, the FTSs, a Brewer spectrophotometer, and ozonesondes are compared, and found to agree within the combined error estimates of the instruments (15%. NO2 vertical column densities from two of the UV-visible instruments are compared, and are also found to agree within combined error (15%.

Modified ECC ozone sonde for long-duration flights aboard isopicnic drifting balloons

Science.gov (United States)

Gheusi, Francois; Durand, Pierre; Verdier, Nicolas; Dulac, François; Attié, Jean-Luc; Commun, Philippe; Barret, Brice; Basdevant, Claude; Clénet, Antoine; Fontaine, Alain; Jambert, Corinne; Meyerfeld, Yves; Roblou, Laurent; Tocquer, Flore

2015-04-01

Since few years, the French space agency CNES has developed boundary-layer pressurized balloons (BLPB) with the capability to transport scientific payloads at isopicnic level over very long distances and durations (up to several weeks in absence of navigation limits). However, the autonomy of conventional electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozone sondes, that are widely used for tropospheric and stratospheric soundings, is limited to few hours due to power consumption and electrolyte evaporation (owing to air bubbling in the cathode solution). In collaboration with the French research community, CNES has developed a new ozone payload suited for long duration flights aboard BLPB. The mechanical elements (Teflon pump and motor) and the electrochemical cell of conventional ECC sondes have been kept but the electronic implementation is entirely new. The main feature is the possibility of programming periodic measurement sequences -- with possible remote control during the flight. To increase the ozone sonde autonomy, a strategy has been adopted of short measurement sequences (typically 2-3 min) regularly spaced in time (e.g. every 15 min, which is usually sufficient for air quality studies). The rest of the time, the sonde is at rest (pump motor off). The response time of an ECC sonde to an ozone concentration step is below one minute. Consequently, the measurement sequence is typically composed of a one-minute spin-up period after the pump has been turned on, followed by a one- to two-minute acquisition period. All time intervals can be adjusted before and during the flight. Results of a preliminary ground-based test in spring 2012 are first presented. The sonde provided correct ozone concentrations against a reference UV analyzer every 15 minutes during 4 days. Then we illustrate results from 16 BLBP flights launched in the low troposphere over the Mediterranean during summer field campaings in 2012 and 2013 (TRAQA and ChArMEx programmes). BLPB drifting

Two-phase ozonation of chlorinated organics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharyya, D.; Freshour, A.; West, D.

1995-01-01

In the last few years the amount of research being conducted in the field of single-phase ozonation has grown extensively. However, traditional aqueous-phase ozonation systems are limited by a lack of selective oxidation potential, low ozone solubility in water, and slow intermediate decomposition rates. Furthermore, ozone may decompose before it can be utilized for pollutant destruction since ozone can be highly unstable in aqueous solutions. Naturally occurring compounds such as NaHCO 3 also affect ozone reactions by inhibiting the formation of OH-free radicals. To compensate for these factors, excess ozone is typically supplied to a reactor. Since ozone generation requires considerable electric power consumption (16 - 24 kWh/kg of O 3 ), attempts to enhance the ozone utilization rate and stability should lead to more efficient application of this process to hazardous waste treatment. To improve the process, ozonation may be more efficiently carried out in a two-phase system consisting of an inert solvent (saturated with O 3 ) contacted with an aqueous phase containing pollutants. The non-aqueous phase must meet the following criteria: (1) non-toxic, (2) very low vapor pressure, (3) high density (for ease of separation), (4) complete insolubility in water, (5) reusability, (6) selective pollutant extractability, (7) high oxidant solubility, and (8) extended O 3 stability. Previously published studies (1) have indicated that a number of fluorinated hydrocarbon compounds fit these criteria. For this project, FC40 (a product of 3M Co.) was chosen due to its low vapor pressure (3 mm Hg) and high specific gravity (1.9). The primary advantages of the FC40 solvent are that it is non-toxic, reusable, has an ozone solubility 10 times that of water, and that 85 % of the ozone remains in the solvent even after 2 hours. This novel two-phase process has been utilized to study the rapid destruction of organic chlorine compounds and organic mixtures

Ozone bioindicator sampling and estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Gretchen C, Smith; William D. Smith; John W. Coulston

2007-01-01

Ozone is an important forest stressor that has been measured at known phytotoxic levels at forest locations across the United States. The percent forest exhibiting negative impacts from ozone air pollution is one of the Montreal Process indicators of forest health and vitality. The ozone bioindicator data of the U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program...

OZONE CONCENTRATION ATTRIBUTABLE PREMATURE DEATH IN POLAND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof Skotak

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Ozone in the lower part of the atmosphere (troposphere, strong photochemical oxidant, is not directly emitted to the atmosphere but formed through a series of complex reactions. Ozone concentrations depends on ozone precursors air contamination (mainly nitrogen dioxide and non-methane volatile organic compounds and meteorological conditions (temperature and solar radiation. The main sectors emitted ozone precursors are road transport, power and heat generation plants, household (heating, industry, and petrol storage and distribution. Ozone and some of its precursors are also transported long distances in the atmosphere and are therefore considered a transboundary problem. As a result, the ozone concentrations are often low in busy urban areas and higher in suburban and rural areas. Nowadays, instead of particulate matter, ozone is one of the most widespread global air pollution problems. In and around urban areas, relatively large gradients of ozone can be observed. Because of its high reactivity in elevated concentrations ozone causes serious health problems and damage to ecosystems, agricultural crops and materials. Main ill-health endpoints as a results of ozone concentrations can be characterised as an effect of pulmonary and cardiovascular system, time morbidity and mortality series, development of atherosclerosis and asthma and finally reduction in life expectancy. The associations with increased daily mortality due to ozone concentrations are confirmed by many researches and epidemiological studies. Estimation of the level selected ill-health endpoints (mortality in total and due to cardiovascular and respiratory causes as a result of the short-term ozone exposure in Poland was the main aim of the project. Final results have been done based on estimation method elaborated by WHO, ozone measurements from National Air Quality Monitoring System and statistical information such as mortality rate and populations. All analysis have been done in

Validation of three different scientific ozone products retrieved from IASI spectra using ozonesondes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Dufour

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Three scientific ozone products from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI aboard MetOp-A, retrieved in three different research teams (LA, LATMOS/ULB, LISA with different retrieval schemes, are characterized and validated using ozonesondes measurements. The characteristics of the products are analyzed in terms of retrieval sensitivity, systematic and random errors, and ability to retrieve the natural variability of ozone and focus on different partial columns from the lower troposphere up to 30 km. The validation covers the midlatitudes and the tropics and the period from January to December 2008. The products present degrees of freedom (DOF in the troposphere between 1 and 1.2 on average in the midlatitudes and between 1 and 1.4 in the tropics. The DOF are distributed differently on the vertical depending on the profiles and the season: summer leading to a better sensitivity to the lower troposphere, as expected. The error estimates range between 10 and 20% from the lower tropospheric partial columns (0–6 km and 0–8 km for the midlatitudes and the tropics respectively to the UTLS partial columns (8–16 km and 11–20 km for the midlatitudes and the tropics respectively for all the products and are about 5% in the stratosphere (16–30 km and for the column up to 30 km. The main feature that arises from the comparison with the ozonesondes is a systematic overestimation of ozone in the UTLS (between 10 and 25% by the three products in the midlatitudes and the tropics, attributed to the moderate vertical resolution of IASI and possibly to spectroscopic inconsistencies. The ability of the products to reproduce natural variability of tropospheric ozone is fairly good and depends on the considered season and region.

Ozone pollution and ozone biomonitoring in European cities. Part I: Ozone concentrations and cumulative exposure indices at urban and suburban sites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klumpp, A.; Ansel, W.; Klumpp, G.

2006-01-01

In the frame of a European research project on air quality in urban agglomerations, data on ozone concentrations from 23 automated urban and suburban monitoring stations in 11 cities from seven countries were analysed and evaluated. Daily and summer mean and maximum concentrations were computed...... based on hourly mean values, and cumulative ozone exposure indices (Accumulated exposure Over a Threshold of 40 ppb (AOT40), AOT20) were calculated. The diurnal profiles showed a characteristic pattern in most city centres, with minimum values in the early morning hours, a strong rise during the morning......, by contrast, maximum values were lower and diurnal variation was much smaller. Based on ozone concentrations as well as on cumulative exposure indices, a clear north-south gradient in ozone pollution, with increasing levels from northern and northwestern sites to central and southern European sites...

Variability and trend in ozone over the southern tropics and subtropics

Science.gov (United States)

Toihir, Abdoulwahab Mohamed; Portafaix, Thierry; Sivakumar, Venkataraman; Bencherif, Hassan; Pazmiño, Andréa; Bègue, Nelson

2018-03-01

Long-term variability in ozone trends was assessed over eight Southern Hemisphere tropical and subtropical sites (Natal, Nairobi, Ascension Island, Java, Samoa, Fiji, Reunion and Irene), using total column ozone data (TCO) and vertical ozone profiles (altitude range 15-30 km) recorded during the period January 1998-December 2012. The TCO datasets were constructed by combination of satellite data (OMI and TOMS) and ground-based observations recorded using Dobson and SAOZ spectrometers. Vertical ozone profiles were obtained from balloon-sonde experiments which were operated within the framework of the SHADOZ network. The analysis in this study was performed using the Trend-Run model. This is a multivariate regression model based on the principle of separating the variations of ozone time series into a sum of several forcings (annual and semi-annual oscillations, QBO (Quasi-Biennial Oscillation), ENSO, 11-year solar cycle) that account for most of its variability. The trend value is calculated based on the slope of a normalized linear function which is one of the forcing parameters included in the model. Three regions were defined as follows: equatorial (0-10° S), tropical (10-20° S) and subtropical (20-30° S). Results obtained indicate that ozone variability is dominated by seasonal and quasi-biennial oscillations. The ENSO contribution is observed to be significant in the tropical lower stratosphere and especially over the Pacific sites (Samoa and Java). The annual cycle of ozone is observed to be the most dominant mode of variability for all the sites and presents a meridional signature with a maximum over the subtropics, while semi-annual and quasi-biannual ozone modes are more apparent over the equatorial region, and their magnitude decreases southward. The ozone variation mode linked to the QBO signal is observed between altitudes of 20 and 28 km. Over the equatorial zone there is a strong signal at ˜ 26 km, where 58 % ±2 % of total ozone variability is

Trends of ozone and Ox in Switzerland from 1992 to 2007: observations at selected stations of the NABEL, OASI (Ticino) and ANU (Graubuenden) networks corrected for meteorological variability. Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keller, J.; Prevot, A.; Beguin, A.F.; Jutzi, V.; Ordonez, C.

2008-11-01

Long-term changes of ozone concentrations are influenced by a variety of quantities, in particular meteorological variables and emissions. In order to evaluate the contributions of regional emissions and of the background concentration to changes in observed ozone levels, the variability due to meteorology has to be removed. Ordonez et al. (2005) investigated the temporal evolution of tropospheric ozone over the Swiss Plateau using meteorological and air quality measurements taken at stations of the Swiss air quality networks NABEL and OSTLUFT. Time period was 1992 to 2002 including a discussion of the heat wave in summer 2003. The air quality measurements were corrected for meteorological influences on the basis of a multi-linear model approach. Despite the emission abatement measures of the last decades no significant decrease in ozone levels was observed. Air quality stations south of the Alps, which often act as a barrier for air mass exchange between south and north, were not included in the investigation. This study (a) includes all NABEL stations, (b) considers also southern air quality stations of the cantons Ticino (OASI) and Graubuenden (ANU), and (c) extends the time frame until 2007. The methodology of correcting ozone and O x = O 3 + NO 2 for meteorological variability is based on the ANalysis of COVAriance (ANCOVA). This approach assumes that the mixing ratios of O 3 and O x are multi-linear functions of selected meteorological quantities. The analysis is performed using the statistics package R, which supports the dependence on continuous variables (e.g. air temperature) as well as on discrete quantities (e.g. wind direction expressed in terms of discrete wind direction sectors). The following daily values of each station are considered in the analysis (examples): (i) Meteorological variables (averages): afternoon temperature, morning global irradiance, afternoon wind speed, etc. If no co-located meteorological data are available, data of the closest

Degradation of 4-chlorophenol by ozonation, γ radiation as well as ozonation combined with γ radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, J.; Wang, J.L.

2005-01-01

The radiolysis of aqueous 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) by gamma radiation in the presence of air and ozone was investigated. The 4-CP degradation, release of chloride ion, UV absorption spectrum, total organic carbon (TOC) and adsorbable organic halogens (AOX) was measured. Under the conditions of synergistic effect of ozone and radiation a complete degradation of 100 mg/L 4-CP was obtained at a dose of 6 kGy, without ozone the 4-chlorophenol was completely decomposed at 15 kGy. The total organic carbon (TOC) was reduced by 26% when ionizing radiation (at 15 kGy) combined with ozonation, and by 17% without ozone, respectively. Analysis of intermediate products resulting from synergistic effect of ozone and radiation of 4-CP was performed by using the GC/MS method. Some primary influencing factors such as irradiation time and initial 4-CP concentration were also discussed. The results showed that the degradation of 4-chlorophenol could described by first-order reaction kinetic model. There is potential for combination of irradiation with ozonation, which can remarkably reduce the irradiation dose increase the degradation efficiency of 4-CP.

Sterilization of Microorganisms by Ozone and Ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

Krasnyj, V. V.; Klosovskij, A. V.; Panasko, T. A.; Shvets, O. M.; Semenova, O. T.; Taran, V. S.; Tereshin, V. I.

2008-03-01

The results of recent experimental methods of sterilization of microorganisms with the use of ozone and ultrasound are presented. The main aim was to optimize the process of sterilization in water solution taking into account the ozone concentration, the power of ultrasonic emitter and the temperature of water. In the present work, the ultrasonic cavitation with simultaneous ozone generation has been used. The high ozone concentration in water solution was achieved by two-barrier glow discharge generated at atmospheric pressure and a cooling thermo-electric module. Such a sterilizer consists of ozone generator in a shape of flat electrodes covered with dielectric material and a high-voltage pulsed power supply of 250 W. The sterilization camera was equipped with ultrasonic source operated at 100 W. The experiments on the inactivation of bacteria of the Bacillus Cereus type were carried out in the distilled water saturated by ozone. The ozone concentration in the aqueous solution was 10 mg/1, whereas the ozone concentration at the output of ozone generator was 30 mg/1. The complete inactivation of spores took 15 min. Selection of the temperature of water, the ozone concentrations and ultrasonic power allowed to determine the time necessary for destroying the row of microorganisms.

The behaviour of stratospheric and upper tropospheric ozone in high and mid latitudes; the role of ozone as a climate gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kyroe, M; Rummukainen, M; Kivi, R; Turunen, T; Karhu, J [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Sodankylae (Finland); Taalas, P [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland)

1997-12-31

During the past few years, the dual role that ozone plays in climate change has been becoming increasingly obvious. First, continuous thinning of the ozone layer has been evident, even in the high and middle latitudes in the northern hemisphere. Secondly, ozone is also a greenhouse gas, affecting radiative transfer. Increases in tropospheric ozone have a positive forcing, whereas decreases in stratospheric ozone cause a negative forcing. During the last six years, measurements on total ozone and the vertical distribution of ozone have been performed at the Sodankylae Observatory. At Jokioinen Observatory, measurements on total ozone have been performed since 1990 and measurements on the vertical distribution of ozone since 1993. The overall project has focused on extending the national data series on total ozone and the vertical distribution of ozone. At the same time, the study has contributed to the study of interannual variability of the ozone layer. This SILMU project took part in the large-scale research activities, in addition to performing national studies. The results confirm that there has been fast chemical ozone destruction in the high latitudes in the northern hemisphere. This was particularly evident in the last two winters, 1994/95 and 1995/96. The new data also allows better trend analyses to be made on ozone in high and mid latitudes

The behaviour of stratospheric and upper tropospheric ozone in high and mid latitudes; the role of ozone as a climate gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kyroe, M.; Rummukainen, M.; Kivi, R.; Turunen, T.; Karhu, J. [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Sodankylae (Finland); Taalas, P. [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland)

1996-12-31

During the past few years, the dual role that ozone plays in climate change has been becoming increasingly obvious. First, continuous thinning of the ozone layer has been evident, even in the high and middle latitudes in the northern hemisphere. Secondly, ozone is also a greenhouse gas, affecting radiative transfer. Increases in tropospheric ozone have a positive forcing, whereas decreases in stratospheric ozone cause a negative forcing. During the last six years, measurements on total ozone and the vertical distribution of ozone have been performed at the Sodankylae Observatory. At Jokioinen Observatory, measurements on total ozone have been performed since 1990 and measurements on the vertical distribution of ozone since 1993. The overall project has focused on extending the national data series on total ozone and the vertical distribution of ozone. At the same time, the study has contributed to the study of interannual variability of the ozone layer. This SILMU project took part in the large-scale research activities, in addition to performing national studies. The results confirm that there has been fast chemical ozone destruction in the high latitudes in the northern hemisphere. This was particularly evident in the last two winters, 1994/95 and 1995/96. The new data also allows better trend analyses to be made on ozone in high and mid latitudes

Ambient Sound-Based Collaborative Localization of Indeterministic Devices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamminga, Jacob Wilhelm; Le Viet Duc, L Duc; Havinga, Paul J.M.

2016-01-01

Localization is essential in wireless sensor networks. To our knowledge, no prior work has utilized low-cost devices for collaborative localization based on only ambient sound, without the support of local infrastructure. The reason may be the fact that most low-cost devices are indeterministic and

The influence of boreal biomass burning emissions on the distribution of tropospheric ozone over North America and the North Atlantic during 2010

OpenAIRE

M. Parrington; P. I. Palmer; D. K. Henze; D. W. Tarasick; E. J. Hyer; R. C. Owen; D. Helmig; C. Clerbaux; K. W. Bowman; M. N. Deeter; E. M. Barratt; P.-F. Coheur; D. Hurtmans; M. George; J. R. Worden

2011-01-01

We analyse the tropospheric ozone distribution over North America and the North Atlantic to boreal biomass burning emissions during the summer of 2010 using the GEOS-Chem 3-D global tropospheric chemical transport model, and observations from in situ and satellite instruments. In comparison to observations from the PICO-NARE observatory in the Azores, ozonesondes across Canada, and the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Instrument (IASI) satellite instr...

Automatic programmable air ozonizer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gubarev, S.P.; Klosovsky, A.V.; Opaleva, G.P.; Taran, V.S.; Zolototrubova, M.I.

2015-01-01

In this paper we describe a compact, economical, easy to manage auto air ozonator developed at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the NSC KIPT. It is designed for sanitation, disinfection of premises and cleaning the air from foreign odors. A distinctive feature of the developed device is the generation of a given concentration of ozone, approximately 0.7 maximum allowable concentration (MAC), and automatic maintenance of a specified level. This allows people to be inside the processed premises during operation. The microprocessor controller to control the operation of the ozonator was developed

Ozone response to emission changes: a modeling study during the MCMA-2006/MILAGRO Campaign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Song

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The sensitivity of ozone production to precursor emissions was investigated under five different meteorological conditions in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA during the MCMA-2006/MILAGRO field campaign using the gridded photochemical model CAMx driven by observation-nudged WRF meteorology. Precursor emissions were constrained by the comprehensive data from the field campaign and the routine ambient air quality monitoring network. Simulated plume mixing and transport were examined by comparing with measurements from the G-1 aircraft during the campaign. The observed concentrations of ozone precursors and ozone were reasonably well reproduced by the model. The effects of reducing precursor emissions on urban ozone production were performed for three representative emission control scenarios. A 50% reduction in VOC emissions led to 7 to 22 ppb decrease in daily maximum ozone concentrations, while a 50% reduction in NO_x emissions leads to 4 to 21 ppb increase, and 50% reductions in both NO_x and VOC emission decrease the daily maximum ozone concentrations up to 10 ppb. These results along with a chemical indicator analysis using the chemical production ratios of H₂O₂ to HNO₃ demonstrate that the MCMA urban core region is VOC-limited for all meteorological episodes, which is consistent with the results from MCMA-2003 field campaign; however the degree of the VOC-sensitivity is higher during MCMA-2006 due to lower VOCs, lower VOC reactivity and moderately higher NO_x emissions. Ozone formation in the surrounding mountain/rural area is mostly NO_x-limited, but can be VOC-limited, and the range of the NO_x-limited or VOC-limited areas depends on meteorology.

Relative impacts of worldwide tropospheric ozone changes and regional emission modifications on European surface-ozone levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szopa, S.; Hauglustaine, D.A.

2007-01-01

Multi-scale models were applied to assess the surface ozone changes in 2030. Several emission scenarios are considered, ranging from (a) a pessimistic anthropogenic emission increase to (b) an optimistic decrease of emissions, and including (c) a realistic scenario that assumes the implementation of control legislations [CLE]. The two extreme scenarios lead respectively to homogeneous global increase and decrease of surface ozone, whereas low and inhomogeneous changes associated with a slight global increase of ozone are found for the CLE scenario. Over western Europe, for the CLE scenario, the benefit of European emission reduction is significantly counterbalanced by increasing global ozone levels. Considering warmer conditions over Europe and future emission modifications, the human health exposure to surface ozone is found to be significantly worsened. (authors)

Sound quality prediction for engine-radiated noise

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hai; Zhang, Junhong; Guo, Peng; Bi, Fengrong; Yu, Hanzhengnan; Ni, Guangjian

2015-05-01

Diesel engine-radiated noise quality prediction is an important topic because engine noise has a significant impact on the overall vehicle noise. Sound quality prediction is based on subjective and objective evaluation of engine noise. The integrated satisfaction index (ISI) is proposed as a criterion for differentiate noise quality in the subjective evaluation, and five psychoacoustic parameters are selected for characterizing and analyzing the noise quality of the diesel engine objectively. The combination of support vector machines (SVM) and genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed in order to establish a model for predicting the diesel engine-radiated noise quality for all operation conditions. The performance of the GA-SVM model is compared with the BP neural network model, and the results show that the mean relative error of the GA-SVM model is smaller than the BP neural network model. The importance rank of the sound quality metrics to the ISI is indicated by the non-parametric correlation analysis. This study suggests that the GA-SVM model is very useful for accurately predicting the diesel engine-radiated noise quality.

Bias determination and precision validation of ozone profiles from MIPAS-Envisat retrieved with the IMK-IAA processor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Steck

2007-07-01

Full Text Available This paper characterizes vertical ozone profiles retrieved with the IMK-IAA (Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe – Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia science-oriented processor from high spectral resolution data (until March 2004 measured by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS aboard the environmental satellite Envisat. Bias determination and precision validation is performed on the basis of correlative measurements by ground-based lidars, Fourier transform infrared spectrometers, and microwave radiometers as well as balloon-borne ozonesondes, the balloon-borne version of MIPAS, and two satellite instruments (Halogen Occultation Experiment and Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement III. Percentage mean differences between MIPAS and the comparison instruments for stratospheric ozone are generally within ±10%. The precision in this altitude region is estimated at values between 5 and 10% which gives an accuracy of 15 to 20%. Below 18 km, the spread of the percentage mean differences is larger and the precision degrades to values of more than 20% depending on altitude and latitude. The main reason for the degraded precision at low altitudes is attributed to undetected thin clouds which affect MIPAS retrievals, and to the influence of uncertainties in the water vapor concentration.

Sound Classification in Hearing Aids Inspired by Auditory Scene Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Büchler, Michael; Allegro, Silvia; Launer, Stefan; Dillier, Norbert

2005-12-01

A sound classification system for the automatic recognition of the acoustic environment in a hearing aid is discussed. The system distinguishes the four sound classes "clean speech," "speech in noise," "noise," and "music." A number of features that are inspired by auditory scene analysis are extracted from the sound signal. These features describe amplitude modulations, spectral profile, harmonicity, amplitude onsets, and rhythm. They are evaluated together with different pattern classifiers. Simple classifiers, such as rule-based and minimum-distance classifiers, are compared with more complex approaches, such as Bayes classifier, neural network, and hidden Markov model. Sounds from a large database are employed for both training and testing of the system. The achieved recognition rates are very high except for the class "speech in noise." Problems arise in the classification of compressed pop music, strongly reverberated speech, and tonal or fluctuating noises.

The holes in the ozone scare

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maduro, R.; Schauerhamer, R.

1992-05-01

For the authors, the ozone hole is more politic than scientific, and is caused by anthropogenic CFC, the ozone concentration reduction measured in the antarctic stratosphere is a natural phenomena: ozone destruction by chlorides and bromides coming from volcanos and oceans. The ozone hole was discovered in 1956 and not in 1985. For the greenhouse effect, the CO[sub 2] part is very small in comparison with the atmospheric water vapour part. (A.B.). refs., figs., tabs.

CHARACTERIZATION OF OZONE EMISSIONS FROM AIR CLEANERS EQUIPPED WITH OZONE GENERATORS AND SENSOR AND FEEDBACK CONTROL CIRCUITRY

Science.gov (United States)

The paper give results of a characterization of ozone emissions from air cleaners equipped with ozone generators and sensor and feedback control circuitry. Ozone emission rates of several consumer appliances, marketed as indoor air treatment or air purification systems, were det...

Effects of ozone and ozone/peroxide on trace organic contaminants and NDMA in drinking water and water reuse applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Pisarenko, Aleksey N; Stanford, Benjamin D; Yan, Dongxu; Gerrity, Daniel; Snyder, Shane A

2012-02-01

An ozone and ozone/peroxide oxidation process was evaluated at pilot scale for trace organic contaminant (TOrC) mitigation and NDMA formation in both drinking water and water reuse applications. A reverse osmosis (RO) pilot was also evaluated as part of the water reuse treatment train. Ozone/peroxide showed lower electrical energy per order of removal (EEO) values for TOrCs in surface water treatment, but the addition of hydrogen peroxide increased EEO values during wastewater treatment. TOrC oxidation was correlated to changes in UV(254) absorbance and fluorescence offering a surrogate model for predicting contaminant removal. A decrease in N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation potential (after chloramination) was observed after treatment with ozone and ozone/peroxide. However, during spiking experiments with surface water, ozone/peroxide achieved limited destruction of NDMA, while in wastewaters net direct formation of NDMA of 6-33 ng/L was observed after either ozone or ozone/peroxide treatment. Once formed during ozonation, NDMA passed through the subsequent RO membranes, which highlights the significance of the potential for direct NDMA formation during oxidation in reuse applications. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correlative studies of satellite ozone sensor measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lovill, J.E.; Ellis, J.S.

1983-01-01

Comparisons are made between total ozone measurements made by four satellite ozone sensors (TOMS, SBUV, TOVS and MFR). The comparisons were made during July 1979 when all sensors were operating simultaneously. The TOMS and SBUV sensors were observed to measure less total ozone than the MFR sensor, 10 and 15 Dobson units (DU) respectively. The MFR and TOMS sensors measured less ozone than the TOVS sensor, 19 an 28 DU, respectively. Latitudinal variability of the total ozone comparisons is discussed

The Ecophysiology Of A Pinus Ponderosa Ecosystem Exposed To High Tropospheric Ozone: Implications For Stomatal And Non-Stomatal Ozone Fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Fares, S.; McKay, M.; Goldstein, A.

2008-12-01

Ecosystems remove ozone from the troposphere through both stomatal and non-stomatal deposition. The portion of ozone taken up through stomata has an oxidative effect causing damage. We used a multi-year dataset to assess the physiological controls over ozone deposition. Environmental parameters, CO2 and ozone fluxes were measured continuously from January 2001 to December 2006 above a ponderosa pine plantation near Blodgett Forest, Georgetown, California. We studied the dynamic of NEE (Net Ecosystem Exchange, -838 g C m-2 yr-1) and water evapotranspiration on an annual and daily basis. These processes are tightly coupled to stomatal aperture which also controlled ozone fluxes. High levels of ozone concentrations (~ 100 ppb) were observed during the spring-summer period, with corresponding high levels of ozone fluxes (~ 30 μmol m-2 h-1). During the summer season, a large portion of the total ozone flux was due to non-stomatal processes, and we propose that a plant physiological control, releasing BVOC (Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds), is mainly responsible. We analyzed the correlations of common ozone exposure metrics based on accumulation of concentrations (AOT40 and SUM0) with ozone fluxes (total, stomatal and non-stomatal). Stomatal flux showed poorer correlation with ozone concentrations than non-stomatal flux during summer and fall seasons, which largely corresponded to the growing period. We therefore suggest that AOT40 and SUM0 are poor predictors of ozone damage and that a physiologically based metric would be more effective.

Ozone injury to celery. [Apium graveolens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rich, S.

1966-10-01

Ozone is the principal air pollutant damaging crops in Connecticut. Ozone injury in Connecticut has been found on a number of crops including tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, alfalfa, and cereals. This is the first report of ozone damage to celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) in Connecticut, and perhaps in the United States. On July 7, 1966, celery plants with badly damaged older leaves were found in a commercial garden near Shelton, Connecticut. The injured leaves showed chlorotic and necrotic interveinal areas on their upper surfaces. These areas were slightly depressed. Cross sections of the lesions revealed that the palisade cells were most severely injured. Spinach and carrots growing near the celery showed typical symptoms of ozone damage. To substantiate the diagnosis, young celery plants were exposed to 0.2 ppm of ozone in a well-lighted plastic chamber for 1 to 3 hours. Five days later, these plants developed symptoms indentical to those found on celery in the field. Ozone damage appeared on many crops in southern Connecticut early in July. This injury probably occurred on June 27, when a high concentration of ozone (0.1 ppm) was present in the New Haven area.

Use of a Deep Recurrent Neural Network to Reduce Wind Noise: Effects on Judged Speech Intelligibility and Sound Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Keshavarzi, Mahmoud; Goehring, Tobias; Zakis, Justin; Turner, Richard E; Moore, Brian C J

2018-01-01

Despite great advances in hearing-aid technology, users still experience problems with noise in windy environments. The potential benefits of using a deep recurrent neural network (RNN) for reducing wind noise were assessed. The RNN was trained using recordings of the output of the two microphones of a behind-the-ear hearing aid in response to male and female speech at various azimuths in the presence of noise produced by wind from various azimuths with a velocity of 3 m/s, using the "clean" speech as a reference. A paired-comparison procedure was used to compare all possible combinations of three conditions for subjective intelligibility and for sound quality or comfort. The conditions were unprocessed noisy speech, noisy speech processed using the RNN, and noisy speech that was high-pass filtered (which also reduced wind noise). Eighteen native English-speaking participants were tested, nine with normal hearing and nine with mild-to-moderate hearing impairment. Frequency-dependent linear amplification was provided for the latter. Processing using the RNN was significantly preferred over no processing by both subject groups for both subjective intelligibility and sound quality, although the magnitude of the preferences was small. High-pass filtering (HPF) was not significantly preferred over no processing. Although RNN was significantly preferred over HPF only for sound quality for the hearing-impaired participants, for the results as a whole, there was a preference for RNN over HPF. Overall, the results suggest that reduction of wind noise using an RNN is possible and might have beneficial effects when used in hearing aids.

Use of a Deep Recurrent Neural Network to Reduce Wind Noise: Effects on Judged Speech Intelligibility and Sound Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Keshavarzi, Mahmoud; Goehring, Tobias; Zakis, Justin; Turner, Richard E.; Moore, Brian C. J.

2018-01-01

Despite great advances in hearing-aid technology, users still experience problems with noise in windy environments. The potential benefits of using a deep recurrent neural network (RNN) for reducing wind noise were assessed. The RNN was trained using recordings of the output of the two microphones of a behind-the-ear hearing aid in response to male and female speech at various azimuths in the presence of noise produced by wind from various azimuths with a velocity of 3 m/s, using the “clean” speech as a reference. A paired-comparison procedure was used to compare all possible combinations of three conditions for subjective intelligibility and for sound quality or comfort. The conditions were unprocessed noisy speech, noisy speech processed using the RNN, and noisy speech that was high-pass filtered (which also reduced wind noise). Eighteen native English-speaking participants were tested, nine with normal hearing and nine with mild-to-moderate hearing impairment. Frequency-dependent linear amplification was provided for the latter. Processing using the RNN was significantly preferred over no processing by both subject groups for both subjective intelligibility and sound quality, although the magnitude of the preferences was small. High-pass filtering (HPF) was not significantly preferred over no processing. Although RNN was significantly preferred over HPF only for sound quality for the hearing-impaired participants, for the results as a whole, there was a preference for RNN over HPF. Overall, the results suggest that reduction of wind noise using an RNN is possible and might have beneficial effects when used in hearing aids. PMID:29708061

Sound algorithms

OpenAIRE

De Götzen , Amalia; Mion , Luca; Tache , Olivier

2007-01-01

International audience; We call sound algorithms the categories of algorithms that deal with digital sound signal. Sound algorithms appeared in the very infancy of computer. Sound algorithms present strong specificities that are the consequence of two dual considerations: the properties of the digital sound signal itself and its uses, and the properties of auditory perception.

Simultaneous observations of SAO and QBO in winds, temperature and ozone in the tropical middle atmosphere over Thumba (8.5 N, 77 E)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Karanam Kishore; Swain, Debadatta; John, Sherine Rachel; Ramkumar, Geetha [Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Space Physics Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram (India)

2011-11-15

Owing to the importance of middle atmosphere, recently, a Middle Atmospheric Dynamics (MIDAS) program was carried out during the period 2002-2007 at Thumba (8.5 N, 77 E). The measurements under this program, involving regular radiosonde/rocket flights as well as atmospheric radars, provided long period observations of winds and temperature in the middle atmospheric region from which waves and oscillations as well as their forcing mechanisms particularly in the low-latitude middle atmosphere could be analyzed. However, a detailed analysis of the forcing mechanisms remains incomplete due to the lack of important measurements like ozone which is a significant contributor to atmospheric dynamics. Presently, profiles of ozone are available from TIMED/SABER (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics/Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broad Emission Radiometry) satellite globally from about 15 to 100 km, over multiple years since 2002. In this regard, a comprehensive study has been carried out on ozone and its variability at Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and Semiannual Oscillation (SAO) scales using TIMED/SABER ozone observations during the MIDAS campaign period. Before using the TIMED/SABER ozone measurements, an inter-comparison has been carried out with in situ measurements of ozone obtained under the Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) campaign for the year 2007 at few stations. The inter-comparison showed very good agreement between SABER and ozonesonde derived ozone profiles. After validating the SABER observations, ozone profiles are used extensively to study the QBO and SAO along with temperature and winds in the 20-100 km height region. It is known that the SAO in mesosphere and stratosphere are in opposite phases, but the present study for the first time reports the aspect of opposite phases in the mesosphere itself. Thus, the present work attempts to study the long-period oscillations in stratosphere and mesosphere in ozone

Options to Accelerate Ozone Recovery: Ozone and Climate Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, E. L.; Daniel, J. S.; Portmann, R. W.; Velders, G. J. M.; Jackman, C. H.; Ravishankara, A. R.

2010-01-01

The humankind or anthropogenic influence on ozone primarily originated from the chlorofluorocarbons and halons (chlorine and bromine). Representatives from governments have met periodically over the years to establish international regulations starting with the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which greatly limited the release of these ozone-depleting substances (DDSs). Two global models have been used to investigate the impact of hypothetical reductions in future emissions of ODSs on total column ozone. The investigations primarily focused on chlorine- and bromine-containing gases, but some computations also included nitrous oxide (N2O). The Montreal Protocol with ODS controls have been so successful that further regulations of chlorine- and bromine-containing gases could have only a fraction of the impact that regulations already in force have had. if all anthropogenic ODS emissions were halted beginning in 2011, ozone is calculated to be higher by about 1-2% during the period 2030-2100 compared to a case of no additional ODS restrictions. Chlorine- and bromine-containing gases and nitrous oxide are also greenhouse gases and lead to warming of the troposphere. Elimination of N 20 emissions would result in a reduction of radiative forcing of 0.23 W/sq m in 2100 than presently computed and destruction of the CFC bank would produce a reduction in radiative forcing of 0.005 W/sq m in 2100. This paper provides a quantitative way to consider future regulations of the CFC bank and N 20 emissions

Sound Is Sound: Film Sound Techniques and Infrasound Data Array Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Perttu, A. B.; Williams, R.; Taisne, B.; Tailpied, D.

2017-12-01

A multidisciplinary collaboration between earth scientists and a sound designer/composer was established to explore the possibilities of audification analysis of infrasound array data. Through the process of audification of the infrasound we began to experiment with techniques and processes borrowed from cinema to manipulate the noise content of the signal. The results of this posed the question: "Would the accuracy of infrasound data array processing be enhanced by employing these techniques?". So a new area of research was born from this collaboration and highlights the value of these interactions and the unintended paths that can occur from them. Using a reference event database, infrasound data were processed using these new techniques and the results were compared with existing techniques to asses if there was any improvement to detection capability for the array. With just under one thousand volcanoes, and a high probability of eruption, Southeast Asia offers a unique opportunity to develop and test techniques for regional monitoring of volcanoes with different technologies. While these volcanoes are monitored locally (e.g. seismometer, infrasound, geodetic and geochemistry networks) and remotely (e.g. satellite and infrasound), there are challenges and limitations to the current monitoring capability. Not only is there a high fraction of cloud cover in the region, making plume observation more difficult via satellite, there have been examples of local monitoring networks and telemetry being destroyed early in the eruptive sequence. The success of local infrasound studies to identify explosions at volcanoes, and calculate plume heights from these signals, has led to an interest in retrieving source parameters for the purpose of ash modeling with a regional network independent of cloud cover.

46 CFR 7.20 - Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island Sound and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island Sound and easterly entrance to Long Island Sound, NY. 7.20 Section 7.20... Atlantic Coast § 7.20 Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island...

Variability and trend in ozone over the southern tropics and subtropics

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A. M. Toihir

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Long-term variability in ozone trends was assessed over eight Southern Hemisphere tropical and subtropical sites (Natal, Nairobi, Ascension Island, Java, Samoa, Fiji, Reunion and Irene, using total column ozone data (TCO and vertical ozone profiles (altitude range 15–30 km recorded during the period January 1998–December 2012. The TCO datasets were constructed by combination of satellite data (OMI and TOMS and ground-based observations recorded using Dobson and SAOZ spectrometers. Vertical ozone profiles were obtained from balloon-sonde experiments which were operated within the framework of the SHADOZ network. The analysis in this study was performed using the Trend-Run model. This is a multivariate regression model based on the principle of separating the variations of ozone time series into a sum of several forcings (annual and semi-annual oscillations, QBO (Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, ENSO, 11-year solar cycle that account for most of its variability. The trend value is calculated based on the slope of a normalized linear function which is one of the forcing parameters included in the model. Three regions were defined as follows: equatorial (0–10° S, tropical (10–20° S and subtropical (20–30° S. Results obtained indicate that ozone variability is dominated by seasonal and quasi-biennial oscillations. The ENSO contribution is observed to be significant in the tropical lower stratosphere and especially over the Pacific sites (Samoa and Java. The annual cycle of ozone is observed to be the most dominant mode of variability for all the sites and presents a meridional signature with a maximum over the subtropics, while semi-annual and quasi-biannual ozone modes are more apparent over the equatorial region, and their magnitude decreases southward. The ozone variation mode linked to the QBO signal is observed between altitudes of 20 and 28 km. Over the equatorial zone there is a strong signal at  ∼ 26�

California Baseline Ozone Transport Study (CABOTS): Ozonesonde Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Eiserloh, A. J., Jr.; Chiao, S.; Spitze, J.; Cauley, S.; Clark, J.; Roberts, M.

2016-12-01

Because the EPA recently lowered the ambient air quality standard for the 8-hr average of ozone (O3) to70 ppbv, California must continue to achieve significant reductions in ozone precursor emissions and prepare for new State Implementation Plans (SIP) to demonstrate how ground-level ambient ozone will be reduced below the new health-based standard. Prior studies suggest that background levels of ozone traveling across the Pacific Ocean can significantly influence surface ozone throughout California, particularly during the spring. Evidence has been presented indicating that background levels of ozone continue to increase in the western United States over the recent few decades, implying more ozone exceedances in the future. To better understand the contributions of the external natural and anthropogenic pollution sources as well as atmospheric processes for surface ozone concentrations in California during the spring and summer months, the California Baseline Ozone Transport Study (CABOTS) has been established. One major goal of CABOTS is to implement near daily ozonesonde measurements along the California Coast to quantify background ozone aloft before entering the State during high ozone season. CABOTS has been ongoing from May through August of 2016 launching ozonesondes from Bodega Bay and Half Moon Bay, California. The temporal progression of ozonesonde measurements and subsequent analysis of the data will be discussed with a focus on the contribution of background ozone to surface ozone sites inland as well as likely origins of layers aloft. Comparisons of current ozonesondes versus prior ozonesonde studies of California will also be performed. A few selected cases of high ozone layers moving onshore from different sources will be discussed as well.

Ozone decomposition kinetics on alumina: effects of ozone partial pressure, relative humidity and repeated oxidation cycles

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R. C. Sullivan

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The room temperature kinetics of gas-phase ozone loss via heterogeneous interactions with thin alumina films has been studied in real-time using 254nm absorption spectroscopy to monitor ozone concentrations. The films were prepared from dispersions of fine alumina powder in methanol and their surface areas were determined by an in situ procedure using adsorption of krypton at 77K. The alumina was found to lose reactivity with increasing ozone exposure. However, some of the lost reactivity could be recovered over timescales of days in an environment free of water, ozone and carbon dioxide. From multiple exposures of ozone to the same film, it was found that the number of active sites is large, greater than 1.4x1014 active sites per cm2 of surface area or comparable to the total number of surface sites. The films maintain some reactivity at this point, which is consistent with there being some degree of active site regeneration during the experiment and with ozone loss being catalytic to some degree. The initial uptake coefficients on fresh films were found to be inversely dependent on the ozone concentration, varying from roughly 10-6 for ozone concentrations of 1014 molecules/cm3 to 10-5 at 1013 molecules/cm3. The initial uptake coefficients were not dependent on the relative humidity, up to 75%, within the precision of the experiment. The reaction mechanism is discussed, as well as the implications these results have for assessing the effect of mineral dust on atmospheric oxidant levels.

The effect of brain lesions on sound localization in complex acoustic environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Zündorf, Ida C; Karnath, Hans-Otto; Lewald, Jörg

2014-05-01

Localizing sound sources of interest in cluttered acoustic environments--as in the 'cocktail-party' situation--is one of the most demanding challenges to the human auditory system in everyday life. In this study, stroke patients' ability to localize acoustic targets in a single-source and in a multi-source setup in the free sound field were directly compared. Subsequent voxel-based lesion-behaviour mapping analyses were computed to uncover the brain areas associated with a deficit in localization in the presence of multiple distracter sound sources rather than localization of individually presented sound sources. Analyses revealed a fundamental role of the right planum temporale in this task. The results from the left hemisphere were less straightforward, but suggested an involvement of inferior frontal and pre- and postcentral areas. These areas appear to be particularly involved in the spectrotemporal analyses crucial for effective segregation of multiple sound streams from various locations, beyond the currently known network for localization of isolated sound sources in otherwise silent surroundings.

Ozone Damages to Mediterranean Crops: Physiological Responses

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Albino Maggio

2008-03-01

Full Text Available In this brief review we analyzed some aspects of tropospheric ozone damages to crop plants. Specifically, we addressed this issue to Mediterranean environments, where plant response to multiple stresses may either exacerbate or counteract deleterious ozone effects. After discussing the adequacy of current models to predict ozone damages to Mediterranean crops, we present a few examples of physiological responses to drought and salinity stress that generally overlap with seasonal ozone peaks in Southern Italy. The co-existence of multiple stresses is then analyzed in terms of stomatal vs. non-stomatal control of ozone damages. Recent results on osmoprotectant feeding experiments, as a non-invasive strategy to uncouple stomatal vs. non stomatal contribution to ozone protection, are also presented. In the final section, we discuss critical needs in ozone research and the great potential of plant model systems to unravel multiple stress responses in agricultural crops.

Ozone Damages to Mediterranean Crops: Physiological Responses

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Massimo Fagnano

2011-02-01

Full Text Available In this brief review we analyzed some aspects of tropospheric ozone damages to crop plants. Specifically, we addressed this issue to Mediterranean environments, where plant response to multiple stresses may either exacerbate or counteract deleterious ozone effects. After discussing the adequacy of current models to predict ozone damages to Mediterranean crops, we present a few examples of physiological responses to drought and salinity stress that generally overlap with seasonal ozone peaks in Southern Italy. The co-existence of multiple stresses is then analyzed in terms of stomatal vs. non-stomatal control of ozone damages. Recent results on osmoprotectant feeding experiments, as a non-invasive strategy to uncouple stomatal vs. non stomatal contribution to ozone protection, are also presented. In the final section, we discuss critical needs in ozone research and the great potential of plant model systems to unravel multiple stress responses in agricultural crops.

Global Ozone Distribution relevant to Human Health: Metrics and present day levels from the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR)

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Fleming, Z. L.; Doherty, R. M.; von Schneidemesser, E.; Cooper, O. R.; Malley, C.; Colette, A.; Xu, X.; Pinto, J. P.; Simpson, D.; Schultz, M. G.; Hamad, S.; Moola, R.; Solberg, S.; Feng, Z.

2017-12-01

Using stations from the TOAR surface ozone database, this study quantifies present-day global and regional distributions of five ozone metrics relevant for both short-term and long-term human exposure. These metrics were explored at ozone monitoring sites globally, and re-classified for this project as urban or non-urban using population densities and night-time lights. National surface ozone limit values are usually related to an annual number of exceedances of daily maximum 8-hour running mean (MDA8), with many countries not even having any ozone limit values. A discussion and comparison of exceedances in the different ozone metrics, their locations and the seasonality of exceedances provides clues as to the regions that potentially have more serious ozone health implications. Present day ozone levels (2010-2014) have been compared globally and show definite geographical differences (see Figure showing the annual 4th highest MDA8 for present day ozone for all non-urban stations). Higher ozone levels are seen in western compared to eastern US, and between southern and northern Europe, and generally higher levels in east Asia. The metrics reflective of peak concentrations show highest values in western North America, southern Europe and East Asia. A number of the metrics show similar distributions of North-South gradients, most prominent across Europe and Japan. The interquartile range of the regional ozone metrics was largest in East Asia, higher for urban stations in Asia but higher for non-urban stations in Europe and North America. With over 3000 monitoring stations included in this analysis and despite the higher densities of monitoring stations in Europe, north America and East Asia, this study provides the most comprehensive global picture to date of surface ozone levels in terms of health-relevant metrics.

Forests and ozone: productivity, carbon storage, and feedbacks.

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Wang, Bin; Shugart, Herman H; Shuman, Jacquelyn K; Lerdau, Manuel T

2016-02-22

Tropospheric ozone is a serious air-pollutant, with large impacts on plant function. This study demonstrates that tropospheric ozone, although it damages plant metabolism, does not necessarily reduce ecosystem processes such as productivity or carbon sequestration because of diversity change and compensatory processes at the community scale ameliorate negative impacts at the individual level. This study assesses the impact of ozone on forest composition and ecosystem dynamics with an individual-based gap model that includes basic physiology as well as species-specific metabolic properties. Elevated tropospheric ozone leads to no reduction of forest productivity and carbon stock and to increased isoprene emissions, which result from enhanced dominance by isoprene-emitting species (which tolerate ozone stress better than non-emitters). This study suggests that tropospheric ozone may not diminish forest carbon sequestration capacity. This study also suggests that, because of the often positive relationship between isoprene emission and ozone formation, there is a positive feedback loop between forest communities and ozone, which further aggravates ozone pollution.

Ozone from fireworks: Chemical processes or measurement interference?

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Xu, Zheng; Nie, Wei; Chi, Xuguang; Huang, Xin; Zheng, Longfei; Xu, Zhengning; Wang, Jiaping; Xie, Yuning; Qi, Ximeng; Wang, Xinfeng; Xue, Likun; Ding, Aijun

2018-08-15

Fireworks have been identified as one ozone source by photolyzing NO 2 or O 2 and are believed to potentially be important for the nighttime ozone during firework events. In this study, we conducted both lab and field experiments to test two types of fireworks with low and high energy with the goal to distinguish whether the visible ozone signal during firework displays is real. The results suggest that previous understanding of the ozone formation mechanism during fireworks is misunderstood. Ultraviolet ray (UV)-based ozone monitors are interfered by aerosols and some specific VOCs. High-energy fireworks emit high concentrations of particular matters and low VOCs that the artificial ozone can be easily removed by an aerosol filter. Low-energy fireworks emit large amounts of VOCs mostly from the combustion of the cardboard from fireworks that largely interferes with the ozone monitor. Benzene and phenol might be major contributors to the artificial ozone signal. We further checked the nighttime ozone concentration in Jinan and Beijing, China, during Chinese New Year, a period with intense fireworks. A signal of 3-8ppbv ozone was detected and positively correlated to NO and SO 2 , suggesting a considerable influence of these chemicals in interfering with ambient ozone monitoring. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ozone, Climate, and Global Atmospheric Change.

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Levine, Joel S.

1992-01-01

Presents an overview of global atmospheric problems relating to ozone depletion and global warming. Provides background information on the composition of the earth's atmosphere and origin of atmospheric ozone. Describes causes, effects, and evidence of ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect. A vignette provides a summary of a 1991 assessment of…

Drift-corrected Odin-OSIRIS ozone product: algorithm and updated stratospheric ozone trends

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A. E. Bourassa

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A small long-term drift in the Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System (OSIRIS stratospheric ozone product, manifested mostly since 2012, is quantified and attributed to a changing bias in the limb pointing knowledge of the instrument. A correction to this pointing drift using a predictable shape in the measured limb radiance profile is implemented and applied within the OSIRIS retrieval algorithm. This new data product, version 5.10, displays substantially better both long- and short-term agreement with Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS ozone throughout the stratosphere due to the pointing correction. Previously reported stratospheric ozone trends over the time period 1984–2013, which were derived by merging the altitude–number density ozone profile measurements from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II satellite instrument (1984–2005 and from OSIRIS (2002–2013, are recalculated using the new OSIRIS version 5.10 product and extended to 2017. These results still show statistically significant positive trends throughout the upper stratosphere since 1997, but at weaker levels that are more closely in line with estimates from other data records.

Effect of Pulse Width on Oxygen-fed Ozonizer

Science.gov (United States)

Okada, Sho; Wang, Douyan; Namihira, Takao; Katsuki, Sunao; Akiyama, Hidenori

Though general ozonizers based on silent discharge (barrier discharge) have been used to supply ozone at many industrial situations, there is still some problem, such as improvements of ozone yield. In this work, ozone was generated by pulsed discharge in order to improve the characteristics of ozone generation. It is known that a pulse width gives strong effect to the improvement of energy efficiency in exhaust gas processing. In this paper, the effect of pulse duration on ozone generation by pulsed discharge in oxygen would be reported.

The ozone pollution and the climatology in a Mediterranean space: the Alpes-Maritimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, N.

2008-12-01

The tropospheric ozone, secondary pollutant affecting the health of the human beings, concerns particularly the department of the Alpes-Maritimes during the photochemical season. Mountainous littoral space, this territory is widely dominated during summer notably by anticyclonic conditions allowing the thermal breezes to express themselves. This regime of wind is in the center of the problem of the ozone pollution because it pulls frequently an accumulation of primary and secondary pollutants in the course of days within the same air mass. Although being a weakly industrialized department, the Alpes-Maritimes are victims of a strong period of sunshine which allows primary pollutants emitted mainly by the road traffic to produce some ozone. Through the data of pollution stemming from the network of surveillance of the air quality AtmoPACA as well as from very numerous measures of ground, the objective is to understand better the relations between the spatial and temporal variability of the ozone and that of the weather conditions to various scales. Having detailed the history of the available ozone and nitrogen dioxide measures in the department, the first approach in macro-scale is led between the NCEP reanalysis and the ozone pollution levels in nine measures stations of the Alpes-Maritimes. This first level of analysis allows defining the general meteorological configurations characterizing an episode of pollution by the ozone. The presence of an anticyclonic ridge on the Western Europe associated with weak speeds of wind, weak rates of relative humidity and a weak relative vorticity, provoke a degradation of the air quality in the department. A second analysis level is then approached: it is a question of clarifying in meso-scale and in micro-scale the weather conditions convenient to strong ozone concentrations. For it, itinerant ozone measures campaigns are made in the whole of the department; an important data base is established on Nice and in its

Regional impacts of oil and gas development on ozone formation in the western United States.

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Rodriguez, Marco A; Barna, Michael G; Moore, Tom

2009-09-01

The Intermountain West is currently experiencing increased growth in oil and gas production, which has the potential to affect the visibility and air quality of various Class I areas in the region. The following work presents an analysis of these impacts using the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx). CAMx is a state-of-the-science, "one-atmosphere" Eulerian photochemical dispersion model that has been widely used in the assessment of gaseous and particulate air pollution (ozone, fine [PM2.5], and coarse [PM10] particulate matter). Meteorology and emissions inventories developed by the Western Regional Air Partnership Regional Modeling Center for regional haze analysis and planning are used to establish an ozone baseline simulation for the year 2002. The predicted range of values for ozone in the national parks and other Class I areas in the western United States is then evaluated with available observations from the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET). This evaluation demonstrates the model's suitability for subsequent planning, sensitivity, and emissions control strategy modeling. Once the ozone baseline simulation has been established, an analysis of the model results is performed to investigate the regional impacts of oil and gas development on the ozone concentrations that affect the air quality of Class I areas. Results indicate that the maximum 8-hr ozone enhancement from oil and gas (9.6 parts per billion [ppb]) could affect southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. Class I areas in this region that are likely to be impacted by increased ozone include Mesa Verde National Park and Weminuche Wilderness Area in Colorado and San Pedro Parks Wilderness Area, Bandelier Wilderness Area, Pecos Wilderness Area, and Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area in New Mexico.

Tropospheric Ozone and Photochemical Smog

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Sillman, S.

2003-12-01

The question of air quality in polluted regions represents one of the issues of geochemistry with direct implications for human well-being. Human health and well-being, along with the well-being of plants, animals, and agricultural crops, are dependent on the quality of air we breathe. Since the start of the industrial era, air quality has become a matter of major importance, especially in large cities or urbanized regions with heavy automobile traffic and industrial activity.Concern over air quality existed as far back as the 1600s. Originally, polluted air in cities resulted from the burning of wood or coal, largely as a source of heat. The industrial revolution in England saw a great increase in the use of coal in rapidly growing cities, both for industrial use and domestic heating. London suffered from devastating pollution events during the late 1800s and early 1900s, with thousands of excess deaths attributed to air pollution (Brimblecombe, 1987). With increasing use of coal, other instances also occurred in continental Europe and the USA. These events were caused by directly emitted pollutants (primary pollutants), including sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulates. They were especially acute in cities with northerly locations during fall and winter when sunlight is at a minimum. These original pollution events gave rise to the term "smog" (a combination of smoke and fog). Events of this type have become much less severe since the 1950s in Western Europe and the US, as natural gas replaced coal as the primary source of home heating, industrial smokestacks were designed to emit at higher altitudes (where dispersion is more rapid), and industries were required to install pollution control equipment.Beginning in the 1950s, a new type of pollution, photochemical smog, became a major concern. Photochemical smog consists of ozone (O3) and other closely related species ("secondary pollutants") that are produced photochemically from directly

Statistical Models to Assess the Health Effects and to Forecast Ground Level Ozone

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Schlink, U.; Herbath, O.; Richter, M.; Dorling, S.; Nunnari, G.; Cawley, G.; Pelikán, Emil

2006-01-01

Roč. 21, č. 4 (2006), s. 547-558 ISSN 1364-8152 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET400300414 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : statistical models * ground level ozone * health effects * logistic model * forecasting * prediction performance * neural network * generalised additive model * integrated assessment Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 1.992, year: 2006

Information content of ozone retrieval algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, C.; Bhartia, P. K.; Chu, W. P.; Curran, R.; Deluisi, J.; Gille, J. C.; Hudson, R.; Mateer, C.; Rusch, D.; Thomas, R. J.

1989-01-01

The algorithms are characterized that were used for production processing by the major suppliers of ozone data to show quantitatively: how the retrieved profile is related to the actual profile (This characterizes the altitude range and vertical resolution of the data); the nature of systematic errors in the retrieved profiles, including their vertical structure and relation to uncertain instrumental parameters; how trends in the real ozone are reflected in trends in the retrieved ozone profile; and how trends in other quantities (both instrumental and atmospheric) might appear as trends in the ozone profile. No serious deficiencies were found in the algorithms used in generating the major available ozone data sets. As the measurements are all indirect in someway, and the retrieved profiles have different characteristics, data from different instruments are not directly comparable.

Ozone Gardens for the Citizen Scientist

Science.gov (United States)

Pippin, Margaret; Reilly, Gay; Rodjom, Abbey; Malick, Emily

2016-01-01

NASA Langley partnered with the Virginia Living Museum and two schools to create ozone bio-indicator gardens for citizen scientists of all ages. The garden at the Marshall Learning Center is part of a community vegetable garden designed to teach young children where food comes from and pollution in their area, since most of the children have asthma. The Mt. Carmel garden is located at a K-8 school. Different ozone sensitive and ozone tolerant species are growing and being monitored for leaf injury. In addition, CairClip ozone monitors were placed in the gardens and data are compared to ozone levels at the NASA Langley Chemistry and Physics Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (CAPABLE) site in Hampton, VA. Leaf observations and plant measurements are made two to three times a week throughout the growing season.

WRF-Chem simulated surface ozone over south Asia during the pre-monsoon: effects of emission inventories and chemical mechanisms

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A. Sharma

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We evaluate numerical simulations of surface ozone mixing ratios over the south Asian region during the pre-monsoon season, employing three different emission inventories in the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem with the second-generation Regional Acid Deposition Model (RADM2 chemical mechanism: the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research – Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (EDGAR-HTAP, the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment phase B (INTEX-B and the Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study (SEAC4RS. Evaluation of diurnal variability in modelled ozone compared to observational data from 15 monitoring stations across south Asia shows the model ability to reproduce the clean, rural and polluted urban conditions over this region. In contrast to the diurnal average, the modelled ozone mixing ratios during noontime, i.e. hours of intense photochemistry (11:30–16:30 IST – Indian Standard Time – UTC +5:30, are found to differ among the three inventories. This suggests that evaluations of the modelled ozone limited to 24 h average are insufficient to assess uncertainties associated with ozone buildup. HTAP generally shows 10–30 ppbv higher noontime ozone mixing ratios than SEAC4RS and INTEX-B, especially over the north-west Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP, central India and southern India. The HTAP simulation repeated with the alternative Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers (MOZART chemical mechanism showed even more strongly enhanced surface ozone mixing ratios due to vertical mixing of enhanced ozone that has been produced aloft. Our study indicates the need to also evaluate the O3 precursors across a network of stations and the development of high-resolution regional inventories for the anthropogenic emissions over south Asia accounting for year-to-year changes to further reduce uncertainties in modelled ozone over this region.

WRF-Chem simulated surface ozone over south Asia during the pre-monsoon: effects of emission inventories and chemical mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Amit; Ojha, Narendra; Pozzer, Andrea; Mar, Kathleen A.; Beig, Gufran; Lelieveld, Jos; Gunthe, Sachin S.

2017-12-01

We evaluate numerical simulations of surface ozone mixing ratios over the south Asian region during the pre-monsoon season, employing three different emission inventories in the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) with the second-generation Regional Acid Deposition Model (RADM2) chemical mechanism: the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research - Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (EDGAR-HTAP), the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment phase B (INTEX-B) and the Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study (SEAC4RS). Evaluation of diurnal variability in modelled ozone compared to observational data from 15 monitoring stations across south Asia shows the model ability to reproduce the clean, rural and polluted urban conditions over this region. In contrast to the diurnal average, the modelled ozone mixing ratios during noontime, i.e. hours of intense photochemistry (11:30-16:30 IST - Indian Standard Time - UTC +5:30), are found to differ among the three inventories. This suggests that evaluations of the modelled ozone limited to 24 h average are insufficient to assess uncertainties associated with ozone buildup. HTAP generally shows 10-30 ppbv higher noontime ozone mixing ratios than SEAC4RS and INTEX-B, especially over the north-west Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), central India and southern India. The HTAP simulation repeated with the alternative Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers (MOZART) chemical mechanism showed even more strongly enhanced surface ozone mixing ratios due to vertical mixing of enhanced ozone that has been produced aloft. Our study indicates the need to also evaluate the O3 precursors across a network of stations and the development of high-resolution regional inventories for the anthropogenic emissions over south Asia accounting for year-to-year changes to further reduce uncertainties in modelled ozone over this region.

Impacts of stratospheric sulfate geoengineering on tropospheric ozone

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L. Xia

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A range of solar radiation management (SRM techniques has been proposed to counter anthropogenic climate change. Here, we examine the potential effects of stratospheric sulfate aerosols and solar insolation reduction on tropospheric ozone and ozone at Earth's surface. Ozone is a key air pollutant, which can produce respiratory diseases and crop damage. Using a version of the Community Earth System Model from the National Center for Atmospheric Research that includes comprehensive tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry, we model both stratospheric sulfur injection and solar irradiance reduction schemes, with the aim of achieving equal levels of surface cooling relative to the Representative Concentration Pathway 6.0 scenario. This allows us to compare the impacts of sulfate aerosols and solar dimming on atmospheric ozone concentrations. Despite nearly identical global mean surface temperatures for the two SRM approaches, solar insolation reduction increases global average surface ozone concentrations, while sulfate injection decreases it. A fundamental difference between the two geoengineering schemes is the importance of heterogeneous reactions in the photochemical ozone balance with larger stratospheric sulfate abundance, resulting in increased ozone depletion in mid- and high latitudes. This reduces the net transport of stratospheric ozone into the troposphere and thus is a key driver of the overall decrease in surface ozone. At the same time, the change in stratospheric ozone alters the tropospheric photochemical environment due to enhanced ultraviolet radiation. A shared factor among both SRM scenarios is decreased chemical ozone loss due to reduced tropospheric humidity. Under insolation reduction, this is the dominant factor giving rise to the global surface ozone increase. Regionally, both surface ozone increases and decreases are found for both scenarios; that is, SRM would affect regions of the world differently in terms of air

Impacts of stratospheric sulfate geoengineering on tropospheric ozone

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Lili; Nowack, Peer J.; Tilmes, Simone; Robock, Alan

2017-10-01

A range of solar radiation management (SRM) techniques has been proposed to counter anthropogenic climate change. Here, we examine the potential effects of stratospheric sulfate aerosols and solar insolation reduction on tropospheric ozone and ozone at Earth's surface. Ozone is a key air pollutant, which can produce respiratory diseases and crop damage. Using a version of the Community Earth System Model from the National Center for Atmospheric Research that includes comprehensive tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry, we model both stratospheric sulfur injection and solar irradiance reduction schemes, with the aim of achieving equal levels of surface cooling relative to the Representative Concentration Pathway 6.0 scenario. This allows us to compare the impacts of sulfate aerosols and solar dimming on atmospheric ozone concentrations. Despite nearly identical global mean surface temperatures for the two SRM approaches, solar insolation reduction increases global average surface ozone concentrations, while sulfate injection decreases it. A fundamental difference between the two geoengineering schemes is the importance of heterogeneous reactions in the photochemical ozone balance with larger stratospheric sulfate abundance, resulting in increased ozone depletion in mid- and high latitudes. This reduces the net transport of stratospheric ozone into the troposphere and thus is a key driver of the overall decrease in surface ozone. At the same time, the change in stratospheric ozone alters the tropospheric photochemical environment due to enhanced ultraviolet radiation. A shared factor among both SRM scenarios is decreased chemical ozone loss due to reduced tropospheric humidity. Under insolation reduction, this is the dominant factor giving rise to the global surface ozone increase. Regionally, both surface ozone increases and decreases are found for both scenarios; that is, SRM would affect regions of the world differently in terms of air pollution. In conclusion

Observations of ozone formation in power plant plumes and implications for ozone control strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryerson, T.B.; Trainer, M.; Holloway, J.S.; Parrish, D.D.; Huey, L.G.; Sueper, D.T.; Frost, G.J.; Donnelly, S.G.; Schauffler, S.; Atlas, E.L.; Kuster, W.C.; Goldan, P.D.; Huebler, G.; Meagher, J.F.; Fehsenfeld, F.C. [NOAA, Boulder, CO (USA). Aeronomy Lab.

2001-04-27

Data taken in aircraft transects of emissions plumes from rural US coal-fired power plants were used to confirm and quantify the nonlinear dependence of tropospheric ozone formation on plume NOx (NO plus NO{sub 2}) concentration, which is determined by plant NOx emission rate and atmospheric dispersion. The ambient availability of reactive volatile organic compounds, principally biogenic isoprene, was also found to modular ozone production rate and yield in these rural plumes. Differences of a factor of 2 or greater in plume ozone formation rates and yields as a function of NOx and volatile organic compound concentrations were consistently observed. These large differences suggest that consideration of power plant NOx emission rates and geographic locations in current and future US ozone control strategies could substantially enhance the efficacy of NOx reductions from these sources. 18 refs., 4 figs.

Impacts of ozone on trees and crops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Felzer, B.S.; Cronina, T.; Melillo, J.M.; Reilly, J.M.; Xiaodong, Wang

2007-01-01

In this review article, we explore how surface-level ozone affects trees and crops with special emphasis on consequences for productivity and carbon sequestration. Vegetation exposure to ozone reduces photosynthesis, growth, and other plant functions. Ozone formation in the atmosphere is a product of NO x , which are also a source of nitrogen deposition. Reduced carbon sequestration of temperate forests resulting from ozone is likely offset by increased carbon sequestration from nitrogen fertilization. However, since fertilized crop-lands are generally not nitrogen-limited, capping ozone-polluting substances in the USA, Europe, and China can reduce future crop yield loss substantially. (authors)

Defense meteorological satellite measurements of total ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lovill, J.E.; Ellis, J.S.; Luther, F.M.; Sullivan, R.J.; Weichel, R.L.

1992-01-01

A multichannel filter radiometer (MFR) on Defense Meteorological Satellites (DMS) that measured total ozone on a global-scale from March 1977 - February 1980 is described. The total ozone data measured by the MFR were compared with total ozone data taken by surfaced-based Dobson spectrophotometers. When comparisons were made for five months, the Dobson spectrophotometer measured 2-5% more total ozone than the MFR. Comparisons between the Dobson spectrophotometer and the MFR showed a reduced RMS difference as the comparisons were made at closer proximity. A Northern Hemisphere total ozone distribution obtained from MFR data is presented

Health Effects of Ozone and Particle Pollution

Science.gov (United States)

... this page: Health Effects of Ozone and Particle Pollution Two types of air pollution dominate in the ... So what are ozone and particle pollution? Ozone Pollution It may be hard to imagine that pollution ...

Expected Performance of Ozone Climate Data Records from Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, P. Q.; Rault, D. F.; Pawson, S.; Wargan, K.; Bhartia, P. K.

2012-01-01

The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler (OMPS/LP) was launched on board of the Soumi NPP space platform in late October 2011. It provides ozone-profiling capability with high-vertical resolution from 60 Ian to cloud top. In this study, an end-to-end Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) of OMPS/LP ozone is discussed. The OSSE was developed at NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) using the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) data assimilation system. The "truth" for this OSSE is built by assimilating MLS profiles and OMI ozone columns, which is known to produce realistic three-dimensional ozone fields in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. OMPS/LP radiances were computed at tangent points computed by an appropriate orbital model. The OMPS/LP forward RT model, Instrument Models (IMs) and EDR retrieval model were introduced and pseudo-observations derived. The resultant synthetic OMPS/LP observations were evaluated against the "truth" and subsequently these observations were assimilated into GEOS-5. Comparison of this assimilated dataset with the "truth" enables comparisons of the likely uncertainties in 3-D analyses of OMPS/LP data. This study demonstrated the assimilation capabilities of OMPS/LP ozone in GEOS-5, with the monthly, zonal mean (O-A) smaller than 0.02ppmv at all levels, the nns(O-A) close to O.lppmv from 100hPa to 0.2hPa; and the mean(O-B) around the 0.02ppmv for all levels. The monthly zonal mean analysis generally agrees to within 2% of the truth, with larger differences of 2-4% (0.1-0.2ppmv) around 10hPa close to North Pole and in the tropical tropopause region, where the difference is above 20% due to the very low ozone concentrations. These OSSEs demonstrated that, within a single data assimilation system and the assumption that assimilated MLS observations provide a true rendition of the stratosphere, the OMPS/LP ozone data are likely to produce accurate analyses through much of the stratosphere

Trends of ozone and O{sub x} in Switzerland from 1992 to 2007: observations at selected stations of the NABEL, OASI (Ticino) and ANU (Graubuenden) networks corrected for meteorological variability. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keller, J.; Prevot, A. [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry (LAC), Villigen (Switzerland); Beguin, A.F. [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science (IAC), Zuerich (Switzerland); Jutzi, V. [Vincent Jutzi, Lausanne (Switzerland); Ordonez, C. [Met Office, Exeter EX1 3PB (United Kingdom)

2008-11-15

Long-term changes of ozone concentrations are influenced by a variety of quantities, in particular meteorological variables and emissions. In order to evaluate the contributions of regional emissions and of the background concentration to changes in observed ozone levels, the variability due to meteorology has to be removed. Ordonez et al. (2005) investigated the temporal evolution of tropospheric ozone over the Swiss Plateau using meteorological and air quality measurements taken at stations of the Swiss air quality networks NABEL and OSTLUFT. Time period was 1992 to 2002 including a discussion of the heat wave in summer 2003. The air quality measurements were corrected for meteorological influences on the basis of a multi-linear model approach. Despite the emission abatement measures of the last decades no significant decrease in ozone levels was observed. Air quality stations south of the Alps, which often act as a barrier for air mass exchange between south and north, were not included in the investigation. This study (a) includes all NABEL stations, (b) considers also southern air quality stations of the cantons Ticino (OASI) and Graubuenden (ANU), and (c) extends the time frame until 2007. The methodology of correcting ozone and O{sub x} = O{sub 3} + NO{sub 2} for meteorological variability is based on the ANalysis of COVAriance (ANCOVA). This approach assumes that the mixing ratios of O{sub 3} and O{sub x} are multi-linear functions of selected meteorological quantities. The analysis is performed using the statistics package R, which supports the dependence on continuous variables (e.g. air temperature) as well as on discrete quantities (e.g. wind direction expressed in terms of discrete wind direction sectors). The following daily values of each station are considered in the analysis (examples): (i) Meteorological variables (averages): afternoon temperature, morning global irradiance, afternoon wind speed, etc. If no co-located meteorological data are

On the role of visible radiation in ozone profile retrieval from nadir UV/VIS satellite measurements: An experiment with neural network algorithms inverting SCIAMACHY data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sellitto, P.; Di Noia, A.; Del Frate, F.; Burini, A.; Casadio, S.; Solimini, D.

2012-01-01

Theoretical evidence has been given on the role of visible (VIS) radiation in enhancing the accuracy of ozone retrievals from satellite data, especially in the troposphere. However, at present, VIS is not being systematically used together with ultraviolet (UV) measurements, even when possible with one single instrument, e.g., the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CartograpHY (SCIAMACHY). Reasons mainly reside in the defective performance of optimal estimation and regularization algorithms caused by inaccurate modeling of VIS interaction with aerosols or clouds, as well as in inconsistent intercalibration between UV and VIS measurements. Here we intend to discuss the role of VIS radiation when it feeds a retrieval algorithm based on Neural Networks (NNs) that does not need a forward radiative transfer model and is robust with respect to calibration errors. The NN we designed was trained with a set of ozonesondes (OSs) data and tested over an independent set of OS measurements. We compared the ozone concentration profiles retrieved from UV-only with those retrieved from UV plus VIS nadir data taken by SCIAMACHY. We found that VIS radiation was able to yield more than 10% increase of accuracy and to substantially reduce biases of retrieved profiles at tropospheric levels.

Observing Tropospheric Ozone From Space

Science.gov (United States)

Fishman, Jack

2000-01-01

The importance of tropospheric ozone embraces a spectrum of relevant scientific issues ranging from local environmental concerns, such as damage to the biosphere and human health, to those that impact global change questions, Such is climate warming. From an observational perspective, the challenge is to determine the tropospheric ozone global distribution. Because its lifetime is short compared with other important greenhouse gases that have been monitored over the past several decades, the distribution of tropospheric ozone cannot be inferred from a relatively small set of monitoring stations. Therefore, the best way to obtain a true global picture is from the use of space-based instrumentation where important spatial gradients over vast ocean expanses and other uninhabited areas can be properly characterized. In this paper, the development of the capability to measure tropospheric ozone from space over the past 15 years is summarized. Research in the late 1980s successfully led to the determination of the climatology of tropospheric ozone as a function of season; more recently, the methodology has improved to the extent where regional air pollution episodes can be characterized. The most recent modifications now provide quasi-global (50 N) to 50 S) maps on a daily basis. Such a data set would allow for the study of long-range (intercontinental) transport of air pollution and the quantification of how regional emissions feed into the global tropospheric ozone budget. Future measurement capabilities within this decade promise to offer the ability to provide Concurrent maps of the precursors to the in situ formation of tropospheric ozone from which the scientific community will gain unprecedented insight into the processes that control global tropospheric chemistry

A framework for automatic heart sound analysis without segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tungpimolrut Kanokvate

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A new framework for heart sound analysis is proposed. One of the most difficult processes in heart sound analysis is segmentation, due to interference form murmurs. Method Equal number of cardiac cycles were extracted from heart sounds with different heart rates using information from envelopes of autocorrelation functions without the need to label individual fundamental heart sounds (FHS. The complete method consists of envelope detection, calculation of cardiac cycle lengths using auto-correlation of envelope signals, features extraction using discrete wavelet transform, principal component analysis, and classification using neural network bagging predictors. Result The proposed method was tested on a set of heart sounds obtained from several on-line databases and recorded with an electronic stethoscope. Geometric mean was used as performance index. Average classification performance using ten-fold cross-validation was 0.92 for noise free case, 0.90 under white noise with 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, and 0.90 under impulse noise up to 0.3 s duration. Conclusion The proposed method showed promising results and high noise robustness to a wide range of heart sounds. However, more tests are needed to address any bias that may have been introduced by different sources of heart sounds in the current training set, and to concretely validate the method. Further work include building a new training set recorded from actual patients, then further evaluate the method based on this new training set.

Ozone pretreatment and fermentative hydrolysis of wheat straw

Science.gov (United States)

Ben'ko, E. M.; Chukhchin, D. G.; Lunin, V. V.

2017-11-01

Principles of the ozone pretreatment of wheat straw for subsequent fermentation into sugars are investigated. The optimum moisture contents of straw in the ozonation process are obtained from data on the kinetics of ozone absorbed by samples with different contents of water. The dependence of the yield of reducing sugars in the fermentative reaction on the quantity of absorbed ozone is established. The maximum conversion of polysaccharides is obtained at ozone doses of around 3 mmol/g of biomass, and it exceeds the value for nonozonated samples by an order of magnitude. The yield of sugar falls upon increasing the dose of ozone. The process of removing lignin from the cell walls of straw during ozonation is visualized by means of scanning electron microscopy.

Importance of energetic solar protons in ozone depletion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stephenson, J A.E.; Scourfield, M W.J. [Natal Univ., Durban (South Africa). Space Physics Research Inst.

1991-07-11

CHLORINE-catalysed depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer has commanded considerable attention since 1985, when Farman et al. observed a decrease of 50% in the total column ozone over Antarctica in the austral spring. Here we examine the depletion of stratospheric ozone caused by the reaction of ozone with nitric oxide generated by energetic solar protons, associated with solar flares. During large solar flares in March 1989, satellite observations indicated that total column ozone was depleted by {approx} 9% over {approx} 20% of the total area between the South Pole and latitude 70{sup o}S. Chlorine-catalysed ozone depletion takes place over a much larger area, but our results indicate that the influence of solar protons on atmospheric ozone concentrations should not be ignored. (author).

Importance of energetic solar protons in ozone depletion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stephenson, J.A.E.; Scourfield, M.W.J.

1991-01-01

CHLORINE-catalysed depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer has commanded considerable attention since 1985, when Farman et al. observed a decrease of 50% in the total column ozone over Antarctica in the austral spring. Here we examine the depletion of stratospheric ozone caused by the reaction of ozone with nitric oxide generated by energetic solar protons, associated with solar flares. During large solar flares in March 1989, satellite observations indicated that total column ozone was depleted by ∼ 9% over ∼ 20% of the total area between the South Pole and latitude 70 o S. Chlorine-catalysed ozone depletion takes place over a much larger area, but our results indicate that the influence of solar protons on atmospheric ozone concentrations should not be ignored. (author)

Analysis of Ozone in Cloudy Versus Clear Sky Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Strode, Sarah; Douglass, Anne; Ziemke, Jerald

2016-01-01

Convection impacts ozone concentrations by transporting ozone vertically and by lofting ozone precursors from the surface, while the clouds and lighting associated with convection affect ozone chemistry. Observations of the above-cloud ozone column (Ziemke et al., 2009) derived from the OMI instrument show geographic variability, and comparison of the above-cloud ozone with all-sky tropospheric ozone columns from OMI indicates important regional differences. We use two global models of atmospheric chemistry, the GMI chemical transport model (CTM) and the GEOS-5 chemistry climate model, to diagnose the contributions of transport and chemistry to observed differences in ozone between areas with and without deep convection, as well as differences in clean versus polluted convective regions. We also investigate how the above-cloud tropospheric ozone from OMI can provide constraints on the relationship between ozone and convection in a free-running climate simulation as well as a CTM.

Pollution Control Using Ozone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2017-01-01

This invention relates to a method for cleaning air comprising one or more pollutants, the method comprising contacting the air with thermal decompositions products of ozone.......This invention relates to a method for cleaning air comprising one or more pollutants, the method comprising contacting the air with thermal decompositions products of ozone....

Ozone disintegration kinetics in the reactor for tyres decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golota, V.I.; Manujlenko, O.V.; Taran, G.V.; Pis'menetskij, A.S.; Zamuriev, A.A.

2010-01-01

The results of theoretical and experimental research of ozone disintegration kinetics in the chemical reactor which is developed for decomposition of tyres in the ozone-air environment are presented. Analytical expression for dependence of ozone concentration in the reactor from time and from parameters of the task, such as volume speed of ozone-air mixture feed on a reactor input, concentration of ozone on the input to the reactor, volume speed of output of the used mixture, reactor size, and square of its internal surface is obtained. It is shown that at the same speed of ozone-air mixture pro rolling through the reactor, with growth of ozone concentration on the input, value of stationary concentration in the reactor grows, remaining always less than concentration on the input. It is also shown that at the same ozone concentration on the input, with growth of speed of ozone-air mixture pro rolling through the reactor, value of stationary ozone concentration in the reactor also grows, remaining always less than ozone concentration on the input. The ozone disintegration kinetics in the reactor in a wide range of speed of ozone-air mixture pro rolling through the reactor (0.15, 0.30, 0.45, 0.60 m3/hour) and various ozone concentration on the input (5, 10, 15, 20 g/m3) is experimentally studied. It is shown that experimental results with good accuracy coincide with the theoretical. Direct experiment showed the essential influence of the internal surface of the reactor on the ozone disintegration kinetics.

Health Effects of Ozone Pollution

Science.gov (United States)

Inhaling ozone can cause coughing, shortness of breath, worse asthma or bronchitis symptoms, and irritation and damage to airways.You can reduce your exposure to ozone pollution by checking air quality where you live.

Optimization of artificial neural network models through genetic algorithms for surface ozone concentration forecasting.

Science.gov (United States)

Pires, J C M; Gonçalves, B; Azevedo, F G; Carneiro, A P; Rego, N; Assembleia, A J B; Lima, J F B; Silva, P A; Alves, C; Martins, F G

2012-09-01

This study proposes three methodologies to define artificial neural network models through genetic algorithms (GAs) to predict the next-day hourly average surface ozone (O(3)) concentrations. GAs were applied to define the activation function in hidden layer and the number of hidden neurons. Two of the methodologies define threshold models, which assume that the behaviour of the dependent variable (O(3) concentrations) changes when it enters in a different regime (two and four regimes were considered in this study). The change from one regime to another depends on a specific value (threshold value) of an explanatory variable (threshold variable), which is also defined by GAs. The predictor variables were the hourly average concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), and O(3) (recorded in the previous day at an urban site with traffic influence) and also meteorological data (hourly averages of temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind speed). The study was performed for the period from May to August 2004. Several models were achieved and only the best model of each methodology was analysed. In threshold models, the variables selected by GAs to define the O(3) regimes were temperature, CO and NO(2) concentrations, due to their importance in O(3) chemistry in an urban atmosphere. In the prediction of O(3) concentrations, the threshold model that considers two regimes was the one that fitted the data most efficiently.

Application of the differential neural network observer to the kinetic parameters identification of the anthracene degradation in contaminated model soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poznyak, Tatyana [Superior School of Chemical Engineering, National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (ESIQIE-IPN), Edif. 7, UPALM, C.P. 07738, Mexico D.F. (Mexico)]. E-mail: tpoznyak@ipn.mx; Garcia, Alejandro [Department of Automatic Control, CINVESTAV-IPN, Av. Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360, Mexico D.F. (Mexico); Chairez, Isaac [Department of Automatic Control, CINVESTAV-IPN, Av. Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360, Mexico D.F. (Mexico); Gomez, Miriam [Superior School of Chemical Engineering, National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (ESIQIE-IPN), Edif. 7, UPALM, C.P. 07738, Mexico D.F. (Mexico); Poznyak, Alexander [Department of Automatic Control, CINVESTAV-IPN, Av. Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360, Mexico D.F. (Mexico)]. E-mail: apoznyak@ctrl.cinvestav.mx

2007-07-31

In this work a new technique dealing with differential neural network observer (DNNO), which is related with differential neural networks (DNN) approach, is applied to estimate the anthracene dynamics decomposition and to identify the kinetic parameters in a contaminated model soil treatment by simple ozonation. To obtain the experimental data set, the model soil (sand) is combined with an initial anthracene concentration of 3.24 mg/g and treated by ozone (with the ozone initial concentration 16 mg/L) during 90 min in a reactor by the 'fluid bed' principle. The anthracene degradation degree was controlled by UV-vis spectrophotometry and HPLC techniques. Based on the HPLC data, the obtained results confirm that anthracene may be decomposed completely in the solid phase by simple ozonation during 20 min and by-products of ozonation are started to be destroyed after 30 min of treatment. In the ozonation process the ozone concentration in the gas phase at the reactor outlet is registered by an ozone detector. The variation of this parameter is used to obtain the summary characteristic curve of the anthracene ozonation (ozonogram). Then, using the experimental decomposition dynamics of anthracene and the ozonogram, the proposed DNNO is trained to reconstruct the anthracene decomposition and to estimate the anthracene ozonation constant using the DNN technique and a modified Least Square method.

Application of the differential neural network observer to the kinetic parameters identification of the anthracene degradation in contaminated model soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poznyak, Tatyana; Garcia, Alejandro; Chairez, Isaac; Gomez, Miriam; Poznyak, Alexander

2007-01-01

In this work a new technique dealing with differential neural network observer (DNNO), which is related with differential neural networks (DNN) approach, is applied to estimate the anthracene dynamics decomposition and to identify the kinetic parameters in a contaminated model soil treatment by simple ozonation. To obtain the experimental data set, the model soil (sand) is combined with an initial anthracene concentration of 3.24 mg/g and treated by ozone (with the ozone initial concentration 16 mg/L) during 90 min in a reactor by the 'fluid bed' principle. The anthracene degradation degree was controlled by UV-vis spectrophotometry and HPLC techniques. Based on the HPLC data, the obtained results confirm that anthracene may be decomposed completely in the solid phase by simple ozonation during 20 min and by-products of ozonation are started to be destroyed after 30 min of treatment. In the ozonation process the ozone concentration in the gas phase at the reactor outlet is registered by an ozone detector. The variation of this parameter is used to obtain the summary characteristic curve of the anthracene ozonation (ozonogram). Then, using the experimental decomposition dynamics of anthracene and the ozonogram, the proposed DNNO is trained to reconstruct the anthracene decomposition and to estimate the anthracene ozonation constant using the DNN technique and a modified Least Square method

Effects of ozone on crops in north-west Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, Muhammad Nauman; Büker, Patrick; Khalid, Sofia; Van Den Berg, Leon; Shah, Hamid Ullah; Wahid, Abdul; Emberson, Lisa; Power, Sally A.; Ashmore, Mike

2013-01-01

Although ozone is well-documented to reduce crop yields in the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain, there is little knowledge of its effects in other parts of south Asia. We surveyed crops close to the city of Peshawar, in north-west Pakistan, for visible injury, linking this to passive measurements of ozone concentrations. Foliar injury was found on potato, onion and cotton when mean monthly ozone concentrations exceeded 45 ppb. The symptoms on onion were reproduced in ozone fumigation experiments, which also showed that daytime ozone concentrations of 60 ppb significantly reduce the growth of a major Pakistani onion variety. Aphid infestation on spinach was also reduced at these elevated ozone concentrations. The ozone concentrations measured in April–May in Peshawar, and used in the fumigation experiment, are comparable to those that have been modelled to occur over many parts of south Asia, where ozone may be a significant threat to sensitive crops. -- Highlights: ► Visible ozone injury to onion, cotton and potato was identified in north-west Pakistan. ► The symptoms on onion were reproduced by exposure to elevated ozone. ► Elevated ozone levels also significantly reduced onion growth. ► Levels of aphid infestation on spinach were lower under elevated ozone. ► These effects were observed at ozone levels that have been modelled to occur widely across south Asia. -- Ozone concentrations in NW Pakistan have adverse effects on sensitive crop species

Adrenal-derived stress hormones modulate ozone-induced ...

Science.gov (United States)

Ozone-induced systemic effects are modulated through activation of the neuro-hormonal stress response pathway. Adrenal demedullation (DEMED)or bilateral total adrenalectomy (ADREX) inhibits systemic and pulmonary effect of acute ozone exposure. To understand the influence of adrenal-derived stress hormones in mediating ozone-induced lung injury/inflammation, we assessed global gene expression (mRNA sequencing) and selected proteins in lung tissues from male Wistar-Kyoto rats that underwent DEMED, ADREX, or sham surgery (SHAM)prior to their exposure to air or ozone (1 ppm),4 h/day for 1 or 2days. Ozone exposure significantly changed the expression of over 2300 genes in lungs of SHAM rats, and these changes were markedly reduced in DEMED and ADREX rats. SHAM surgery but not DEMED or ADREX resulted in activation of multiple ozone-responsive pathways, including glucocorticoid, acute phase response, NRF2, and Pl3K-AKT.Predicted targets from sequencing data showed a similarity between transcriptional changes induced by ozone and adrenergic and steroidal modulation of effects in SHAM but not ADREX rats. Ozone-induced Increases in lung 116 in SHAM rats coincided with neutrophilic Inflammation, but were diminished in DEMED and ADREX rats. Although ozone exposure in SHAM rats did not significantly alter mRNA expression of lfny and 11-4, the IL-4 protein and ratio of IL-4 to IFNy (IL-4/IFNy) proteins increased suggesting a tendency for a Th2 response. This did not occur

Solar dynamics influence on the atmospheric ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gogosheva, T.; Grigorieva, V.; Mendeva, B.; Krastev, D.; Petkov, B.

2007-01-01

A response of the atmospheric ozone to the solar dynamics has been studied using the total ozone content data, taken from the satellite experiments GOME on ERS-2 and TOMS-EP together with data obtained from the ground-based spectrophotometer Photon operating in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria during the period 1999-2005. We also use data from surface ozone observations performed in Sofia, Bulgaria. The solar activity was characterized by the sunspot daily numbers W, the solar radio flux at 10.7 cm (F10.7) and the MgII wing-to-core ratio solar index. The impact of the solar activity on the total ozone has been investigated analysing the ozone response to sharp changes of these parameters. Some of the examined cases showed a positive correlation between the ozone and the solar parameters, however, a negative correlation in other cases was found. There were some cases when the sharp increases of the solar activity did not provoke any ozone changes. The solar radiation changes during an eclipse can be considered a particular case of the solar dynamics as this event causes a sharp change of irradiance within a comparatively short time interval. The results of both - the total and surface ozone measurements carried out during the eclipses on 11 August 1999, 31 May 2003 and 29 March 2006 are presented. It was found that the atmospheric ozone behavior shows strong response to the fast solar radiation changes which take place during solar eclipse. (authors)

Air Quality Guide for Ozone

Science.gov (United States)

GO! Local Air Quality Conditions Zip Code: State : My Current Location Air Quality Guide for Ozone Ground-level ozone is one of our nation’s most common air pollutants. Use the chart below to help reduce ...

Granular activated carbon assisted ozonation of cephalexin antibiotic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akhtar, J.; Amin, N.S.; Imran, M.

2016-01-01

This study investigates removal of cephalexin using ozonation in the presence of granular activated carbon. Initial experiments were carried out about adsorption of cephalexin onto granular activated carbon, effect of catalytic ozonation, and biodegradability of cephalexin solution. The effect of ozonation on pH, ozone utilization efficiency and decomposition byproducts, was observed. Response surface methodology was adopted to optimize three operating parameters pH of solution, ozone supply and cephalexin concentration. GAC assisted ozonation, was found to be effective in decomposing COD (chemical oxygen demand) and cephalexin from solution. Optimum values of variables were pH from 7-8, ozone supply 30 mg/L and 100 mg/L of cephalexin solution. The complete removal of cephalexin and 60% COD removal was achieved at these optimum input values. (author)

Disappearing threat to ozone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gribbin, J

1979-02-15

Concern that human activities might disturb the dynamic natural equilibrium of the ozone layer has stemmed from the fact that this layer plays a key part in the ecology of the earth by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation which would otherwise penetrate to the ground. Apparently, however, a decline of as much at 15% in total global ozone would have very little effect on climate. A 50% reduction would produce a marked cooling of the stratosphere at 40 km altitude over the tropics, but barely detectable changes in temperature and rainfall in the lower atmosphere. Therefore, biological effects of more uv light at ground level is the only hazard associated with ozone depletion on the scale which might take place.

Breeding of ozone resistant rice: Relevance, approaches and challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frei, Michael

2015-01-01

Tropospheric ozone concentrations have been rising across Asia, and will continue to rise during the 21st century. Ozone affects rice yields through reductions in spikelet number, spikelet fertility, and grain size. Moreover, ozone leads to changes in rice grain and straw quality. Therefore the breeding of ozone tolerant rice varieties is warranted. The mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) using bi-parental populations identified several tolerance QTL mitigating symptom formation, grain yield losses, or the degradation of straw quality. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) demonstrated substantial natural genotypic variation in ozone tolerance in rice, and revealed that the genetic architecture of ozone tolerance in rice is dominated by multiple medium and small effect loci. Transgenic approaches targeting tolerance mechanisms such as antioxidant capacity are also discussed. It is concluded that the breeding of ozone tolerant rice can contribute substantially to the global food security, and is feasible using different breeding approaches. - Highlights: • Tropospheric ozone affects millions of hectares of rice land. • Ozone affects rice yield and quality. • Breeding approaches to adapt rice to high ozone are discussed. • Challenges in the breeding of ozone resistant rice are discussed. - This review summarizes the effects of tropospheric ozone on rice and outlines approaches and challenges in the breeding of adapted varieties

Treatability study of the effluent containing reactive blue 21 dye by ozonation and the mass transfer study of ozone

Science.gov (United States)

Velpula, Priyadarshini; Ghuge, Santosh; Saroha, Anil K.

2018-04-01

Ozonation is a chemical treatment process in which ozone reacts with the pollutants present in the effluent by infusion of ozone into the effluent. This study includes the effect of various parameters such as inlet ozone dose, pH of solution and initial concentration of dye on decolorization of dye in terms CRE. The maximum CRE of 98.62% with the reaction rate constant of 0.26 min-1 is achieved in 18 minutes of reaction time at inlet ozone dose of 11.5 g/m3, solution pH of 11 and 30 mg/L of initial concentration of dye. The presence of radical scavenger (Tertiary Butyl Alcohol) suppressed the CRE from 98.62% to 95.4% at high pH values indicates that the indirect mechanism dominates due to the presence of hydroxyl radicals which are formed by the decomposition of ozone. The diffusive and convective mass transfer coefficients of ozone are calculated as 1.78 × 10-5 cm2/sec and 0.075 min-1. It is observed that the fraction of resistance offered by liquid is very much high compared to gas phase indicates that the ozonation is a liquid phase mass transfer controlled operation.

50 years of monitoring of the ozone layer in the Czech Republic - results and challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Vanicek, Karel; Skrivankova, Pavla; Metelka, Ladislav; Stanek, Martin

2010-05-01

preferred to continue the TOZ data series at SOO the seasonal effect need to be eliminated to avoid their effect in trend estimations and validation of satellite observations.. This is going to be done by assimilation of the Dobson data series to the Brewer one and creation of the homogenized data set. - The Brewer Umkehr observations have been implemented at the SOO in the recent years to expand measurements of vertical distribution of ozone in stratosphere over Central Europe. Accuracy of the new UM-04 algorithm developed for processing of the Umkehr profiles from SOO is being tested using the ozone sonde observations from AD. First results confirm a good perspective of this technology for implementation in the global network. Further improvement of monitoring and investigation of stratospheric ozone continues in the CHMI. Currently the activities are supported by the project P209/10/0058 "Long-term changes of the ozone layer over the Czech territory" of the Czech Grant Agency (2010-2012). The main goals of the Project are defined are specified in the presentation.

Video-documentation: 'The Pannonic ozon project'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loibl, W.; Cabela, E.; Mayer, H. F.; Schmidt, M.

1998-07-01

Goal of the project was the production of a video film as documentation of the Pannonian Ozone Project- POP. The main part of the video describes the POP-model consisting of the modules meteorology, emissions and chemistry, developed during the POP-project. The model considers the European emission patterns of ozone precursors and the actual wind fields. It calculates ozone build up and depletion within air parcels due to emission and weather situation along trajectory routes. Actual ozone concentrations are calculated during model runs simulating the photochemical processes within air parcels moving along 4 day trajectories before reaching the Vienna region. The model computations were validated during extensive ground and aircraft-based measurements of ozone precursors and ozone concentration within the POP study area. Scenario computations were used to determine how much ozone can be reduced in north-eastern Austria by emissions control measures. The video lasts 12:20 minutes and consists of computer animations and life video scenes, presenting the ozone problem in general, the POP model and the model results. The video was produced in co-operation by the Austrian Research Center Seibersdorf - Department of Environmental Planning (ARCS) and Joanneum Research - Institute of Informationsystems (JR). ARCS was responsible for idea, concept, storyboard and text while JR was responsible for computer animation and general video production. The speaker text was written with scientific advice by the POP - project partners: Institute of Meteorology and Physics, University of Agricultural Sciences- Vienna, Environment Agency Austria - Air Quality Department, Austrian Research Center Seibersdorf- Environmental Planning Department/System Research Division. The film was produced as German and English version. (author)

Multi sensor reanalysis of total ozone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. J. van der A

2010-11-01

Full Text Available A single coherent total ozone dataset, called the Multi Sensor Reanalysis (MSR, has been created from all available ozone column data measured by polar orbiting satellites in the near-ultraviolet Huggins band in the last thirty years. Fourteen total ozone satellite retrieval datasets from the instruments TOMS (on the satellites Nimbus-7 and Earth Probe, SBUV (Nimbus-7, NOAA-9, NOAA-11 and NOAA-16, GOME (ERS-2, SCIAMACHY (Envisat, OMI (EOS-Aura, and GOME-2 (Metop-A have been used in the MSR. As first step a bias correction scheme is applied to all satellite observations, based on independent ground-based total ozone data from the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Data Center. The correction is a function of solar zenith angle, viewing angle, time (trend, and effective ozone temperature. As second step data assimilation was applied to create a global dataset of total ozone analyses. The data assimilation method is a sub-optimal implementation of the Kalman filter technique, and is based on a chemical transport model driven by ECMWF meteorological fields. The chemical transport model provides a detailed description of (stratospheric transport and uses parameterisations for gas-phase and ozone hole chemistry. The MSR dataset results from a 30-year data assimilation run with the 14 corrected satellite datasets as input, and is available on a grid of 1× 1 1/2° with a sample frequency of 6 h for the complete time period (1978–2008. The Observation-minus-Analysis (OmA statistics show that the bias of the MSR analyses is less than 1% with an RMS standard deviation of about 2% as compared to the corrected satellite observations used.

Networks for Life; scenario development of an ecological network in Cheshire County

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rooij, van S.A.M.; Steingröver, E.G.; Opdam, P.F.M.

2003-01-01

In this report, a vision for ecological networks in Cheshire County is developed and presented. This vision is developed in close interaction with the County Council. The vision contains a proposal for sound ecological networks of meres and mosses, heathland, rivers, woodland and grassland. A

Problems in nonlinear acoustics: Scattering of sound by sound, parametric receiving arrays, nonlinear effects in asymmetric sound beams and pulsed finite amplitude sound beams

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Mark F.

1989-08-01

Four projects are discussed in this annual summary report, all of which involve basic research in nonlinear acoustics: Scattering of Sound by Sound, a theoretical study of two nonconlinear Gaussian beams which interact to produce sum and difference frequency sound; Parametric Receiving Arrays, a theoretical study of parametric reception in a reverberant environment; Nonlinear Effects in Asymmetric Sound Beams, a numerical study of two dimensional finite amplitude sound fields; and Pulsed Finite Amplitude Sound Beams, a numerical time domain solution of the KZK equation.

Exposure-Relevant Ozone Chemistry in Occupied Spaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coleman, Beverly Kaye [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2009-04-01

Ozone, an ambient pollutant, is transformed into other airborne pollutants in the indoor environment. In this dissertation, the type and amount of byproducts that result from ozone reactions with common indoor surfaces, surface residues, and vapors were determined, pollutant concentrations were related to occupant exposure, and frameworks were developed to predict byproduct concentrations under various indoor conditions. In Chapter 2, an analysis is presented of secondary organic aerosol formation from the reaction of ozone with gas-phase, terpene-containing consumer products in small chamber experiments under conditions relevant for residential and commercial buildings. The full particle size distribution was continuously monitored, and ultrafine and fine particle concentrations were in the range of 10 to>300 mu g m^-3. Particle nucleation and growth dynamics were characterized.Chapter 3 presents an investigation of ozone reactions with aircraft cabin surfaces including carpet, seat fabric, plastics, and laundered and worn clothing fabric. Small chamber experiments were used to determine ozone deposition velocities, ozone reaction probabilities, byproduct emission rates, and byproduct yields for each surface category. The most commonly detected byproducts included C1?C10 saturated aldehydes and skin oil oxidation products. For all materials, emission rates were higher with ozone than without. Experimental results were used to predict byproduct exposure in the cabin and compare to other environments. Byproduct levels are predicted to be similar to ozone levels in the cabin, which have been found to be tens to low hundreds of ppb in the absence of an ozone converter. In Chapter 4, a model is presented that predicts ozone uptake by and byproduct emission from residual chemicals on surfaces. The effects of input parameters (residue surface concentration, ozone concentration, reactivity of the residue and the surface, near-surface airflow conditions, and

Cisco networking essentials

CERN Document Server

McMillan, Troy

2015-01-01

Start a career in networking Cisco Networking Essentials, 2nd Edition provides the latest for those beginning a career in networking. This book provides the fundamentals of networking and leads you through the concepts, processes, and skills you need to master fundamental networking concepts. Thinking of taking the CCENT Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician ICND1 Exam 100-101? This book has you covered! With coverage of important topics and objectives, each chapter outlines main points and provides clear, engaging discussion that will give you a sound understanding of core topics and c

Effect of coupled anthropogenic perturbations on stratospheric ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wuebbles, D.J.; Luther, F.M.; Penner, J.E.

1992-01-01

Since 1976 the greatest concern about potential perturbations to stratospheric ozone has been in regard to the atmospheric release of chlorofluorocarbons. Consequently, atmospheric measurements of ozone have usually been compared with model calculations in which only chlorocarbon perturbations are considered. However, in order to compare theoretical calculations with recent measurements of ozone and to project expected changes to atmospheric ozone levels over the next few decades, one must consider the effect from other perturbations as well. In this paper, the authors consider the coupling between several possible anthropogenic atmospheric perturbations. Namely, they examine the effects of past and possible future increases of chlorocarbons, CO 2 , N 2 O, and NO x . The focus of these calculations is on the potential changes in ozone due to chlorocarbon emissions, how other anthropogenic perturbations may have influenced the actual change in ozone over the last decade, and how these perturbations may influence future changes in ozone. Although calculations including future chlorocarbon emissions alone result in significant reductions in ozone, there is very little change in total ozone over the coming decades when other anthropogenic sources are included. Increasing CO 2 concentrations have the largest offsetting effect on the change in total ozone due to chlorocarbons. Owing to the necessity of considering emissions from a number of trace gases simultaneously, determining expected global-scale chemical and climatic effects is more complex than was previously recognized

PREFACE: Aerodynamic sound Aerodynamic sound

Science.gov (United States)

Akishita, Sadao

2010-02-01

The modern theory of aerodynamic sound originates from Lighthill's two papers in 1952 and 1954, as is well known. I have heard that Lighthill was motivated in writing the papers by the jet-noise emitted by the newly commercialized jet-engined airplanes at that time. The technology of aerodynamic sound is destined for environmental problems. Therefore the theory should always be applied to newly emerged public nuisances. This issue of Fluid Dynamics Research (FDR) reflects problems of environmental sound in present Japanese technology. The Japanese community studying aerodynamic sound has held an annual symposium since 29 years ago when the late Professor S Kotake and Professor S Kaji of Teikyo University organized the symposium. Most of the Japanese authors in this issue are members of the annual symposium. I should note the contribution of the two professors cited above in establishing the Japanese community of aerodynamic sound research. It is my pleasure to present the publication in this issue of ten papers discussed at the annual symposium. I would like to express many thanks to the Editorial Board of FDR for giving us the chance to contribute these papers. We have a review paper by T Suzuki on the study of jet noise, which continues to be important nowadays, and is expected to reform the theoretical model of generating mechanisms. Professor M S Howe and R S McGowan contribute an analytical paper, a valuable study in today's fluid dynamics research. They apply hydrodynamics to solve the compressible flow generated in the vocal cords of the human body. Experimental study continues to be the main methodology in aerodynamic sound, and it is expected to explore new horizons. H Fujita's study on the Aeolian tone provides a new viewpoint on major, longstanding sound problems. The paper by M Nishimura and T Goto on textile fabrics describes new technology for the effective reduction of bluff-body noise. The paper by T Sueki et al also reports new technology for the

The influence of underwater data transmission sounds on the displacement behaviour of captive harbour seals (Phoca vitulina)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kastelein, R.A.; Heul, S. van der; Verboom, W.C.; Triesscheijn, R.J.V.; Jennings, N.V.

2006-01-01

To prevent grounding of ships and collisions between ships in shallow coastal waters, an underwater data collection and communication network (ACME) using underwater sounds to encode and transmit data is currently under development. Marine mammals might be affected by ACME sounds since they may use

Learning to Produce Syllabic Speech Sounds via Reward-Modulated Neural Plasticity

Science.gov (United States)

Warlaumont, Anne S.; Finnegan, Megan K.

2016-01-01

At around 7 months of age, human infants begin to reliably produce well-formed syllables containing both consonants and vowels, a behavior called canonical babbling. Over subsequent months, the frequency of canonical babbling continues to increase. How the infant’s nervous system supports the acquisition of this ability is unknown. Here we present a computational model that combines a spiking neural network, reinforcement-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity, and a human-like vocal tract to simulate the acquisition of canonical babbling. Like human infants, the model’s frequency of canonical babbling gradually increases. The model is rewarded when it produces a sound that is more auditorily salient than sounds it has previously produced. This is consistent with data from human infants indicating that contingent adult responses shape infant behavior and with data from deaf and tracheostomized infants indicating that hearing, including hearing one’s own vocalizations, is critical for canonical babbling development. Reward receipt increases the level of dopamine in the neural network. The neural network contains a reservoir with recurrent connections and two motor neuron groups, one agonist and one antagonist, which control the masseter and orbicularis oris muscles, promoting or inhibiting mouth closure. The model learns to increase the number of salient, syllabic sounds it produces by adjusting the base level of muscle activation and increasing their range of activity. Our results support the possibility that through dopamine-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity, the motor cortex learns to harness its natural oscillations in activity in order to produce syllabic sounds. It thus suggests that learning to produce rhythmic mouth movements for speech production may be supported by general cortical learning mechanisms. The model makes several testable predictions and has implications for our understanding not only of how syllabic vocalizations develop

Improvements in Total Column Ozone in GEOSCCM and Comparisons with a New Ozone-Depleting Substances Scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Oman, Luke D.; Douglass, Anne R.

2014-01-01

The evolution of ozone is examined in the latest version of the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model (GEOSCCM) using old and new ozone-depleting substances (ODS) scenarios. This version of GEOSCCM includes a representation of the quasi-biennial oscillation, a more realistic implementation of ozone chemistry at high solar zenith angles, an improved air/sea roughness parameterization, and an extra 5 parts per trillion of CH3Br to account for brominated very short-lived substances. Together these additions improve the representation of ozone compared to observations. This improved version of GEOSCCM was used to simulate the ozone evolution for the A1 2010 and the newStratosphere-troposphere Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) 2013 ODS scenario derived using the SPARC Lifetimes Report 2013. This new ODS scenario results in a maximum Cltot increase of 65 parts per trillion by volume (pptv), decreasing slightly to 60 pptv by 2100. Approximately 72% of the increase is due to the longer lifetime of CFC-11. The quasi-global (60degS-60degN) total column ozone difference is relatively small and less than 1Dobson unit on average and consistent with the 3-4% larger 2050-2080 average Cly in the new SPARC 2013 scenario. Over high latitudes, this small change in Cly compared to the relatively large natural variabilitymakes it not possible to discern a significant impact on ozone in the second half of the 21st century in a single set of simulations.

Reduction of date microbial load with ozone

Science.gov (United States)

Farajzadeh, Davood; Qorbanpoor, Ali; Rafati, Hasan; Isfeedvajani, Mohsen Saberi

2013-01-01

Background: Date is one of the foodstuffs that are produced in tropical areas and used worldwide. Conventionally, methyl bromide and phosphine are used for date disinfection. The toxic side effects of these usual disinfectants have led food scientists to consider safer agents such as ozone for disinfection, because food safety is a top priority. The present study was performed to investigate the possibility of replacing common conventional disinfectants with ozone for date disinfection and microbial load reduction. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, date samples were ozonized for 3 and 5 hours with 5 and 10 g/h concentrations and packed. Ozonized samples were divided into two groups and kept in an incubator which was maintained at 25°C and 40°C for 9 months. During this period, every 3 month, microbial load (bacteria, mold, and yeast) were examined in ozonized and non-ozonized samples. Results: This study showed that ozonization with 5 g/h for 3 hours, 5 g/h for 5 hours, 10 g/h for 3 hours, and 10 g/h for 5 hours leads to about 25%, 25%, 53%, and 46% reduction in date mold and yeast load and about 6%, 9%, 76%, and 74.7% reduction in date bacterial load at baseline phase, respectively. Appropriate concentration and duration of ozonization for microbial load reduction were 10 g/h and 3 hours. Conclusion: Date ozonization is an appropriate method for microbial load reduction and leads to an increase in the shelf life of dates. PMID:24124432

Ground-level ozone: Our new environmental policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schiff, H.

1991-01-01

The environmental problem of ground level ozone is discussed, and the Canadian strategy for dealing with it is explained. Ozone in the troposphere can cause serious health problems in susceptible persons, and is estimated to cause up to $70 million in crop damage per year. The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Plan calls for less than 82 ppB by volume of ozone in any one-hour period in all areas of Canada by 2005. Three areas of Canada regularly exceed this value: the Lower Frazer valley in British Columbia, Saint John in New Brunswick, and the Windsor-Quebec corridor along the lower Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Ozone is formed by a photochemical reaction of ammonia gases, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide or sulfur dioxide. Historically, ozone control has concentrated on controlling hydrocarbon emissions, but to little effect. In most locations close to large cities, ozone production is nitrogen oxide-limited, and the most recent models predict that the best strategy for ozone reduction requires the simultaneous reduction of both hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. The CCME Management Plan suggests that the 82 ppB ozone target will require a reduction of 40-50% in nitrogen oxide emissions. The Windsor end of the Windsor-Quebec corridor is dominated by transport of ozone and precursors from the USA, particularly Detroit and Cleveland, so Canadian controls alone are unlikely to solve the problem. For the rest of the corridor, nitrogen oxide control is likely to be most effective in urban areas. 1 fig

Ozone sensitivity of plants in natural communities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Treshow, M; Stewart, D

1973-07-01

Field fumigation studies conducted in grassland, oak, aspen, and conifer, communities established the injury threshold of prevalent plant species to ozone. Several important species, including Bromus tectorum, Quercus gambelii, and Populus tremuloides, were injured by a single 2-hours exposure to 15 pphM ozone. Over half the perennial forbs and woody species studied were visibly injured at concentrations of 30 pphM ozone or less. It is postulated that lower concentrations at prolonged or repeated exposures to ozone may impair growth and affect community vigor and stability. Continued exposure of natural plant communities to ozone is expected to initiate major shifts in the plant composition of communities. 10 references, 4 figures, 1 table.

40 CFR 52.2235 - Control strategy: Ozone.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Control strategy: Ozone. 52.2235 Section 52.2235 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS... strategy: Ozone. (a) Determination—EPA is determining that, as of August 8, 1995, the Nashville ozone...

Ozone impact minimization through coordinated scheduling of turnaround operations from multiple olefin plants in an ozone nonattainment area

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Sijie; Wang, Sujing; Xu, Qiang; Ho, Thomas

2018-03-01

Turnaround operations (start-up and shutdown) are critical operations in olefin plants, which emit large quantities of VOCs, NOx and CO. The emission has great potentials to impact the ozone level in ozone nonattainment areas. This study demonstrates a novel practice to minimize the ozone impact through coordinated scheduling of turnaround operations from multiple olefin plants located in Houston, Texas, an ozone nonattainment area. The study considered two olefin plants scheduled to conduct turnaround operations: one start-up and one shutdown, simultaneously on the same day within a five-hour window. Through dynamic simulations of the turnaround operations using ASPEN Plus Dynamics and air quality simulations using CAMx, the study predicts the ozone impact from the combined effect of the two turnaround operations under different starting-time scenarios. The simulations predict that the ozone impact from planned turnaround operations ranges from a maximum of 11.4 ppb to a minimum of 1.4 ppb. Hence, a reduction of up to 10.0 ppb can be achieved on a single day based on the selected two simulation days. This study demonstrates a cost-effective and environmentally benign ozone control practice for relevant stakeholders, including environmental agencies, regional plant operators, and local communities.

Parietal disruption alters audiovisual binding in the sound-induced flash illusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamke, Marc R; Vieth, Harrison E; Cottrell, David; Mattingley, Jason B

2012-09-01

Selective attention and multisensory integration are fundamental to perception, but little is known about whether, or under what circumstances, these processes interact to shape conscious awareness. Here, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the causal role of attention-related brain networks in multisensory integration between visual and auditory stimuli in the sound-induced flash illusion. The flash illusion is a widely studied multisensory phenomenon in which a single flash of light is falsely perceived as multiple flashes in the presence of irrelevant sounds. We investigated the hypothesis that extrastriate regions involved in selective attention, specifically within the right parietal cortex, exert an influence on the multisensory integrative processes that cause the flash illusion. We found that disruption of the right angular gyrus, but not of the adjacent supramarginal gyrus or of a sensory control site, enhanced participants' veridical perception of the multisensory events, thereby reducing their susceptibility to the illusion. Our findings suggest that the same parietal networks that normally act to enhance perception of attended events also play a role in the binding of auditory and visual stimuli in the sound-induced flash illusion. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Geophysical validation of SCIAMACHY Limb Ozone Profiles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. J. Brinksma

2006-01-01

Full Text Available We discuss the quality of the two available SCIAMACHY limb ozone profile products. They were retrieved with the University of Bremen IFE's algorithm version 1.61 (hereafter IFE, and the official ESA offline algorithm (hereafter OL versions 2.4 and 2.5. The ozone profiles were compared to a suite of correlative measurements from ground-based lidar and microwave, sondes, SAGE II and SAGE III (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment. To correct for the expected Envisat pointing errors, which have not been corrected implicitly in either of the algorithms, we applied a constant altitude shift of -1.5 km to the SCIAMACHY ozone profiles. The IFE ozone profile data between 16 and 40 km are biased low by 3-6%. The average difference profiles have a typical standard deviation of 10% between 20 and 35 km. We show that more than 20% of the SCIAMACHY official ESA offline (OL ozone profiles version 2.4 and 2.5 have unrealistic ozone values, most of these are north of 15° S. The remaining OL profiles compare well to correlative instruments above 24 km. Between 20 and 24 km, they underestimate ozone by 15±5%.

Sound quality indicators for urban places in Paris cross-validated by Milan data.

Science.gov (United States)

Ricciardi, Paola; Delaitre, Pauline; Lavandier, Catherine; Torchia, Francesca; Aumond, Pierre

2015-10-01

A specific smartphone application was developed to collect perceptive and acoustic data in Paris. About 3400 questionnaires were analyzed, regarding the global sound environment characterization, the perceived loudness of some emergent sources and the presence time ratio of sources that do not emerge from the background. Sound pressure level was recorded each second from the mobile phone's microphone during a 10-min period. The aim of this study is to propose indicators of urban sound quality based on linear regressions with perceptive variables. A cross validation of the quality models extracted from Paris data was carried out by conducting the same survey in Milan. The proposed sound quality general model is correlated with the real perceived sound quality (72%). Another model without visual amenity and familiarity is 58% correlated with perceived sound quality. In order to improve the sound quality indicator, a site classification was performed by Kohonen's Artificial Neural Network algorithm, and seven specific class models were developed. These specific models attribute more importance on source events and are slightly closer to the individual data than the global model. In general, the Parisian models underestimate the sound quality of Milan environments assessed by Italian people.

Ozone therapy and restorative dentistry: a literature review ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This approach is being further reinforced with the emergence of ozone therapy in the management of tooth decay. Ozone therapy is the treatment of the tooth with a mixture of oxygen and ozone. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive literature on ozone therapy and on the different areas of restorative dental ...

The pollution by ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-09-01

Air pollution by ozone is increasing in spite of several points to reduce it. If the process of ozone formation are complex, the sources of this pollution are well known: first, mobile sources with automobiles (49%), boats , trains and planes (13%), then are following paints and solvents(18%), thermal power plants(11%), and finally industry processing with 5%. (N.C.)

Effect of ozone on leaf cell membranes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swanson, E S; Thomson, W W; Mudd, J B

1973-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of ozone on membrane lipids and on the electron-density patterns of cell membranes in electron micrographs. Analysis of fatty acids from tobacco leaves fumigated with ozone indicated that there was no significant difference between the ozone-treated and the control plants in the relative amounts of the fatty acids. This suggests that if the primary site of ozone action is unsaturated lipids in membranes then the amounts of affected unsaturated fatty acids are too small to be detected by gas chromatography. In support of this, characteristic electron-microscopic images of membranes are observed in cells of fumigated leaves. However, measurements of the length and width of the chloroplasts and the determination of axial ratios indicated that the ozone treatment resulted in a shrinkage of the chloroplasts. In contrast, mitochondrial changes are apparently explained in terms of ozone-induced swelling. 33 references, 3 figures, 1 table.

A vertically resolved, global, gap-free ozone database for assessing or constraining global climate model simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. E. Bodeker

2013-02-01

Full Text Available High vertical resolution ozone measurements from eight different satellite-based instruments have been merged with data from the global ozonesonde network to calculate monthly mean ozone values in 5° latitude zones. These ''Tier 0'' ozone number densities and ozone mixing ratios are provided on 70 altitude levels (1 to 70 km and on 70 pressure levels spaced ~ 1 km apart (878.4 hPa to 0.046 hPa. The Tier 0 data are sparse and do not cover the entire globe or altitude range. To provide a gap-free database, a least squares regression model is fitted to the Tier 0 data and then evaluated globally. The regression model fit coefficients are expanded in Legendre polynomials to account for latitudinal structure, and in Fourier series to account for seasonality. Regression model fit coefficient patterns, which are two dimensional fields indexed by latitude and month of the year, from the N-th vertical level serve as an initial guess for the fit at the N + 1-th vertical level. The initial guess field for the first fit level (20 km/58.2 hPa was derived by applying the regression model to total column ozone fields. Perturbations away from the initial guess are captured through the Legendre and Fourier expansions. By applying a single fit at each level, and using the approach of allowing the regression fits to change only slightly from one level to the next, the regression is less sensitive to measurement anomalies at individual stations or to individual satellite-based instruments. Particular attention is paid to ensuring that the low ozone abundances in the polar regions are captured. By summing different combinations of contributions from different regression model basis functions, four different ''Tier 1'' databases have been compiled for different intended uses. This database is suitable for assessing ozone fields from chemistry-climate model simulations or for providing the ozone boundary conditions for global climate model simulations that do not

Ozone in the food industry: Principles of ozone treatment, mechanisms of action, and applications: An overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Brodowska, Agnieszka Joanna; Nowak, Agnieszka; Śmigielski, Krzysztof

2017-04-10

The food contamination issue requires continuous control of food at each step of the production process. High quality and safety of products are equally important factors in the food industry. They may be achieved with several, more or less technologically advanced methodologies. In this work, we review the role, contribution, importance, and impact of ozone as a decontaminating agent used to control and eliminate the presence of microorganisms in food products as well as to extend their shelf-life and remove undesirable odors. Several researchers have been focusing on the ozone's properties and applications, proving that ozone treatment technology can be applied to all types of foods, from fruits, vegetables, spices, meat, and seafood products to beverages. A compilation of those works, presented in this review, can be a useful tool for establishing appropriate ozone treatment conditions, and factors affecting the improved quality and safety of food products. A critical evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of ozone in the context of its application in the food industry is presented as well.

77 FR 74381 - Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Listing of Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances-Fire...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-14

... Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Listing of Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances--Fire Suppression... a companion proposed rule issuing listings for three fire suppressants under EPA's Significant New... companion proposed rule issuing listings for three fire suppressants under EPA's Significant New...

In Brief: Monitoring ozone in Qatar

Science.gov (United States)

Showstack, Randy

2008-12-01

Qatar is establishing an ozone and pollution monitoring ground station in West Asia, following discussions between the government, the Qatar Foundation, and the United Nations Environment Programme, according to a 19 November announcement. The station will assist in understanding whether the ozone layer is actually recovering after being damaged by ozone-depleting chemicals. Qatar also announced plans to establish a global center of excellence for research and development of ozone and climate-friendly technology, equipment, and appliances. UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said the announcements by Qatar ``will help plug key data gaps relating to information gathering in West Asia and the Gulf to the benefit of the region and the world.''

Ozone reaction on slime mold. [Physarum polycephalum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanoh, F.

1972-01-01

To determine the effect of ozone, the motive force responsible for protoplasmic streaming in the slime mold, Physarum polycephalum was measured by the Double chamber method which was developed by Kamiya. The effects of ozone on the motive force were investigated by comparison of the Dynamoplasmogram of controls with that of ozone exposure. In the case of high concentration exposure, thickening of plasmagel, inversion of the period of flow and reduction of the extreme point were observed. Succinoxidase of exposed homogenates showed stronger activity than that of controls. It is certain that the Pasteur reaction takes place when plasmodium is kept under high ozone exposure condition. It appears that ozone inhibited a part of the process of glycolysis. 32 references, 8 figures.

The depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabogal Nelson

2000-01-01

The protection of the Earth's ozone layer is of the highest importance to mankind. The dangers of its destruction are by now well known. The depletion of that layer has reached record levels. The Antarctic ozone hole covered this year a record area. The ozone layer is predicted to begin recovery in the next one or two decades and should be restored to pre-1980 levels by 2050. This is the achievement of the regime established by the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The regime established by these two agreements has been revised, and made more effective in London (1990), Copenhagen (1992), Vienna (1995), and Beijing (1999)

International aspects of restrictions of ozone-depleting substances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McDonald, S.C.

1989-10-01

This report summarizes international efforts to protect stratospheric ozone. Also included in this report is a discussion of activities in other countries to meet restrictions in the production and use of ozone-depleting substances. Finally, there is a brief presentation of trade and international competitiveness issues relating to the transition to alternatives for the regulated chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons. The stratosphere knows no international borders. Just as the impact of reduced stratospheric ozone will be felt internationally, so protection of the ozone layer is properly an international effort. Unilateral action, even by a country that produces and used large quantities of ozone-depleting substances, will not remedy the problem of ozone depletion if other countries do not follow suit. 32 refs., 7 tabs.

Improve observation-based ground-level ozone spatial distribution by compositing satellite and surface observations: A simulation experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yuzhong; Wang, Yuhang; Crawford, James; Cheng, Ye; Li, Jianfeng

2018-05-01

Obtaining the full spatial coverage of daily surface ozone fields is challenging because of the sparsity of the surface monitoring network and the difficulty in direct satellite retrievals of surface ozone. We propose an indirect satellite retrieval framework to utilize the information from satellite-measured column densities of tropospheric NO2 and CH2O, which are sensitive to the lower troposphere, to derive surface ozone fields. The method is applicable to upcoming geostationary satellites with high-quality NO2 and CH2O measurements. To prove the concept, we conduct a simulation experiment using a 3-D chemical transport model for July 2011 over the eastern US. The results show that a second order regression using both NO2 and CH2O column densities can be an effective predictor for daily maximum 8-h average ozone. Furthermore, this indirect retrieval approach is shown to be complementary to spatial interpolation of surface observations, especially in regions where the surface sites are sparse. Combining column observations of NO2 and CH2O with surface site measurements leads to an improved representation of surface ozone over simple kriging, increasing the R2 value from 0.53 to 0.64 at a surface site distance of 252 km. The improvements are even more significant with larger surface site distances. The simulation experiment suggests that the indirect satellite retrieval technique can potentially be a useful tool to derive the full spatial coverage of daily surface ozone fields if satellite observation uncertainty is moderate.

40 CFR 52.2088 - Control strategy: Ozone.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Control strategy: Ozone. 52.2088... strategy: Ozone. (a) Revisions to the State Implementation Plan submitted by the Rhode Island Department of... revised text is set forth as follows: § 52.2088 Control strategy: Ozone. (c) Determination of Attainment...

Impact of enhanced ozone deposition and halogen chemistry on tropospheric ozone over the Northern Hemisphere

Science.gov (United States)

Fate of ozone in marine environments has been receiving increased attention due to the tightening of ambient air quality standards. The role of deposition and halogen chemistry is examined through incorporation of an enhanced ozone deposition algorithm and inclusion of halogen ch...

Comparison of high-latitude line-of-sight ozone column density with derived ozone fields and the effects of horizontal inhomogeneity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. H. Swartz

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Extensive ozone measurements were made during the second SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II. We compare high-latitude line-of-sight (LOS slant column ozone measurements from the NASA DC-8 to ozone simulated by forward integration of measurement-derived ozone fields constructed both with and without the assumption of horizontal homogeneity. The average bias and rms error of the simulations assuming homogeneity are relatively small (−6 and 10%, respectively in comparison to the LOS measurements. The comparison improves significantly (−2% bias; 8% rms error using forward integrations of three-dimensional proxy ozone fields reconstructed from potential vorticity-O3 correlations. The comparisons provide additional verification of the proxy fields and quantify the influence of large-scale ozone inhomogeneity. The spatial inhomogeneity of the atmosphere is a source of error in the retrieval of trace gas vertical profiles and column abundance from LOS measurements, as well as a complicating factor in intercomparisons that include LOS measurements at large solar zenith angles.

Impact of climate variability on tropospheric ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grewe, Volker

2007-01-01

A simulation with the climate-chemistry model (CCM) E39/C is presented, which covers both the troposphere and stratosphere dynamics and chemistry during the period 1960 to 1999. Although the CCM, by its nature, is not exactly representing observed day-by-day meteorology, there is an overall model's tendency to correctly reproduce the variability pattern due to an inclusion of realistic external forcings, like observed sea surface temperatures (e.g. El Nino), major volcanic eruption, solar cycle, concentrations of greenhouse gases, and Quasi-Biennial Oscillation. Additionally, climate-chemistry interactions are included, like the impact of ozone, methane, and other species on radiation and dynamics, and the impact of dynamics on emissions (lightning). However, a number of important feedbacks are not yet included (e.g. feedbacks related to biogenic emissions and emissions due to biomass burning). The results show a good representation of the evolution of the stratospheric ozone layer, including the ozone hole, which plays an important role for the simulation of natural variability of tropospheric ozone. Anthropogenic NO x emissions are included with a step-wise linear trend for each sector, but no interannual variability is included. The application of a number of diagnostics (e.g. marked ozone tracers) allows the separation of the impact of various processes/emissions on tropospheric ozone and shows that the simulated Northern Hemisphere tropospheric ozone budget is not only dominated by nitrogen oxide emissions and other ozone pre-cursors, but also by changes of the stratospheric ozone budget and its flux into the troposphere, which tends to reduce the simulated positive trend in tropospheric ozone due to emissions from industry and traffic during the late 80s and early 90s. For tropical regions the variability in ozone is dominated by variability in lightning (related to ENSO) and stratosphere-troposphere exchange (related to Northern Hemisphere Stratospheric

Ozone depleting substances management inventory system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felix Ivan Romero Rodríguez

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Context: The care of the ozone layer is an activity that contributes to the planet's environmental stability. For this reason, the Montreal Protocol is created to control the emission of substances that deplete the ozone layer and reduce its production from an organizational point of view. However, it is also necessary to have control of those that are already circulating and those present in the equipment that cannot be replaced yet because of the context of the companies that keep it. Generally, the control mechanisms for classifying the type of substances, equipment and companies that own them, are carried in physical files, spreadsheets and text documents, which makes it difficult to control and manage the data stored in them. Method: The objective of this research is to computerize the process of control of substances that deplete the ozone layer. An evaluation and description of all process to manage Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS, and its alternatives, is done. For computerization, the agile development methodology SCRUM is used, and for the technological solution tools and free open source technologies are used. Result: As a result of the research, a computer tool was developed that automates the process of control and management of substances that exhaust the ozone layer and its alternatives. Conclusions: The developed computer tool allows to control and manage the ozone-depleting substances and the equipment that use them. It also manages the substances that arise as alternatives to be used for the protection of the ozone layer.

Chromosome breakage in Vicia faba by ozone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fetner, R H

1958-02-15

Meristem cells of Vicia faba roots were exposed to an atmosphere of ozone and the fraction of cells showing chromosome aberrations were recorded. Chromosome aberrations were observed on a dose-response basis after exposing the seeds to 0.4 wt. percent ozone for 15, 30, and 60 minutes. The results of ozone, x-rays, and ozone and x-ray treatments are presented. A small number of root tips from each group was treated with colchicine and an analysis made of metaphase aberrations. These observations confirmed that the aberrations were all of the chromosome-type.

When will the Antarctic Ozone Hole Recover?

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Paul A.; Nash, Eric R.; Kawa, S. Randolph; Montzka, Steve

2006-01-01

The Antarctic ozone hole develops each year and culminates by early Spring. Antarctic ozone values have been monitored since 1979 using satellite observations from the .TOMS instrument. The severity of the hole has been assessed from TOMS using the minimum total ozone value from the October monthly mean (depth of the hole) and by calculating the average size during the September-October period. Ozone is mainly destroyed by halogen catalytic cycles, and these losses are modulated by temperature variations in the collar of the polar lower stratospheric vortex. In this presentation, we show the relationships of halogens and temperature to, both the size and depth of the hole. Because atmospheric halogen levels are responding to international agreements that limit or phase out production, the amount of halogens in the stratosphere should decrease over the next few decades. Using projections of halogen levels combined with age-of-air estimates, we find that the ozone hole is recovering at an extremely slow rate and that large ozone holes will regularly recur over the next 2 decades. The ozone hole will begin to show first signs of recovery in about 2023, and the hole will fully recover to pre-1980 levels in approximately 2070. This 2070 recovery is 20 years later than recent projections.

Regional climate, local climate and ozone air pollution in Tours and Orleans cities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berthelot, M.

2006-10-01

The importance of the relations between climate and the air pollution justifies the interest related to the role of the urban heat island of heat with respect to the night persistence of ozone in urban environment. When the days are favourable with important ozone concentrations, the agglomerations of the area observe a dynamics day laborer of ozone different from that observed in rural environment. The study is undertaken on the towns of Turns and Orleans where the observations of Lig'Air revealed a night persistence of ozone whereas the concentrations drop more quickly in periphery. This phenomenon is remarkable during the little broken down anticyclonic days. The region region Centre is a ground of study privileged for ozone because of its situation in the south-west of the Island of France rich in precursors of ozone. When flow is of continental origin, the Centre area is found then under the influence of the Paris area. The investigation of a study of the air pollution must take into account the notes of the regional climate and local climate. Several preliminary studies must intervene to answer our principal problems. First of all a descriptive study of the regional climate is carried out with the participation of Meteo-France. The current absence of climatic atlas as well as the many disparities of the climate related to extended from the territory partly justify the interest of our study. The regional approach of the climate is also essential for the continuation of work on a finer scale on the agglomerations of Turns and Orleans in order to detect the urban heat island of heat there. Collaboration with Meteo-France and Lig'Air made it possible to establish a satisfying network of measurement making it possible to obtain notable thermal differences between the downtown area and the surrounding rural environment. The correlation between meteorology and the proven air pollution leads us to establish the climatology of ozone. Many are the studies having

Nitrous Oxides Ozone Destructiveness Under Different Climate Scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Kanter, David R.; McDermid, Sonali P.

2016-01-01

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance as well as a key component of the nitrogen cascade. While emissions scenarios indicating the range of N2O's potential future contributions to radiative forcing are widely available, the impact of these emissions scenarios on future stratospheric ozone depletion is less clear. This is because N2O's ozone destructiveness is partially dependent on tropospheric warming, which affects ozone depletion rates in the stratosphere. Consequently, in order to understand the possible range of stratospheric ozone depletion that N2O could cause over the 21st century, it is important to decouple the greenhouse gas emissions scenarios and compare different emissions trajectories for individual substances (e.g. business-as-usual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions versus low emissions of N2O). This study is the first to follow such an approach, running a series of experiments using the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Sciences ModelE2 atmospheric sub-model. We anticipate our results to show that stratospheric ozone depletion will be highest in a scenario where CO2 emissions reductions are prioritized over N2O reductions, as this would constrain ozone recovery while doing little to limit stratospheric NOx levels (the breakdown product of N2O that destroys stratospheric ozone). This could not only delay the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer, but might also prevent a return to pre-1980 global average ozone concentrations, a key goal of the international ozone regime. Accordingly, we think this will highlight the importance of reducing emissions of all major greenhouse gas emissions, including N2O, and not just a singular policy focus on CO2.

A taste for words and sounds: a case of lexical-gustatory and sound-gustatory synesthesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olympia eColizoli

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Gustatory forms of synesthesia involve the automatic and consistent experience of tastes that are triggered by non-taste related inducers. We present a case of lexical-gustatory and sound-gustatory synesthesia within one individual, SC. Most words and a subset of nonlinguistic sounds induce the experience of taste, smell and physical sensations for SC. SC’s lexical-gustatory associations were significantly more consistent than those of a group of controls. We tested for effects of presentation modality (visual vs. auditory, taste-related congruency, and synesthetic inducer-concurrent direction using a priming task. SC’s performance did not differ significantly from a trained control group. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of SC’s synesthetic experiences by comparing her brain activation to the literature on brain networks related to language, music and sound processing, in addition to synesthesia. Words that induced a strong taste were contrasted to words that induced weak-to-no tastes (tasty vs. tasteless words. Brain activation was also measured during passive listening to music and environmental sounds. Brain activation patterns showed evidence that two regions are implicated in SC’s synesthetic experience of taste and smell: the left anterior insula and left superior parietal lobe. Anterior insula activation may reflect the synesthetic taste experience. The superior parietal lobe is proposed to be involved in binding sensory information across sub-types of synesthetes. We conclude that SC’s synesthesia is genuine and reflected in her brain activation. The type of inducer (visual-lexical, auditory-lexical, and non-lexical auditory stimuli could be differentiated based on patterns of brain activity.

Spatio-temporal observations of the tertiary ozone maximum

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V. F. Sofieva

2009-07-01

Full Text Available We present spatio-temporal distributions of the tertiary ozone maximum (TOM, based on GOMOS (Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars ozone measurements in 2002–2006. The tertiary ozone maximum is typically observed in the high-latitude winter mesosphere at an altitude of ~72 km. Although the explanation for this phenomenon has been found recently – low concentrations of odd-hydrogen cause the subsequent decrease in odd-oxygen losses – models have had significant deviations from existing observations until recently. Good coverage of polar night regions by GOMOS data has allowed for the first time to obtain spatial and temporal observational distributions of night-time ozone mixing ratio in the mesosphere.

The distributions obtained from GOMOS data have specific features, which are variable from year to year. In particular, due to a long lifetime of ozone in polar night conditions, the downward transport of polar air by the meridional circulation is clearly observed in the tertiary ozone maximum time series. Although the maximum tertiary ozone mixing ratio is achieved close to the polar night terminator (as predicted by the theory, TOM can be observed also at very high latitudes, not only in the beginning and at the end, but also in the middle of winter. We have compared the observational spatio-temporal distributions of the tertiary ozone maximum with that obtained using WACCM (Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model and found that the specific features are reproduced satisfactorily by the model.

Since ozone in the mesosphere is very sensitive to HO_x concentrations, energetic particle precipitation can significantly modify the shape of the ozone profiles. In particular, GOMOS observations have shown that the tertiary ozone maximum was temporarily destroyed during the January 2005 and December 2006 solar proton events as a result of the HO_x enhancement from the increased ionization.

Imagining Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grimshaw, Mark; Garner, Tom Alexander

2014-01-01

We make the case in this essay that sound that is imagined is both a perception and as much a sound as that perceived through external stimulation. To argue this, we look at the evidence from auditory science, neuroscience, and philosophy, briefly present some new conceptual thinking on sound...... that accounts for this view, and then use this to look at what the future might hold in the context of imagining sound and developing technology....

Quantifying Ozone Production throughout the Boundary Layer from High Frequency Tethered Profile Measurements during a High Ozone Episode in the Uinta Basin, Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Sterling, C. W.; Johnson, B.; Schnell, R. C.; Oltmans, S. J.; Cullis, P.; Hall, E. G.; Jordan, A. F.; Windell, J.; McClure-Begley, A.; Helmig, D.; Petron, G.

2015-12-01

During the Uinta Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS) in Jan - Feb 2013, 735 tethered ozonesonde profiles were obtained at 3 sites including during high wintertime photochemical ozone production events that regularly exceeded 125 ppb. High resolution profiles of ozone and temperature with altitude, measured during daylight hours, showed the development of approximately week long high ozone episodes building from background levels of ~40 ppb to >150 ppb. The topography of the basin combined with a strong temperature inversion trapped oil and gas production effluents in the basin and the snow covered surface amplified the sun's radiation driving the photochemical ozone production at rates up to 13 ppb/hour in a cold layer capped at 1600-1700 meters above sea level. Beginning in mid-morning, ozone mixing ratios throughout the cold layer increased until late afternoon. Ozone mixing ratios were generally constant with height indicating that ozone production was nearly uniform throughout the depth of the cold pool. Although there was strong diurnal variation, ozone mixing ratios increased during the day more than decreased during the night, resulting in elevated levels the next morning; an indication that nighttime loss processes did not compensate for daytime production. Even though the 3 tethersonde sites were at elevations differing by as much as 140 m, the top of the high ozone layer was nearly uniform in altitude at the 3 locations. Mobile van surface ozone measurements across the basin confirmed this capped structure of the ozone layer; the vehicle drove out of high ozone mixing ratios at an elevation of ~1900 meters above sea level, above which free tropospheric ozone mixing ratios of ~50 ppb were measured. Exhaust plumes from a coal-fired power plant in the eastern portion of the basin were intercepted by the tethersondes. The structure of the profiles clearly showed that effluents in the plumes were not mixed downward and thus did not contribute precursor nitrogen

Ozone modelling in Eastern Austria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stohl, A.; Wotawa, G.; Kromp-Kolb, H. [Univ. of Agriculture, Vienna (Austria). Inst. of Meteorology and Physics; Winiwater, W. [Austrian Research Centre, Seibersdorf (Austria); Baumann, R.; Spangl, W. [Federal Environmental Agency, Vienna (Austria)

1995-12-31

High ozone concentrations are frequently observed in Eastern Austria, often exceeding local as well as international health standards, both for short-term as well as for long-term exposures. The maximum concentrations are produced in urban plumes, e.g. of the city of Vienna, whereas regional-scale transport and production of ozone is more important for the long-term concentrations. The Pannonian Ozone Project (POP) is an Austrian research initiative to model photochemical processes on a regional as well as on a local scale with a Lagrangian model to better understand the mechanisms leading to the high ozone concentrations and to develop abatement strategies. Up to now, focus has been on the regional scale. Aircraft, tethered balloon, tetroon and intensified ground measurements are carried out to validate the model. Although the major measurement campaign will be held in summer 1995, first results from a measurement campaign in summer 1994 are already available

Electrical discharges of plasma ozonizer and its application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tirawanichakul, S.

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Ozone synthesis is one of the applications of near atmospheric plasma processing. An ozone generator in this research comprised two annular cylindrical-shaped electrodes. The inner electrode was made ofstainless steel covered with the dielectric glass and the outer electrode was also made of stainless steel. The electric spacing gap was 0.0075 m and length of ozonizer was 0.21 m. Oxygen gas passing through thedischarge gap between two electrodes supplied by an alternating current (AC high voltage power supply, frequency 50 Hz, ranging of 6-10 kVAC was used for producing ozone. The amount of ozone was determinedby the KI standard method. The result showed that the concentration of ozone is proportional to the AC applied voltage. For determining effect of purified oxygen feed rate of 6-10 L/min on quantity of ozone, theresults indicated that at the volumetric flow rate of 8 L/min produced the largest amount of ozone. In addition, ozone concentration at a flow rate of 8 L/min and an electrical discharge time of 3 minutes wasapproximately determined as 41, 60, 80 and 135 mg/L at 8, 9, 10 and 11 kVAC, respectively. Moreover, study of dye wastewater of Krajud mat was proposed and treated by three different methods. Firstly, dye wastewater was solely treated by a plasma ozonation. Secondly, a combination ofozonation and alum coagulation was used for dye wastewater treatment. Finally, the combined ozonation and activated carbon adsorption were used for dye wastewater treatment. The experimental results showedthat the percentage of light absorbance reduction of pink dyed wastewater for these three different methods was about 56%, 35% and 10%, respectively compared to the reference sample. In addition, For thesemethods, the percentage of BOD of treated dye wastewater could be reduced to 64%, 54% and 46% respectively, the percentage of COD could be reduced to approximately 78%, 62% and 27%, respectively, comparedto the reference sample. In conclusion, the

Pressure evolution of the high-frequency sound velocity in liquid water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krisch, M.; Sette, F.; D'Astuto, M.; Lorenzen, M.; Mermet, A.; Monaco, G.; Verbeni, R.; Loubeyre, P.; Le Toullec, R.; Ruocco, G.; Cunsolo, A.

2002-01-01

The high-frequency sound velocity v ∞ of liquid water has been determined to densities of 1.37 g/cm 3 by inelastic x-ray scattering. In comparison to the hydrodynamic sound velocity v 0 , the increase of v ∞ with density is substantially less pronounced, indicating that, at high density, the hydrogen-bond network is decreasingly relevant to the physical properties of liquid water. Furthermore, we observe an anomaly in v ∞ at densities around 1.12 g/cm 3 , contrasting the smooth density evolution of v 0

Decadal changes in summertime reactive oxidized nitrogen and surface ozone over the Southeast United States

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jingyi; Mao, Jingqiu; Fiore, Arlene M.; Cohen, Ronald C.; Crounse, John D.; Teng, Alex P.; Wennberg, Paul O.; Lee, Ben H.; Lopez-Hilfiker, Felipe D.; Thornton, Joel A.; Peischl, Jeff; Pollack, Ilana B.; Ryerson, Thomas B.; Veres, Patrick; Roberts, James M.; Neuman, J. Andrew; Nowak, John B.; Wolfe, Glenn M.; Hanisco, Thomas F.; Fried, Alan; Singh, Hanwant B.; Dibb, Jack; Paulot, Fabien; Horowitz, Larry W.

2018-02-01

Widespread efforts to abate ozone (O3) smog have significantly reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the past 2 decades in the Southeast US, a place heavily influenced by both anthropogenic and biogenic emissions. How reactive nitrogen speciation responds to the reduction in NOx emissions in this region remains to be elucidated. Here we exploit aircraft measurements from ICARTT (July-August 2004), SENEX (June-July 2013), and SEAC4RS (August-September 2013) and long-term ground measurement networks alongside a global chemistry-climate model to examine decadal changes in summertime reactive oxidized nitrogen (RON) and ozone over the Southeast US. We show that our model can reproduce the mean vertical profiles of major RON species and the total (NOy) in both 2004 and 2013. Among the major RON species, nitric acid (HNO3) is dominant (˜ 42-45 %), followed by NOx (31 %), total peroxy nitrates (ΣPNs; 14 %), and total alkyl nitrates (ΣANs; 9-12 %) on a regional scale. We find that most RON species, including NOx, ΣPNs, and HNO3, decline proportionally with decreasing NOx emissions in this region, leading to a similar decline in NOy. This linear response might be in part due to the nearly constant summertime supply of biogenic VOC emissions in this region. Our model captures the observed relative change in RON and surface ozone from 2004 to 2013. Model sensitivity tests indicate that further reductions of NOx emissions will lead to a continued decline in surface ozone and less frequent high-ozone events.

Hourly air pollution concentrations and their important predictors over Houston, Texas using deep neural networks: case study of DISCOVER-AQ time period

Science.gov (United States)

Eslami, E.; Choi, Y.; Roy, A.

2017-12-01

Air quality forecasting carried out by chemical transport models often show significant error. This study uses a deep-learning approach over the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) area to overcome this forecasting challenge, for the DISCOVER-AQ period (September 2013). Two approaches, deep neural network (DNN) using a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM) were utilized. The proposed approaches analyzed input data by identifying features abstracted from its previous layer using a stepwise method. The approaches predicted hourly ozone and PM in September 2013 using several predictors of prior three days, including wind fields, temperature, relative humidity, cloud fraction, precipitation along with PM, ozone, and NOx concentrations. Model-measurement comparisons for available monitoring sites reported Indexes of Agreement (IOA) of around 0.95 for both DNN and RBM. A standard artificial neural network (ANN) (IOA=0.90) with similar architecture showed poorer performance than the deep networks, clearly demonstrating the superiority of the deep approaches. Additionally, each network (both deep and standard) performed significantly better than a previous CMAQ study, which showed an IOA of less than 0.80. The most influential input variables were identified using their associated weights, which represented the sensitivity of ozone to input parameters. The results indicate deep learning approaches can achieve more accurate ozone forecasting and identify the important input variables for ozone predictions in metropolitan areas.

Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report: Present-day distribution and trends of tropospheric ozone relevant to climate and global atmospheric chemistry model evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Gaudel

2018-05-01

Full Text Available 'The Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report' (TOAR is an activity of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project. This paper is a component of the report, focusing on the present-day distribution and trends of tropospheric ozone relevant to climate and global atmospheric chemistry model evaluation. Utilizing the TOAR surface ozone database, several figures present the global distribution and trends of daytime average ozone at 2702 non-urban monitoring sites, highlighting the regions and seasons of the world with the greatest ozone levels. Similarly, ozonesonde and commercial aircraft observations reveal ozone’s distribution throughout the depth of the free troposphere. Long-term surface observations are limited in their global spatial coverage, but data from remote locations indicate that ozone in the 21st century is greater than during the 1970s and 1980s. While some remote sites and many sites in the heavily polluted regions of East Asia show ozone increases since 2000, many others show decreases and there is no clear global pattern for surface ozone changes since 2000. Two new satellite products provide detailed views of ozone in the lower troposphere across East Asia and Europe, revealing the full spatial extent of the spring and summer ozone enhancements across eastern China that cannot be assessed from limited surface observations. Sufficient data are now available (ozonesondes, satellite, aircraft across the tropics from South America eastwards to the western Pacific Ocean, to indicate a likely tropospheric column ozone increase since the 1990s. The 2014–2016 mean tropospheric ozone burden (TOB between 60°N–60°S from five satellite products is 300 Tg ± 4%. While this agreement is excellent, the products differ in their quantification of TOB trends and further work is required to reconcile the differences. Satellites can now estimate ozone’s global long-wave radiative effect, but evaluation is difficult due to limited

Evaluation of a dimension-reduction-based statistical technique for Temperature, Water Vapour and Ozone retrievals from IASI radiances

Science.gov (United States)

Amato, Umberto; Antoniadis, Anestis; De Feis, Italia; Masiello, Guido; Matricardi, Marco; Serio, Carmine

2009-03-01

Remote sensing of atmosphere is changing rapidly thanks to the development of high spectral resolution infrared space-borne sensors. The aim is to provide more and more accurate information on the lower atmosphere, as requested by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), to improve reliability and time span of weather forecasts plus Earth's monitoring. In this paper we show the results we have obtained on a set of Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) observations using a new statistical strategy based on dimension reduction. Retrievals have been compared to time-space colocated ECMWF analysis for temperature, water vapor and ozone.

Effect of increased carbon dioxide concentrations on stratospheric ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boughner, R.E.

1978-01-01

During the past several years, much attention has been focused on the destruction of ozone by anthropogenic pollutants such as the nitrogen oxides and chlorofluoromethane. Little or no attention has been given to the influence on ozone of an increased carbon dioxide concentration for which a measurable growth has been observed. Increased carbon dioxide can directly affect ozone by perturbing atmospheric temperatures, which will alter ozone production, whose rate displays a fairly strong temperature dependence. This paper presents one-dimensional model results for the steady state ozone behavior when the CO 2 concentration is twice its ambient level which account for coupling between chemistry and temperature. When the CO 2 level doubled, the total ozone burden increased in relation to the ambient burden by 1.2--2.5%, depending on the vertical diffusion coefficient used. Above 30 km. In this region the relation variations were insensitive to the choice of diffusion coefficient. Below 30 km, ozone concentrations were smaller than the unperturbed values and were sensitive to the vertical diffusion profile in this region (10--30 km). Ozone decreases in the lower stratosphere because of a reduction in ozone-producing solar radiation, which results in smaller downward ozone fluxes from the region at 25--30 km relative to the flux values for the ambient atmosphere. These offsetting changes occurring in the upper and lower stratosphere act to minimize the variation in total ozone

Trends in Surface Level Ozone Observations from Human-health Relevant Metrics: Results from the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR)

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Z. L.; von Schneidemesser, E.; Doherty, R. M.; Malley, C.; Cooper, O. R.; Pinto, J. P.; Colette, A.; Xu, X.; Simpson, D.; Schultz, M.; Hamad, S.; Moola, R.; Solberg, S.; Feng, Z.

2017-12-01

Ozone is an air pollutant formed in the atmosphere from precursor species (NOx, VOCs, CH4, CO) that is detrimental to human health and ecosystems. The global Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) initiative has assembled a global database of surface ozone observations and generated ozone exposure metrics at thousands of measurement sites around the world. This talk will present results from the assessment focused on those indicators most relevant to human health. Specifically, the trends in ozone, comparing different time periods and patterns across regions and among metrics will be addressed. In addition, the fraction of population exposed to high ozone levels and how this has changed between 2000 and 2014 will also be discussed. The core time period analyzed for trends was 2000-2014, selected to include a greater number of sites in East Asia. Negative trends were most commonly observed at many US and some European sites, whereas many sites in East Asia showed positive trends, while sites in Japan showed more of a mix of positive and negative trends. More than half of the sites showed a common direction and significance in the trends for all five human-health relevant metrics. The peak ozone metrics indicate a reduction in exposure to peak levels of ozone related to photochemical episodes in Europe and the US. A considerable number of European countries and states within the US have shown a decrease in population-weighted ozone over time. The 2000-2014 results will be augmented and compared to the trend analysis for additional time periods that cover a greater number of years, but by necessity are based on fewer sites. Trends are found to be statistically significant at a larger fraction of sites with longer time series, compared to the shorter (2000-2014) time series.

Enhanced effect of suction-cavitation on the ozonation of phenol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)