Herbaceous Plants for Climate Adaptation and Intensely Developed Urban Sites In Northern Europe: A Case Study From the Eastern Romanian Steppe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sjöman Henrik

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In the increasingly compact city, services currently provided for in parks will in future be compressed into smaller green unit-structures, often associated with paved surfaces. Left-over spaces in urban environments, such as traffic roundabouts and strips along paths, roads and other corridors, will be important in the future city in order to deliver different eco-system services, especially stormwater management. It is therefore essential to start now to develop the knowledge and experience needed to create sustainable plantings for these sites. This paper presents the findings of a field survey in eastern Romania that sought to identify potential species for urban paved plantings in the Scandinavian region (northern Europe. The research approach is rooted in the hypothesis that studies of natural vegetation systems and habitats where plants are exposed to environmental conditions similar to those in inner-city environments can: 1 identify new or non-traditional species and genotypes adapted to urban environments; and 2 supply information and knowledge about their use potential concerning growth, flowering, life form, etc. In total, 117 different herbaceous species, all of which experience water stress regimes comparable to those in urban paved sites in Scandinavia. The initial information obtained from this field survey present a base of knowledge of which species that have a future potential for use in urban environment, which is of great importance in the following work within this project instead of testing species randomly without this knowledge of the species tolerance and performance in similar habitats.

High-resolution stochastic generation of extreme rainfall intensity for urban drainage modelling applications

Science.gov (United States)

Peleg, Nadav; Blumensaat, Frank; Molnar, Peter; Fatichi, Simone; Burlando, Paolo

2016-04-01

Urban drainage response is highly dependent on the spatial and temporal structure of rainfall. Therefore, measuring and simulating rainfall at a high spatial and temporal resolution is a fundamental step to fully assess urban drainage system reliability and related uncertainties. This is even more relevant when considering extreme rainfall events. However, the current space-time rainfall models have limitations in capturing extreme rainfall intensity statistics for short durations. Here, we use the STREAP (Space-Time Realizations of Areal Precipitation) model, which is a novel stochastic rainfall generator for simulating high-resolution rainfall fields that preserve the spatio-temporal structure of rainfall and its statistical characteristics. The model enables a generation of rain fields at 102 m and minute scales in a fast and computer-efficient way matching the requirements for hydrological analysis of urban drainage systems. The STREAP model was applied successfully in the past to generate high-resolution extreme rainfall intensities over a small domain. A sub-catchment in the city of Luzern (Switzerland) was chosen as a case study to: (i) evaluate the ability of STREAP to disaggregate extreme rainfall intensities for urban drainage applications; (ii) assessing the role of stochastic climate variability of rainfall in flow response and (iii) evaluate the degree of non-linearity between extreme rainfall intensity and system response (i.e. flow) for a small urban catchment. The channel flow at the catchment outlet is simulated by means of a calibrated hydrodynamic sewer model.

Aerosol composition of urban plumes passing over a rural monitoring site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellestad, T.G.

1980-01-01

A field study conducted at a ground site 100 km north of St. Louis, Mo., to measure the aerosol composition and gaseous concentrations of urban plumes passing the site is discussed. Coarse and fine aerosol elemental concentrations, height scattering, meteorological data and concentrations of SO 2 , CO, O 3 , and NO-NO/sub x/ were measured and then analyzed together with data from associate investigators on fluorocarbon-11, total hydrocarbons, and size distributions. The results show that: (1) gaseous and elemental aerosol concentrations at the ground site 100 km from the St. Louis urban area were clearly influenced by the St. Louis urban plume, (2) the urban plumes of Chicago and Indianapolis, 350 km from the ground site, may have been detected, (3) sulfur compounds, presumably sulfates, accounted for 30-40% of the mass loading within the St. Louis urban plume, and resided almost entirely within the size range below 2.5 microns, (4) the most reliable urban-plume tracers in this study were fine Pb, fluorocarbon-11, total nonmethane hydrocarbons, and CO, and (5) over a period of several days, there may have been a regional buildup of fine S, light scattering, aerosol mass, O 3 , and NO/sub x/ and, to a lesser extent, CO and fluorocarbon-11

What is left behind when the lights go off? Comparing the abundance and composition of litter in urban areas with different intensity of nightlife use in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Becherucci, Maria Eugenia; Seco Pon, Juan Pablo

2014-08-01

Nightlife activities represents an important source of urban litter; the latter often being left behind or abandoned in public places and streets. Mar del Plata is a very important city on the Atlantic coast of Argentina and is the main tourism destination in the South Atlantic region of South America. However, few studies on urban litter related to nightlife activities have been conducted in the area. Here we assessed (i) the abundance and composition of litter, and (ii) the spatial and temporal variations of its abundance, diversity, richness and evenness in urbanized areas with different intensity of nightlife activities from April 2008 to March 2009. An overall of 13,503 items were counted. Around 92% of the total litter was comprised by cigarette butts, papers and plastics. We found significant spatial differences in the abundance of litter between sampling sites, with the greatest amounts of litter at the Alem site followed by the Hipólito site (both with an intensive nightlife activity) compared with the Chauvin site (a quiet high-income neighborhood). The composition of litter of the Alem and the Hipólito sites was relatively similar and both sites differ with respect to the Chauvin site. Cigarette butts, papers, and plastics were the items that contributed most to the dissimilarity between sampling sites. The diversity of litter was the single community parameter that significantly differed from the other seasons. We discussed the potential effect of nightlife activities on the amounts and quality of urban litter in the city of Mar del Plata. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Urban industrial contaminated sites: a new issue in the field of environmental remediation in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Xiao-Yong; Chong, Zhong-Yi; Yan, Xiu-Lan; Zhao, Dan

2011-03-01

Contamination of urban industrial lands is a new environmental problem in China during the process of upgrade of industrial structure and adjustment of urban layout. It restricts the safe re-use of urban land resources, and threatens the health of surrounding inhabitants. In the paper, the market potential of contaminated-site remediation was known through analysis of spatial distribution of urban industrial sites in China. Remediation technologies in the Occident which were suitable for urban industrial contaminated sites were discussed and compared to evaluate their superiority and inferiority. And then, some advices of remediation technologies for urban industrial contaminated sites in China were proposed.

Does urbanization affect energy intensities across provinces in China?Long-run elasticities estimation using dynamic panels with heterogeneous slopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Ben

2015-01-01

Although there has been extensive debate in the literature that addresses the impact of urbanization on total energy use, the relative magnitude of each impact channel has not been empirically examined and urbanization's effects on energy transition dynamics in China remains unknown. Using panel datasets at the provincial level from 1986 to 2011, this paper employs dynamic models to investigate both the long-run and short-run elasticities of urbanization on energy intensities and the most significant impact channel is identified. Coal intensity and electricity intensity are also modeled to reveal energy transition dynamics driven by urbanization. A set of newly developed regression techniques, namely well-performed common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) and augmented mean group (AMG) estimators, are used to treat residual cross-sectional dependence, nonstationary residuals, and unlikely-to-hold homogeneous slope assumptions. The results obtained verify that the net effects of urbanization on overall energy intensity and electricity intensity are statistically positive, with long-run elasticities of 0.14% to 0.37% and 0.23% to 0.29%, respectively, whereas China's urbanization does not significantly increase coal intensity. The fact that short-run elasticities account for a majority of corresponding long-run values indicates that the short-run effect, that is, indirect energy use induced by urban infrastructures is the most significant impact channel of urbanization on energy use in China. An energy transition from high-pollution coal to clean electricity is also present in China, although the fundamental transition to renewable energy is still in its infancy. From a regional perspective, urbanization exerts asymmetric impacts on provincial energy use so that energy policies associated with urbanization should be province-specific. The findings also illustrate that for a panel dataset on regional dimension within large and fast-growing economies such

Anatomical sites of colorectal cancer in a Semi-Urban Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

region from big urban cities have shown that the incidence of colorectal cancer is rising and with a proportionate right-ward shift. Objective: To assess the sub-site distribution and surgical treatment patterns of colorectal cancer in a semi-urban ...

Whooping crane stopover site use intensity within the Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Pearse, Aaron T.; Brandt, David A.; Harrell, Wade C.; Metzger, Kristine L.; Baasch, David M.; Hefley, Trevor J.

2015-09-23

Whooping cranes (Grus americana) of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population migrate twice each year through the Great Plains in North America. Recovery activities for this endangered species include providing adequate places to stop and rest during migration, which are generally referred to as stopover sites. To assist in recovery efforts, initial estimates of stopover site use intensity are presented, which provide opportunity to identify areas across the migration range used more intensively by whooping cranes. We used location data acquired from 58 unique individuals fitted with platform transmitting terminals that collected global position system locations. Radio-tagged birds provided 2,158 stopover sites over 10 migrations and 5 years (2010–14). Using a grid-based approach, we identified 1,095 20-square-kilometer grid cells that contained stopover sites. We categorized occupied grid cells based on density of stopover sites and the amount of time cranes spent in the area. This assessment resulted in four categories of stopover site use: unoccupied, low intensity, core intensity, and extended-use core intensity. Although provisional, this evaluation of stopover site use intensity offers the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners a tool to identify landscapes that may be of greater conservation significance to migrating whooping cranes. Initially, the tool will be used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other interested parties in evaluating the Great Plains Wind Energy Habitat Conservation Plan.

Urban Heat Island and Park Cool Island Intensities in the Coastal City of Aracaju, North-Eastern Brazil

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Max Anjos

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In this study, an evaluation of the Urban Heat Island (UHI and Park Cool Island (PCI intensities in Aracaju, North-Eastern Brazil, was performed. The basis of our evaluation is a 2-year dataset from the urban climatological network installed with the principles and concepts defined for urban areas related to climatic scales, sitting and exposure, urban morphology, and metadata. The current findings update UHI intensities in Aracaju refuting the trend registered in previous studies. On average, the UHI was more intense in the cool season (1.3 °C than in hot season (0.5 °C, which was caused by wind speed decrease. In relation to the PCI, mitigation of high air temperatures of 1.5–2 °C on average was registered in the city. However, the urban park is not always cooler than the surrounding built environment. Consistent long-term monitoring in the cities is very important to provide more accurate climatic information about the UHI and PCI to be applied in urban planning properly, e.g., to provide pleasant thermal comfort in urban spaces.

Bivariate frequency analysis of rainfall intensity and duration for urban stormwater infrastructure design

Science.gov (United States)

Jun, Changhyun; Qin, Xiaosheng; Gan, Thian Yew; Tung, Yeou-Koung; De Michele, Carlo

2017-10-01

This study presents a storm-event based bivariate frequency analysis approach to determine design rainfalls in which, the number, intensity and duration of actual rainstorm events were considered. To derive more realistic design storms, the occurrence probability of an individual rainstorm event was determined from the joint distribution of storm intensity and duration through a copula model. Hourly rainfall data were used at three climate stations respectively located in Singapore, South Korea and Canada. It was found that the proposed approach could give a more realistic description of rainfall characteristics of rainstorm events and design rainfalls. As results, the design rainfall quantities from actual rainstorm events at the three studied sites are consistently lower than those obtained from the conventional rainfall depth-duration-frequency (DDF) method, especially for short-duration storms (such as 1-h). It results from occurrence probabilities of each rainstorm event and a different angle for rainfall frequency analysis, and could offer an alternative way of describing extreme rainfall properties and potentially help improve the hydrologic design of stormwater management facilities in urban areas.

On-site and laboratory evaluations of soundscape quality in recreational urban spaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerre, Lærke Cecilie; Larsen, Thea Mathilde; Sørensen, Anna Josefine

2017-01-01

Regulations for quiet urban areas are typically based on sound level limits alone. However, the nonacoustic context may be crucial for subjective soundscape quality. Aims: This study aimed at comparing the role of sound level and nonacoustic context for subjective urban soundscape assessment...... in the presence of the full on-site context, the visual context only, and without context. Materials and Methods: Soundscape quality was evaluated for three recreational urban spaces by using four subjective attributes: loudness, acceptance, stressfulness, and comfort. The sound level was measured at each site......, the availability of the visual context in the listening experiment had no significant effect on the ratings. The participants were overall more positive toward natural sound sources on site. Conclusion: The full immersion in the on-site nonacoustic context may be important when evaluating overall soundscape...

Seasonal and Spatial Variation of Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity in a Small Urban Agglomerate in Brazil

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Elis Dener Lima Alves

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In recent years, SUHIs (surface urban heat islands have been greatly emphasized in urban climate studies, since it is one of the climate phenomena most influenced by human action. In this study, temporal and spatial variations of SUHIs in the cities of Ceres and Rialma (Brazil were investigated; satellite Landsat 8 TIRS/OLI images from 2013 to 2016 were used for this purpose. The results showed that in all seasons, two relationships were observed, one positive and one negative. An N D V I (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index of 0.2 is the divider of this relationship: up to this value, the relationship is positive, that is, the higher the N D V I value, the higher the surface temperature, while the relationship is negative at an N D V I greater than 0.2. There was high seasonal variation in the SUHIs, with the highest intensities recorded in the spring and summer (±12 °C, and the lowest in the winter. These temporal variations were attributed to the annual cycle of precipitation, which directly involves the robustness of the Cerrado vegetation. SUHIs occupied, on average, an area three times larger than the area of SUCIs (surface urban cool islands. The highest values of SUCIs were observed in water bodies and in valley bottoms. Overall, SUHIs showed high intensities; however, a more intense core area, such as in large cities, was not observed.

Urban warming reduces aboveground carbon storage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meineke, Emily; Youngsteadt, Elsa; Dunn, Robert Roberdeau

2016-01-01

sequestration (carbon stored per year) of mature trees. Urban warming increased herbivorous arthropod abundance on trees, but these herbivores had negligible effects on tree carbon sequestration. Instead, urban warming was associated with an estimated 12% loss of carbon sequestration, in part because...... photosynthesis was reduced at hotter sites. Ecosystem service assessments that do not consider urban conditions may overestimate urban tree carbon storage. Because urban and global warming are becoming more intense, our results suggest that urban trees will sequester even less carbon in the future....

Fossil and Contemporary Fine Carbon Fractions at 12 Rural and Urban Sites in the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schichtel, B; Malm, W; Bench, G; Fallon, S; McDade, C; Chow, J

2007-03-01

Fine particulate matter collected at two urban, four near-urban, and six remote sites throughout the United States were analyzed for total carbon (TC) and radiocarbon ({sup 14}C). Samples were collected at most sites for both a summer and winter season. The radiocarbon was used to partition the TC into fossil and contemporary fractions. On average, contemporary carbon composed about half of the carbon at the urban, {approx}70-97% at near-urban, and 82-100% at remote sites. At Phoenix, Arizona, and Seattle, Washington, one monitor was located within the urban center and one outside to assess the urban excess over background concentrations. During the summer the urban and rural sites had similar contemporary carbon concentrations. However, during the winter the urban sites had more than twice the contemporary carbon measured at the neighboring sites, indicating anthropogenic contributions to the contemporary carbon. The urban fossil carbon was 4-20 times larger than the neighboring rural sites for both seasons. Organic (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) from TOR analysis were available. These and the radiocarbon data were used to estimate characteristic fossil and contemporary EC/TC ratios for the winter and summer seasons. These ratios were applied to carbon data from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments network to estimate the fraction of contemporary carbon at mostly rural sites throughout the United States. In addition, the ratios were used to develop a semiquantitative, lower bound estimate of secondary organic carbon (SOC) contribution to fossil and contemporary carbon. SOC accounted for more than one-third of the fossil and contemporary carbon.

Influence of Urbanization Factors on Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity: A Comparison of Countries at Different Developmental Phases

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Yaoping Cui

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Urbanization is a global problem with demographic trends. The urban heat island plays a dominant role in local climate systems. Despite existing efforts to understand the impacts of multiple urbanization factors on the urban heat island globally, very little is known about the attribution of urban heat island magnitude to urbanization in different locations or developmental phases. In this study, based on global land surface temperature data, urban spatial domain data, gross domestic product (GDP, and population data, we analyzed the influence of multiple urbanization factors on global surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII. We also tentatively compared the abovementioned factors between different regions across the globe, especially between China and the USA, the largest countries that are experiencing or have experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades. The results showed that global SUHII had remarkable spatial heterogeneity due to the geographical and socioeconomic variation between cities. There was a significant correlation between SUHII and population as well as GDP in global cities. Moreover, this study suggested that the impacts of population on SUHII might be stronger in the early stages of urbanization, and the GDP factor would become a critical factor at a certain development level. The urban area also had non-ignorable impacts on SUHII, while the correlation between SUHII and urban shape was relatively weak. All these may imply that the best approach to slow down SUHII is to find other solutions, e.g., optimize the spatial configuration of urban internal landscapes, when the urbanization reaches a high level.

Passerine migrant stopover duration and spatial behaviour at an urban stopover site

Science.gov (United States)

Seewagen, Chad L.; Slayton, Eric J.; Guglielmo, Christopher G.

2010-09-01

Migration routes of many Nearctic-Neotropical landbirds pass through the most urbanized regions of North America. Migrants are known to use urban habitats as stopover sites and often occur in cities at exceptional density; yet knowledge of migrant behaviour and ecology in such places is surprisingly limited. We radio-tracked ovenbirds ( Seiurus aurocapillus) during stopovers in a New York City park to obtain some of the first detailed information on how landbird migrants utilize an urban habitat as a stopover site. We examined fine-scale movement patterns, home range sizes, stopover durations, and how arrival condition affected each of these metrics. During both seasons, most birds moved widely throughout the site upon presumed arrival and then either continued migration that night or settled into a more defined area on subsequent days. Area usage varied markedly among individuals during both seasons, ranging 1-16 ha. Stopover durations averaged 3.0 days (range = 1-10 days) during spring and 2.9 days (range = 1-14 days) during autumn. Spatial behaviours and stopover durations were not influenced by arrival condition during spring, and during autumn only movement rates and displacement distances were significantly (negatively) condition-related. Our findings do not support previous assumptions that urban stopover habitats are only used by migrants briefly in times of urgency when alternatives are unavailable. At least half of the birds we studied stopped over for multiple days during both seasons, and bird movements were indicative of an ability to search for, locate, and occupy suitable micro-sites. Ovenbird behaviour in our study site was similar in many ways to what has been observed in recent telemetry studies of ovenbirds and other passerine migrants at various non-urban stopover sites.

Interspecific variation in the relationship between clutch size, laying date and intensity of urbanization in four species of hole-nesting birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaugoyeau, Marie; Adriaensen, Frank; Artemyev, Alexandr; Bańbura, Jerzy; Barba, Emilio; Biard, Clotilde; Blondel, Jacques; Bouslama, Zihad; Bouvier, Jean-Charles; Camprodon, Jordi; Cecere, Francesco; Charmantier, Anne; Charter, Motti; Cichoń, Mariusz; Cusimano, Camillo; Czeszczewik, Dorota; Demeyrier, Virginie; Doligez, Blandine; Doutrelant, Claire; Dubiec, Anna; Eens, Marcel; Eeva, Tapio; Faivre, Bruno; Ferns, Peter N; Forsman, Jukka T; García-Del-Rey, Eduardo; Goldshtein, Aya; Goodenough, Anne E; Gosler, Andrew G; Grégoire, Arnaud; Gustafsson, Lars; Harnist, Iga; Hartley, Ian R; Heeb, Philipp; Hinsley, Shelley A; Isenmann, Paul; Jacob, Staffan; Juškaitis, Rimvydas; Korpimäki, Erkki; Krams, Indrikis; Laaksonen, Toni; Lambrechts, Marcel M; Leclercq, Bernard; Lehikoinen, Esa; Loukola, Olli; Lundberg, Arne; Mainwaring, Mark C; Mänd, Raivo; Massa, Bruno; Mazgajski, Tomasz D; Merino, Santiago; Mitrus, Cezary; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Morin, Xavier; Nager, Ruedi G; Nilsson, Jan-Åke; Nilsson, Sven G; Norte, Ana C; Orell, Markku; Perret, Philippe; Perrins, Christopher M; Pimentel, Carla S; Pinxten, Rianne; Richner, Heinz; Robles, Hugo; Rytkönen, Seppo; Senar, Juan Carlos; Seppänen, Janne T; Pascoal da Silva, Luis; Slagsvold, Tore; Solonen, Tapio; Sorace, Alberto; Stenning, Martyn J; Tryjanowski, Piotr; von Numers, Mikael; Walankiewicz, Wieslaw; Møller, Anders Pape

2016-08-01

The increase in size of human populations in urban and agricultural areas has resulted in considerable habitat conversion globally. Such anthropogenic areas have specific environmental characteristics, which influence the physiology, life history, and population dynamics of plants and animals. For example, the date of bud burst is advanced in urban compared to nearby natural areas. In some birds, breeding success is determined by synchrony between timing of breeding and peak food abundance. Pertinently, caterpillars are an important food source for the nestlings of many bird species, and their abundance is influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and date of bud burst. Higher temperatures and advanced date of bud burst in urban areas could advance peak caterpillar abundance and thus affect breeding phenology of birds. In order to test whether laying date advance and clutch sizes decrease with the intensity of urbanization, we analyzed the timing of breeding and clutch size in relation to intensity of urbanization as a measure of human impact in 199 nest box plots across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East (i.e., the Western Palearctic) for four species of hole-nesters: blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), great tits (Parus major), collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), and pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). Meanwhile, we estimated the intensity of urbanization as the density of buildings surrounding study plots measured on orthophotographs. For the four study species, the intensity of urbanization was not correlated with laying date. Clutch size in blue and great tits does not seem affected by the intensity of urbanization, while in collared and pied flycatchers it decreased with increasing intensity of urbanization. This is the first large-scale study showing a species-specific major correlation between intensity of urbanization and the ecology of breeding. The underlying mechanisms for the relationships between life history and

Urban snow indicates pollution originating from road traffic.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuoppamäki, Kirsi; Setälä, Heikki; Rantalainen, Anna-Lea; Kotze, D Johan

2014-12-01

Traffic is a major source of pollutants in cities. In this well-replicated study we analysed a broad array of contaminants in snowpacks along roads of different traffic intensities. The majority of pollutants showed a similar pattern with respect to traffic intensity: pH and conductivity as well as concentrations of PAHs, total suspended solids, phosphorus and most heavy metals were higher next to high intensity roads compared to low intensity roads. These pollutant levels also decreased considerably up to 5 m distance from the roads. Furthermore, apart from nitrogen, these variables increased in concentration from control sites in urban forest patches to road bank sites next to roads of low, intermediate and high traffic intensities. The deposition pattern of various traffic-derived pollutants--whether gaseous or particle-bound--was the same. Such information can be useful for the purposes of managing pollutants in urban areas. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intensity of Urban Heat Islands in Tropical and Temperate Climates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margarete Cristiane de Costa Trindade Amorim

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, most of the Earth’s population lives in urban areas. The replacement of vegetation by buildings and the general soil sealing, associated with human activity, lead to a rise in cities temperature, resulting in the formation of urban heat islands. This article aims to evaluate the intensity and the hourly maintenance of the atmospheric heat islands in two climates: one tropical (Presidente Prudente, Brazil and one temperate (Rennes, France throughout 2016. For this, air temperature and hourly averages were measured and calculated using both a HOBO datalogger (U23-002—protected under the same RS3 brand and weather stations Davis Vantage PRO 2. The daily evolution of the heat islands presented characteristics that varied according to the hours and seasons of the year. For both Rennes and Presidente Prudente, the largest magnitudes occurred overnight, being more greatly expressed in the tropical environment and during the driest months (winter in the tropical city and summer in the temperate one. The variability of synoptic conditions from one month to another also leads to a great heterogeneity of UHI intensity throughout the year.

Assessing the effect of wind speed/direction changes on urban heat island intensity of Istanbul.

Science.gov (United States)

Perim Temizoz, Huriye; Unal, Yurdanur S.

2017-04-01

Assessing the effect of wind speed/direction changes on urban heat island intensity of Istanbul. Perim Temizöz, Deniz H. Diren, Cemre Yürük and Yurdanur S. Ünal Istanbul Technical University, Department of Meteorological Engineering, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey City or metropolitan areas are significantly warmer than the outlying rural areas since the urban fabrics and artificial surfaces which have different radiative, thermal and aerodynamic features alter the surface energy balance, interact with the regional circulation and introduce anthropogenic sensible heat and moisture into the atmosphere. The temperature contrast between urban and rural areas is most prominent during nighttime since heat is absorbed by day and emitted by night. The intensity of the urban heat island (UHI) vary considerably depending on the prevailent meteorological conditions and the characteristics of the region. Even though urban areas cover a small fraction of Earth, their climate has greater impact on the world's population. Over half of the world population lives in the cities and it is expected to rise within the coming decades. Today almost one fifth of the Turkey's population resides in Istanbul with the percentage expected to increase due to the greater job opportunities compared to the other cities. Its population has been increased from 2 millions to 14 millions since 1960s. Eventually, the city has been expanded tremendously within the last half century, shifting the landscape from vegetation to built up areas. The observations of the last fifty years over Istanbul show that the UHI is most pronounced during summer season. The seasonal temperature differences between urban and suburban sites reach up to 3 K and roughly haft degree increase in UHI intensity is observed after 2000. In this study, we explore the possible range of heat load and distribution over Istanbul for different prevailing wind conditions by using the non-hydrostatic MUKLIMO3 model developed by DWD

Perception of personal safety in urban recreation sites

Science.gov (United States)

Herbert W. Schroeder; L.M. Anderson

1984-01-01

Photograph of 17 urban recreation sites in Chicago and Atlanta were evaluated by college students (n = 68) in Illinois, Georgia, and Michigan, for either perceived security, scenic quality, or both. For most raters, high visibility and developed park features significantly enhanced perceived security. Scenic quality, on the other hand, was enhanced for the majority of...

Variation at the DRD4 locus is associated with wariness and local site selection in urban black swans.

Science.gov (United States)

van Dongen, Wouter F D; Robinson, Randall W; Weston, Michael A; Mulder, Raoul A; Guay, Patrick-Jean

2015-12-11

Interactions between wildlife and humans are increasing. Urban animals are often less wary of humans than their non-urban counterparts, which could be explained by habituation, adaptation or local site selection. Under local site selection, individuals that are less tolerant of humans are less likely to settle in urban areas. However, there is little evidence for such temperament-based site selection, and even less is known about its underlying genetic basis. We tested whether site selection in urban and non-urban habitats by black swans (Cygnus atratus) was associated with polymorphisms in two genes linked to fear in animals, the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) and serotonin transporter (SERT) genes. Wariness in swans was highly repeatable between disturbance events (repeatability = 0.61) and non-urban swans initiated escape from humans earlier than urban swans. We found no inter-individual variation in the SERT gene, but identified five DRD4 genotypes and an association between DRD4 genotype and wariness. Individuals possessing the most common DRD4 genotype were less wary than individuals possessing rarer genotypes. As predicted by the local site selection hypothesis, genotypes associated with wary behaviour were over three times more frequent at the non-urban site. This resulted in moderate population differentiation at DRD4 (FST = 0.080), despite the sites being separated by only 30 km, a short distance for this highly-mobile species. Low population differentiation at neutrally-selected microsatellite loci and the likely occasional migration of swans between the populations reduces the likelihood of local site adaptations. Our results suggest that wariness in swans is partly genetically-determined and that wary swans settle in less-disturbed areas. More generally, our findings suggest that site-specific management strategies may be necessary that consider the temperament of local animals.

Effects of urban land-use on largescale stonerollers in the Mobile River Basin, Birmingham, AL

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanowicz, Deborah; Black, M.C.; Blazer, Vicki; Zappia, H.; Bryant, Wade L.

2016-01-01

During the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002 a study was conducted to evaluate the health of the largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) populations in streams along an urban land-use gradient. Sites were selected from a pool of naturally similar sub-basins (eco-region, basin size, and geology) of the Mobile River basin (MRB), using an index of urban intensity derived from infrastructure, socioeconomic, and land-use data. This urban land-use gradient (ULUG) is a multimetric indicator of urban intensity, ranging from 0 (background) to 100 (intense urbanization). Campostoma sp. have been used previously as indicators of stream health and are common species found in all sites within the MRB. Endpoints used to determine the effects of urban land-use on the largescale stoneroller included total glutathione, histology, hepatic apoptosis, condition factor and external lesions. Liver glutathione levels were positively associated with increasing urban land-use (r2 = 0.94). Histopathological examination determined that some abnormalities and lesions were correlated with the ULUG and generally increased in prevalence or severity with increasing urbanization. Liver macrophage aggregates were positively correlated to the ULUG. The occurrence of nucleosomal ladders (indicating apoptotic cell death) did not correspond with urban intensity in a linear fashion. Apoptosis, as well as prevalence and severity of a myxozoan parasite, appeared to have a hormetic dose–response relationship. The majority of the biomarkers suggested fish health was compromised in areas where the ULUG ≥ 36.

Effects of urban land-use on largescale stonerollers in the Mobile River Basin, Birmingham, AL.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanowicz, D; Black, M C; Blazer, V S; Zappia, H; Bryant, W

2016-04-01

During the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002 a study was conducted to evaluate the health of the largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) populations in streams along an urban land-use gradient. Sites were selected from a pool of naturally similar sub-basins (eco-region, basin size, and geology) of the Mobile River basin (MRB), using an index of urban intensity derived from infrastructure, socioeconomic, and land-use data. This urban land-use gradient (ULUG) is a multimetric indicator of urban intensity, ranging from 0 (background) to 100 (intense urbanization). Campostoma sp. have been used previously as indicators of stream health and are common species found in all sites within the MRB. Endpoints used to determine the effects of urban land-use on the largescale stoneroller included total glutathione, histology, hepatic apoptosis, condition factor and external lesions. Liver glutathione levels were positively associated with increasing urban land-use (r(2) = 0.94). Histopathological examination determined that some abnormalities and lesions were correlated with the ULUG and generally increased in prevalence or severity with increasing urbanization. Liver macrophage aggregates were positively correlated to the ULUG. The occurrence of nucleosomal ladders (indicating apoptotic cell death) did not correspond with urban intensity in a linear fashion. Apoptosis, as well as prevalence and severity of a myxozoan parasite, appeared to have a hormetic dose-response relationship. The majority of the biomarkers suggested fish health was compromised in areas where the ULUG ≥ 36.

Factors affecting carriage and intensity of infection of Calodium hepaticum within Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) from an urban slum environment in Salvador, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, R; Carvalho-Pereira, T; Serrano, S; Pedra, G; Hacker, K; Taylor, J; Minter, A; Pertile, A; Panti-May, A; Carvalho, M; Souza, F N; Nery, N; Rodrigues, G; Bahiense, T; Reis, M G; Ko, A I; Childs, J E; Begon, M; Costa, F

2017-01-01

Urban slum environments in the tropics are conducive to the proliferation and the spread of rodent-borne zoonotic pathogens to humans. Calodium hepaticum (Brancroft, 1893) is a zoonotic nematode known to infect a variety of mammalian hosts, including humans. Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are considered the most important mammalian host of C. hepaticum and are therefore a potentially useful species to inform estimates of the risk to humans living in urban slum environments. There is a lack of studies systematically evaluating the role of demographic and environmental factors that influence both carriage and intensity of infection of C. hepaticum in rodents from urban slum areas within tropical regions. Carriage and the intensity of infection of C. hepaticum were studied in 402 Norway rats over a 2-year period in an urban slum in Salvador, Brazil. Overall, prevalence in Norway rats was 83% (337/402). Independent risk factors for C. hepaticum carriage in R. norvegicus were age and valley of capture. Of those infected the proportion with gross liver involvement (i.e. >75% of the liver affected, a proxy for a high level intensity of infection), was low (8%, 26/337). Sixty soil samples were collected from ten locations to estimate levels of environmental contamination and provide information on the potential risk to humans of contracting C. hepaticum from the environment. Sixty percent (6/10) of the sites were contaminated with C. hepaticum. High carriage levels of C. hepaticum within Norway rats and sub-standard living conditions within slum areas may increase the risk to humans of exposure to the infective eggs of C. hepaticum. This study supports the need for further studies to assess whether humans are becoming infected within this community and whether C. hepaticum is posing a significant risk to human health.

Characteristics of particulate matter collected at an urban background site and a roadside site in Birmingham, United Kingdom

OpenAIRE

Taiwo, Adewale M.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the compositional characteristics of particulate matter (PM) collected both at an urban background site (Elms Road observational site, EROS) and a roadside site (Bristol Road observational site, BROS). PM samples were collected at the receptor sites between March 28 and April 11, 2012. Observed parameters included water-soluble ions (Cl-, NO- 3, SO4 2-, Na+, NH4 +, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+) and trace metals (V, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Sb, Ba, Pb). Result...

Larval breeding sites of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) in visceral leishmaniasis endemic urban areas in Southeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Casanova, Cláudio; Andrighetti, Maria T M; Sampaio, Susy M P; Marcoris, Maria L G; Colla-Jacques, Fernanda E; Prado, Angelo P

2013-01-01

The scarcity of information on the immature stages of sand flies and their preferred breeding sites has resulted in the focus of vectorial control on the adult stage using residual insecticide house-spraying. This strategy, along with the treatment of human cases and the euthanasia of infected dogs, has proven inefficient and visceral leishmaniasis continues to expand in Brazil. Identifying the breeding sites of sand flies is essential to the understanding of the vector's population dynamic and could be used to develop novel control strategies. In the present study, an intensive search for the breeding sites of Lutzomyia longipalpis was conducted in urban and peri-urban areas of two municipalities, Promissão and Dracena, which are endemic for visceral leishmaniasis in São Paulo State, Brazil. During an exploratory period, a total of 962 soil emergence traps were used to investigate possible peridomiciliary breeding site microhabitats such as: leaf litter under tree, chicken sheds, other animal sheds and uncovered debris. A total of 160 sand flies were collected and 148 (92.5%) were L. longipalpis. In Promissão the proportion of chicken sheds positive was significantly higher than in leaf litter under trees. Chicken shed microhabitats presented the highest density of L. longipalpis in both municipalities: 17.29 and 5.71 individuals per square meter sampled in Promissão and Dracena respectively. A contagious spatial distribution pattern of L. longipalpis was identified in the emergence traps located in the chicken sheds. The results indicate that chicken sheds are the preferential breeding site for L. longipalpis in the present study areas. Thus, control measures targeting the immature stages in chicken sheds could have a great effect on reducing the number of adult flies and consequently the transmission rate of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi.

How do slums change the relationship between urbanization and the carbon intensity of well-being?

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Julius Alexander McGee

Full Text Available This study examines how the relationship between urbanization (measured as the percentage of total population living in urban areas and the carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB (measured as a ratio of carbon dioxide emissions and life expectancy in most nations from 1960-2013 varies based on the economic context and whereabouts of a substantial portion of a nation's urban population. To accomplish this, we use the United Nations' (UN definition of slum households to identify developing countries that have substantial slum populations, and estimate a Prais-Winsten regression model with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE, allowing for disturbances that are heteroskedastic and contemporaneously correlated across panels. Our findings indicate that the rate of increase in CIWB for countries without substantial slum populations begins to slow down at higher levels of urbanization, however, the association between urbanization and CIWB is much smaller in countries with substantial slum populations. Overall, while urbanization is associated with increases in CIWB, the relationship between urban development and CIWB is vastly different in developed nations without slums than in under-developed nations with slums.

Childhood leukemia and residential proximity to industrial and urban sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

García-Pérez, Javier; López-Abente, Gonzalo; Gómez-Barroso, Diana; Morales-Piga, Antonio; Pardo Romaguera, Elena; Tamayo, Ibon; Fernández-Navarro, Pablo

2015-01-01

Background: Few risk factors for the childhood leukemia are well established. While a small fraction of cases of childhood leukemia might be partially attributable to some diseases or ionizing radiation exposure, the role of industrial and urban pollution also needs to be assessed. Objectives: To ascertain the possible effect of residential proximity to both industrial and urban areas on childhood leukemia, taking into account industrial groups and toxic substances released. Methods: We conducted a population-based case–control study of childhood leukemia in Spain, covering 638 incident cases gathered from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors and for those Autonomous Regions with 100% coverage (period 1990-2011), and 13,188 controls, individually matched by year of birth, sex, and autonomous region of residence. Distances were computed from the respective subject’s residences to the 1068 industries and the 157 urban areas with ≥10,000 inhabitants, located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance to industrial and urban pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables. Results: Excess risk of childhood leukemia was observed for children living near (≤2.5 km) industries (OR=1.31; 95%CI=1.03–1.67) – particularly glass and mineral fibers (OR=2.42; 95%CI=1.49–3.92), surface treatment using organic solvents (OR=1.87; 95%CI=1.24–2.83), galvanization (OR=1.86; 95%CI=1.07–3.21), production and processing of metals (OR=1.69; 95%CI=1.22–2.34), and surface treatment of metals (OR=1.62; 95%CI=1.22–2.15) – , and urban areas (OR=1.36; 95%CI=1.02–1.80). Conclusions: Our study furnishes some evidence that living in the proximity of industrial and urban sites may be a risk factor for childhood leukemia. - Highlights: • We studied proximity to both industrial and urban sites on childhood leukemia. • We conducted a case–control study in

Childhood leukemia and residential proximity to industrial and urban sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

García-Pérez, Javier, E-mail: jgarcia@isciii.es [Cancer and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid (Spain); CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) (Spain); López-Abente, Gonzalo, E-mail: glabente@isciii.es [Cancer and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid (Spain); CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) (Spain); Gómez-Barroso, Diana, E-mail: dgomez@externos.isciii.es [CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) (Spain); National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid (Spain); Morales-Piga, Antonio, E-mail: amorales@isciii.es [Rare Disease Research Institute (IIER), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid (Spain); Consortium for Biomedical Research in Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Madrid (Spain); Pardo Romaguera, Elena, E-mail: elena.pardo@uv.es [Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (RETI-SEHOP), University of Valencia, Valencia (Spain); Tamayo, Ibon, E-mail: ibontama@gmail.com [Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, BIODonostia Research Institute, Department of Health of the Regional Government of the Basque Country, Donostia (Spain); Fernández-Navarro, Pablo, E-mail: pfernandezn@isciii.es [Cancer and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid (Spain); CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) (Spain); and others

2015-07-15

Background: Few risk factors for the childhood leukemia are well established. While a small fraction of cases of childhood leukemia might be partially attributable to some diseases or ionizing radiation exposure, the role of industrial and urban pollution also needs to be assessed. Objectives: To ascertain the possible effect of residential proximity to both industrial and urban areas on childhood leukemia, taking into account industrial groups and toxic substances released. Methods: We conducted a population-based case–control study of childhood leukemia in Spain, covering 638 incident cases gathered from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors and for those Autonomous Regions with 100% coverage (period 1990-2011), and 13,188 controls, individually matched by year of birth, sex, and autonomous region of residence. Distances were computed from the respective subject’s residences to the 1068 industries and the 157 urban areas with ≥10,000 inhabitants, located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance to industrial and urban pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables. Results: Excess risk of childhood leukemia was observed for children living near (≤2.5 km) industries (OR=1.31; 95%CI=1.03–1.67) – particularly glass and mineral fibers (OR=2.42; 95%CI=1.49–3.92), surface treatment using organic solvents (OR=1.87; 95%CI=1.24–2.83), galvanization (OR=1.86; 95%CI=1.07–3.21), production and processing of metals (OR=1.69; 95%CI=1.22–2.34), and surface treatment of metals (OR=1.62; 95%CI=1.22–2.15) – , and urban areas (OR=1.36; 95%CI=1.02–1.80). Conclusions: Our study furnishes some evidence that living in the proximity of industrial and urban sites may be a risk factor for childhood leukemia. - Highlights: • We studied proximity to both industrial and urban sites on childhood leukemia. • We conducted a case–control study in

An inter-comparison of PM2.5 at urban and urban background sites: Chemical characterization and source apportionment

Science.gov (United States)

Cesari, D.; Donateo, A.; Conte, M.; Merico, E.; Giangreco, A.; Giangreco, F.; Contini, D.

2016-06-01

A measurement campaign was performed between 04/03/2013 and 17/07/2013 for simultaneous collection of PM2.5 samples in two nearby sites in southeastern Italy: an urban site and an urban background site. PM2.5 at the two sites were similar; however, the chemical composition and the contributions of the main sources were significantly different. The coefficients of divergence (CODs) showed spatial heterogeneity of EC (higher at the urban site because of traffic emissions) and of all metals. Major ions (NH4+, Na+, and SO42 -) and OC had low CODs, suggesting a homogeneous distribution of sea spray, secondary sulfate, and secondary organic matter (SOM = 1.6*OCsec, where OCsec is the secondary OC). The strong correlations between Na+ and Cl-, and the low Cl-/Na+ ratios, suggested the presence of aged sea spray with chloride depletion (about 79% of Cl-) and formation of sodium nitrate at both sites. In both sites, the non-sea-salt sulfate was about 97% of sulfate, and the strong correlation between SO42 - and NH4+ indicated that ammonium was present as ammonium sulfate. However, during advection of Saharan Dust, calcium sulfate was present rather than ammonium sulfate. The source apportionment was performed using the Positive Matrix Factorization comparing outputs of model EPA PMF 3.0 and 5.0 version. Six aerosol sources were identified at both sites: traffic, biomass burning, crustal-resuspended dust, secondary nitrate, marine aerosol, and secondary sulfate. The PMF3.0 model was not completely able, in these sites, to separate marine contribution from secondary nitrate and secondary sulfate from OC, underestimating the marine contribution and overestimating the secondary sulfate with respect to stoichiometric calculations. The application of specific constraints on PMF5.0 provided cleaner profiles, improving the comparison with stoichiometric calculations. The seasonal trends revealed larger biomass burning contributions during the cold period at both sites due to

Urban Densification and Recreational Quality of Public Urban Green Spaces—A Viennese Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arne Arnberger

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Public urban green spaces play an important role in urban sustainability. These places should provide high-quality recreation experiences for the urban residents. However, they are often overused. The Wienerberg area in the south of Vienna, Austria, was transformed from a waste disposal site into a natural recreation area. During the past years, intensive settlement densification processes have taken place, resulting in a doubling of the local population living within a few minutes walking distance. An on-site survey among green space visitors (N = 231 revealed that the majority of them considered the area to be overcrowded on Sundays/holidays and reported a perceived increase in visitor numbers during the past years. Visitors with more past experience, as well as those who have perceived an increase in visitor numbers during recent years, reported higher crowding perceptions. A significant proportion of them try to avoid these crowds, relying on behavioral coping strategies, such as inter-area displacement. While urban regeneration has provided an attractive recreation area, urban densification around the green space appears to have reduced its recreational quality. Monitoring recreation quality indicators, such as crowding perceptions, seems to be useful for sustainable urban green space management and city planning.

A GIS based screening tool for locating and ranking of suitable stormwater harvesting sites in urban areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Inamdar, P M; Cook, S; Sharma, A K; Corby, N; O'Connor, J; Perera, B J C

2013-10-15

There is the need to re-configure current urban water systems to achieve the objective of sustainable water sensitive cities. Stormwater represents a valuable alternative urban water source to reduce pressure on fresh water resources, and to mitigate the environmental impact of urban stormwater runoff. The selection of suitable urban stormwater harvesting sites is generally based on the judgement of water planners, who are faced with the challenge of considering multiple technical and socio-economic factors that influence the site suitability. To address this challenge, the present study developed a robust GIS based screening methodology for identifying potentially suitable stormwater harvesting sites in urban areas as a first pass for then more detailed investigation. The study initially evaluated suitability based on the match between harvestable runoff and demand through a concept of accumulated catchments. Drainage outlets of these accumulated catchments were considered as potential stormwater harvesting sites. These sites were screened and ranked under screening parameters namely demand, ratio of runoff to demand and weighted demand distance. The methodology described in this paper was successfully applied to a case study in Melbourne, Australia in collaboration with the local water utility. The methodology was found to be effective in supporting the selection of priority sites for stormwater harvesting schemes, as it provided the basis to identify, short-list and rank sites for further detailed investigation. The rapid identification of suitable sites for stormwater harvesting can assist planners in prioritising schemes in areas that will have the most impact on reducing potable water demand. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Levels and Speciation of Platinum in Size-Fractionated Atmospheric Aerosol in Urban and Rural Sites across Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Shafer, Martin; Antkiewicz, Dagmara; Overdier, Joel; Schauer, James

2016-04-01

In this study we characterized the levels and speciation of platinum in a unique set of size-resolved atmospheric aerosol (PM) samples obtained from urban environments across Europe. From April-July 2012 we collected PM from roadside canyon, roadside motorway, and background urban sites in each of six European cities (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Stockholm, and Thessaloniki). A Hi-Vol sampler was used to collect PM in three size classes (>PM7, PM7-PM3, PM3) and characterized for total platinum, soluble platinum (in a suite of physiologically relevant fluids - lung fluid (ALF), Gambles saline, 0.07M HCl, and MQ) and speciated forms (colloidal and anionic) within the soluble fractions. In addition we measured 50 other elements by SF-ICPMS, soluble ions by IC, and soluble organic carbon in the PM. Order-of-magnitude differences in air concentrations of total platinum were observed between urban sites, ranging from 4 to over 45 pg/m3; with a median level of 6 pg/m3. When platinum concentrations are normalized to PM mass the cross Europe and site-to-site variability was substantially reduced - a 3-fold variation from 200 to 600 ng/g was observed. Roadside canyon sites in London, Stockholm and Thessaloniki exhibited the highest concentrations; however levels at urban background sites were remarkably similar across the cities. Relatively consistent and low concentrations (1 to 2 pg/m3) of total platinum were observed at rural background sites across Europe. The contribution of coarse particles (>7 micron and 7-3 micron) to air concentrations of total platinum was very significant (>35% at nearly all sites). Soluble platinum fractions ranged from 2 to 6% (MQ to HCl) in rural background sites to 5 to 20% (MQ to HCl) in roadway canyon sites in London and Thessaloniki; with the extractable platinum fractions a strong function of pH. With the exception of urban canyon sites in London and Thessaloniki, soluble platinum concentrations in the fine aerosol (PM3) were all

Urbanization as Socioenvironmental Succession: The Case of Hazardous Industrial Site Accumulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, James R; Frickel, Scott

2015-05-01

This study rehabilitates concepts from classical human ecology and synthesizes them with contemporary urban and environmental sociology to advance a theory of urbanization as socioenvironmental succession. The theory illuminates how social and biophysical phenomena interact endogenously at the local level to situate urban land use patterns recursively and reciprocally in place. To demonstrate this theory we conduct a historical-comparative analysis of hazardous industrial site accumulation in four U.S. cities, using a relational database that was assembled for more than 11,000 facilities that operated during the past half century--most of which remain unacknowledged in government reports. Results show how three iterative processes--hazardous industrial churning, residential churning, and risk containment--intersect to produce successive socioenvironmental changes that are highly relevant to but often missed by research on urban growth machines, environmental inequality, and systemic risk.

Three-dimensional geological modelling of anthropogenic deposits at small urban sites: a case study from Sheepcote Valley, Brighton, UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Tame, C; Cundy, A B; Royse, K R; Smith, M; Moles, N R

2013-11-15

Improvements in computing speed and capacity and the increasing collection and digitisation of geological data now allow geoscientists to produce meaningful 3D spatial models of the shallow subsurface in many large urban areas, to predict ground conditions and reduce risk and uncertainty in urban planning. It is not yet clear how useful this 3D modelling approach is at smaller urban scales, where poorly characterised anthropogenic deposits (artificial/made ground and fill) form the dominant subsurface material and where the availability of borehole and other geological data is less comprehensive. This is important as it is these smaller urban sites, with complex site history, which frequently form the focus of urban regeneration and redevelopment schemes. This paper examines the extent to which the 3D modelling approach previously utilised at large urban scales can be extended to smaller less well-characterised urban sites, using a historic landfill site in Sheepcote Valley, Brighton, UK as a case study. Two 3D models were generated and compared using GSI3D™ software, one using borehole data only, one combining borehole data with local geological maps and results from a desk study (involving collation of available site data, including ground contour plans). These models clearly delimit the overall subsurface geology at the site, and allow visualisation and modelling of the anthropogenic deposits present. Shallow geophysical data collected from the site partially validate the 3D modelled data, and can improve GSI3D™ outputs where boundaries of anthropogenic deposits may not be clearly defined by surface, contour or borehole data. Attribution of geotechnical and geochemical properties to the 3D model is problematic without intrusive investigations and sampling. However, combining available borehole data, shallow geophysical methods and site histories may allow attribution of generic fill properties, and consequent reduction of urban development risk and

RESEARCH ON THE INTENSITY ANALYSIS AND RESULT VISUALIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION LAND IN URBAN PLANNING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Cui

2017-09-01

Full Text Available As a fundamental work of urban planning, the intensity analysis of construction land involves many repetitive data processing works that are prone to cause errors or data precision loss, and the lack of efficient methods and tools to visualizing the analysis results in current urban planning. In the research a portable tool is developed by using the Model Builder technique embedded in ArcGIS to provide automatic data processing and rapid result visualization for the works. A series of basic modules provided by ArcGIS are linked together to shape a whole data processing chain in the tool. Once the required data is imported, the analysis results and related maps and graphs including the intensity values and zoning map, the skyline analysis map etc. are produced automatically. Finally the tool is installation-free and can be dispatched quickly between planning teams.

The moderating role of attachment anxiety on social network site use intensity and social capital.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Haihua; Shi, Junqi; Liu, Yihao; Sheng, Zitong

2013-02-01

This study examined the moderating role of attachment anxiety on the relationship between intensity of social network site use and bridging, bonding, and maintained social capital. Data from 322 undergraduate Chinese students were collected. Hierarchical regression analyses showed positive relationships between online intensity of social network site use and the three types of social capital. Moreover, attachment anxiety moderated the effect of intensity of social network site use on social capital. Specifically, for students with lower attachment anxiety, the relationships between intensity of social network site use and bonding and bridging social capital were stronger than those with higher attachment anxiety. The result suggested that social network sites cannot improve highly anxiously attached individuals' social capital effectively; they may need more face-to-face communications.

Predictability of bone density at posterior mandibular implant sites using cone-beam computed tomography intensity values.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhader, Mustafa; Hudieb, Malik; Khader, Yousef

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictability of bone density at posterior mandibular implant sites using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) intensity values. CBCT cross-sectional images for 436 posterior mandibular implant sites were selected for the study. Using Invivo software (Anatomage, San Jose, California, USA), two observers classified the bone density into three categories: low, intermediate, and high, and CBCT intensity values were generated. Based on the consensus of the two observers, 15.6% of sites were of low bone density, 47.9% were of intermediate density, and 36.5% were of high density. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis showed that CBCT intensity values had a high predictive power for predicting high density sites (area under the curve [AUC] =0.94, P < 0.005) and intermediate density sites (AUC = 0.81, P < 0.005). The best cut-off value for intensity to predict intermediate density sites was 218 (sensitivity = 0.77 and specificity = 0.76) and the best cut-off value for intensity to predict high density sites was 403 (sensitivity = 0.93 and specificity = 0.77). CBCT intensity values are considered useful for predicting bone density at posterior mandibular implant sites.

Characteristics of surface ozone and nitrogen oxides at urban, suburban and rural sites in Ningbo, China

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Lei; Zhang, Huiling; Yu, Jie; He, Mengmeng; Xu, Nengbin; Zhang, Jingjing; Qian, Feizhong; Feng, Jiayong; Xiao, Hang

2017-05-01

Surface ozone (O3) is a harmful air pollutant that has attracted growing concern in China. In this study, the mixing ratios of O3 and nitrogen oxides (NOx) at three different sites (urban, suburban and rural) of Ningbo were continuously measured to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of O3 and its relationships with environmental variables. The diurnal O3 variations were characterized by afternoon maxima (38.7-53.1 ppb on annual average) and early morning minima (11.7-26.2 ppb) at all the three sites. Two seasonal peaks of O3 were observed in spring (April or May) and autumn (October) with minima being observed in winter (December). NOx levels showed generally opposite variations to that of O3 with diurnal and seasonal maxima occurring in morning/evening rush-hours and in winter, respectively. As to the inter-annual variations of air pollutants, generally decreasing and increasing trends were observed in NO and O3 levels, respectively, from 2012 to 2015 at both urban and suburban sites. O3 levels were positively correlated with temperature but negatively correlated with relative humidity and NOx levels. Significant differences in O3 levels were observed for different wind speeds and wind directions (p variation, higher levels of O3 were observed at the suburban and rural sites where less O3 was depleted by NO titration. In contrast, the urban site exhibited lower O3 but higher NOx levels due to the influence of traffic emissions. Larger amplitudes of diurnal and monthly O3 variations were observed at the suburban site than those at the urban and rural sites. In general, the O3 levels at the non-urban sites were more affected by the background transport, while both the local and regional contributions played roles in urban O3 variations. The annual average O3 mixing ratios (22.7-37.7 ppb) in Ningbo were generally similar to those of other regions around the world. However, the recommended air quality standards for O3 were often exceeded during warm

Siting Urban Agriculture as a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Land Use Planning in Austin, TX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles M. Rogers

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Green infrastructure refers to a type of land use design that mimics the natural water cycle by using the infiltration capacities of vegetation, soils, and other natural processes to mitigate stormwater runoff. As a multifunctional landscape, urban agriculture should be seen as a highly beneficial tool for urban planning not only because of its ability to function as a green stormwater management strategy, but also due to the multiple social and environmental benefits it provides. In 2012, the city of Austin adopted a major planning approach titled the “Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan” (IACP outlining the city’s vision for future growth and land use up to 2039. The plan explicitly addresses the adoption of green infrastructure as a target for future land use with urban agriculture as a central component. Addressing this area of land use planning will require tools that can locate suitable areas within the city ideal for the development of green infrastructure. In this study, a process was developed to create a spatially explicit method of siting urban agriculture as a green infrastructure tool in hydrologically sensitive areas, or areas prone to runoff, in east Austin. The method uses geospatial software to spatially analyze open access datasets that include land use, a digital elevation model, and prime farmland soils. Through this method a spatial relationship can be made between areas of high surface runoff and where the priority placement of urban farms should be sited as a useful component of green infrastructure. Planners or geospatial analysts could use such information, along with other significant factors and community input, to aid decision makers in the placement of urban agriculture. This spatially explicit approach for siting potential urban farms, will support the integration of urban agriculture as part of the land use planning of Austin.

Different Patterns of the Urban Heat Island Intensity from Cluster Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, F. B.; Longo, K.

2014-12-01

This study analyzes the different variability patterns of the Urban Heat Island intensity (UHII) in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), one of the largest urban agglomerations in Brazil. The UHII is defined as the difference in the surface air temperature between the urban/suburban and rural/vegetated areas. To choose one or more stations that represent those areas we used the technique of cluster analysis on the air temperature observations from 14 surface weather stations in the MARJ. The cluster analysis aims to classify objects based on their characteristics, gathering similar groups. The results show homogeneity patterns between air temperature observations, with 6 homogeneous groups being defined. Among those groups, one might be a natural choice for the representative urban area (Central station); one corresponds to suburban area (Afonsos station); and another group referred as rural area is compound of three stations (Ecologia, Santa Cruz and Xerém) that are located in vegetated regions. The arithmetic mean of temperature from the three rural stations is taken to represent the rural station temperature. The UHII is determined from these homogeneous groups. The first UHII is estimated from urban and rural temperature areas (Case 1), whilst the second UHII is obtained from suburban and rural temperature areas (Case 2). In Case 1, the maximum UHII occurs in two periods, one in the early morning and the other at night, while the minimum UHII occurs in the afternoon. In Case 2, the maximum UHII is observed during afternoon/night and the minimum during dawn/early morning. This study demonstrates that the stations choice reflects different UHII patterns, evidencing that distinct behaviors of this phenomenon can be identified.

Oxidative potential of size-fractionated atmospheric aerosol in urban and rural sites across Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Shafer, Martin M; Hemming, Jocelyn D C; Antkiewicz, Dagmara S; Schauer, James J

2016-07-18

In this study we applied several assays, an in vitro rat alveolar macrophage model, a chemical ROS probe (DTT, dithiothreitol), and cytokine induction (TNFα) to examine relationships between PM-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and PM composition, using a unique set of size-resolved PM samples obtained from urban and rural environments across Europe. From April-July 2012, we collected PM from roadside canyon, roadside motorway, and background urban sites in each of six European cities and from three rural sites spanning the continent. A Hi-Vol sampler was used to collect PM in three size classes (PM>7, PM7-3, PM3) and PM was characterized for total elements, and oxidative activity quantified in unfiltered and filtered PM extracts. We measured a remarkable uniformity in air concentrations of ROS and especially DTT activity across the continent. Only a 4-fold difference was documented for DTT across the urban sites and a similar variance was documented for ROS, implying that chemical drivers of oxidative activity are relatively similar between sites. The ROS and DTT specific activity was greater at urban background sites (and also rural sites) than at urban canyon locations. PM3 dominated the size distribution of both ROS activity (86% of total) and DTT activity (76% of total), reflecting both the large contribution of PM3 to total PM mass levels and importantly the higher specific oxidative activity of the PM3 in comparison with the larger particles. The soluble fraction of total activity was very high for DTT (94%) as well as for ROS (64%) in the PM3. However in the larger PM size fractions the contributions of the insoluble components became increasingly significant. The dominance of the insoluble PM drivers of activity was particularly evident in the TNFα data, where the insoluble contribution to cytokine production could be 100-fold greater than that from soluble components. ROS and DTT activity were strongly correlated in the PM3 (r = 0

Prevalence and risk factor's analysis of bovine brucellosis in peri-urban areas under intensive system of production in Gujarat, India

OpenAIRE

M. D. Patel; P. R. Patel; M. G. Prajapati; A. N. Kanani; K. K. Tyagi; A. B. Fulsoundar

2014-01-01

Aim: A study on surveillance of bovine brucellosis in dairy herds of peri-urban areas under intensive system of production was carried out by milk-ELISA. Various risk factors were identified having significant association with occurrence of bovine brucellosis in dairy herds of peri-urban areas. Materials and Methods: Five randomly selected peri-uban areas of six cities of Gujarat were included in the present study. Five randomly selected dairy herds under intensive system of production fro...

Characteristics and diurnal variations of NMHCs at urban, suburban, and rural sites in the Pearl River Delta and a remote site in South China

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, J. H.; Chan, L. Y.; Chan, C. Y.; Li, Y. S.; Chang, C. C.; Liu, S. C.; Wu, D.; Li, Y. D.

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is one of the most industrialized and urbanized regions in China. With rapid growth of the economy, it is suffering from deteriorating air quality. Non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were investigated at urban and suburban sites in Guangzhou (GZ), a rural site in PRD and a clean remote site in South China, in April 2005. Additional roadside samples in GZ and Qingxi (QX, a small industrial town in PRD), ambient air samples at the rooftop of a printing factory in QX and exhaust samples from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)—fueled taxis in GZ were collected to help identify the source signatures of NMHCs. A large fraction of propane (47%) was found in exhaust samples from LPG-fueled taxis in GZ and extremely high levels of toluene (2.0-3.1 ppmv) were found at the rooftop of the printing factory in QX. Vehicular and industrial emissions were the main sources of NMHCs. The effect of vehicular emission on the ambient air varied among the three PRD sites. The impact of industrial emissions was widespread and they contributed greatly to the high levels of aromatic hydrocarbons, especially toluene, at the three PRD sites investigated. Leakage from vehicles fueled by LPG contributed mainly to the high levels of propane and n-butane at the urban GZ site. Ethane and ethyne from long-range transport and isoprene from local biogenic emission were the main contributors to the total hydrocarbons at the remote site. Diurnal variations of NMHCs showed that the contribution from vehicular emissions varied with traffic conditions and were more influenced by fresh emissions at the urban site and by aged air at the suburban and rural sites. Isoprene from biogenic emission contributed largely to the ozone formation potential (OFP) at the remote site. Ethene, toluene and m/ p-xylene were the main contributors to the OFP at the three PRD sites.

Aromatic hydrocarbons at urban, sub-urban, rural (8°52'N; 67°19'W) and remote sites in Venezuela

Science.gov (United States)

Holzinger, R.; Kleiss, B.; Donoso, L.; Sanhueza, E.

Using the novel on-line proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) technique, atmospheric concentrations of benzene, toluene, xylenes, and C 9-benzenes were measured in Caracas (urban), Altos de Pipe (sub-urban), Calabozo (rural) and Parupa (remote), during various campaigns in 1999 and 2000. Average daytime mixing ratios measured in Caracas are 1.1, 3.2, 3.7, and 2.7 nmol/mol for benzene, toluene, xylenes, and C 9-benzenes. At the sub-urban site, located only few km from Caracas, relatively low levels (˜20% of the levels measured in Caracas) of these aromatic hydrocarbons were observed. At the rural site during the dry season, higher concentrations of benzene (0.15 nmol/mol) were recorded, whereas those of toluene (0.08 nmol/mol) were lower during that time. The aromatic hydrocarbon ratios in the wet season (benzene: 0.08 nmol/mol; toluene: 0.09 nmol/mol) are consistent with an aged urban plume, whereas biomass burning emissions dominate during the dry season. From rural and urban [benzene]/[toluene] ratios a mean HO concentration of 2.6×10 6 molecules/cm 3 was estimated during the wet season. This value must be considered an overestimate because it does not account for background concentrations which are likely for benzene and toluene. At the remote "La Gran Sabana" region (Parupa) very low mixing ratios (0.031 and 0.015 nmol/mol for benzene and toluene) are showing the pristine region to be unaffected by local sources. From the [benzene]/[toluene] ratio we deduced, that "urban" air arriving from the coastline (350 km) is likely mixed with air containing some background of benzene and toluene. Urban emissions (automobiles) should be the major source of aromatic compounds, however, during the dry season biomass burning seems to make an important contribution.

Comparison of the physical and chemical characteristics of fine road dust at different urban sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kwang Yul; Batmunkh, Tsatsral; Joo, Hung Soo; Park, Kihong

2018-04-18

The size distribution and chemical components of a fine fraction (road dust collected at urban sites in Korea (Gwangju) and Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar) where distinct urban characteristics exist were measured. A clear bimodal size distribution was observed for the resuspended fine road dust at the urban sites in Korea. The first mode peaked at 100-110 nm, and the second peak was observed at 435-570 nm. Ultrafine mode (~30 nm) was found for the fine road dust at the Mongolia site, which was significantly affected by residential coal/biomass burning. The contribution of the water-soluble ions to the fine road dust was higher at the sites in Mongolia (15.8-16.8%) than at those in Korea (1.2-4.8%). Sulfate and chloride were the most dominant ionic species for the fine road dust in Mongolia. As (arsenic) was also much higher for the Mongolian road dust than the others. The sulfate, chloride, and As mainly come from coal burning activity, suggesting that coal and biomass combustion in Mongolia during the heating season should affect the size and chemical components of the fine road dust. Cu (copper) and Zn (zinc), carbonaceous particles (organic carbon [OC] and elemental carbon [EC]) increased at sites in Korea, suggesting that the fine road dust at these sites was significantly affected by the high volume of traffic (engine emission and brake/tire wear). Our results suggest that chemical profiles for road dust specific to certain sites should be applied to more accurately apportion road dust source contributing to the ambient particulate matter. Size and chemical characteristics of fine road dust at sites having distinct urban characteristics were examined. Residential coal and biomass burning and traffic affected physiochemical properties of the fine road dust. Different road dust profiles at different sites should be needed to determine the ambient PM2.5 sources more accurately.

Urban Malaria: Understanding its Epidemiology, Ecology, and Transmission across Seven Diverse ICEMR Network Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Mark L.; Krogstad, Donald J.; Arinaitwe, Emmanuel; Arevalo-Herrera, Myriam; Chery, Laura; Ferreira, Marcelo U.; Ndiaye, Daouda; Mathanga, Don P.; Eapen, Alex

2015-01-01

A major public health question is whether urbanization will transform malaria from a rural to an urban disease. However, differences about definitions of urban settings, urban malaria, and whether malaria control should differ between rural and urban areas complicate both the analysis of available data and the development of intervention strategies. This report examines the approach of the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) to urban malaria in Brazil, Colombia, India (Chennai and Goa), Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda. Its major theme is the need to determine whether cases diagnosed in urban areas were imported from surrounding rural areas or resulted from transmission within the urban area. If infections are being acquired within urban areas, malaria control measures must be targeted within those urban areas to be effective. Conversely, if malaria cases are being imported from rural areas, control measures must be directed at vectors, breeding sites, and infected humans in those rural areas. Similar interventions must be directed differently if infections were acquired within urban areas. The hypothesis underlying the ICEMR approach to urban malaria is that optimal control of urban malaria depends on accurate epidemiologic and entomologic information about transmission. PMID:26259941

Persistence of phlebotomine Leishmania vectors in urban sites of Catania (Sicily, Italy).

Science.gov (United States)

Lisi, Oscar; D'Urso, Vera; Vaccalluzzo, Valerio; Bongiorno, Gioia; Khoury, Cristina; Severini, Francesco; Di Muccio, Trentina; Gramiccia, Marina; Gradoni, Luigi; Maroli, Michele

2014-12-09

Pioneering research on "Mediterranean Kala-Azar" carried out by Adler and Theodor early in the past century (~1930s) had identified Catania city (Sicily) as a major focus of the disease nowadays known as zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Despite the fact that disease in both humans and dogs has continued to be highly prevalent in the Catania province up to the present times, research on Leishmania vectors in this urban focus dates back to that distant period. This study aimed to evaluate the persistence and current composition of the sand fly fauna in urban environments of Catania in recent years, 2006 and 2013. In 2006 fifty-one suitable collecting sites were identified within 44 sub-units of a grid drawn to include the urban Catania area. In 2013 the survey was restricted to four of the most productive and representative sites resulting from the 2006 survey. In both periods 3 collections per month were performed using standard sticky traps set for 3 days in wall holes/cavities along public roads, from the end of April through December. 43/51 sites (84.3%) were found positive for sand flies. The 2006 collections accounted for a total of 4341 specimens including six species. Among competent Leishmania vector species, P. perniciosus was the most prevalent (36.5%) being identified in all sand fly-positive sites, with significant abundance in those of the old city centre. Other species of interest were P. sergenti (2.5%) and P. neglectus (1.5%). The 2013 survey produced 1130 sand flies, of which 39.5% were P. perniciosus, 1.6% P. sergenti and 0.7% P. neglectus. A search for Leishmania DNA in a small sample of 72 P. perniciosus females revealed 11% infection prevalence. Our findings from an old urban focus of leishmaniasis demonstrate that phlebotomine sand flies have adapted fairly well to the drastic environmental changes that have occurred in cities of the Western world in the past century and still represent a potential risk for Leishmania transmission.

On-site and laboratory soundscape evaluations of three recreational urban spaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Anna Josefine; Larsen, Thea Mathilde; Bjerre, Lærke Cecilie

2016-01-01

Soundscape quality was evaluated using four subjective psychological rating factors in three recreational urban spaces in which water and a variation of other natural and anthropogenic sound sources were present. The noise level was measured at each site during occupant peak flows and recordings...

Assessing and evaluating urban VOC emissions in mid-latitude megacities from intensive observations in Paris and Los Angeles

Science.gov (United States)

Borbon, A.; Gilman, J. B.; Kuster, W. C.; McKeen, S. A.; Holloway, J. S.; Gros, V.; Gaimoz, C.; Beekmann, M.; De Gouw, J. A.

2011-12-01

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) affect urban air quality and regional climate change by contributing to ozone formation and the build-up of Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA). Quantification of VOC emissions is a first critical step to predict VOC environmental impacts and to design effective abatement strategies. Indeed, the quality of ozone and SOA forecasts strongly depends on an accurate knowledge of the primary VOC emissions. However, commonly used bottom-up approaches are highly uncertain due to source multiplicity (combustion processes, storage and distribution of fossil fuels, solvent use, etc.) because of numerous controlling factors (driving conditions, fuel type, temperature, radiation, etc.), and their great variability in time and space. Field observations of VOC and other trace gases can provide valuable top-down constraints to evaluate VOC emission inventories at urban scales. In addition, the implementation of emission reduction measures raises the question of the increasing importance of VOC sources other than traffic. Here, we will evaluate VOC emissions of two mid-latitude megacities in the Northern Hemisphere: the Greater Paris area (Europe) and Los Angeles (USA). In 2009 and 2010, three intensive field campaigns took place in Paris and Los Angeles in the framework of the MEGAPOLI (EU FP7) and CalNex-2010 projects, respectively. Very detailed measurements of aerosol composition and properties, and their gaseous VOC precursors were carried out at ground-based sites (urban center and suburban) and on various mobile platforms. This contribution uses a comprehensive suite of VOC measurements collected by GC-MS/FID techniques at ground-based sites in both cities by a source-receptor methodology. First, emission ratios were estimated from the observations (uncertainty of ± 20%) and compared regarding regional characteristics and European vs. Californian control policies. Then, determined emission ratios were used to assess the accuracy of up

Urban Malaria: Understanding its Epidemiology, Ecology, and Transmission Across Seven Diverse ICEMR Network Sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Mark L; Krogstad, Donald J; Arinaitwe, Emmanuel; Arevalo-Herrera, Myriam; Chery, Laura; Ferreira, Marcelo U; Ndiaye, Daouda; Mathanga, Don P; Eapen, Alex

2015-09-01

A major public health question is whether urbanization will transform malaria from a rural to an urban disease. However, differences about definitions of urban settings, urban malaria, and whether malaria control should differ between rural and urban areas complicate both the analysis of available data and the development of intervention strategies. This report examines the approach of the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) to urban malaria in Brazil, Colombia, India (Chennai and Goa), Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda. Its major theme is the need to determine whether cases diagnosed in urban areas were imported from surrounding rural areas or resulted from transmission within the urban area. If infections are being acquired within urban areas, malaria control measures must be targeted within those urban areas to be effective. Conversely, if malaria cases are being imported from rural areas, control measures must be directed at vectors, breeding sites, and infected humans in those rural areas. Similar interventions must be directed differently if infections were acquired within urban areas. The hypothesis underlying the ICEMR approach to urban malaria is that optimal control of urban malaria depends on accurate epidemiologic and entomologic information about transmission. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Interpreting sensor measurements in dikes - experiences from UrbanFlood pilot sites

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Simm, J.; Jordan, D.; Topple, A.; Mokhov, I.; Pyayt, A.; Abdoun, T.; Bennett, V.; Broekhuijsen, J.; Meijer, R.; Klijn, F.; Schweckendiek, T.

2012-01-01

The UrbanFlood project is creating an Early Warning System framework that can be used to link sensors via the Internet to predictive models and emergency warning systems. The project includes four pilot sites to apply and validate at full scale the technology being developed in the project:

The Impact of the Urban Heat Island during an Intense Heat Wave in Oklahoma City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey B. Basara

2010-01-01

Full Text Available During late July and early August 2008, an intense heat wave occurred in Oklahoma City. To quantify the impact of the urban heat island (UHI in Oklahoma City on observed and apparent temperature conditions during the heat wave event, this study used observations from 46 locations in and around Oklahoma City. The methodology utilized composite values of atmospheric conditions for three primary categories defined by population and general land use: rural, suburban, and urban. The results of the analyses demonstrated that a consistent UHI existed during the study period whereby the composite temperature values within the urban core were approximately 0.5∘C warmer during the day than the rural areas and over 2∘C warmer at night. Further, when the warmer temperatures were combined with ambient humidity conditions, the composite values consistently revealed even warmer heat-related variables within the urban environment as compared with the rural zone.

Source contributions to carbonaceous species in PM2.5 and their uncertainty analysis at typical urban, peri-urban and background sites in southeast China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niu, Zhenchuan; Wang, Sen; Chen, Jinsheng; Zhang, Fuwang; Chen, Xiaoqiu; He, Chi; Lin, Lifeng; Yin, Liqian; Xu, Lingling

2013-01-01

Determination of 14 C and levoglucosan can provide insights into the quantification of source contributions to carbonaceous aerosols, yet there is still uncertainty on the partitioning of organic carbon (OC) into biomass burning OC (OC bb ) and biogenic emission OC (OC bio ). Carbonaceous species, levoglucosan and 14 C in PM 2.5 were measured at three types of site in southeast China combined with Latin hypercube sampling, with the objectives to study source contributions to total carbon (TC) and their uncertainties, and to evaluate the influence of levoglucosan/OC bb ratios on OC bb and OC bio partitioning. It was found reliably that fossil fuel combustion is the main contributor (62.90–72.23%) to TC at urban and peri-urban sites. Biogenic emissions have important contribution (winter, 52.98%; summer, 45.71%) to TC at background site. With the increase in levoglucosan/OC bb ratios, the contribution of OC bio is increased while OC bb is decreased in a pattern of approximate natural logarithm at a given range. -- Highlights: •Source contributions to OC and EC were quantified by levoglucosan and 14 C. •Fossil fuel combustion is the main contributor to TC for urban and peri-urban sites. •Biogenic emissions have important contribution to TC for the background site. •Biomass burning is a minor contributor to TC and has high contribution in winter. •Ratios of OC bio and OC bb to TC have a natural logarithmic relation with lev/OC bb . -- The contributions of OC bio and OC bb to TC have a natural logarithmic relationship with the levoglucosan/OC bb ratios

Metal accumulation and performance of nestlings of passerine bird species at an urban brownfield site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hofer, Charles; Gallagher, Frank J. [Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551 (United States); Holzapfel, Claus, E-mail: holzapfe@andromeda.rutgers.ed [Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark, 195 University Ave., Newark, NJ 07102-1811 (United States)

2010-05-15

The use of passerine species as bioindicators of metal bioaccumulation is often underutilized when examining the wildlife habitat value of polluted sites. In this study we tested feathers of nestlings of two common bird species (house wren and American robin) for accumulation of Pb, Zn, As, Cr, Cu, Fe in comparison of a polluted, urban brownfield with a rural, unpolluted site. House wren nestlings at the study site accumulated significantly greater concentrations of all target metals except Zn. At the polluted site we found significant species differences of metal concentrations in feathers, with house wrens accumulating greater concentrations of Pb, Fe, and Zn but slightly lesser accumulations of Cr and Cu than American robins. Although house wren nestlings demonstrated significant accumulation of metals, these concentrations showed little effect on size metrics or fledge rates during the breeding season compared to nestlings from the control site. - Nestlings of birds in an urban brownfield accumulated soil contaminants but did not show signs of reduced breeding success or growth.

Metal accumulation and performance of nestlings of passerine bird species at an urban brownfield site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofer, Charles; Gallagher, Frank J.; Holzapfel, Claus

2010-01-01

The use of passerine species as bioindicators of metal bioaccumulation is often underutilized when examining the wildlife habitat value of polluted sites. In this study we tested feathers of nestlings of two common bird species (house wren and American robin) for accumulation of Pb, Zn, As, Cr, Cu, Fe in comparison of a polluted, urban brownfield with a rural, unpolluted site. House wren nestlings at the study site accumulated significantly greater concentrations of all target metals except Zn. At the polluted site we found significant species differences of metal concentrations in feathers, with house wrens accumulating greater concentrations of Pb, Fe, and Zn but slightly lesser accumulations of Cr and Cu than American robins. Although house wren nestlings demonstrated significant accumulation of metals, these concentrations showed little effect on size metrics or fledge rates during the breeding season compared to nestlings from the control site. - Nestlings of birds in an urban brownfield accumulated soil contaminants but did not show signs of reduced breeding success or growth.

Urban biomass - not an urban legend

Science.gov (United States)

Utilizing biomass from urban landscapes could significantly contribute to the nation’s renewable energy needs. There is an estimated 16.4 million hectares of land in urban areas cultivated with turfgrass and associated vegetation. Vegetation in urban areas is intensely managed which lead to regula...

ARCHAEOBOTANY IN URBAN SITES: THE CASE OF MUTINA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Rinaldi

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The present paper aims to show the importance of analyzing plant macroremains from urban excavations. Organic materials preserved below the historical city in waterlogged conditions are a fundamental resource, and the study of seeds and fruits gives a good contribution to historical and archaeological research. Archaeobotany in urban contexts provides important results when the examined material comes from several excavations that "photograph" the territory over quite a long period. An overview of archaeobotanical analyses carried out on material from archaeological sites of Modena (Emilia-Romagna, from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD, made by the Laboratory of Palynology and Palaeobotany of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, is presented. The floristic list of seed/fruit analyses result is reported and interesting subject matters are tackled concerning both cultivated/cultivable plants (fruits and nuts, vegetables/aromatics/spices/medicinal plants, fibre and oil plants, cereals and pulses, flowers and other ornamental plants and wild plants of no obvious use, together with wetland plants which are rare and endangered species in Emilia-Romagna today.

The effects of urbanization on the biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of coastal New England streams

Science.gov (United States)

Coles, James F.; Cuffney, Thomas F.; McMahon, Gerard; Beaulieu, Karen M.

2004-01-01

During August 2000, responses of biological communities (invertebrates, fish, and algae), physical habitat, and water chemistry to urban intensity were compared among 30 streams within 80 miles of Boston, Massachusetts. Sites chosen for sampling represented a gradient of the intensity of urban development (urban intensity) among drainage basins that had minimal natural variability. In this study, spatial differences were used as surrogates for temporal changes to represent the effects of urbanization over time. The degree of urban intensity for each drainage basin was characterized with a standardized urban index (0-100, lowest to highest) derived from land cover, infrastructure, and socioeconomic variables. Multivariate and multimetric analyses were used to compare urban index values with biological, physical, and chemical data to determine how the data indicated responses to urbanization. Multivariate ordinations were derived for the invertebrate-, fish-, and algae-community data by use of correspondence analysis, and ordinations were derived for the chemical and physical data by use of principal-component analysis. Site scores from each of the ordinations were plotted in relation to the urban index to test for a response. In all cases, the primary axis scores showed the strongest response to the urban index, indicating that urbanization was a primary factor affecting the data ordination. For the multimetric analyses, each of the biological data sets was used to calculate a series of community metrics. For the sets of chemical and physical data, the individual variables and various combinations of individual variables were used as measured and derived metrics, respectively. Metrics that were generally most responsive to the urban index for each data set included: EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) taxa for invertebrates; cyprinid taxa for fish; diatom taxa for algae; bicarbonate, conductivity, and nitrogen for chemistry; and water depth and temperature

A landscape ecology approach identifies important drivers of urban biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Turrini, Tabea; Knop, Eva

2015-04-01

Cities are growing rapidly worldwide, yet a mechanistic understanding of the impact of urbanization on biodiversity is lacking. We assessed the impact of urbanization on arthropod diversity (species richness and evenness) and abundance in a study of six cities and nearby intensively managed agricultural areas. Within the urban ecosystem, we disentangled the relative importance of two key landscape factors affecting biodiversity, namely the amount of vegetated area and patch isolation. To do so, we a priori selected sites that independently varied in the amount of vegetated area in the surrounding landscape at the 500-m scale and patch isolation at the 100-m scale, and we hold local patch characteristics constant. As indicator groups, we used bugs, beetles, leafhoppers, and spiders. Compared to intensively managed agricultural ecosystems, urban ecosystems supported a higher abundance of most indicator groups, a higher number of bug species, and a lower evenness of bug and beetle species. Within cities, a high amount of vegetated area increased species richness and abundance of most arthropod groups, whereas evenness showed no clear pattern. Patch isolation played only a limited role in urban ecosystems, which contrasts findings from agro-ecological studies. Our results show that urban areas can harbor a similar arthropod diversity and abundance compared to intensively managed agricultural ecosystems. Further, negative consequences of urbanization on arthropod diversity can be mitigated by providing sufficient vegetated space in the urban area, while patch connectivity is less important in an urban context. This highlights the need for applying a landscape ecological approach to understand the mechanisms shaping urban biodiversity and underlines the potential of appropriate urban planning for mitigating biodiversity loss. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Dry deposition study using filter packs at a rural and an urban monitoring sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siti Mariam Sumari; Rusdin Laiman; Kantasamy, Nesamalar; Sinyaw, S.U.

2008-01-01

Air samples were collected from 2004 to 2005 using four-staged filter packs at an urban site Petaling Jaya (PJ) and a rural-agricultural site Tanah Rata (TR). The samples were analysed for reactive gases consisting of NH 3 , HNO 3 , HCL and SO 2 while the aerosol components were analysed for SO 4 2- , NO 3 - , Cl - , Na + , K + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and NH 4 + . For both PJ and TR, analysis indicates the dry deposition was dominated by the gaseous components. They range from about 78 % to 80 % of total compositions for urban PJ and 59 % to 63 % for rural TR. Among the four reactive gases, NH 3 is the most dominating component at both sites. Elevated NH 3 concentration in TR was mainly attributed to the use of nitrogenous fertilizer. For PJ high NH 3 could be due to local air pollution created by industries as well as agricultural activities. The acidic species associated with SO x and NO x are typically more abundant at PJ than TR. Their presence, and for most other chemical species, show similar increasing trend, and this reflect the growing use of fossil fuels associated with urbanization and industrialization, especially for PJ. (author)

Offal dumping sites influence the relative abundance and roosting site selection of Black Kites (Milvus migrans govinda) in urban landscape: a study from Kolkata metropolis, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazumdar, Subhendu; Ghose, Dipankar; Saha, Goutam Kumar

2017-12-14

Although Black Kites (Milvus migrans govinda) serve as major scavenging raptor in most of the urban areas, scientific studies on this important ecosystem service provider are almost non-existent in Indian context. The present study was carried out in a metropolis in eastern India to find out the factors influencing relative abundance and roosting site selection of Black Kites. Separate generalized linear models (GLMs) were performed considering encounter rate and roosting Black Kite abundance as response variables. The study conclusively indicated that encounter rates of Black Kites were significantly influenced by the presence of garbage dumps in its vicinity. Numbers of Black Kites were also higher in the roosting sites situated closer to garbage dumps and open spaces. In addition, expected counts of Black Kites significantly increased in roosting sites situated away from buildings and water bodies. However, built-up area and tree cover around the roosting sites had no influence on the abundance of Black Kites therein. With rapid urbanization and changing offal disposal patterns, our findings would be useful to ensure continued availability of food and roosting sites of Black Kites in urban areas.

Judging a brook by its cover: The relation between ecological condition of a stream and urban land cover in new England

Science.gov (United States)

Coles, J.F.; Cuffney, T.F.; McMahon, G.; Rosiu, C.J.

2010-01-01

The US Geological Survey conducted an urban land-use study in the New England Coastal Basins (NECB) area during 2001 to determine how urbanization relates to changes in the ecological condition of streams. Thirty sites were selected that differed in their level of watershed development (low to high). An urban intensity value was calculated for each site from 24 landscape variables. Together, these 30 values reppresented a gradient of urban intensity. Among various biological, chemical, and physical factors surveyed at each site, benthic invertebrate assemblages were sampled from stream riffles and also from multiple habitats along the length of the sampling reach. We use some of the NECB data to derive a four-variable urbanintensity index (NECB-UII), where each variable represents a distinct component of urbanization: increasing human presence, expanding infrastructure, landscape development, and riparian vegetation loss. Using the NECB-UII as a characterization of urbanization, we describe how landscape fragmentation occurs with urbanization and how changes in the invertebrate assemblages, represented by metrics of ecological condition, are related to urbanization. Metrics with a strong linear response included EPT taxa richness, percentage richness of non-insect taxa, and pollution-tolerance values. Additionally, we describe how these relations can help in estimating the expected condition of a stream for its level of urbanization, thereby establishing a baseline for evaluating possible affects from specific point-source stressors.

Prevalence and risk factor's analysis of bovine brucellosis in peri-urban areas under intensive system of production in Gujarat, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. D. Patel

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Aim: A study on surveillance of bovine brucellosis in dairy herds of peri-urban areas under intensive system of production was carried out by milk-ELISA. Various risk factors were identified having significant association with occurrence of bovine brucellosis in dairy herds of peri-urban areas. Materials and Methods: Five randomly selected peri-uban areas of six cities of Gujarat were included in the present study. Five randomly selected dairy herds under intensive system of production from each selected peri-urban area were included for further investigation. In total, 199 bulk and 582 individual milk samples were screened by milk-ELISA. Forty three different risk factors were identified and grouped into four major categories as general characteristics of farms, introduction of infection to farms, management systems of farms and exposure of disease. Further, their distribution and association with prevalence of bovine brucellosis was studied. Results: The overall herd and animal prevalence in peri-urban areas was 33.70 and 11.90%, respectively. Out of 11 risk factors on general characteristics of dairy farms, only five (herd size, type of animals, type of breed, age of owner and knowledge gained by owners showed significant (p<0.05 association with occurrence of bovine brucellosis. None of risk factors on introduction of infection to farms (n=6 and management systems of farms (n=11 was found significantly associated with occurrence of brucellosis. Among risk factors on exposure of disease (n=15, history of abortion, retention of placenta, still birth and metritis/endometritis showed significant (p<0.05 association with prevalence of bovine brucellosis. Conclusion: It was concluded that prevalence of bovine brucellosis in dairy herds under intensive system of production in peri-urban areas of Gujarat was comparatively higher than reported overall prevalence of brucellosis. Risk factors like larger herd in close confinement without adequate sheds

House Church: Investigating Chinese Urban Christians’ Choice of Religious Practicing Site in Wuhan, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junqiang Han

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we discuss the reasons why urban Christians choose certain sites for religious activities and explain the rapid development of house churches in urban areas in China from the perspective of individual Christians, through survey data obtained by the Chinese Urban Research Center for Ethnic and Religious Affairs Management in the city of Wuhan. We found that Christians who attend religious activities in urban house churches are generally younger in age, higher in education level, and more likely to be working in independent, private, or foreign-invested enterprises. Further investigation reveals that “Three-Self churches” are few in number and poorly planned geographically, resulting in very limited service abilities, thus being far from satisfactory for all believers. Moreover, the activities of such churches are unvaried and lack attractiveness. On the other hand, in house churches, Christians are able to build tight-knit social networks and house churches are more competitively aware in the “religious market”, leading some urban Christians to choose house churches, thereby inciting the fast development of house churches in Chinese urban areas.

Electrical resistivity borehole measurements: application to an urban tunnel site

Science.gov (United States)

Denis, A.; Marache, A.; Obellianne, T.; Breysse, D.

2002-06-01

This paper shows how it is possible to use wells drilled during geotechnical pre-investigation of a tunneling site to obtain a 2-D image of the resistivity close to a tunnel boring machine. An experimental apparatus is presented which makes it possible to perform single and borehole-to-borehole electrical measurements independent of the geological and hydrogeological context, which can be activated at any moment during the building of the tunnel. This apparatus is first demonstrated through its use on a test site. Numerical simulations and data inversion are used to analyse the experimental results. Finally, electrical resistivity tomography and single-borehole measurements on a tunneling site are presented. Experimental results show the viability of the apparatus and the efficiency of the inverse algorithm, and also highlight the limitations of the electrical resistivity tomography as a tool for geotechnical investigation in urban areas.

Sources identification of the atmospheric aerosol at urban and suburban sites in Indonesia by positive matrix factorization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santoso, Muhayatun; Hopke, Philip K.; Hidayat, Achmad; Diah Dwiana L

2008-01-01

Samples of fine and coarse fractions of airborne particulate matter were collected in Indonesia (west central Java) at an urban site in Bandung and in suburban Lembang from January 2002 to December 2004. The samples were collected using a Gent stacked filter sampler in two size fractions of 2.5-10 mass at both sites comes from soil dust and road dust. The biomass burning factor contributes about 40% of the PM 2.5 mass in case of suburban Lembang and about 20% in urban Bandung

Influence of urban land cover changes and climate change for the exposure of European cities to flooding during high-intensity precipitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaspersen, Per Skougaard; Høegh Ravn, Nanna; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten

2015-01-01

The extent and location of impervious surfaces within urban areas due to past and present city development strongly affects the amount and velocity of run-off during high-intensity rainfall and consequently influences the exposure of cities towards flooding. The frequency and intensity of extreme...

Assessment of Urban Renenewal Studies in the Context of Florence's Old Industrial Sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elif Özlem Aydın

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In the periphery of the historic city center of Florence, which is a settlement in Middle Italy, considered the symbol of Renaissance period train stations, small scale industrial structures were built under the influence of spread of industrialization in Continental Europe in the 19th century. Industrial buildings whose original functions are being lost nowadays are restricted to examples which started being built in the 18 th century, however, shaped in the 19 th century and were being able to brought until today with the increased industrialization activities in the first half of the 20 th century. The necessity of developing new thoughts aiming to revitalize areas around the city center and to reshape Florence, which witnessed a segmented growth due to increased industrialization in the first half of 20 th century, according to urban planning principles from 1990's onwards has been realized. Within the scope of integrated planning developed in the recent years, old industrial areas located in the historical city center peripheries whose functions have been lost are determined as urban renovation sites. In this study, Old Leopolda Train Station, Fiat Belfiore and Fiat Novoli factory sites as well as renovation/transformation work executed in old slaughter house sites, located in the west border of historical city center of Florence, have been studied with the help of technical surveys, personal interviews or published projects. Two approaches have been encountered when urban renovation projects executed in these areas where mixed-use strategies are adopted are examined. These are:  Preservation of some of the historical structures in the area, and demolition of some to create areas for new uses,  Demolition of all structures in the site to create areas for new uses. Not encountered in Florence, but there also exist renovation examples where almost all structures in the area are preserved. The results of research and observations have

Effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems along an agriculture-to-urban land-use gradient, Milwaukee to Green Bay, Wisconsin, 2003-2004

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Kevin D.; Scudder, Barbara C.; Fitzpatrick, Faith A.; Steuer, Jeffery J.; Bell, Amanda H.; Peppler, Marie C.; Stewart, Jana S.; Harris, Mitchell A.

2010-01-01

In 2003 and 2004, 30 streams near Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, were part of a national study by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess urbanization effects on physical, chemical, and biological characteristics along an agriculture-to-urban land-use gradient. A geographic information system was used to characterize natural landscape features that define the environmental setting and the degree of urbanization within each stream watershed. A combination of land cover, socioeconomic, and infrastructure variables were integrated into a multi-metric urban intensity index, scaled from 0 to 100, and assigned to each stream site to identify a gradient of urbanization within relatively homogeneous environmental settings. The 35 variables used to develop the final urban intensity index characterized the degree of urbanization and included road infrastructure (road area and road traffic index), 100-meter riparian land cover (percentage of impervious surface, shrubland, and agriculture), watershed land cover (percentage of impervious surface, developed/urban land, shrubland, and agriculture), and 26 socioeconomic variables (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). Characteristics examined as part of this study included: habitat, hydrology, stream temperature, water chemistry (chloride, sulfate, nutrients, dissolved and particulate organic and inorganic carbon, pesticides, and suspended sediment), benthic algae, benthic invertebrates, and fish. Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were used to assess the potential for bioconcentration of hydrophobic organic contaminants (specifically polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine and pyrethroid insecticides) in biological membranes, such as the gills of fish. Physical habitat measurements reflective of channel enlargement, including bankfull channel size and bank erosion, increased with increasing urbanization within the watershed. In this study, percentage of riffles and streambed substrate size were

Alternative energy facility siting policies for urban coastal areas: executive summary of findings and policy recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morell, D; Singer, G

1980-11-01

An analysis was made of siting issues in the coastal zone, one of the nation's most critical natural resource areas and one which is often the target for energy development proposals. The analysis addressed the changing perceptions of citizens toward energy development in the coastal zone, emphasizing urban communities where access to the waterfront and revitalization of waterfront property are of interest to the citizen. The findings of this analysis are based on an examination of energy development along New Jersey's urban waterfront and along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, and on redevelopment efforts in Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and elsewhere. The case studies demonstrate the significance of local attitudes and regional cooperation in the siting process. In highly urbanized areas, air quality has become a predominant concern among citizen groups and an influential factor in development of alternative energy facility siting strategies, such as consideration of inland siting connected by pipeline to a smaller coastal facility. The study addresses the economic impact of the permitting process on the desirability of energy facility investments, and the possible effects of the location selected for the facility on the permitting process and investment economics. The economic analysis demonstrates the importance of viewing energy facility investments in a broad perspective that includes the positive or negative impacts of various alternative siting patterns on the permitting process. Conclusions drawn from the studies regarding Federal, state, local, and corporate politics; regulatory, permitting, licensing, environmental assessment, and site selection are summarized. (MCW)

Urban effects on convective precipitation in Mexico city

Science.gov (United States)

Jauregui, Ernesto; Romales, Ernesto

This paper reports on urban-related convective precipitation anomalies in a tropical city. Wet season (May-October) rainfall for an urban site (Tacubaya) shows a significant trend for the period 1941-1985 suggesting an urban effect that has been increasing as the city grew. On the other hand, rainfall at a suburban (upwind) station apparently unaffected by urbanization, has remained unchanged. Analysis of historical records of hourly precipitation for an urban station shows that the frequency of intense (> 20 mm h -1) rain showers has increased in recent decades. Using a network of automatic rainfall stations, areal distribution of 24 h isoyets show a series of maxima within the urban perimeter which may be associated to the heat island phenomenon. Isochrones of the beginning of rain are used to estimate direction and speed of movement of the rain cloud cells. The daytime heat island seems to be associated with the intensification of rain showers.

Catchment Dispersion Mechanisms in an Urban Context

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Gironas, J. A.; Mejia, A.; Rossel, F.; Rinaldo, A.; Rodriguez, F.

2014-12-01

Dispersion mechanisms have been examined in-depth in natural catchments in previous studies. However, these dispersion mechanisms have been studied little in urban catchments, where artificial transport elements and morphological arrangements are expected to modify travel times and mobilize excess rainfall from spatially distributed impervious sites. Thus, these features can modify the variance of the catchment's travel times and hence the total dispersion. This work quantifies the dispersion mechanisms in an urban catchment using the theory of transport by travel times as represented by the Urban Morpho-climatic Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (U-McIUH) model. This model computes travel times based on kinematic wave theory and accounts explicitly for the path heterogeneities and altered connectivity patterns characteristic of an urban drainage network. The analysis is illustrated using the Aubinière urban catchment (France) as a case study. We found that kinematic dispersion is dominant for small rainfall intensities, whereas geomorphologic dispersion becomes more dominant for larger intensities. The total dispersion scales with the drainage area in a power law fashion. The kinematic dispersion is dominant across spatial scales up to a threshold of approximately 2-3 km2, after which the geomorphologic dispersion becomes more dominant. Overall, overland flow is responsible for most of the dispersion, while conduits tend to counteract the increase of the geomorphologic dispersion with a negative kinematic dispersion. Further studies with other catchments are needed to assess whether the latter is a general feature of urban drainage networks.

Filling some black holes: modeling the connection between urbanization, infrastructure, and global service intensity

OpenAIRE

Van De Vijver, Elien; Derudder, Ben; Bassens, David; Witlox, Frank

2014-01-01

This empirical article combines insights from previous research on the level of knowledge-intensive service in metropolitan areas with the aim to develop an understanding of the spatial structure of the global service economy. We use a stepwise regression model with the Globalization and World Cities research network's measure of globalized service provisioning as the dependent variable and a range of variables focusing on population, infrastructure, urban primacy, and national regulation as ...

Programming Sustainable Urban Nodes for Spontaneous, Intensive Urban Environments

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Szubryt-Obrycka, Adriana

2017-10-01

Urban development nowadays, not only in Poland but also throughout the world, is an important issue for planners, municipal authorities and residents themselves. New structures generated in spontaneous urban and suburban areas constitute randomly scattered seeds of excessive residential and little commercial functions which therein appear more often as temporary or even ephemeral installations emerging where it is temporarily needed. The more important special services are provided rarely. Correct thinking about creating cities involves simultaneous thinking on providing different basic functions required by local communities, but at the same time recognizing temporal fluctuations and distinction on what kind of amenities have to be provided in particular area permanently (such as e.g. medical care, preventive services and schools), with others retaining its mobile, non-formal character. An even greater problem is a restoration of urban structures in the areas affected by natural disasters or leftover areas being previously war zones, where similar deficits have significantly higher impact being potential cause of higher toll in human lives, if no functional nodes providing essential functions survived. The Ariadne’s Thread is a research project which proposes infrastructure and nodes for such urban areas. It develops new framework for creating nodes not only aimed at fulfilling basic needs of people but achieving social integration and build stability for fragile communities. The aim of the paper is to describe the process of identification of a relationship between needs of the inhabitants and both programmatic and ideological approach to Ariadne’s Thread (AT) node giving ultimately its architectural interpretation. The paper will introduce the process of recognition of local needs, the interpretive and/or participatory mechanisms of establishing the node as a response to this recognition containing conceptual programming, socio-cultural programming, and

Spatiotemporal Variation in Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity and Associated Determinants across Major Chinese Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Wang

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Urban heat islands (UHIs created through urbanization can have negative impacts on the lives of people living in cities. They may also vary spatially and temporally over a city. There is, thus, a need for greater understanding of these patterns and their causes. While previous UHI studies focused on only a few cities and/or several explanatory variables, this research provides a comprehensive and comparative characterization of the diurnal and seasonal variation in surface UHI intensities (SUHIIs across 67 major Chinese cities. The factors associated with the SUHII were assessed by considering a variety of related social, economic and natural factors using a regression tree model. Obvious seasonal variation was observed for the daytime SUHII, and the diurnal variation in SUHII varied seasonally across China. Interestingly, the SUHII varied significantly in character between northern and southern China. Southern China experienced more intense daytime SUHIIs, while the opposite was true for nighttime SUHIIs. Vegetation had the greatest effect in the day time in northern China. In southern China, annual electricity consumption and the number of public buses were found to be important. These results have important theoretical significance and may be of use to mitigate UHI effects.

Renton's Quendall Terminals on List of EPA Superfund Sites Targeted for Immediate, Intense Attention

Science.gov (United States)

EPA released the list of Superfund sites that Administrator Pruitt has targeted for intense and immediate attention, including the Quendall Terminals Site, a former creosote facility on the shore of Lake Washington in Renton, Washington.

Atmospheric PAHs, NPAHs, and OPAHs at an urban, mountainous, and marine sites in Northern China: Molecular composition, sources, and ageing

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Junmei; Yang, Lingxiao; Mellouki, Abdelwahid; Chen, Jianmin; Chen, Xiangfeng; Gao, Ying; Jiang, Pan; Li, Yanyan; Yu, Hao; Wang, Wenxing

2018-01-01

18 gaseous and particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 16 nitro-derivative (NPAHs), and 7 oxy-derivative (OPAHs) were analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) at three locations in Northern China, an urban site (Jinan), a marine site (Tuoji island), and a mountain site (Mt. Tai). The combined gas and particulate concentrations of 18 PAHs, 16 NPAHs, and 7 OPAHs were highest at the urban site (305.91, 2.80, and 9.05 ng/m3, respectively) and lowest at the mountain location (37.83, 0.27, and 1.59 ng/m3, respectively). A noticeable increase in the high molecular weight PAHs was observed during polluted conditions compared to clean conditions. Diagnostic ratios clearly demonstrated that coal/biomass combustion was the major PAH source in Northern China. The particulate PAHs were the most aged at the mountain site due to long-distance atmospheric transport. The formation rate of NPAHs was most efficient at the mountain location and during heavily polluted days at the urban and marine sites. In addition, the main formation pathway for NPAHs was through the OH initiated secondary reaction. NO3 radicals most significantly contributed to the NPAHs formation at night, during clear weather, and at the mountain site. The logKp value was lowest at the urban site for most individual compounds and highest at the mountain site. Higher logKp was found for NPAHs and OPAHs compared with their corresponding parent PAHs. The linear regression of logKp vs logPL0 at the three sites suggested that the gas-particle partitioning of PAHs might be in non-equilibrium.

Roads to ruin: conservation threats to a sentinel species across an urban gradient.

Science.gov (United States)

Feist, Blake E; Buhle, Eric R; Baldwin, David H; Spromberg, Julann A; Damm, Steven E; Davis, Jay W; Scholz, Nathaniel L

2017-12-01

Urbanization poses a global challenge to species conservation. This is primarily understood in terms of physical habitat loss, as agricultural and forested lands are replaced with urban infrastructure. However, aquatic habitats are also chemically degraded by urban development, often in the form of toxic stormwater runoff. Here we assess threats of urbanization to coho salmon throughout developed areas of the Puget Sound Basin in Washington, USA. Puget Sound coho are a sentinel species for freshwater communities and also a species of concern under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Previous studies have demonstrated that stormwater runoff is unusually lethal to adult coho that return to spawn each year in urban watersheds. To further explore the relationship between land use and recurrent coho die-offs, we measured mortality rates in field surveys of 51 spawning sites across an urban gradient. We then used spatial analyses to measure landscape attributes (land use and land cover, human population density, roadways, traffic intensity, etc.) and climatic variables (annual summer and fall precipitation) associated with each site. Structural equation modeling revealed a latent urbanization gradient that was associated with road density and traffic intensity, among other variables, and positively related to coho mortality. Across years within sites, mortality increased with summer and fall precipitation, but the effect of rainfall was strongest in the least developed areas and was essentially neutral in the most urbanized streams. We used the best-supported structural equation model to generate a predictive mortality risk map for the entire Puget Sound Basin. This map indicates an ongoing and widespread loss of spawners across much of the Puget Sound population segment, particularly within the major regional north-south corridor for transportation and development. Our findings identify current and future urbanization-related threats to wild coho, and show where green

Pesticides analysed in rainwater in Alsace region (Eastern France): Comparison between urban and rural sites

Science.gov (United States)

Scheyer, Anne; Morville, Stéphane; Mirabel, Philippe; Millet, Maurice

Current-used pesticides commonly applied in Alsace region (Eastern France) on diverse crops (maize, vineyard, vegetables, etc.) were analysed, together with Lindane, in rainwater between January 2002 and June 2003 simultaneously on two sites situated in a typical rural (Erstein, France) and urban area (Strasbourg, France). Rainwater samples were collected on a weekly basis by using two automatic wet only collectors associated with an open collector for the measurement of rainwater height. Pesticides were analysed by GC-MSMS and extracted from rainwater by SPME. Two runs were performed. The first one was performed by using a PDMS (100 μm) fibre for pesticides where direct injection into GC is possible (alachlor, atrazine, azinphos-ethyl, azinphos-methyl, captan, chlorfenvinphos, dichlorvos, diflufenican, α- and β-endosulfan, iprodione, lindane, metolachlor, mevinphos, parathion-methyl, phosalone, phosmet, tebuconazole, triadimefon and trifluralin). The second run was performed by using PDMS/DVB fibre and this run concerns pesticides where a preliminary derivatisation step with pentafluorobenzylbromide (PFBBr) is required for very low volatiles (bromoxynil,2,4-MCPA, MCPP and 2,4-D) or thermo labiles (chlorotoluron, diuron and isoproturon) pesticides. Results showed that the more concentrated pesticides detected were those used as herbicides in large quantities in Alsace region for maize crops (alachlor, metolachlor and atrazine). Maximum concentrations for these herbicides have been measured during intensive applications periods on maize crops following by rapid decrease immediately after use. For Alachlor, most important peaks have been observed between 21 and 28 April 2003 (3327 ng L -1 at Erstein and 5590 ng L -1 at Strasbourg). This is also the case for Metolachlor where most important peak was observed during the same week. Concentrations of pesticides measured out of application periods were very low for many pesticides and some others where never detected

Spatial Linkage and Urban Expansion: AN Urban Agglomeration View

Science.gov (United States)

Jiao, L. M.; Tang, X.; Liu, X. P.

2017-09-01

Urban expansion displays different characteristics in each period. From the perspective of the urban agglomeration, studying the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban expansion plays an important role in understanding the complex relationship between urban expansion and network structure of urban agglomeration. We analyze urban expansion in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRD) through accessibility to and spatial interaction intensity from core cities as well as accessibility of road network. Results show that: (1) Correlation between urban expansion intensity and spatial indicators such as location and space syntax variables is remarkable and positive, while it decreases after rapid expansion. (2) Urban expansion velocity displays a positive correlation with spatial indicators mentioned above in the first (1980-1990) and second (1990-2000) period. However, it exhibits a negative relationship in the third period (2000-2010), i.e., cities located in the periphery of urban agglomeration developing more quickly. Consequently, the hypothesis of convergence of urban expansion in rapid expansion stage is put forward. (3) Results of Zipf's law and Gibrat's law show urban expansion in YRD displays a convergent trend in rapid expansion stage, small and medium-sized cities growing faster. This study shows that spatial linkage plays an important but evolving role in urban expansion within the urban agglomeration. In addition, it serves as a reference to the planning of Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration and regulation of urban expansion of other urban agglomerations.

Effects of urbanization on carnivore species distribution and richness

Science.gov (United States)

Ordenana, Miguel A.; Crooks, Kevin R.; Boydston, Erin E.; Fisher, Robert N.; Lyren, Lisa M.; Siudyla, Shalene; Haas, Christopher D.; Harris, Sierra; Hathaway, Stacie A.; Turschak, Greta M.; Miles, A. Keith; Van Vuren, Dirk H.

2010-01-01

Urban development can have multiple effects on mammalian carnivore communities. We conducted a meta-analysis of 7,929 photographs from 217 localities in 11 camera-trap studies across coastal southern California to describe habitat use and determine the effects of urban proximity (distance to urban edge) and intensity (percentage of area urbanized) on carnivore occurrence and species richness in natural habitats close to the urban boundary. Coyotes (Canis latrans) and bobcats (Lynx rufus) were distributed widely across the region. Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), raccoons (Procyon lotor), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), mountain lions (Puma concolor), and Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) were detected less frequently, and long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata), American badgers (Taxidea taxus), western spotted skunks (Spilogale gracilis), and domestic cats (Felis catus) were detected rarely. Habitat use generally reflected availability for most species. Coyote and raccoon occurrence increased with both proximity to and intensity of urbanization, whereas bobcat, gray fox, and mountain lion occurrence decreased with urban proximity and intensity. Domestic dogs and Virginia opossums exhibited positive and weak negative relationships, respectively, with urban intensity but were unaffected by urban proximity. Striped skunk occurrence increased with urban proximity but decreased with urban intensity. Native species richness was negatively associated with urban intensity but not urban proximity, probably because of the stronger negative response of individual species to urban intensity.

Urban Conservation Policies and Plans for a World Heritage Site Case: Antique Pergamon City and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Tunçer, Mehmet

2017-10-01

Izmir’s Pergamon (Bergama) Antique City and Its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape entered the UNESCO World Heritage List with the participation of 21 countries in the 38th World Heritage Committee Meeting held in Doha, Qatar’s capital in between 15 - 25 June 2014. Bergama became the 999th WORLD HERITAGE. Bergama, which has been in operation since 2010, has entered the list as a Multi-layered Cultural Landscape Area. The main purpose of this paper will explain and summarize of urban and archaeological conservation efforts for Pergamon since 1992 to 2014. In the paper also aimed to give the conservation policies of public administrations which mainly central /Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Environment/ and local /Bergama Municipality, Gen. Directorate of Vakiflar. Turkey is one of the 10 original member states to establish UNESCO. 9 cities in Turkey are included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites. Further, 23 sites have been nominated and are included in the tentative list. The activities aimed to include the district of Bergama in the UNESCO World Heritage List are ongoing in the years 2009-2014. All the efforts have been made carry this unique antique city to the UNESCO Heritage List at 2014. As an Urban Conservation Planner, I had a change of preparing the FIRST Conservation Aimed Plans and urban designs for Urban and Archaeological Sites of Pergamon together with my team, in the years between 1992-94. We prepared conservation aimed plans for all of the areas of Acropolis, Middle City and Ottoman period urban conservation areas. Urban and archaeological sites of Pergamon the ancient city today, which is over two thousand years old, where scientists, archaeologists, architects, art historians, urban planners, sculptors and similar arts and culture, men talk about admiration, write about and write praises, face to face some deterioration and destruction. As a conservation planner working on Pergamon since 1992, I’ will concentrate the

Diffusive flux of PAHs across sediment-water and water-air interfaces at urban superfund sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Minick, D James; Anderson, Kim A

2017-09-01

Superfund sites may be a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to the surrounding environment. These sites can also act as PAH sinks from present-day anthropogenic activities, especially in urban locations. Understanding PAH transport across environmental compartments helps to define the relative contributions of these sources and is therefore important for informing remedial and management decisions. In the present study, paired passive samplers were co-deployed at sediment-water and water-air interfaces within the Portland Harbor Superfund Site and the McCormick and Baxter Superfund Site. These sites, located along the Willamette River (Portland, OR, USA), have PAH contamination from both legacy and modern sources. Diffusive flux calculations indicate that the Willamette River acts predominantly as a sink for low molecular weight PAHs from both the sediment and the air. The sediment was also predominantly a source of 4- and 5-ring PAHs to the river, and the river was a source of these same PAHs to the air, indicating that legacy pollution may be contributing to PAH exposure for residents of the Portland urban center. At the remediated McCormick and Baxter Superfund Site, flux measurements highlight locations within the sand and rock sediment cap where contaminant breakthrough is occurring. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2281-2289. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

Assessing the representativeness of monitoring data from an urban intersection site in Central London, UK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scaperdas, A.; Colvile, R.N. [Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London (United Kingdom). Centre for Environmental Technology

1999-02-01

The wind flow field around urban street-building configurations has an important influence on the microscale pollutant dispersion from road traffic, affecting overall dilution and creating localised spatial variations of pollutant concentration. As a result, the ``representatives`` of air quality measurements made at different urban monitoring sites can be strongly dependent on the interaction of the local wind flow field with the street-building geometry surrounding the monitor. The present study is an initial attempt to develop a method for appraising the significance of air quality measurements from urban monitoring sites, using a general application computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to simulate small-scale flow and dispersion patterns around real urban building configurations. The main focus of the work was to evaluate routine CO monitoring data collected by Westminster City Council at an intersection of street canyons at Marylebone Road, Central London. Many monitors in the UK are purposely situated at urban canyon intersections, which are thought to be local ``hot spots`` of pollutant emissions, however very limited information exists in the literature on the flow and dispersion patterns associated with them. With the use of simple CFD simulations and the analysis of available monitoring data, it was possible to gain insights into the effect of wind direction on the small-scale dispersion patterns at the chosen intersection, and how that can influence the data captured by a monitor. It was found that a change in wind direction could result in an increase or decrease of monitored CO concentration of up to 80%, for a given level of traffic emissions and meteorological conditions. Understanding and de-coupling the local effect of wind direction from monitoring data using the methods presented in this work could prove a useful new tool for urban monitoring data interpretation. (author)

Urban land use decouples plant-herbivore-parasitoid interactions at multiple spatial scales.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amanda E Nelson

Full Text Available Intense urban and agricultural development alters habitats, increases fragmentation, and may decouple trophic interactions if plants or animals cannot disperse to needed resources. Specialist insects represent a substantial proportion of global biodiversity and their fidelity to discrete microhabitats provides a powerful framework for investigating organismal responses to human land use. We sampled site occupancy and densities for two plant-herbivore-parasitoid systems from 250 sites across a 360 km2 urban/agricultural landscape to ask whether and how human development decouples interactions between trophic levels. We compared patterns of site occupancy, host plant density, herbivory and parasitism rates of insects at two trophic levels with respect to landcover at multiple spatial scales. Geospatial analyses were used to identify landcover characters predictive of insect distributions. We found that herbivorous insect densities were decoupled from host tree densities in urban landcover types at several spatial scales. This effect was amplified for the third trophic level in one of the two insect systems: despite being abundant regionally, a parasitoid species was absent from all urban/suburban landcover even where its herbivore host was common. Our results indicate that human land use patterns limit distributions of specialist insects. Dispersal constraints associated with urban built development are specifically implicated as a limiting factor.

Modelling and assessment of urban flood hazards based on rainfall intensity-duration-frequency curves reformation

OpenAIRE

Ghazavi, Reza; Moafi Rabori, Ali; Ahadnejad Reveshty, Mohsen

2016-01-01

Estimate design storm based on rainfall intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves is an important parameter for hydrologic planning of urban areas. The main aim of this study was to estimate rainfall intensities of Zanjan city watershed based on overall relationship of rainfall IDF curves and appropriate model of hourly rainfall estimation (Sherman method, Ghahreman and Abkhezr method). Hydrologic and hydraulic impacts of rainfall IDF curves change in flood properties was evaluated via Stormw...

Identifying strategic sites for Green-Infrastructures (GI) to manage stormwater in a miscellaneous use urban African watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Selker, J. S.; Kahsai, S. K.

2017-12-01

Green Infrastructure (GI) or Low impact development (LID), is a land use planning and design approach with the objective of mitigating land development impacts to the environment, and is ever more looked to as a way to lessen runoff and pollutant loading to receiving water bodies. Broad-scale approaches for siting GI/LID have been developed for agricultural watersheds, but are rare for urban watersheds, largely due to greater land use complexity. And it is even more challenging when it comes to Urban Africa due to the combination of poor data quality, rapid and unplanned development, and civic institutions unable to reliably carry out regular maintenance. We present a spacio-temporal simulation-based approach to identify an optimal prioritization of sites for GI/LID based on DEM, land use and land cover. Optimization used is a multi-objective optimization tool along with an urban storm water management model (SWMM) to identify the most cost-effective combination of LID/GI. This was applied to an urban watershed in NW Kampala, Lubigi Catchment (notorious for being heavily flooded every year), with a miscellaneous use watershed in Uganda, as a case-study to demonstrate the approach.

Modeling of technical soil-erosion control measures and its impact on soil erosion off-site effects within urban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Dostal, Tomas; Devaty, Jan

2013-04-01

The paper presents results of surface runoff, soil erosion and sediment transport modeling using Erosion 3D software - physically based mathematical simulation model, event oriented, fully distributed. Various methods to simulate technical soil-erosion conservation measures were tested, using alternative digital elevation models of different precision and resolution. Ditches and baulks were simulated by three different approaches, (i) by change of the land-cover parameters to increase infiltration and decrease flow velocity, (ii) by change of the land-cover parameters to completely infiltrate the surface runoff and (iii) by adjusting the height of the digital elevation model by "burning in" the channels of the ditches. Results show advantages and disadvantages of each approach and conclude suitable methods for combinations of particular digital elevation model and purpose of the simulations. Further on a set of simulations was carried out to model situations before and after technical soil-erosion conservation measures application within a small catchment of 4 km2. These simulations were focused on quantitative and qualitative assessment of technical soil-erosion control measures impact on soil erosion off-site effects within urban areas located downstream of intensively used agricultural fields. The scenarios were built upon a raster digital elevation model with spatial resolution of 3 meters derived from LiDAR 5G vector point elevation data. Use of this high-resolution elevation model allowed simulating the technical soil-erosion control measures by direct terrain elevation adjustment. Also the structures within the settlements were emulated by direct change in the elevation of the terrain model. The buildings were lifted up to simulate complicated flow behavior of the surface runoff within urban areas, using approach of Arévalo (Arévalo, 2011) but focusing on the use of commonly available data without extensive detailed editing. Application of the technical

Breeding performance of blue tits (Cyanistes cæruleus ultramarinus) in relation to lead pollution and nest failure rates in rural, intermediate, and urban sites in Algeria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brahmia, Zahra; Scheifler, Renaud; Crini, Nadia; Maas, Samuel; Giraudoux, Patrick; Benyacoub, Slim

2013-01-01

The breeding parameters and the egg and nestling morphology of Cyanistes caeruleus populations from rural, intermediate, and urban sites in Algeria and the relationships of those variables with lead contamination were studied during three consecutive years. Breeding success was explained only by predation and vandalism rates. Predation was higher in the rural area, whereas vandalism was higher in the urban site. The other measured breeding parameters and egg characteristics were relatively insensitive to study site. The morphology of urban nestlings exhibited a trend toward smaller body size and mass compared to individuals from intermediate and rural sites. Although lead concentrations were higher in the tissues of urban birds than in intermediate and rural individuals, we did not detect a clear influence of this variable on nestling morphology. We conclude that urbanization influenced blue tit breeding parameters through predation and vandalism and nestling morphology through mechanisms other than lead pollution. -- Highlights: ► Life history traits in relation to lead contamination were studied in blue tits from rural, industrial and urban sites. ► The study took place in Annaba, the fourth most populated city of Algeria, during 3 consecutive years. ► Breeding success depended on predation and vandalism, which were high in the rural and urban sites, respectively. ► Urban nestlings exhibited a trend toward smaller body size and mass, which was not explained by lead contamination. ► Urbanization influences breeding success and nestling morphology in blue tits through other mechanisms than lead pollution. -- Urbanization modifies the nestling morphology and breeding success of populations of the Algerian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus ultramarinus) through mechanisms other than lead pollution

Urban wet deposition nitrate: a comparison to non-urban deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schultz, J.A.M.

1994-01-01

The concentration of nitrate in both wet and dry deposition has both increased historically and currently, and recently parallels emissions in NO x . Since NO x is produced in amounts comparable to SO 2 , it is an important contributor to acid deposition, and is produced in higher amounts in urban areas due to concentrated sources. Prior to to this study, national acid deposition monitoring networks in the United States have been and remain established in non-urban areas. This research study consisted of a comparison of precipitation sampling and analysis of wet deposition nitrate and pH for each deposition event in each of two urban sites over a 15 mo period. Also, a comparison of urban data and data generated at a nearby non-urban NADP site was made by examination of both monthly and seasonal data. This research suggests that national monitoring programs should consider inclusion of urban and non-urban monitoring sites in order to achieve a more representative regional assessment. 24 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs

Predictability of bone density at posterior mandibular implant sites using cone-beam computed tomography intensity values

OpenAIRE

Alkhader, Mustafa; Hudieb, Malik; Khader, Yousef

2017-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the predictability of bone density at posterior mandibular implant sites using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) intensity values. Materials and Methods: CBCT cross-sectional images for 436 posterior mandibular implant sites were selected for the study. Using Invivo software (Anatomage, San Jose, California, USA), two observers classified the bone density into three categories: low, intermediate, and high, and CBCT intensity values were g...

Integrated GIS-Based Site Selection of Hillside Development for Future Growth of Urban Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Imtiaz Ahmed Chandio

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Urbanization is a challenging issue for developing countries, like Malaysia. Penang Island is one of the states of Malaysia selected as a study area where limited flat land exists. As a result, this would create urban environmental problems, such as unstable slopes and landslides due to uneven topography. The purpose of this study was to develop land suitability model for hillside development. Hence, this research aims land suitability analysis modelling for hillside development by using integrated GIS (Geographic Information System based MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making approach. The hill land portion of Penang Island was selected for hillside site development using GIS and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process as a MCDM method for sustainable hillside development. This study found that 15% of land was highly suitable, 27% moderately suitable, 41% less suitable, and 17% not suitable. Therefore, this research can be consistently used by the concerned authorities for sustainable hillside urban planning and development. This approach can be used as a policy tool in decision making of urban planning and development.

Process evaluation of child health services at outreach sites during health and nutrition day (Mamta Day) in urban slums of Western India.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Kedar; Pandya, Chandresh; Chavda, Paragkumar; Solanki, Dipak

2017-01-01

Health indicators of rural and urban India show a wide variation. Rural areas have received large focus in child health services, but on the flip side, urban areas have been the last to receive such attention. A cross-sectional study was conducted to include one randomly selected outreach session from all the 19 urban primary health centers of Vadodara city from April 2013 to May 2014. Nineteen session sites were observed for the process evaluation of three components of child health care, namely, "planning of Health and Nutrition Day," "availability of vaccines/logistics," and "direct observation of actual immunization process" at the site using a structured checklist. Most of the vaccines and logistics were present at all 19 sites visited, but adverse events following immunization kit were observed at ten sites (52%) only. Open vial policy, no-touch technique, and immediate cutting of syringe with hub cutter were implemented at all sites; however, completely filled Mamta Card was observed at 9 (47%) sites only. All four key messages were given at 5 (26%) sites only. Immunization services such as proper vaccine administration with no-touch technique and open vial policy were mainly focused; however, other services such as biomedical waste management, record keeping, and delivery of all four key messages need to be strengthened during Mamta Divas. Strengthening of other child health care services such as growth monitoring, Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses, and referral services is required in urban areas.

Summertime heat island intensities in three high-rise housing quarters in inner-city Shanghai China: Building layout, density and greenery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Feng; Lau, Stephen S.Y. [Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR (China); Qian, Feng [College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092 (China)

2010-01-15

Shanghai as the largest city in China has been suffering from the ever-worsening thermal environment due to the explosive urbanization rate. As an indication of urbanization impact, urban heat islands (UHI) can give rise to a variety of problems. This paper reports the results of an empirical study on the summertime UHI patterns in three high-rise residential quarters in the inner-city Shanghai. Site-means of UHI intensity are compared; case studies are carried out on strategically located measurement points; and regression analysis is followed to examine the significance of the on-site design variables in relation to UHI intensity. It is found that site characteristics in plot layout, density and greenery have different impacts on UHI-day and UHI-night patterns. Day-time UHI is closely related to site shading factor. Total site factor (TSF) as an integrated measure on solar admittance shows a higher explanatory power in UHI-day than sky view factor (SVF) does under a partially cloudy sky condition. Night-time UHI cannot be statistically well explained by the on-site variables in use, indicating influences from anthropogenic heat and other sources. Evaporative cooling by vegetation plays a more important role at night than it does at day. Considered diurnally, the semi-enclosed plot layout with a fairly high density and tree cover has the best outdoor thermal condition. Design implication based on the findings, with consideration on other important environmental design issues, is briefly discussed. (author)

Urban Forest and Rural Cities: Multi-sited Households, Consumption Patterns, and Forest Resources in Amazonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine Padoch

2008-12-01

Full Text Available In much of the Amazon Basin, approximately 70% of the population lives in urban areas and urbanward migration continues. Based on data collected over more than a decade in two long-settled regions of Amazonia, we find that rural-urban migration in the region is an extended and complex process. Like recent rural-urban migrants worldwide, Amazonian migrants, although they may be counted as urban residents, are often not absent from rural areas but remain members of multi-sited households and continue to participate in rural-urban networks and in rural land-use decisions. Our research indicates that, despite their general poverty, these migrants have affected urban markets for both food and construction materials. We present two cases: that of açaí palm fruit in the estuary of the Amazon and of cheap construction timbers in the Peruvian Amazon. We find that many new Amazonian rural-urban migrants have maintained some important rural patterns of both consumption and knowledge. Through their consumer behavior, they are affecting the areal extent of forests; in the two floodplain regions discussed, tree cover is increasing. We also find changes in forest composition, reflecting the persistence of rural consumption patterns in cities resulting in increased demand for and production of açaí and cheap timber species.

Rainwater Management in the Urban Landscape of Wroclaw in Terms of Adaptation to Climate Changes

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Katarzyna Tokarczyk-Dorociak

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Modern city development requires increasing investments in so-called green and blue infrastructure. Water deficits and frequent droughts are a motivation to introduce economic water management and rainwater retention. Urban areas, which are often intensively developed and sealed, have lost their natural ability to retain rainwater. This is often the cause of urban floods that occur as a result of intense rainfall events, whose intensity exceeds the capacity of urban drainage systems. These problems are caused by low surface and soil retention. These negative phenomena force us to take certain actions related to urban hydrology, such as determining catchments in urban areas and capturing rainwater. Town and city management must take into account also the functional and aesthetic aspects with the aim to improve the life quality of residents. Rainwater management on site of the rainfall allows to combine sustainable water management with creating places of high aesthetic and functional value. The paper outlines the policy of the city Wrocław with respect to rainwater management and presents proposed solutions for a selected street, large-surface parking lot and a city square. Calculating the rainfall amount correctly and then preparing a land management design allows to use rainwater in creating attractive recreation areas.

Characterising an intense PM pollution episode in March 2015 in France from multi-site approach and near real time data: Climatology, variabilities, geographical origins and model evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Petit, J.-E.; Amodeo, T.; Meleux, F.; Bessagnet, B.; Menut, L.; Grenier, D.; Pellan, Y.; Ockler, A.; Rocq, B.; Gros, V.; Sciare, J.; Favez, O.

2017-04-01

During March 2015, a severe and large-scale particulate matter (PM) pollution episode occurred in France. Measurements in near real-time of the major chemical composition at four different urban background sites across the country (Paris, Creil, Metz and Lyon) allowed the investigation of spatiotemporal variabilities during this episode. A climatology approach showed that all sites experienced clear unusual rain shortage, a pattern that is also found on a longer timescale, highlighting the role of synoptic conditions over Wester-Europe. This episode is characterized by a strong predominance of secondary pollution, and more particularly of ammonium nitrate, which accounted for more than 50% of submicron aerosols at all sites during the most intense period of the episode. Pollution advection is illustrated by similar variabilities in Paris and Creil (distant of around 100 km), as well as trajectory analyses applied on nitrate and sulphate. Local sources, especially wood burning, are however found to contribute to local/regional sub-episodes, notably in Metz. Finally, simulated concentrations from Chemistry-Transport model CHIMERE were compared to observed ones. Results highlighted different patterns depending on the chemical components and the measuring site, reinforcing the need of such exercises over other pollution episodes and sites.

Influence of rainfall and catchment characteristics on urban stormwater quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, An; Egodawatta, Prasanna; Guan, Yuntao; Goonetilleke, Ashantha

2013-02-01

The accuracy and reliability of urban stormwater quality modelling outcomes are important for stormwater management decision making. The commonly adopted approach where only a limited number of factors are used to predict urban stormwater quality may not adequately represent the complexity of the quality response to a rainfall event or site-to-site differences to support efficient treatment design. This paper discusses an investigation into the influence of rainfall and catchment characteristics on urban stormwater quality in order to investigate the potential areas for errors in current stormwater quality modelling practices. It was found that the influence of rainfall characteristics on pollutant wash-off is step-wise based on specific thresholds. This means that a modelling approach where the wash-off process is predicted as a continuous function of rainfall intensity and duration is not appropriate. Additionally, other than conventional catchment characteristics, namely, land use and impervious surface fraction, other catchment characteristics such as impervious area layout, urban form and site specific characteristics have an important influence on both, pollutant build-up and wash-off processes. Finally, the use of solids as a surrogate to estimate other pollutant species was found to be inappropriate. Individually considering build-up and wash-off processes for each pollutant species should be the preferred option. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Process evaluation of child health services at outreach sites during health and nutrition day (Mamta Day in urban slums of Western India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kedar Mehta

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Health indicators of rural and urban India show a wide variation. Rural areas have received large focus in child health services, but on the flip side, urban areas have been the last to receive such attention. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to include one randomly selected outreach session from all the 19 urban primary health centers of Vadodara city from April 2013 to May 2014. Nineteen session sites were observed for the process evaluation of three components of child health care, namely, “planning of Health and Nutrition Day,” “availability of vaccines/logistics,” and “direct observation of actual immunization process” at the site using a structured checklist. Results: Most of the vaccines and logistics were present at all 19 sites visited, but adverse events following immunization kit were observed at ten sites (52% only. Open vial policy, no-touch technique, and immediate cutting of syringe with hub cutter were implemented at all sites; however, completely filled Mamta Card was observed at 9 (47% sites only. All four key messages were given at 5 (26% sites only. Conclusion: Immunization services such as proper vaccine administration with no-touch technique and open vial policy were mainly focused; however, other services such as biomedical waste management, record keeping, and delivery of all four key messages need to be strengthened during Mamta Divas. Strengthening of other child health care services such as growth monitoring, Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses, and referral services is required in urban areas.

Solid Waste Landfill Site Selection in the Sense of Environment Sensitive Sustainable Urbanization: Izmir, Turkey Case

Science.gov (United States)

TÜdeş, Şule; Kumlu, Kadriye Burcu Yavuz

2017-10-01

Each stage of the planning process should be based on the natural resource protection, in the sense of environmental sensitive and sustainable urban planning. Values, which are vital for the continuity of the life in the Earth, as soil, water, forest etc. should be protected from the undesired effects of the pollution and the other effects caused by the high urbanization levels. In this context, GIS-MCDM based solid waste landfill site selection is applied for Izmir, Turkey, where is a significant attraction place for tourism. As Multi criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used. In this study, geological, tectonically and hydrological data, as well as agricultural land use, slope, distance to the settlement areas and the highways are used as inputs for AHP analysis. In the analysis stage, those inputs are rated and weighted. The weighted criteria are evaluated via GIS, by using weighted overlay tool. Therefore, an upper-scale analysis is conducted and a map, which shows the alternative places for the solid waste landfill sites, considering the environmental protection and evaluated in the context of environmental and urban criteria, are obtained.

Area-wide management of Aedes albopictus. Part 2: gauging the efficacy of traditional integrated pest control measures against urban container mosquitoes.

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, Dina M; Unlu, Isik; Crepeau, Taryn; Farajollahi, Ary; Healy, Sean P; Bartlett-Healy, Kristen; Strickman, Daniel; Gaugler, Randy; Hamilton, George; Kline, Daniel; Clark, Gary G

2013-12-01

Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) is an important disease vector and biting nuisance. During the 2009 active season, six ∼1000-parcel sites were studied, three in urban and three in suburban areas of New Jersey, United States, to examine the efficacy of standard integrated urban mosquito control strategies applied area wide. Active source reduction, larviciding, adulticiding and public education (source reduction through education) were implemented in one site in each county, an education-only approach was developed in a second site and a third site was used as an untreated experimental control. Populations were surveyed weekly with BG-Sentinel traps and ovitraps. A substantial reduction in Ae. albopictus populations was achieved in urban sites, but only modest reductions in suburban sites. Education alone achieved significant reductions in urban adult Ae. albopictus. Egg catches echoed adult catches only in suburban sites. There are significant socioeconomic and climatic differences between urban and suburban sites that impact upon Ae. albopictus populations and the efficacy of the control methods tested. An integrated pest management approach can affect abundances, but labor-intensive, costly source reduction was not enough to maintain Ae. albopictus counts below a nuisance threshold. Nighttime adult population suppression using truck-mounted adulticides can be effective. Area-wide cost-effective strategies are necessary. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Natural areas and urban populations: communication and environmental education challenges and actions in outdoor recreation

Science.gov (United States)

Deborah J. Chavez

2005-01-01

Challenges, opportunities, and actions exist in areas where large urban populations interface with natural areas, such as outdoor recreation sites in southern California. Challenges in the interface include intense recreation use, public safety issues, and complex information strategies. Research results on communications and environmental education offer opportunities...

Nest site selection and breeding success in three Turdus thrush species coexisting in an urban environment

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Mikula, P.; Hromada, M.; Albrecht, Tomáš; Tryjanowski, P.

2014-01-01

Roč. 49, č. 1 (2014), s. 83-92 ISSN 0001-6454 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : breeding success * coexistence * nest-habitat partitioning * nest site selection * predation * synurbization * urban habitat * thrushes Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 0.745, year: 2014

Breeding performance of blue tits (Cyanistes cæruleus ultramarinus) in relation to lead pollution and nest failure rates in rural, intermediate, and urban sites in Algeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Brahmia, Zahra; Scheifler, Renaud; Crini, Nadia; Maas, Samuel; Giraudoux, Patrick; Benyacoub, Slim

2013-03-01

The breeding parameters and the egg and nestling morphology of Cyanistes caeruleus populations from rural, intermediate, and urban sites in Algeria and the relationships of those variables with lead contamination were studied during three consecutive years. Breeding success was explained only by predation and vandalism rates. Predation was higher in the rural area, whereas vandalism was higher in the urban site. The other measured breeding parameters and egg characteristics were relatively insensitive to study site. The morphology of urban nestlings exhibited a trend toward smaller body size and mass compared to individuals from intermediate and rural sites. Although lead concentrations were higher in the tissues of urban birds than in intermediate and rural individuals, we did not detect a clear influence of this variable on nestling morphology. We conclude that urbanization influenced blue tit breeding parameters through predation and vandalism and nestling morphology through mechanisms other than lead pollution. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global assessment of urban and peri-urban agriculture: irrigated and rainfed croplands

Science.gov (United States)

Thebo, A. L.; Drechsel, P.; Lambin, E. F.

2014-11-01

The role of urban agriculture in global food security is a topic of increasing discussion. Existing research on urban and peri-urban agriculture consists largely of case studies that frequently use disparate definitions of urban and peri-urban agriculture depending on the local context and study objectives. This lack of consistency makes quantification of the extent of this practice at the global scale difficult. This study instead integrates global data on croplands and urban extents using spatial overlay analysis to estimate the global area of urban and peri-urban irrigated and rainfed croplands. The global area of urban irrigated croplands was estimated at about 24 Mha (11.0 percent of all irrigated croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.48. The global area of urban rainfed croplands found was approximately 44 Mha (4.7 percent of all rainfed croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.03. These values were derived from the MIRCA2000 Maximum Monthly Cropped Area Grids for irrigated and rainfed crops and therefore their sum does not necessarily represent the total urban cropland area when the maximum extent of irrigated and rainfed croplands occurs in different months. Further analysis of croplands within 20 km of urban extents show that 60 and 35 percent of, respectively, all irrigated and rainfed croplands fall within this distance range.

Global assessment of urban and peri-urban agriculture: irrigated and rainfed croplands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thebo, A L; Drechsel, P; Lambin, E F

2014-01-01

The role of urban agriculture in global food security is a topic of increasing discussion. Existing research on urban and peri-urban agriculture consists largely of case studies that frequently use disparate definitions of urban and peri-urban agriculture depending on the local context and study objectives. This lack of consistency makes quantification of the extent of this practice at the global scale difficult. This study instead integrates global data on croplands and urban extents using spatial overlay analysis to estimate the global area of urban and peri-urban irrigated and rainfed croplands. The global area of urban irrigated croplands was estimated at about 24 Mha (11.0 percent of all irrigated croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.48. The global area of urban rainfed croplands found was approximately 44 Mha (4.7 percent of all rainfed croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.03. These values were derived from the MIRCA2000 Maximum Monthly Cropped Area Grids for irrigated and rainfed crops and therefore their sum does not necessarily represent the total urban cropland area when the maximum extent of irrigated and rainfed croplands occurs in different months. Further analysis of croplands within 20 km of urban extents show that 60 and 35 percent of, respectively, all irrigated and rainfed croplands fall within this distance range. (letter)

The extent and intensity of the urban heat island in Iași city, Romania

Science.gov (United States)

Sfîcă, Lucian; Ichim, Pavel; Apostol, Liviu; Ursu, Adrian

2017-10-01

The study underlines the characteristics of the urban heat island of Iași (Iași's UHI) on the basis of 3 years of air temperature measurements obtained by fixed-point observations. We focus on the identification of UHI development and intensity as it is expressed by the temperature differences between the city centre and the rural surroundings. Annual, seasonal and daily characteristics of Iaşi's UHI are investigated at the level of the classical weather observation. In brief, an intensity of 0.8 °C of UHI and a spatial extension which corresponds to the densely built area of the city were delineated. The Iaşi UHI is stronger during summer calm nights—when the inner city is warmer with 2.5-3 °C than the surroundings—and is weaker during windy spring days. The specific features of Iași's UHI bear a profound connection to the specificity of the urban structure, the high atmospheric stability in the region and the local topography. Also, the effects of Iași's UHI upon some environmental aspects are presented as study cases. For instance, under the direct influence of UHI, we have observed that in the city centre, the apricot tree blossoms earlier (with up to 4 days) and the depth of the snow cover is significantly lower (with up to 10 cm for a rural snow depth of 30 cm) than in the surrounding areas.

Development of Intensity-Duration-Frequency curves at ungauged sites: risk management under changing climate

Science.gov (United States)

Liew, San Chuin; Raghavan, Srivatsan V.; Liong, Shie-Yui

2014-12-01

The impact of a changing climate is already being felt on several hydrological systems both on a regional and sub-regional scale of the globe. Southeast Asia is one of the regions strongly affected by climate change. With climate change, one of the anticipated impacts is an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall which further increase the region's flood catastrophes, human casualties and economic loss. Optimal mitigation measures can be undertaken only when stormwater systems are designed using rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves derived from a long and good quality rainfall data. Developing IDF curves for the future climate can be even more challenging especially for ungauged sites. The current practice to derive current climate's IDF curves for ungauged sites is, for example, to `borrow' or `interpolate' data from regions of climatologically similar characteristics. Recent measures to derive IDF curves for present climate was performed by extracting rainfall data from a high spatial resolution Regional Climate Model driven by ERA-40 reanalysis dataset. This approach has been demonstrated on an ungauged site (Java, Indonesia) and the results were quite promising. In this paper, the authors extend the application of the approach to other ungauged sites particularly in Peninsular Malaysia. The results of the study undoubtedly have significance contribution in terms of local and regional hydrology (Malaysia and Southeast Asian countries). The anticipated impacts of climate change especially increase in rainfall intensity and its frequency appreciates the derivation of future IDF curves in this study. It also provides policy makers better information on the adequacy of storm drainage design, for the current climate at the ungauged sites, and the adequacy of the existing storm drainage to cope with the impacts of climate change.

Influence of urban land cover changes and climate change for the exposure of European cities to flooding during high-intensity precipitation

OpenAIRE

Kaspersen, Per Skougaard; Høegh Ravn, Nanna; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten; Madsen, H.; Drews, Martin

2015-01-01

The extent and location of impervious surfaces within urban areas due to past and present city development strongly affects the amount and velocity of run-off during high-intensity rainfall and consequently influences the exposure of cities towards flooding. The frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall are expected to increase in many places due to climate change and thus further exacerbate the risk of pluvial flooding. This paper presents a combined hydrological-hydrodynamic modelling and...

Impacts of intensive forestry on early rotation trends in site carbon pools in the southeastern US

Science.gov (United States)

Raija Laiho; Felipe Sanchez; Allan Tiarks; Phillip M. Dougherty; Carl C. Trettin

2003-01-01

The effects of different silvicultural practices on site, especially soil, carbon (C) pools are still poorly known. We studied changes in site C pools during the first 5 years following harvesting and conversion of two extensively managed pine-hardwood stands to intensively managed loblolly pine plantations. One study site was located on the lower Atlantic Coastal...

Urinary Schistosomiasis in Urban and Semi-Urban Communities in South-Eastern Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ogochukwu Caroline Okeke

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Background: In view of the massive rural-to-urban migration in Nigeria, investiga­tions on transmission of urinary schistosomiasis were carried out in ur­ban and semi-urban communities in Nike Lake area of Enugu State, Nigeria.Methods: Urine samples of school children were tested for micro-haematuria using reagent strips followed by microscopic examination for Schistosoma haemato­bium eggs. Water contact sites were also identified and sampled for snails.Results: The overall prevalence of S. haematobium eggs in school children was 4.64%. The mean intensity of infection was 1.14 + 0.41 eggs/10ml urine. Males had insignificantly higher prevalence and intensity of S. haematobium infec­tion than females. The youngest age group (4-7 years had no infection. The preva­lence of micro-haematuria (6.2% was higher than that of microscopy, and this correlated positively with prevalence (r=0.65, P < 0.01 and intensity (r=0.50, P < 0.01 of the infection. Potential intermediate host of human shistosome collected were: Bulinus globosus, B. senegalensis and Biomphalaria pfeifferi. How­ever, only B. globosus shed cercariae of S. haematobium, with a snail infection rate of 0.73%. Transmission was in the dry season coinciding with the drying of wells.Conclusion: The results revealed that urinary schistosomiasis is prevalent, and that B. globosus and not B. truncatus as previously reported is the main interme­diate host of urinary schistosomiasis in this part of Enugu State

Development of Sub-Daily Intensity Duration Frequency (IDF) Curves for Major Urban Areas in India

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, H.; Mishra, V.

2014-12-01

Extreme precipitation events disrupt urban transportation and cause enormous damage to infrastructure. Urban areas are fast responding catchments due to significant impervious surface. Stormwater designs based on daily rainfall data provide inadequate information. We, therefore, develop intensity-duration-frequency curves using sub-daily (1 hour to 12 hour) rainfall data for 57 major urban areas in India. While rain gage stations data from urban areas are most suitable, but stations are unevenly distributed and their data have gaps and inconsistencies. Therefore, we used hourly rainfall data from the Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), which provides a long term data (1979 onwards). Since reanalysis products have uncertainty associated with them we need to enhance their accuracy before their application. We compared daily rain gage station data obtained from Global Surface Summary of Day Data (GSOD) available for 65 stations for the period of 2000-2010 with gridded daily rainfall data provided by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). 3-hourly data from NOAA/Climate Prediction Center morphing technique (CMORPH), Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN), and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) were aggregated to daily for comparison with GSOD station data . TMPA is found to be best correlated with GSOD data. We used TMPA data to correct MERRA's hourly precipitation, which were applied to develop IDF curves. We compared results with IDF curves from empirical methods and found substantial disparities in the existing stormwater designs in India.

Development of a concept for non-monetary assessment of urban ecosystem services at the site level.

Science.gov (United States)

Wurster, Daniel; Artmann, Martina

2014-05-01

Determining the performance of ecosystem services at the city or regional level cannot accurately take into account the fine differences between green or gray structures. The supply of regulating ecosystem services in, for instance, parks can differ as parks vary in their land cover composition. A comprehensive ecosystem service assessment approach also needs to reflect land use to consider the demands placed on ecosystem services, which are mostly neglected by current research yet important for urban planning. For instance, if a sealed surface is no longer used, it could be unsealed to improve ecosystem service supply. Because of these scientific shortcomings, this article argues for a conceptual framework for the non-monetary assessment of urban ecosystem services at the site scale. This paper introduces a standardized method for selecting representative sites and evaluating their supply of and demand on ecosystem services. The conceptual design is supplemented by examples of Salzburg, Austria.

Integrated site investigation and groundwater monitoring in an urban environment

Science.gov (United States)

Weatherl, R. K.

2017-12-01

Understanding groundwater dynamics around cities and other areas of human influence is of crucial importance for water resource management and protection, especially in a time of environmental and societal change. The human environment presents a unique challenge in terms of hydrological characterization, as the water cycle is generally artificialized and emissions of treated waste and chemical products into the surface- and groundwater system tend to disrupt the natural aqueous signature in significant ways. This project presents an integrated approach for robust characterization and monitoring of an urban aquifer which is actively exploited for municipal water supply. The study is carried out in the town of Fehraltorf, in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. This particular town encompasses industrial and agricultural zones in addition to its standard urban setting. A minimal amount of data exist at this site, and the data that do exist are spatially and temporally sparse. Making use of traditional hydrogeological methods alongside evolving and emerging technologies, we aim to identify sources of contamination and to define groundwater flow and solute transport through space and time. Chemical and physical indicator parameters are identified for tracing contaminations including micropollutants and plant nutrients. Wireless sensors are installed for continuous on-line monitoring of essential parameters (electrical conductivity, temperature, water level). A wireless sensor network has previously been installed in the sewer system of the study site, facilitating investigation into interactions between sewer water and groundwater. Our approach illustrates the relations between land use, climate, rainfall dynamics, and the groundwater signature through time. At its conclusion, insights gained from this study will be used by municipal authorities to refine protective zones around pumping wells and to direct resources towards updating practices and replacing

Evolution of Multispectral Aerosol Absorption Properties in a Biogenically-Influenced Urban Environment during the CARES Campaign

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gyawali, Madhu; Arnott, W.; Zaveri, Rahul; Song, Chen; Flowers, Bradley; Dubey, Manvendra; Setyan, Ari; Zhang, Qi; China, Swarup; Mazzoleni, Claudio; Gorkowski, Kyle; Subramanian, R.; Moosmüller, Hans

2017-11-01

We present the evolution of multispectral optical properties as urban aerosols aged and interacted with biogenic emissions resulting in stronger short wavelength absorption and formation of moderately brown secondary organic aerosols. Ground-based aerosol measurements were made during June 2010 within the Sacramento urban area (site T0) and at a 40-km downwind location (site T1) in the forested Sierra Nevada foothills area. Data on black carbon and non-refractory aerosol mass and composition were collected at both sites. In addition, photoacoustic (PA) instruments with integrating nephelometers were used to measure spectral absorption and scattering coefficients for wavelengths ranging from 355 to 870 nm. The daytime absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) indicated a modest wavelength-dependent enhancement of absorption at both sites throughout the study. From the 22nd to the 28th of June, secondary organic aerosol mass increased significantly at both sites due to increased biogenic emissions coupled with intense photochemical activity and air mass recirculation in the area. During this period, the median BC mass-normalized absorption cross-section (MAC) values for 405 nm and 532 nm at T1 increased by ~23% and ~35%, respectively, compared to the relatively less aged urban emissions at the T0 site. In contrast, the average MAC values for the 870 nm wavelength were similar for both sites. These results suggest formation of moderately brown secondary organic aerosols in biogenically-influenced urban air.

Comparison of atmospheric concentrations of currently used pesticides between urban and rural areas during intensive application period in Alsace (France) by using XAD-2® based passive samplers.

Science.gov (United States)

Liaud, Celine; Schwartz, Jean-Jacques; Millet, Maurice

2017-07-03

XAD-2® passive samplers (PAS) have been exposed simultaneously for 14 days on two sites, one rural and one urban, situated in Alsace (East of France) during intensive pesticides application in agriculture (between March and September). PAS have been extracted and analyzed for current-used pesticides and lindane with an analytical method coupling accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and GC/MS/MS. Results show the detection of pesticides is linked to the period of application and spatial and temporal variabilities can be observed with these PAS during the selected sampling period. The spatial and temporal variability is comparable to the one previously observed by comparing data obtained with PAS with data from Hi.-Vol. samplers in an urban area. Sampling rates were calculated for some pesticides and values are comparable to the data already available in the literature. From these sampling rates, concentrations in ng m -3 of pesticides in PAS have been calculated and are in the same order of magnitude as those obtained with Hi.Vol. sampling during the same period of time.

Influence of urban land cover changes and climate change for the exposure of European cities to flooding during high-intensity precipitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Skougaard Kaspersen

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The extent and location of impervious surfaces within urban areas due to past and present city development strongly affects the amount and velocity of run-off during high-intensity rainfall and consequently influences the exposure of cities towards flooding. The frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall are expected to increase in many places due to climate change and thus further exacerbate the risk of pluvial flooding. This paper presents a combined hydrological-hydrodynamic modelling and remote sensing approach suitable for examining the susceptibility of European cities to pluvial flooding owing to recent changes in urban land cover, under present and future climatic conditions. Estimated changes in impervious urban surfaces based on Landsat satellite imagery covering the period 1984–2014 are combined with regionally downscaled estimates of current and expected future rainfall extremes to enable 2-D overland flow simulations and flood hazard assessments. The methodology is evaluated for the Danish city of Odense. Results suggest that the past 30 years of urban development alone has increased the city's exposure to pluvial flooding by 6% for 10-year rainfall up to 26% for 100-year rainfall. Corresponding estimates for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate change scenarios (2071–2100 are in the order of 40 and 100%, indicating that land cover changes within cities can play a central role for the cities' exposure to flooding and conversely also for their adaptation to a changed climate.

Influence of urban land cover changes and climate change for the exposure of European cities to flooding during high-intensity precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Skougaard Kaspersen, P.; Høegh Ravn, N.; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, K.; Madsen, H.; Drews, M.

2015-06-01

The extent and location of impervious surfaces within urban areas due to past and present city development strongly affects the amount and velocity of run-off during high-intensity rainfall and consequently influences the exposure of cities towards flooding. The frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall are expected to increase in many places due to climate change and thus further exacerbate the risk of pluvial flooding. This paper presents a combined hydrological-hydrodynamic modelling and remote sensing approach suitable for examining the susceptibility of European cities to pluvial flooding owing to recent changes in urban land cover, under present and future climatic conditions. Estimated changes in impervious urban surfaces based on Landsat satellite imagery covering the period 1984-2014 are combined with regionally downscaled estimates of current and expected future rainfall extremes to enable 2-D overland flow simulations and flood hazard assessments. The methodology is evaluated for the Danish city of Odense. Results suggest that the past 30 years of urban development alone has increased the city's exposure to pluvial flooding by 6% for 10-year rainfall up to 26% for 100-year rainfall. Corresponding estimates for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate change scenarios (2071-2100) are in the order of 40 and 100%, indicating that land cover changes within cities can play a central role for the cities' exposure to flooding and conversely also for their adaptation to a changed climate.

Use of CFD modeling for estimating spatial representativeness of urban air pollution monitoring sites and suitability of their locations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, J. L.; Martin, F.

2015-01-01

A methodology to estimate the spatial representativeness of air pollution monitoring sites is applied to two urban districts. This methodology is based on high resolution maps of air pollution computed by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling tools. Traffic-emitted NO 2 dispersion is simulated for several meteorological conditions taking into account the effect of the buildings on air flow and pollutant dispersion and using a steady state CFD-RANS approach. From these results, maps of average pollutant concentrations for January -May 2011 are computed as a combination of the simulated scenarios. Two urban districts of Madrid City were simulated. Spatial representativeness areas for 32 different sites within the same district (including the site of the operative air quality stations) have been estimated by computing the portion of the domains with average NO 2 concentration differing less than a 20% of the concentration at each candidate monitoring site. New parameters such as the ratio AR between the representativeness area and the whole domain area or the representativeness index (IR) has been proposed to discuss and compare the representativeness areas. Significant differences between the spatial representativeness of the candidate sites of both studied districts have been found. The sites of the Escuelas Aguirre district have generally smaller representativeness areas than those of the Plaza de Castilla. More stations are needed to cover the Escuelas Aguirre district than for the Plaza de Castilla one. The operative air quality station of the Escuelas Aguirre district is less representative than the station of the Plaza de Castilla district. The cause of these differences seems to be the differences in urban structure of both districts prompting different ventilation. (Author)

Use of CFD modeling for estimating spatial representativeness of urban air pollution monitoring sites and suitability of their locations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santiago, J. L.; Martin, F.

2015-07-01

A methodology to estimate the spatial representativeness of air pollution monitoring sites is applied to two urban districts. This methodology is based on high resolution maps of air pollution computed by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling tools. Traffic-emitted NO{sub 2} dispersion is simulated for several meteorological conditions taking into account the effect of the buildings on air flow and pollutant dispersion and using a steady state CFD-RANS approach. From these results, maps of average pollutant concentrations for January -May 2011 are computed as a combination of the simulated scenarios. Two urban districts of Madrid City were simulated. Spatial representativeness areas for 32 different sites within the same district (including the site of the operative air quality stations) have been estimated by computing the portion of the domains with average NO{sub 2} concentration differing less than a 20% of the concentration at each candidate monitoring site. New parameters such as the ratio AR between the representativeness area and the whole domain area or the representativeness index (IR) has been proposed to discuss and compare the representativeness areas. Significant differences between the spatial representativeness of the candidate sites of both studied districts have been found. The sites of the Escuelas Aguirre district have generally smaller representativeness areas than those of the Plaza de Castilla. More stations are needed to cover the Escuelas Aguirre district than for the Plaza de Castilla one. The operative air quality station of the Escuelas Aguirre district is less representative than the station of the Plaza de Castilla district. The cause of these differences seems to be the differences in urban structure of both districts prompting different ventilation. (Author)

Use of CFD modeling for estimating spatial representativeness of urban air pollution monitoring sites and suitability of their locations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santiago, J.L.; Martin, F.

2015-07-01

A methodology to estimate the spatial representativeness of air pollution monitoring sites is applied to two urban districts. This methodology is based on high resolution maps of air pollution computed by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling tools. Traffic-emitted NO2 dispersion is simulated for several meteorological conditions taking into account the effect of the buildings on air flow and pollutant dispersion and using a steady state CFD-RANS approach. From these results, maps of average pollutant concentrations for January–May 2011 are computed as a combination of the simulated scenarios. Two urban districts of Madrid City were simulated. Spatial representativeness areas for 32 different sites within the same district (including the site of the operative air quality stations) have been estimated by computing the portion of the domains with average NO2 concentration differing less than a 20% of the concentration at each candidate monitoring site. New parameters such as the ratio AR between the representativeness area and the whole domain area or the representativeness index (IR) has been proposed to discuss and compare the representativeness areas. Significant differences between the spatial representativeness of the candidate sites of both studied districts have been found. The sites of the Escuelas Aguirre district have generally smaller representativeness areas than those of the Plaza de Castilla. More stations are needed to cover the Escuelas Aguirre district than for the Plaza de Castilla one. The operative air quality station of the Escuelas Aguirre district is less representative than the station of the Plaza de Castilla district. The cause of these differences seems to be the differences in urban structure of both districts prompting different ventilation. (Author)

Population, behavioural and physiological responses of an urban population of black swans to an intense annual noise event.

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Catherine J; Jessop, Tim S; Guay, Patrick-Jean; Johnstone, Michele; Feore, Megan; Mulder, Raoul A

2012-01-01

Wild animals in urban environments are exposed to a broad range of human activities that have the potential to disturb their life history and behaviour. Wildlife responses to disturbance can range from emigration to modified behaviour, or elevated stress, but these responses are rarely evaluated in concert. We simultaneously examined population, behavioural and hormonal responses of an urban population of black swans Cygnus atratus before, during and after an annual disturbance event involving large crowds and intense noise, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Black swan population numbers were lowest one week before the event and rose gradually over the course of the study, peaking after the event, suggesting that the disturbance does not trigger mass emigration. We also found no difference in the proportion of time spent on key behaviours such as locomotion, foraging, resting or self-maintenance over the course of the study. However, basal and capture stress-induced corticosterone levels showed significant variation, consistent with a modest physiological response. Basal plasma corticosterone levels were highest before the event and decreased over the course of the study. Capture-induced stress levels peaked during the Grand Prix and then also declined over the remainder of the study. Our results suggest that even intensely noisy and apparently disruptive events may have relatively low measurable short-term impact on population numbers, behaviour or physiology in urban populations with apparently high tolerance to anthropogenic disturbance. Nevertheless, the potential long-term impact of such disturbance on reproductive success, individual fitness and population health will need to be carefully evaluated.

Population, behavioural and physiological responses of an urban population of black swans to an intense annual noise event.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine J Payne

Full Text Available Wild animals in urban environments are exposed to a broad range of human activities that have the potential to disturb their life history and behaviour. Wildlife responses to disturbance can range from emigration to modified behaviour, or elevated stress, but these responses are rarely evaluated in concert. We simultaneously examined population, behavioural and hormonal responses of an urban population of black swans Cygnus atratus before, during and after an annual disturbance event involving large crowds and intense noise, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Black swan population numbers were lowest one week before the event and rose gradually over the course of the study, peaking after the event, suggesting that the disturbance does not trigger mass emigration. We also found no difference in the proportion of time spent on key behaviours such as locomotion, foraging, resting or self-maintenance over the course of the study. However, basal and capture stress-induced corticosterone levels showed significant variation, consistent with a modest physiological response. Basal plasma corticosterone levels were highest before the event and decreased over the course of the study. Capture-induced stress levels peaked during the Grand Prix and then also declined over the remainder of the study. Our results suggest that even intensely noisy and apparently disruptive events may have relatively low measurable short-term impact on population numbers, behaviour or physiology in urban populations with apparently high tolerance to anthropogenic disturbance. Nevertheless, the potential long-term impact of such disturbance on reproductive success, individual fitness and population health will need to be carefully evaluated.

Spatial characterization of catchment dispersion mechanisms in an urban context

Science.gov (United States)

Rossel, Florian; Gironás, Jorge; Mejía, Alfonso; Rinaldo, Andrea; Rodriguez, Fabrice

2014-12-01

Previous studies have examined in-depth the dispersion mechanisms in natural catchments. In contrast, these dispersion mechanisms have been studied little in urban catchments, where artificial transport elements and morphological arrangements are expected to modify travel times and mobilize excess rainfall from spatially distributed impervious sites. This has the ability to modify the variance of the catchment's travel times and hence the total dispersion. This work quantifies the dispersion mechanisms in an urban catchment using the theory of transport by travel times as represented by the Urban Morpho-climatic Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (U-McIUH) model. The U-McIUH computes travel times based on kinematic wave theory and accounts explicitly for the path heterogeneities and altered connectivity patterns characteristic of an urban drainage network. The analysis is illustrated using the Aubinière urban catchment in France as a case study. We found that kinematic dispersion is dominant for small rainfall intensities, whereas geomorphologic dispersion becomes more dominant for larger intensities. The total dispersion scales with the drainage area in a power law fashion. The kinematic dispersion is dominant across spatial scales up to a threshold of approximately 2-3 km2, after which the geomorphologic dispersion becomes more dominant. Overall, overland flow is responsible for most of the dispersion in the catchment, while conduits tend to counteract the increase of the geomorphologic dispersion with a negative kinematic dispersion. Further study with other catchments is needed to asses if the latter is a general feature of urban drainage networks.

Estimation of PAHs dry deposition and BaP toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) study at Urban, Industry Park and rural sampling sites in central Taiwan, Taichung.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Guor-Cheng; Chang, Kuan-Foo; Lu, Chungsying; Bai, Hsunling

2004-05-01

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in gas phase and particle bound were measured simultaneously at industrial (INDUSTRY), urban (URBAN), and rural areas (RURAL) in Taichung, Taiwan. And the PAH concentrations, size distributions, estimated PAHs dry deposition fluxes and health risk study of PAHs in the ambient air of central Taiwan were discussed in this study. Total PAH concentrations at INDUSTRY, URBAN, and RURAL sampling sites were found to be 1650 +/- 1240, 1220 +/- 520, and 831 +/- 427 ng/m3, respectively. The results indicated that PAH concentrations were higher at INDUSTRY and URBAN sampling sites than the RURAL sampling sites because of the more industrial processes, traffic exhausts and human activities. The estimation dry deposition and size distribution of PAHs were also studied. The results indicated that the estimated dry deposition fluxes of total PAHs were 58.5, 48.8, and 38.6 microg/m2/day at INDUSTRY, URBAN, and RURAL, respectively. The BaP equivalency results indicated that the health risk of gas phase PAHs were higher than the particle phase at three sampling sites of central Taiwan. However, compared with the BaP equivalency results to other studies conducted in factory, this study indicated the health risk of PAHs was acceptable in the ambient air of central Taiwan.

The promise and peril of intensive-site-based ecological research: insights from the Hubbard Brook ecosystem study

Science.gov (United States)

Timothy J. Fahey; Pamela H. Templer; Bruce T. Anderson; John J. Battles; John L. Campbell; Charles T. Driscoll; Anthony R. Fusco; Mark B. Green; Karim-Aly S. Kassam; Nicholas L. Rodenhouse; Lindsey Rustad; Paul G. Schaberg; Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur

2015-01-01

Ecological research is increasingly concentrated at particular locations or sites. This trend reflects a variety of advantages of intensive, site-based research, but also raises important questions about the nature of such spatially delimited research: how well does site based research represent broader areas, and does it constrain scientific discovery? We provide an...

Scheduling the Remediation of Port Hope: Logistical and Regulatory Challenges of a Multiple Site Urban Remediation Project - 13119

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson Jones, Andrea; Lee, Angela; Palmeter, Tim

2013-01-01

The Port Hope Project is part of the larger CAN$1.28 billion Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI), a community-based program for the development and implementation of a safe, local, long-term management solution for historic Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) in the Municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington, Ontario, Canada. Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) is the Project Proponent, Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC) is managing the procurement of services and the MMM Group Limited - Conestoga Rovers and Associates Joint Venture (MMM-CRA Joint Venture) is providing detailed design and construction oversight and administration services for the Project. The Port Hope Project includes the construction of a long-term waste management facility (LTWMF) in the Municipality of Port Hope and the remediation of 18 (eighteen) large-scale LLRW, numerous small-scale sites still being identified and industrial sites within the Municipality. The total volume to be remediated is over one million cubic metres and will come from sites that include temporary storage sites, ravines, beaches, parks, private commercial and residential properties and vacant industrial sites all within the urban area of Port Hope. Challenges that will need to be overcome during this 10 year project include: - Requirements stipulated by the Environmental Assessment (EA) that affect Project logistics and schedule. - Coordination of site remediation with the construction schedule at the LTWMF. - Physical constraints on transport routes and at sites affecting production rates. - Despite being an urban undertaking, seasonal constrains for birds and fish (i.e., nesting and spawning seasons). - Municipal considerations. - Site-specific constraints. - Site interdependencies exist requiring consideration in the schedule. Several sites require the use of an adjacent site for staging. (authors)

Scheduling the Remediation of Port Hope: Logistical and Regulatory Challenges of a Multiple Site Urban Remediation Project - 13119

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferguson Jones, Andrea; Lee, Angela [MMM Group Limited, 100 Commerce Valley Drive West, Thornhill, Ontario, L3T 0A1 (Canada); Palmeter, Tim [Public Works and Government Services Canada, 4900 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M2N 6A6 (Canada)

2013-07-01

The Port Hope Project is part of the larger CAN$1.28 billion Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI), a community-based program for the development and implementation of a safe, local, long-term management solution for historic Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) in the Municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington, Ontario, Canada. Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) is the Project Proponent, Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC) is managing the procurement of services and the MMM Group Limited - Conestoga Rovers and Associates Joint Venture (MMM-CRA Joint Venture) is providing detailed design and construction oversight and administration services for the Project. The Port Hope Project includes the construction of a long-term waste management facility (LTWMF) in the Municipality of Port Hope and the remediation of 18 (eighteen) large-scale LLRW, numerous small-scale sites still being identified and industrial sites within the Municipality. The total volume to be remediated is over one million cubic metres and will come from sites that include temporary storage sites, ravines, beaches, parks, private commercial and residential properties and vacant industrial sites all within the urban area of Port Hope. Challenges that will need to be overcome during this 10 year project include: - Requirements stipulated by the Environmental Assessment (EA) that affect Project logistics and schedule. - Coordination of site remediation with the construction schedule at the LTWMF. - Physical constraints on transport routes and at sites affecting production rates. - Despite being an urban undertaking, seasonal constrains for birds and fish (i.e., nesting and spawning seasons). - Municipal considerations. - Site-specific constraints. - Site interdependencies exist requiring consideration in the schedule. Several sites require the use of an adjacent site for staging. (authors)

Comparison of mosquito control programs in seven urban sites in Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.

Science.gov (United States)

Impoinvil, Daniel E; Ahmad, Sajjad; Troyo, Adriana; Keating, Joseph; Githeko, Andrew K; Mbogo, Charles M; Kibe, Lydiah; Githure, John I; Gad, Adel M; Hassan, Ali N; Orshan, Laor; Warburg, Alon; Calderón-Arguedas, Olger; Sánchez-Loría, Victoria M; Velit-Suarez, Rosanna; Chadee, Dave D; Novak, Robert J; Beier, John C

2007-10-01

Mosquito control programs at seven urban sites in Kenya, Egypt, Israel, Costa Rica, and Trinidad are described and compared. Site-specific urban and disease characteristics, organizational diagrams, and strengths, weaknesses, obstacles and threats (SWOT) analysis tools are used to provide a descriptive assessment of each mosquito control program, and provide a comparison of the factors affecting mosquito abatement. The information for SWOT analysis is collected from surveys, focus-group discussions, and personal communication. SWOT analysis identified various issues affecting the efficiency and sustainability of mosquito control operations. The main outcome of our work was the description and comparison of mosquito control operations within the context of each study site's biological, social, political, management, and economic conditions. The issues identified in this study ranged from lack of inter-sector collaboration to operational issues of mosquito control efforts. A lack of sustainable funding for mosquito control was a common problem for most sites. Many unique problems were also identified, which included lack of mosquito surveillance, lack of law enforcement, and negative consequences of human behavior. Identifying common virtues and shortcomings of mosquito control operations is useful in identifying "best practices" for mosquito control operations, thus leading to better control of mosquito biting and mosquito-borne disease transmission.

Water-energy nexus for urban water systems: A comparative review on energy intensity and environmental impacts in relation to global water risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Mengshan; Keller, Arturo A.; Chiang, Pen-Chi; Den, Walter; Wang, Hongtao; Hou, Chia-Hung; Wu, Jiang; Wang, Xin; Yan, Jinyue

2017-01-01

Highlights: •This study quantifies the nexus as energy intensity and greenhouse gas potential. •Baseline water stress and return flow ratio are identified as water risks. •Source water accessibility significantly contributes to variations in the nexus. •Water risks have little impact on the nexus of wastewater systems. •Study on the nexus is suggested to be conducted at regional levels. -- Abstract: The importance of the interdependence between water and energy, also known as the water-energy nexus, is well recognized. The water-energy nexus is typically characterized in resource use efficiency terms such as energy intensity. This study aims to explore the quantitative results of the nexus in terms of energy intensity and environmental impacts (mainly greenhouse gas emissions) on existing water systems within urban water cycles. We also characterized the influence of water risks on the water-energy nexus, including baseline water stress (a water quantity indicator) and return flow ratio (a water quality indicator). For the 20 regions and 4 countries surveyed (including regions with low to extremely high water risks that are geographically located in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America), their energy intensities were positively related to the water risks. Regions with higher water risks were observed to have relatively higher energy and GHG intensities associated with their water supply systems. This mainly reflected the major influence of source water accessibility on the nexus, particularly for regions requiring energy-intensive imported or groundwater supplies, or desalination. Regions that use tertiary treatment (for water reclamation or environmental protection) for their wastewater treatment systems also had relatively higher energy and GHG emission intensities, but the intensities seemed to be independent from the water risks. On-site energy recovery (e.g., biogas or waste heat) in the wastewater treatment systems offered a great

Sustainability of High Intensity Forest Management with Respect to Water QuaIity and Site Nutrient Reserves

Science.gov (United States)

Virginia R. Tolbert; Carl C. Trettin; Dale W. Johnson; John W. Parsons; Allan E. Houston; David A. Mays

2001-01-01

Ensuring sustainability of intensively managed woody crops requires determining soil and water quality effects using a combination of field data and modeling projections. Plot- and catchrnent-scale research, models, and meta-analyses are addressing nutrient availability, site quality, and measures to increase short-rotation woody crop (SRWC) productivity and site...

Physical and Chemical Aerosol Properties At An Urban and A Rural Site During An Episode of Strong Photochemical Activity During Escompte

Science.gov (United States)

van Dingenen, R.; Putaud, J. P.; dell'Acqua, A.; Martins-Dos Santos, S.; Viidanoja, J.; Raes, F.

During the ESCOMPTE campaign (10 June to 14 July, 2001), JRC mobile laboratories for aerosol physical and chemical measurements were deployed at two ground-based sites: Vallon Dol, located at the Northern edge of the Marseille agglomeration and Vi- non, a rural site about 80 km North-East of Marseille. Both sites were equipped with on-line instrumentation for number size distributions in the diameter size range 6nm to 10µm (10 minute time resolution), equivalent black carbon (15 minute time reso- lution), major anions and cations (15 minute time resolution). Time-integrated filter sampling at each site with a time resolution of 6-12 hours was performed with 2 sets of virtual impactors, separating the fine and coarse aerosol fraction. One set, loaded with quartz filters, was analyzed off-line using the `evolved gas analysis` technique for organic and elemental carbon. The second set, loaded with paper filters, was analyzed for dust (by ashing) and ionic composition. On top of the common instrumentation, the urban site was additionally performing on-line PM10 measurements (TEOM with sample equilibration system, 10 minute time resolution) and, during intensive obser- vation periods (IOP), size-segregated sampling with a 8 stage low-pressure Berner im- pactor (6-12 hours time resolution). In this presentation we will focus on data obtained during the second IOP (20-6 to 26-6). During this episode, the sea-breeze transported Marseille pollution plume was clearly observed at the Vinon rural site. Comparison of the aerosol properties at both sites will allow to evaluate the processes that contribute to the (trans)formation of particulate matter in the particular conditions of a marine air mass, mixed with local pollution and undergoing strong photochemical processes during in-land transport.

Monitoring and Modeling Carbon Dynamics at a Network of Intensive Sites in the USA and Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Birdsey, R.; Wayson, C.; Johnson, K. D.; Pan, Y.; Angeles, G.; De Jong, B. H.; Andrade, J. L.; Dai, Z.

2013-05-01

The Forest Services of the USA and Mexico, supported by NASA and USAID, have begun to establish a network of intensive forest carbon monitoring sites. These sites are used for research and teaching, developing forest management practices, and forging links to the needs of communities. Several of the sites have installed eddy flux towers to basic meteorology data and daily estimates of forest carbon uptake and release, the processes that determine forest growth. Field sampling locations at each site provide estimates of forest biomass and carbon stocks, and monitor forest dynamic processes such as growth and mortality rates. Remote sensing facilitates scaling up to the surrounding landscapes. The sites support information requirements for implementing programs such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), enabling communities to receive payments for ecosystem services such as reduced carbon emissions or improved forest management. In addition to providing benchmark data for REDD+ projects, the sites are valuable for validating state and national estimates from satellite remote sensing and the national forest inventory. Data from the sites provide parameters for forest models that support strategic management analysis, and support student training and graduate projects. The intensive monitoring sites may be a model for other countries in Latin America. Coordination among sites in the USA, Mexico and other Latin American countries can ensure harmonization of approaches and data, and share experiences and knowledge among countries with emerging opportunities for implementing REDD+ and other conservation programs.

Effect of intensive education on knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding upper respiratory infections among urban Latinos.

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Elaine L; Ferng, Yu-Hui; McLoughlin, Jennifer Wong; Wang, Shuang; Morse, Stephen S

2009-01-01

Although upper respiratory infections (URIs) take a major social and economic toll, little research has been conducted to assess the impact of educational interventions on knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community members regarding prevention and treatment of URIs, particularly among recently immigrated urban Latinos who may not be reached by the mainstream healthcare system. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a culturally appropriate, home-based educational intervention on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding prevention and treatment of URIs among urban Latinos. Using a pretest-posttest design, Spanish-language educational materials available from sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were adapted based on feedback from community focus groups and provided to households during an in-person home visit every 2 months (generally three to four visits). Outcome data regarding knowledge, attitudes, and practices were collected in home-based interviews using an 85-item instrument adapted and pilot tested from three other validated instruments. Nonparametric and multiple linear regression analyses were used to summarize data and identify predictors of knowledge scores. Four hundred twenty-two households had complete data at baseline and 6 months. Knowledge and attitude scores were improved significantly, and use of alcohol hand sanitizer and rates of influenza vaccine were increased significantly (all p effectiveness of such a person-intensive intervention, the long-term outcomes, and whether less intensive interventions might be equally effective.

Chemical control of vegetation on urban sites: agronomic and ecotoxicological aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zanin, G.; Otto, S.

1996-01-01

The problem of the chemical control of spontaneous vegetation on urban sites is tackled. A method is presented to identify the best herbicides under both the agronomic and ecotoxicological aspects. Selection of the herbicides from the agronomic point of view is on the basis of the qualitative characteristics of the vegetation (life-form types periodicity types botanical composition), surveyed at 5 different times on the year while selection from the environmental viewpoint is based on an evaluation integrated with a series of ecotoxicological indices. The best solution was tested in a pilot area and the contamination of the water compartment evaluated both on entering and leaving the water treatment works

Prospective study on prevalence, intensity, type, and therapy of acute pain in a second-level urban emergency department

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mura P

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Paolo Mura,1 Elisabetta Serra,1 Franco Marinangeli,2 Sebastiano Patti,3 Mario Musu,1 Ilenia Piras,3 Maria Valeria Massidda,1 Giorgio Pia,3 Maurizio Evangelista,4 Gabriele Finco1 1Department of Medical Sciences “M. Aresu”, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy; 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Santissima Trinità Hospital, Cagliari, Italy; 4Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Cattolica University, Rome, Italy Aim: Pain represents the most frequent cause for patient admission to emergency departments (EDs. Oligoanalgesia is a common problem in this field. The aims of this study were to assess prevalence and intensity of pain in patients who visited a second-level urban ED and to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacological treatment administered subsequent to variations in pain intensity. Methods: A 4-week prospective observational study was carried out on 2,838 patients who visited a second-level urban ED. Pain intensity was evaluated using the Numeric Rating Scale at the moment of triage. The efficacy of prescribed analgesic therapy was evaluated at 30 and 60 minutes, and at discharge. Data concerning pain intensity were classified as absent, slight, mild, or severe. Pain was evaluated in relation to the prescribed therapy. Results: Pain prevalence was 70.7%. Traumatic events were the primary cause in most cases (40.44%, followed by pain linked to urologic problems (13.52%, abdominal pain (13.39%, and nontraumatic musculoskeletal pain (7.10%. Only 32.46% of patients were given pharmacological therapy. Of these, 76% reported severe pain, 19% moderate, and 5% slight, and 66% received nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or paracetamol, 4% opioids, and 30% other therapies. A difference of at least 2 points on the Numerical Rating Scale was observed in 84% of patients on reevaluation following initial analgesic therapy

Data on solar sunburning ultraviolet (UVB radiation at an urban Mediterranean climate

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Katerina G. Pantavou

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This article describes data on the intensity of ultraviolet B (UVB radiation collected during field questionnaire-based surveys in Athens, Greece. The surveys were conducted over 11 days of July and October 2010 at three different urban, outdoor sites. A total of 1104 interviews were conducted. The participants were asked to report whether they felt they got a sunburn at the moment of the interview. Questions related to personal characteristics including skin type and exposure time (visit duration at the interview site were also included in the questionnaire.

Level and intensity of objectively assessed physical activity among pregnant women from urban Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hjorth Mads F

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Women in low-income countries are generally considered to have a high physical workload which is sustained during pregnancy. Although most previous studies have been based on questionnaires a recent meta-analysis of doubly labeled water data has raised questions about the actual amount of physical activity performed. In this study we report objectively assessed levels of physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular fitness among pregnant urban Ethiopian women, and their association with demographic characteristics and anthropometric measures. Methods Physical activity was measured for seven consecutive days in 304 women using a combined uniaxial accelerometer and heart rate sensor. Activity energy expenditure was determined using a group calibration in a branched equation model framework. Type and duration of activities were reported using a 24-hour physical activity recall and grip strength was assessed using a dynamometer. Results Median (interquartile-range, IQR activity energy expenditure was 31.1 (23.7-42.0 kJ/kg/day corresponding to a median (IQR physical activity level of 1.46 (1.39-1.58. Median (IQR time in sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous intensity was 1100 (999–1175, 303 (223–374 and 40 (22–69 min/day, respectively. Mean (standard deviation sleeping heart rate was 73.6 (8.0 beats/min and grip strength was 21.6 (4.5 kg. Activity energy expenditure was 14% higher for every 10 cm2 difference in arm muscle area and 10% lower for every 10 cm2 difference in arm fat area and 10-week difference in gestational age. Conclusion The level and intensity of physical activity among pregnant women from urban Ethiopia is low compared to non-pregnant women from other low income countries as well as pregnant European women from high-income countries.

Reduced Ultrafine Particle Concentration in Urban Air: Changes in Nucleation and Anthropogenic Emissions.

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Saha, Provat K; Robinson, Ellis S; Shah, Rishabh U; Zimmerman, Naomi; Apte, Joshua S; Robinson, Allen L; Presto, Albert A

2018-06-19

Nucleation is an important source of ambient ultrafine particles (UFP). We present observational evidence of the changes in the frequency and intensity of nucleation events in urban air by analyzing long-term particle size distribution measurements at an urban background site in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during 2001-2002 and 2016-2017. We find that both frequency and intensity of nucleation events have been reduced by 40-50% over the past 15 years, resulting in a 70% reduction in UFP concentrations from nucleation. On average, the particle growth rates are 30% slower than 15 years ago. We attribute these changes to dramatic reductions in SO 2 (more than 90%) and other pollutant concentrations. Overall, UFP concentrations in Pittsburgh have been reduced by ∼48% in the past 15 years, with a ∼70% reduction in nucleation, ∼27% in weekday local sources (e.g., weekday traffic), and 49% in the regional background. Our results highlight that a reduction in anthropogenic emissions can considerably reduce nucleation events and UFP concentrations in a polluted urban environment.

Siting Background Towers to Characterize Incoming Air for Urban Greenhouse Gas Estimation: A Case Study in the Washington, DC/Baltimore Area

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Mueller, K.; Yadav, V.; Lopez-Coto, I.; Karion, A.; Gourdji, S.; Martin, C.; Whetstone, J.

2018-03-01

There is increased interest in understanding urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To accurately estimate city emissions, the influence of extraurban fluxes must first be removed from urban greenhouse gas (GHG) observations. This is especially true for regions, such as the U.S. Northeastern Corridor-Baltimore/Washington, DC (NEC-B/W), downwind of large fluxes. To help site background towers for the NEC-B/W, we use a coupled Bayesian Information Criteria and geostatistical regression approach to help site four background locations that best explain CO2 variability due to extraurban fluxes modeled at 12 urban towers. The synthetic experiment uses an atmospheric transport and dispersion model coupled with two different flux inventories to create modeled observations and evaluate 15 candidate towers located along the urban domain for February and July 2013. The analysis shows that the average ratios of extraurban inflow to total modeled enhancements at urban towers are 21% to 36% in February and 31% to 43% in July. In July, the incoming air dominates the total variability of synthetic enhancements at the urban towers (R2 = 0.58). Modeled observations from the selected background towers generally capture the variability in the synthetic CO2 enhancements at urban towers (R2 = 0.75, root-mean-square error (RMSE) = 3.64 ppm; R2 = 0.43, RMSE = 4.96 ppm for February and July). However, errors associated with representing background air can be up to 10 ppm for any given observation even with an optimal background tower configuration. More sophisticated methods may be necessary to represent background air to accurately estimate urban GHG emissions.

Utilising green and bluespace to mitigate urban heat island intensity.

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Gunawardena, K R; Wells, M J; Kershaw, T

2017-04-15

It has long been recognised that cities exhibit their own microclimate and are typically warmer than the surrounding rural areas. This 'mesoscale' influence is known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect and results largely from modification of surface properties leading to greater absorption of solar radiation, reduced convective cooling and lower water evaporation rates. Cities typically contain less vegetation and bodies of water than rural areas, and existing green and bluespace is often under threat from increasing population densities. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the key ways in which green and bluespace affect both urban canopy- and boundary-layer temperatures, examined from the perspectives of city-planning, urban climatology and climate science. The analysis suggests that the evapotranspiration-based cooling influence of both green and bluespace is primarily relevant for urban canopy-layer conditions, and that tree-dominated greenspace offers the greatest heat stress relief when it is most needed. However, the magnitude and transport of cooling experienced depends on size, spread, and geometry of greenspaces, with some solitary large parks found to offer minimal boundary-layer cooling. Contribution to cooling at the scale of the urban boundary-layer climate is attributed mainly to greenspace increasing surface roughness and thereby improving convection efficiency rather than evaporation. Although bluespace cooling and transport during the day can be substantial, nocturnal warming is highlighted as likely when conditions are most oppressive. However, when both features are employed together they can offer many synergistic ecosystem benefits including cooling. The ways in which green and bluespace infrastructure is applied in future urban growth strategies, particularly in countries expected to experience rapid urbanisation, warrants greater consideration in urban planning policy to mitigate the adverse effects of the UHI and enhance climate

A statistical intercomparison between "urban" and "rural" precipitation chemistry data from greater Manchester and two nearby secondary national network sites in the United Kingdom

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, David S.; Longhurst, James W. S.

Precipitation chemistry data from a dense urban monitoring network in Greater Manchester, northwest England, were compared with interpolated values from the U.K. secondary national acid deposition monitoring network for the year 1988. Differences were found to be small. However, when data from individual sites from the Greater Manchester network were compared with data from the two nearest secondary national network sites, significant differences were found using simple and complex statistical analyses. Precipitation chemistry at rural sites could be similar to that at urban sites, but the sources of some ions were thought to be different. The synoptic-scale gradients of precipitation chemistry, as shown by the secondary national network, also accounted for some of the differences.

UV Radiation in an Urban Canyon in Southeast Queensland

Science.gov (United States)

McKinley, A. R.; Moore, M. R.; Kimlin, M. G.

2006-12-01

throughout the day the intensity of erythemal UV measured in the city was significantly lower than that measured at the ASHRL site. On average the amount of erythemal UV measured in the urban canyon was approximately 33% of that measured at the ASHRL site. Based upon these findings we hope to conduct further study regarding UV exposure in the urban canyon.

Biomarker responses and PAH ratios in fish inhabiting an estuarine urban waterway.

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Duarte, Rafael Mendonça; Sadauskas-Henrique, Helen; de Almeida-Val, Vera Maria Fonseca; Val, Adalberto Luis; Nice, Helen Elizabeth; Gagnon, Marthe Monique

2017-10-01

Many cities worldwide are established adjacent to estuaries and their catchments resulting in estuarine contamination due to intense anthropogenic activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate if fish living in an estuarine urban waterway were affected by contamination, via the measurement of a suite of biomarkers of fish health. Black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri) were sampled in a small urban embayment and a suite of biomarkers of fish health measured. These were condition factor (CF), liver somatic index (LSI), gonadosomatic index (GSI), hepatic EROD activity, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) biliary metabolites, serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (s-SDH) and branchial enzymes cytochrome C oxidase (CCO), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities. The biomarkers of exposure EROD activity, and pyrene- and B(a)P-type biliary metabolites confirmed current or recent exposure of the fish and that fish were metabolizing contaminants. Relative to a reference site, LSI was higher in fish collected in the urban inlet as was the metabolic enzyme LDH activity. CF, GSI, s-SDH, CCO, and naphthalene-type metabolites were at similar levels in the urban inlet relative to the reference site. PAH biliary metabolite ratios of high-molecular-weight to low-molecular-weight suggest that fish from the urban inlet were exposed to pyrogenic PAHs, likely from legacy contamination and road runoff entering the embayment. Similarly, the sediment PAH ratios and the freshness indices suggested legacy contamination of a pyrogenic source, likely originating from the adjacent historic gasworks site and a degree of contamination of petrogenic nature entering the inlet via storm water discharge. Biomarkers of exposure and effect confirmed that black bream collected in the Claisebrook Cove inlet, Western Australia, are currently exposed to contamination and are experiencing metabolic perturbations not observed in fish collected at a nearby reference site. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hourly elemental concentrations in PM2.5 aerosols sampled simultaneously at urban background and road site during SAPUSS - diurnal variations and PMF receptor modelling

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Dall'Osto, M.; Querol, X.; Amato, F.; Karanasiou, A.; Lucarelli, F.; Nava, S.; Calzolai, G.; Chiari, M.

2013-04-01

Hourly-resolved aerosol chemical speciation data can be a highly powerful tool to determine the source origin of atmospheric pollutants in urban environments. Aerosol mass concentrations of seventeen elements (Na, Mg, Al, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr and Pb) were obtained by time (1 h) and size (PM2.5 particulate matter Spain) during September-October 2010: an urban background site (UB) and a street canyon traffic road site (RS). Elements related to primary non-exhaust traffic emission (Fe, Cu), dust resuspension (Ca) and anthropogenic Cl were found enhanced at the RS, whereas industrial related trace metals (Zn, Pb, Mn) were found at higher concentrations at the more ventilated UB site. When receptor modelling was performed with positive matrix factorization (PMF), nine different aerosol sources were identified at both sites: three types of regional aerosols (regional sulphate (S) - 27%, biomass burning (K) - 5%, sea salt (Na-Mg) - 17%), three types of dust aerosols (soil dust (Al-Ti) - 17%, urban crustal dust (Ca) - 6%, and primary traffic non-exhaust brake dust (Fe-Cu) - 7%), and three types of industrial aerosol plumes-like events (shipping oil combustion (V-Ni) - 17%, industrial smelters (Zn-Mn) - 3%, and industrial combustion (Pb-Cl) - 5%, percentages presented are average source contributions to the total elemental mass measured). The validity of the PMF solution of the PIXE data is supported by very good correlations with external single particle mass spectrometry measurements. Some important conclusions can be drawn about the PM2.5 mass fraction simultaneously measured at the UB and RS sites: (1) the regional aerosol sources impact both monitoring sites at similar concentrations regardless their different ventilation conditions; (2) by contrast, local industrial aerosol plumes associated with shipping oil combustion and smelters activities have a higher impact on the more ventilated UB site; (3) a unique source of Pb-Cl (associated with

Effects of intensive urbanization on the intrusion of shallow groundwater into deep groundwater: Examples from Bangkok and Jakarta

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onodera, Shin-ichi; Saito, Mitsuyo; Sawano, Misa; Hosono, Takahiro; Taniguchi, Makoto; Shimada, Jun; Umezawa, Yu; Lubis, Rachmat Fajar; Buapeng, Somkid; Delinom, Robert

2008-01-01

Asian megacities have severe pollution problems in both coastal and urban areas. In addition, the groundwater potential has decreased and land subsidence has occurred because of intensive groundwater pumping in urban areas. To prevent the adverse effects of urbanization on groundwater quality, it is necessary to confirm the changes in groundwater flow and contaminant transport caused by urbanization. We examined the effects of urbanization on contaminant transport in groundwater. The research areas were located around Bangkok, Thailand, and akarta, Indonesia, cities with populations of approximately 8 and 12 million, respectively. Each metropolitan city is located on a river delta and is adjacent to a bay. We measured the water level and collected water samples at boreholes at multiple depths (100 to 200 m) in 2004 and 2006 in Bangkok and Jakarta, respectively. The current hydraulic potential is below sea level in both cities because of prior excess abstraction of groundwater. As a result, the direction of groundwater flow is now downward in the coastal area. The Cl - concentration and δ 18 O distributions in groundwater suggest that the decline in hydraulic potential has caused the intrusion of seawater and shallow groundwater into deep groundwater. Concentrations of Mn and NO3 - -N in groundwater suggest the intrusion of these contaminants from shallow to deep aquifers with downward groundwater flow and implies an accumulation of contaminants in deep aquifers. Therefore, it is important to recognize the possibility of future contaminant transport with the discharge of deep groundwater into the sea after the recovery of groundwater potential in the coastal areas

Towards urban mobility designs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lanng, Ditte Bendix; Harder, Henrik; Jensen, Ole B.

2012-01-01

for the wayfarers who use the site. The data for our work concerns a transit site in the 1970s urban district of Aalborg Øst, Denmark. - We set out by introducing our approach to the site. - Second, we examine the functional layout of the transit site in Aalborg Øst and outline the design challenge which we......Functionalist traffic design aims at a rational organisation of movement from A to B in a segregated and uniform physical environment. Such urban areas have been criticized for being exclusively functional and lacking sensuous and social qualities. Recent research on mobilities challenges the more...... insights on functional urban planning, on embodied practices and experiences of wayfaring, and on concrete small scale design concerns. We emphasise an integrated design agenda for those ordinary transit sites which is concerned with functional issues as well as the quality of life on the ground...

Assessment of the intensity and spatial variability of urban heat islands over the Indian cities for Regional Climate Analysis

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Sultana, S.; Satyanarayana, A. N. V.

2016-12-01

The Urban heat island (UHI) in general developed over cities, due to the drastic changes in land use and land cover (LULC), has profound impact on the atmospheric circulation patterns due to the changes in the energy transport mechanism which in turn affect the regional climate. In this study, an attempt has been made to quantify the intensity of UHI, and to identify the pockets of UHI over cities during last decade over fast developing cosmopolitan Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. For this purpose, Landsat TM and ETM+ images during winter period, in about 5 year intervals from 2002 to 2013, has been selected to retrieve the brightness temperatures and land use/cover, from which Land Surface Temperature (LST) has been estimated using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Normalized Difference Build-up Index (NDBI) and Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI) are estimated to extract build-up areas and bare land from the satellite images to identify the UHI pockets over the study area. For this purpose image processing and GIS tools were employed. Results reveal a significant increase in the intensity of UHI and increase in its area of influence over all the three cities. An increase of 2 to 2.5 oC of UHI intensity over the study regions has been noticed. The range of increase in UHI intensity is found to be more over New Delhi compared to Mumbai and Kolkata which is more or less same. The number of hotspot pockets of UHI has also been increased as seen from the spatial distribution of LST, NDVI and NDBI. This result signifies the impact of rapid urbanization and infrastructural developments has a direct consequence in modulating the regional climate over the Indian cities.

Green Urbanism for the Greener Future of Metropolitan Areas

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Zaręba, Anna; Krzemińska, Alicja; Widawski, Krzysztof

2016-10-01

Intensive urbanization is swallowing municipal green areas which causes intensification of erosion, decrease in biodiversity and permanent fragmentation of habitats. In the face of these changes, a risk of irreversible damages to urban ecosystems is growing. That is why planning of solutions within the framework of Green Urbanism in metropolitan areas inhabited by over 55% of the global population is of extraordinary importance. The task of the paper is to present patterns of the Green Urbanism using selected examples of metropolitan areas as case studies. The main goal of the research is to make comparison between GU practices in different countries, in various spatial settings. The principles of triple zero framework: zero fossil-fuel energy use, zero waste, zero emissions (from low-to-no-carbon emissions) introduce not only the contemporary trends in theoretical urban planning but are dictated by practical considerations to create a healthy environment for a healthy society with a minimized environmental footprint. The research results help to identify Green Urbanism techniques used for multiple functions, including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic and other uses and present opportunities for implementation of Green Urbanism solutions in metropolitan areas. To achieve healthier society and environment, highly congested and polluted cities have to be recreated through working with the existing landscape, topography and natural resources particular to the site.

Influence of extreme events on health-related aerosol particle deposition in an urban site during summer

Science.gov (United States)

Belmonte, Paula; Castro, Amaya; Calvo, Ana Isabel; Alves, Célia; Duarte, Márcio; Alonso-Blanco, Elisabeth; Fraile, Roberto

2014-05-01

Urban populations are exposed to aerosol particles that enter in the human respiratory track posing an important risk to human health. Particle sampling conventions have been established, expressed as curves describing "penetration" to the region of interest in terms of the particle aerodynamic diameter. The inhalable, thoracic, traqueo-bronchial and respirable fractions have been estimated according to the International Standard ISO 7708:1995. This study presents the analysis of aerosol size distributions and its deposition in the human respiratory tract according to ISO 7708. The influence of ambient conditions in an urban area affected by heat waves and wildfires in the summer months has been analyzed. A laser spectrometer PCASP-X was used to characterize the aerosol size distributions. This device registers particle sizes between 0.1 and 10 microns in 31 channels. The spectrometer was installed in the city of León (Spain), between June and September 2012, and 24 measurements were carried out daily to determine the size of the ambient particles in the urban area. The measurements were averaged over 15-minute intervals. A weather station was installed at 3 m above the ground to register automatically data on precipitation, pressure, temperature, relative humidity wind speed and direction. The refractive index of the particles was estimated for each value of relative humidity, as the relative humidity of the ambient atmosphere affects the size and the complex refractive index of aerosols. Afterwards, raw size bins were corrected from the estimated refractive indices using a program based on Mie Theory. The regional government provided data on the exact location of summer wildfires in the province of Leon, as well as data on the land area affected. A persistent and intense thermal inversion of subsidence caused an intense pollution episode in the city during the main wildfire, which broke out at a distance of about 60 km from the sampling point. Furthermore, the

Parameter Estimation and Sensitivity Analysis of an Urban Surface Energy Balance Parameterization at a Tropical Suburban Site

Science.gov (United States)

Harshan, S.; Roth, M.; Velasco, E.

2014-12-01

Forecasting of the urban weather and climate is of great importance as our cities become more populated and considering the combined effects of global warming and local land use changes which make urban inhabitants more vulnerable to e.g. heat waves and flash floods. In meso/global scale models, urban parameterization schemes are used to represent the urban effects. However, these schemes require a large set of input parameters related to urban morphological and thermal properties. Obtaining all these parameters through direct measurements are usually not feasible. A number of studies have reported on parameter estimation and sensitivity analysis to adjust and determine the most influential parameters for land surface schemes in non-urban areas. Similar work for urban areas is scarce, in particular studies on urban parameterization schemes in tropical cities have so far not been reported. In order to address above issues, the town energy balance (TEB) urban parameterization scheme (part of the SURFEX land surface modeling system) was subjected to a sensitivity and optimization/parameter estimation experiment at a suburban site in, tropical Singapore. The sensitivity analysis was carried out as a screening test to identify the most sensitive or influential parameters. Thereafter, an optimization/parameter estimation experiment was performed to calibrate the input parameter. The sensitivity experiment was based on the "improved Sobol's global variance decomposition method" . The analysis showed that parameters related to road, roof and soil moisture have significant influence on the performance of the model. The optimization/parameter estimation experiment was performed using the AMALGM (a multi-algorithm genetically adaptive multi-objective method) evolutionary algorithm. The experiment showed a remarkable improvement compared to the simulations using the default parameter set. The calibrated parameters from this optimization experiment can be used for further model

Disparities in Prevalence of Cardiometablic Risk Factors in Rural, Urban-Poor, and Urban-Middle Class Women in India.

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Indu Mohan

Full Text Available Urbanization is an important determinant of cardiovascular disease (CVD risk. To determine location-based differences in CVD risk factors in India we performed studies among women in rural, urban-poor and urban middle-class locations.Population-based cross-sectional studies in rural, urban-poor, and urban-middle class women (35-70 y were performed at multiple sites. We evaluated 6853 women (rural 2616, 5 sites; urban-poor 2008, 4 sites; urban middle-class 2229, 11 sites for socioeconomic, lifestyle, anthropometric and biochemical risk factors. Descriptive statistics are reported.Mean levels of body mass index (BMI, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR, systolic BP, fasting glucose and cholesterol in rural, urban-poor and urban-middle class women showed significantly increasing trends (ANOVAtrend, p 80 cm (28.3, 63.4, 61.9%, waist >90 cm (8.4, 31.4, 38.2%, waist hip ratio (WHR >0.8 (60.4, 90.7, 88.5, WHR>0.9 (13.0, 44.3, 56.1%, hypertension (31.6, 48.2, 59.0% and hypercholesterolemia (13.5, 27.7, 37.4% (Mantel Haenszel X2 ptrend <0.01. Inverse trend was observed for tobacco use (41.6, 19.6, 9.4%. There was significant association of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes with overweight and obesity (adjusted R2 0.89-0.99.There are significant location based differences in cardiometabolic risk factors in India. The urban-middle class women have the highest risk compared to urban-poor and rural.

Influences of population, building, and traffic densities on urban heat island intensity in Chiang Mai City, Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kammuang-Lue Niti

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This research aims to evaluate the Urban Heat Island Intensity (UHII and study the influences of population density, building density, and traffic density on the UHII in Chiang Mai city on each season and time. The surrounding air temperature was measured by thermocouples at a constant height of 2 m above the road by mobile surveying approach. The surveyed routes were divided into urban routes and rural routes. The UHII was calculated from the average surrounding air temperature difference between the urban and the rural areas. Experimental investigations were carried out in two seasons, consisting of summer (March-May, 2014 and winter (December 2013-February 2014. Experimental investigations were carried out in two periods, which were a daytime period (01.00-03.00 pm and a nighttime period (10.00 pm-00.00 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays. The results show that the UHII in summer day, summer night, winter day, and winter night were 1.07°C, 1.27°C, 0.58°C, and 1.34°C, respectively. This implies that the temperature in Chiang Mai city’s urban area is higher than that in the rural area the entire year. Moreover, it was found that the UHII in summer day, winter day, and winter night were primarily affected by the traffic density with the sensitivity percentage of 87.50%, 72.73%, and 63.33%, respectively. In contrast, the UHII in summer night was mainly affected by the building density with the sensitivity percentage of 50.00%.

Measurements of gas and particle polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air at urban, rural and near-roadway sites

Science.gov (United States)

Pratt, G. C.; Herbrandson, C.; Krause, M. J.; Schmitt, C.; Lippert, C. J.; McMahon, C. R.; Ellickson, K. M.

2018-04-01

We measured polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in gas and particle phases over two years using high volume samplers equipped with quartz fiber filters and XAD-4 at a rural site, an urban site, and a site adjacent to a heavily trafficked roadway. Overall results were generally as expected, in that concentrations increased from rural to urban to near-roadway sites, and PAHs with high vapor pressures (liquid subcooled, PoL) and low octanol-air partition coefficients (Koa) were mainly in the gas phase, while those with low PoL and high Koa were predominantly in the particle phase. Intermediate PAHs existed in both phases with the phase distribution following a seasonal pattern of higher gas phase concentrations in summer due to temperature effects. The overall pattern of phase distribution was consistent with PAH properties and ambient conditions and was similar at all three sites. The particle-bound fraction (ϕ) was well-described empirically by nonlinear regressions with log Koa and log PoL as predictors. Adsorption and absorption models underestimated the particle-bound fraction for most PAHs. The dual aerosol-air/soot-air model generally represented the gas-particle partitioning better than the other models across all PAHs, but there was a tendency to underestimate the range in the particle-bound fraction seen in measurements. There was a statistically insignificant tendency for higher PAHs in the particle phase at the near roadway site, and one piece of evidence that PAHs may be enriched on ultrafine particles at the near roadway site. Understanding the phase and particle size distributions of PAHs in highly polluted, high exposure microenvironments near traffic sources will help shed light on potential health effects.

Comparison of mosquito control programs in seven urban sites in Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas

Science.gov (United States)

Impoinvil, Daniel E.; Ahmad, Sajjad; Troyo, Adriana; Keating, Joseph; Githeko, Andrew K.; Mbogo, Charles M; Kibe, Lydiah; Githure, John I.; Gad, Adel M.; Hassan, Ali N.; Orshan, Laor; Warburg, Alon; Calderón-Arguedas, Olger; Sánchez-Loría, Victoria M.; Velit-Suarez, Rosanna; Chadee, Dave D.; Novak, Robert J.; Beier, John C.

2007-01-01

Mosquito control programs at seven urban sites in Kenya, Egypt, Israel, Costa Rica, and Trinidad are described and compared. Site-specific urban and disease characteristics, organizational diagrams, and strengths, weaknesses, obstacles and threats (SWOT) analysis tools are used to provide a descriptive assessment of each mosquito control program, and provide a comparison of the factors affecting mosquito abatement. The information for SWOT analysis is collected from surveys, focus group discussions, and personal communication. SWOT analysis identified various issues affecting the efficiency and sustainability of mosquito control operations. The main outcome of our work was the description and comparison of mosquito control operations within the context of each study site’s biological, social, political, management, and economic conditions. The issues identified in this study ranged from lack of inter-sector collaboration to operational issues of mosquito control efforts. A lack of sustainable funding for mosquito control was a common problem for most sites. Many unique problems were also identified, which included lack of mosquito surveillance, lack of law enforcement, and negative consequences of human behavior. Identifying common virtues and shortcomings of mosquito control operations is useful in identifying “best practices” for mosquito control operations, thus leading to better control of mosquito biting and mosquito-borne disease transmission. PMID:17316882

Prefrontal rTMS for treating depression: location and intensity results from the OPT-TMS multi-site clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Kevin A; Baig, Mirza; Ramsey, Dave; Lisanby, Sarah H; Avery, David; McDonald, William M; Li, Xingbao; Bernhardt, Elisabeth R; Haynor, David R; Holtzheimer, Paul E; Sackeim, Harold A; George, Mark S; Nahas, Ziad

2013-03-01

Motor cortex localization and motor threshold determination often guide Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) placement and intensity settings for non-motor brain stimulation. However, anatomic variability results in variability of placement and effective intensity. Post-study analysis of the OPT-TMS Study reviewed both the final positioning and the effective intensity of stimulation (accounting for relative prefrontal scalp-cortex distances). We acquired MRI scans of 185 patients in a multi-site trial of left prefrontal TMS for depression. Scans had marked motor sites (localized with TMS) and marked prefrontal sites (5 cm anterior of motor cortex by the "5 cm rule"). Based on a visual determination made before the first treatment, TMS therapy occurred either at the 5 cm location or was adjusted 1 cm forward. Stimulation intensity was 120% of resting motor threshold. The "5 cm rule" would have placed stimulation in premotor cortex for 9% of patients, which was reduced to 4% with adjustments. We did not find a statistically significant effect of positioning on remission, but no patients with premotor stimulation achieved remission (0/7). Effective stimulation ranged from 93 to 156% of motor threshold, and no seizures were induced across this range. Patients experienced remission with effective stimulation intensity ranging from 93 to 146% of motor threshold, and we did not find a significant effect of effective intensity on remission. Our data indicates that individualized positioning methods are useful to reduce variability in placement. Stimulation at 120% of motor threshold, unadjusted for scalp-cortex distances, appears safe for a broad range of patients. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Urban performances

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Samson, Kristine

2012-01-01

Through three different urban performances, the paper investigates how, when and under which circumstances urban space is transformed and distorted from its every day use and power relations. Distortion is an annual street festival in Copenhagen with the objective to distort the functional city...... creates an intensive space for the empowerment and liberation of the body. Occupy Wall street and its action in the autumn 2001 is the ultimate example of how urban political performances intensifies and transform every day spaces. Through examples of how OWS tactically appropriates and transforms urban...... space, I seek to show how representational space, for instance the public square, is transformed and distorted by heterogeneous and unforeseen modes of operating. Despite differing in their goal and outset, I wish to unfold an alternative to urban transformation practices in planning and architecture...

Spectral dependence of aerosol light absorption at an urban and a remote site over the Tibetan Plateau.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Chong-Shu; Cao, Jun-Ji; Hu, Ta-Feng; Shen, Zhen-Xing; Tie, Xue-Xi; Huang, Hong; Wang, Qi-Yuan; Huang, Ru-Jin; Zhao, Zhu-Zi; Močnik, Griša; Hansen, Anthony D A

2017-07-15

We present a study of aerosol light absorption by using a 7-wavelength Aethalometer model AE33 at an urban site (Lhasa) and a remote site (Lulang) in the Tibetan Plateau. Approximately 5 times greater aerosol absorption values were observed at Lhasa (53±46Mm -1 at 370nm and 20±18Mm -1 at 950nm, respectively) in comparison to Lulang (15±19Mm -1 at 370nm and 4±5Mm -1 at 950nm, respectively). Black carbon (BC) was the dominant light absorbing aerosol component at all wavelengths. The brown carbon (BrC) absorption at 370nm is 32±15% of the total aerosol absorption at Lulang, whereas it is 8±6% at Lhasa. Higher value of absorption Ångström exponent (AAE, 370-950nm) was obtained for Lulang (1.18) than that for Lhasa (1.04) due to the presence of BrC. The AAEs (370-950nm) of BrC were directly extracted at Lulang (3.8) and Lhasa (3.3). The loading compensation parameters (k) increased with wavelengths for both sites, and lower values were obtained at Lulang than those observed at Lhasa for all wavelengths. This study underlines the relatively high percentage of BrC absorption contribution in remote area compared to urban site over the Tibetan Plateau. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection of urban heat island in Ankara, Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cicek, I.; Dogan, U.

2006-01-01

Ankara is the second largest city in Turkey after Istanbul, and the rate of population increase and urbanization are quite high. In this study, the effects of urbanization on temperature variation due to urbanization in Ankara were investigated. The intensities of urban heat island (UHI) for long and short term were analyzed. Analysis of both long- and short-term data revealed that there is a significant increase in the intensity of UHI (AT(u-r)) in winter during the period analyzed. Analysis of data collected for period of October 2001-September 2002 shows that intensity of maximum UHI is in February. In this month, positive UHI was observed in 26 nights and on all these days wind speed was less than 0.5ms.1. UHI is positive in all seasons and frequency and intensity of UHI in winter are higher than in the other seasons. This characteristic makes Ankara different from other temperate latitude cities

Contrasting responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to heat waves explain synergies between urban heat islands and heat waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Dan; Sun, Ting; Liu, Maofeng; Yang, Long; Wang, Linlin; Gao, Zhiqiu

2015-01-01

Heat waves (HWs) are projected to become more frequent and last longer over most land areas in the late 21st century, which raises serious public health concerns. Urban residents face higher health risks due to synergies between HWs and urban heat islands (UHIs) (i.e., UHIs are higher under HW conditions). However, the responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to HWs are still largely unknown. This study analyzes observations from two flux towers in Beijing, China and reveals significant differences between the responses of urban and rural (cropland) ecosystems to HWs. It is found that UHIs increase significantly during HWs, especially during the nighttime, implying synergies between HWs and UHIs. Results indicate that the urban site receives more incoming shortwave radiation and longwave radiation due to HWs as compared to the rural site, resulting in a larger radiative energy input into the urban surface energy budget. Changes in turbulent heat fluxes also diverge strongly for the urban site and the rural site: latent heat fluxes increase more significantly at the rural site due to abundant available water, while sensible heat fluxes and possibly heat storage increase more at the urban site. These comparisons suggest that the contrasting responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to HWs are responsible for the synergies between HWs and UHIs. As a result, urban mitigation and adaption strategies such as the use of green roofs and white roofs are needed in order to mitigate the impact of these synergies. (letter)

Long-term meteorologically independent trend analysis of ozone air quality at an urban site in the greater Houston area.

Science.gov (United States)

Botlaguduru, Venkata S V; Kommalapati, Raghava R; Huque, Ziaul

2018-04-19

The Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) area of Texas has a history of ozone exceedances and is currently classified under moderate nonattainment status for the 2008 8-hr ozone standard of 75 ppb. The HGB area is characterized by intense solar radiation, high temperature, and humidity, which influence day-to-day variations in ozone concentrations. Long-term air quality trends independent of meteorological influence need to be constructed for ascertaining the effectiveness of air quality management in this area. The Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter technique used to separate different scales of motion in a time series, is applied in the current study for maximum daily 8-hr (MDA8) ozone concentrations at an urban site (EPA AQS Site ID: 48-201-0024, Aldine) in the HGB area. This site located within 10 miles of downtown Houston and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, was selected for developing long-term meteorologically independent MDA8 ozone trends for the years 1990-2016. Results from this study indicate a consistent decrease in meteorologically independent MDA8 ozone between 2000-2016. This pattern could be partially attributed to a reduction in underlying NO X emissions, particularly that of lowering nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) levels, and a decrease in the release of highly reactive volatile organic compounds (HRVOC). Results also suggest solar radiation to be most strongly correlated to ozone, with temperature being the secondary meteorological control variable. Relative humidity and wind speed have tertiary influence at this site. This study observed that meteorological variability accounts for a high of 61% variability in baseline ozone (low-frequency component, sum of long-term and seasonal components), while 64% of the change in long-term MDA8 ozone post-2000 could be attributed to NO X emissions reduction. Long-term MDA8 ozone trend component was estimated to be decreasing at a linear rate of 0.412 ± 0.007 ppb/yr for the years 2000-2016, and 0.155�

Impact of vegetable crop agriculture on anopheline agressivity and malaria transmission in urban and less urbanized settings of the South region of Cameroon.

Science.gov (United States)

Akono, Patrick Ntonga; Mbida, Jean Arthur Mbida; Tonga, Calvin; Belong, Philippe; Ngo Hondt, Odette Etoile; Magne, Gaëlle Tamdem; Peka, Marie Florence; Lehman, Leopold Gustave

2015-05-28

The use of inland valley swamps for vegetable crop agriculture contributes to food security in urban and less urbanized settings in Africa. The impact of this agriculture on aggressive mosquitoes' diversity and malaria transmission in central Africa is poorly documented. This study is aimed at assessing the impact of vegetable crop agriculture on these entomological parameters in urban and less urbanized settings of the forest area, south of Cameroon. The human bait technique was used for the capture of aggressive mosquitoes from January to December 2012. For three consecutive days each month, captures were performed on volunteers in hydro-agricultural and river bank sites of Akonolinga and Yaoundé. Physico-chemical characteristics of mosquito breeding sites were recorded. Molecular alongside morpho-taxonomic techniques were used for the identification of mosquito species; ELISA test was used to reveal Plasmodium falciparum infected mosquitoes through the detection of CSP. Mosquito diversity, aggressivity and malaria transmission in sites and settings were determined and compared. Biting rates were higher in hydro-agricultural sites of less urbanized and urban settings (31.8 b/p/n and 28.6 b/p/n respectively) than in river banks sites (6.83 b/p/n and 3.64 b/p/n respectively; p agricultural sites 2 species were captured in the urban setting versus 4 in the less urbanized setting, meanwhile in river bank sites, 3 species were captured in the urban setting versus 4 species in the less urbanized setting. An. nili s.s. was found in river banks only. An. hancocki was not found to insure Plasmodium falciparum Welch transmission. EIR in hydro-agricultural sites varied from 1.86 ib/p/n (urban area) to 2.13 ib/p/n (less urbanized area) with higher rates in April/May and August. Overall, EIR was higher in less urbanized areas (p agriculture (p = 0.2). These results highlight the need for specific preventive measures that take into account the ecological peculiarities

The role of city size and urban form in the surface urban heat island.

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Zhou, Bin; Rybski, Diego; Kropp, Jürgen P

2017-07-06

Urban climate is determined by a variety of factors, whose knowledge can help to attenuate heat stress in the context of ongoing urbanization and climate change. We study the influence of city size and urban form on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon in Europe and find a complex interplay between UHI intensity and city size, fractality, and anisometry. Due to correlations among these urban factors, interactions in the multi-linear regression need to be taken into account. We find that among the largest 5,000 cities, the UHI intensity increases with the logarithm of the city size and with the fractal dimension, but decreases with the logarithm of the anisometry. Typically, the size has the strongest influence, followed by the compactness, and the smallest is the influence of the degree to which the cities stretch. Accordingly, from the point of view of UHI alleviation, small, disperse, and stretched cities are preferable. However, such recommendations need to be balanced against e.g. positive agglomeration effects of large cities. Therefore, trade-offs must be made regarding local and global aims.

Feedback on the radiological management of a urban site contaminated with tritium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leprieur, F.; Pierrard, O. [Institut de radioportection et de surete nucleaire - IRSN (France)

2014-07-01

Introduction: In November 2010, the IRSN is reached on a rare case of environmental tritium contamination on a site located in an urban area near Paris (Saint-Maur-des-Fosses - dpt 94). This contamination resulted from the presence in an enterprise's premises of an experimental device containing molecular sieve from the Valduc nuclear site, wrongly considered as un-used. First actions: IRSN has quickly performed an initial characterization of tritium contamination in the premises of the company and its close environment. The first results showed the existence of a strong local contamination (tritium activity> 150 000 Bq/m{sup 3} in air) and a important labeling in samples collected in the close vicinity of the company premises (between 1000 and 10000 Bq/kg f.w. in plants, between 500 and 1500 Bq/L in water). These results led IRSN to conduct multiple investigations: - tritium measurements on samples of water, air and plants collected in the area close to the building to know the importance and extent of environmental marking and follow its evolution over time. In this aim, 450 measurements were made between 2010 and 2013; - measurements of tritium in the urine of residents living near the contaminated building: the results showed traces of tritium for some of them but the assessments conducted by the IRSN from these results led to extremely low dosimetry estimates without consequences for the health of these people; - dosimetric evaluations of tritium exposure of employees and visitors of the company contaminated. Informing the public and stakeholders In November 2010, IRSN has collaborated with the mayor to facilitate early interventions in urban areas and in particular to facilitate contacts for access to private property. In this perspective, the IRSN participated in public meetings to explain the cause of this accident and the results of tritium measurements to residents. IRSN also published regularly on its web site briefing notes reflecting the results

Hourly elemental concentrations in PM2.5 aerosols sampled simultaneously at urban background and road site during SAPUSS – diurnal variations and PMF receptor modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Dall'Osto

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Hourly-resolved aerosol chemical speciation data can be a highly powerful tool to determine the source origin of atmospheric pollutants in urban environments. Aerosol mass concentrations of seventeen elements (Na, Mg, Al, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr and Pb were obtained by time (1 h and size (PM2.5 particulate matter 2.5 mass fraction simultaneously measured at the UB and RS sites: (1 the regional aerosol sources impact both monitoring sites at similar concentrations regardless their different ventilation conditions; (2 by contrast, local industrial aerosol plumes associated with shipping oil combustion and smelters activities have a higher impact on the more ventilated UB site; (3 a unique source of Pb-Cl (associated with combustion emissions is found to be the major (82% source of fine Cl in the urban agglomerate; (4 the mean diurnal variation of PM2.5 primary traffic non-exhaust brake dust (Fe-Cu suggests that this source is mainly emitted and not resuspended, whereas PM2.5 urban dust (Ca is found mainly resuspended by both traffic vortex and sea breeze; (5 urban dust (Ca is found the aerosol source most affected by land wetness, reduced by a factor of eight during rainy days and suggesting that wet roads may be a solution for reducing urban dust concentrations.

Large urban fire environment: trends and model city predictions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, D.A.; Small, R.D.

1983-01-01

The urban fire environment that would result from a megaton-yield nuclear weapon burst is considered. The dependence of temperatures and velocities on fire size, burning intensity, turbulence, and radiation is explored, and specific calculations for three model urban areas are presented. In all cases, high velocity fire winds are predicted. The model-city results show the influence of building density and urban sprawl on the fire environment. Additional calculations consider large-area fires with the burning intensity reduced in a blast-damaged urban center

Spatiotemporal dynamics of suspended sediment within an actively urbanizing peri-urban catchment in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Rory; Ferreira, Carla; Ferreira, Antonio

2016-04-01

Suspended sediment levels tend to be enhanced in urban catchments, but vary considerably with (amongst many other factors) the degree of active urban development or redevelopment within the catchment and 'urbanization style'. Relatively little, however, is known about the relationship between suspended solids and urbanization style in peri-urban Mediterranean environments. This paper focuses on spatiotemporal suspended sediment dynamics within a typical Portuguese peri-urban catchment, Ribeira dos Covoes, that is undergoing rapid urbanization. The catchment currently has a 40% urban cover, with 17% impervious surfaces, dispersed between woodland (56%) and agricultural areas (4%). The study uses suspended sediment concentration measurements made at the catchment outlet (ESAC) and in three upstream tributaries: (i) Espírito Santo, with a largest urban area (49%); (ii) Porto Bordalo, 39% urbanized; and (iii) Quinta, 22% urbanized, most of which (18%) being an enterprise park under construction. Water sampling was carried out manually during 10 storm hydrographs between October 2011 and March 2013. Suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) were derived by laboratory analysis of the filtered samples using the gravimetric method. In addition total dissolved solids concentrations (TDS) were estimated using conductivity readings. Greatest SSCs were recorded in the Quinta sub-catchment and at the catchment outlet at ESAC (113-4320 mg L-1 and 200-1656 mg L-1, respectively) than in the Espírito Santo and Porto Bordalo sub-catchments (183-852 mg L-1 and 47-598 mg L-1 respectively, despite their greater impervious cover. The greatest SSCs for Quinta result from it containing the construction site, but it showed lower TDS (56-4010 mg L-1), perhaps due to the coarse sandy nature of the construction site. Higher TDS concentrations, however, were displayed in Porto Bordalo (27-5400 mg L-1), possibly due to the loamy soil. Espírito Santo, comprising sandy-loam soils, displayed 27

Spatial variation and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons influenced by intensive land use in an urbanized river network of East China.

Science.gov (United States)

Bi, Chunjuan; Wang, Xueping; Jia, Jinpu; Chen, Zhenlou

2018-06-15

The concentrations and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urbanized river networks are strongly influenced by intensive land use, industrial activities and population density. The spatial variations and their influencing factors of 16 priority PAHs were investigated in surface water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments among areas under different intensive land uses (industrial areas, agricultural areas, inner city, suburban towns and island areas) in the Shanghai river network, East China. Source apportionment was carried out using isomer ratios of PAHs and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF). Total concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 105.2 to 400.5 ng/L, 108.1 to 1058.8 ng/L and 104.4 to 19,480.0 ng/g in water, SPM and sediments, respectively. The concentrations of PAHs in SPM and sediments varied significantly among areas (p natural gas combustion in water and SPM, and vehicular emissions in sediments. Vehicular emissions were the strongest contributors in SPM and sediments of the inner city, indicating the strong influence of vehicular transportation to PAHs pollution in the urbanized river network. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Zones of Intensity Invested with Desire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Biagioli

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the meaning-making potential of cultural sites of historical importance within the current framework of human communication that now seamlessly intertwines digital, electronic and organic forms of contact. The paper argues that the computer-guided communication prevalent now favours the systematic and programmed and that has repercussions in terms of our sense of identity as organic beings living in a physical world. A response is to reinforce a sense of place via direct experience in cultural sites that are invested with a strong sense of place, referred to as “zones of intensity invested with desire” (this term was coined by Russell West-Pavlov and referenced by Darko Radovic to address the visual bias of urban planning. The argument follows that there needs to be a conscious reconnection with all the senses, overcoming the current visual bias encouraged by communication via the printed word. Art as alternative modality of relations has a strong role to play to reconnect us to the meaning-making elements in physical sites and reinforce the sense of place so crucial in our existence as organic beings.

Urban farming activity towards sustainable wellbeing of urban dwellers

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, N.; Mohamad, M.; Latip, R. A.; Ariffin, M. H.

2018-02-01

In Malaysia, urban farming is viewed as a catalyst towards achieving the well-being of urban dwellers and natural environment. Urban farming is a strategy for Malaysia’s food and economic security, and as one of the foci in the agriculture transformation whereby urban dwellers are encouraged to participate in this activity. Previous study proved that urban farming can help to address social problems of food security, urban poverty and high living cost, also provides leisure and recreation among urban dwellers. Thus, this study investigates the best urban farming practices suitable for urban setting, environment and culture of urban dwellers. Data collection was done via questionnaire survey to urban farmers of a selected community garden in Subang Jaya, Selangor. Meanwhile, on-site observations were carried out on gardening activities and the gardens’ physical attributes. The study sample encompasses of 131 urban farmers of 22 community gardens in Subang Jaya. It was found that most of the community gardens practiced crops planting on the ground or soil base planting and dwellers in the lower income group with monthly low household income constitutes the majority (83.2%) of the respondents. Social and health benefits are the highest motivating factors for urban farmers. This study provides unprecedented insights on urban farming practices and motivations in a Malaysian setting.

Urban church forests for local temperature regulation: Implications the role of managing and incorporating urban green space in urban planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tulu Tolla TURA

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The global surface temperature shows an increment of 0.50.1C per decade and 1.050.3C per century from 1880-2014 with greater increases in cities than non-urban areas. Global communities are shifting towards urbanization due to various factors. Urbanization has caused lack of stable condition for dwellers due to environmental and anthropogenic factors such as land cover changes. Urban temperature rising is the main factors hindering urban dwellers at global level due to insufficient green areas. Social institutions are playing important role in urban greening and urban climate regulation. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has long history in indigenous trees biodiversity conservation that plays largely greening role in urban and rural parts of the country. However, there is a research gap in Ethiopia regarding the role of urban green area in the church yards in regulating urban temperature and microclimate change. Therefore, the study evaluated the role of church managed forests in Addis Ababa in regulating surface temperature. Surface temperature inside four church forests at a buffer radius of 0–50 m, 50–100 m, 100–200 m and 200–500 m estimated using Landsat image thermal band 6 of 1986, 2000 and 2010 and ground measurement by ambient thermometer at 10:00 am, 12:30 am and 3:00 pm local time. The ground measurement was done in order to validate satellite image analysis. Plant species diversity, DBH, H, HC, BH and BA was measured. There were 1167 trees in the four studied churches. The mean temperatures of the studied sites were 22.50.1, 23.250.2, 240.6, 24.61.1 and 25.52.2C on site,0–50 m, 50–100 m, 100–200m and 200–500 m respectively for 1986 images; 23.20.5, 23.31.0, 24.32.1, 24.82.2 and 25.51.8C on site, 0-50 m, 50–100 m, 100–200 m and 200–500 m respectively for 2000 images and 23.20.3, 23.270.2, 23.71.6, 241.4 and 24.71.3C on site, 0–50 m, 50–100 m

The Effects of Urban Sprawl on Birds at Multiple Levels of Biological Organization

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Robert Blair

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Urban sprawl affects the environment in myriad ways and at multiple levels of biological organization. In this paper I explore the effects of sprawl on native bird communities by comparing the occurrence of birds along gradients of urban land use in southwestern Ohio and northern California and by examining patterns at the individual, species, community, landscape, and continental levels. I do this by assessing the distribution and abundance of all bird species occupying sites of differing land-use intensity in Ohio and California. Additionally, I conducted predation experiments using artificial nests, tracked the nest fate of American Robins and Northern Cardinals, and assessed land cover in these sites. At the individual level, predation on artificial nests decreased with urbanization; however, this trend was not reflected in the nesting success of robins and cardinals, which did not increase with urbanization. At the species level, sprawl affected local patterns of extinction and invasion; the density of different species peaked at different levels of urbanization. At the community level, species richness and diversity peaked at moderate levels of urbanization, and the number of low-nesting species and of species with multiple broods increased with urbanization. The community-level results may reflect both the species-level patterns of local extinction and invasion as well as broader landscape-level patterns. At the landscape level, a linear combination of spatial heterogeneity and density of woody patches accurately predicted both species richness and Shannon Diversity. At the continental level, local extinction of endemic species, followed by the invasion of ubiquitous weedy species, leads to faunal homogenization between ecoregions.

Using remote sensing and GIS in addressing the future decisions regarding underused urban spaces; Hajj sites in Mecca as case study

Science.gov (United States)

Imam, Ayman; Roca, Josep

2017-10-01

The term Underused Urban Spaces (UUS) refers to spaces within urban areas that have become unused, or that are being used to a lesser degree than they could or should be such as former industrial zones, abandoned facilities or buildings and Expo or Olympic Games cities. The Islamic pilgrimage sites known as Hajj sites (HS) are considered form of the UUS concept as they are used lesser degree than they should be. However, the emergence of such spaces has therefore encouraged researchers, urban planner, social and local authorities to discuses about the appropriate decision regarding their future towards conversion or alternatively using those spaces in order to achieve positive social, economic and environmental benefits, according to Pagano and Bowman (2000), UUS can be a powerful tool for governments and investors to use during the urban growth (UG) of their cities. Since, remote sensing and GIS technologies are used recently to study and analyze the UG of cities; the main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the efficiency of those technologies in addressing the future decisions regarding the underused status of Hajj sites in relation to UG of the city of Mecca. Tow classified land cover maps of Mecca for two years (1998 and 2013), in addition to entropy index and multiple regression analyses were utilized in order to quantify the relationship between HS and Mecca UG. The results showed that the urban growth of Mecca has increased by approximately 56%, and almost 32% of that increased were around HS in on hand, and on the other hand the entropy and the regression analysis showed that there is 51% probability that the future growth to be also around HS. These findings will better addressing the future decisions regarding the underused status of HS, simultaneously revel that the use of RS and GIS was highly effective to be adopted within similar cases of UUS.

Exploration of Urban Spatial Planning Evaluation Based on Humanland Harmony

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, X. S.; Ma, Q. R.; Liang, W. Q.; Wang, C. X.; Xiong, X. Q.; Han, X. H.

2017-09-01

This study puts forward a new concept, "population urbanization level forecast - driving factor analysis - urban spatial planning analysis" for achieving efficient and intensive development of urbanization considering human-land harmony. We analyzed big data for national economic and social development, studied the development trends of population urbanization and its influencing factors using the grey system model in Chengmai county of Hainan province, China. In turn, we calculated the population of Chengmai coming years based on the forecasting urbanization rate and the corresponding amount of urban construction land, and evaluated the urban spatial planning with GIS spatial analysis method in the study area. The result shows that the proposed concept is feasible for evaluation of urban spatial planning, and is meaningful for guiding the rational distribution of urban space, controlling the scale of development, improving the quality of urbanization and thus promoting highly-efficient and intensive use of limited land resource.

The urban heat island and its impact on heat waves and human health in Shanghai.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Jianguo; Zheng, Youfei; Tang, Xu; Guo, Changyi; Li, Liping; Song, Guixiang; Zhen, Xinrong; Yuan, Dong; Kalkstein, Adam J; Li, Furong

2010-01-01

With global warming forecast to continue into the foreseeable future, heat waves are very likely to increase in both frequency and intensity. In urban regions, these future heat waves will be exacerbated by the urban heat island effect, and will have the potential to negatively influence the health and welfare of urban residents. In order to investigate the health effects of the urban heat island (UHI) in Shanghai, China, 30 years of meteorological records (1975-2004) were examined for 11 first- and second-order weather stations in and around Shanghai. Additionally, automatic weather observation data recorded in recent years as well as daily all-cause summer mortality counts in 11 urban, suburban, and exurban regions (1998-2004) in Shanghai have been used. The results show that different sites (city center or surroundings) have experienced different degrees of warming as a result of increasing urbanization. In turn, this has resulted in a more extensive urban heat island effect, causing additional hot days and heat waves in urban regions compared to rural locales. An examination of summer mortality rates in and around Shanghai yields heightened heat-related mortality in urban regions, and we conclude that the UHI is directly responsible, acting to worsen the adverse health effects from exposure to extreme thermal conditions.

Impacts of urban growth and heat waves events on the urban heat island in Bucharest city

Science.gov (United States)

Zoran, Maria A.; Savastru, Roxana S.; Savastru, Dan M.; Dida, Adrian I.

2016-10-01

This study investigated the influences of urban growth and heat waves events on Urban Heat Island in relationship with several biophysical variables in Bucharest metropolitan area of Romania through satellite and in-situ monitoring data. Remote sensing data from Landsat TM/ETM+ and time series MODIS Terra/Aqua sensors have been used to assess urban land cover- temperature interactions over period between 2000 and 2016 years. Vegetation abundances and percent impervious surfaces were derived by means of linear spectral mixture model, and a method for effectively enhancing impervious surface has been developed to accurately examine the urban growth. The land surface temperature (Ts), a key parameter for urban thermal characteristics analysis, was also analyzed in relation with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at city level. Based on these parameters, the urban growth, urban heat island effect (UHI) and the relationships of Ts to other biophysical parameters (surface albedo, precipitations, wind intensity and direction) have been analyzed. Results show that in the metropolitan area ratio of impervious surface in Bucharest increased significantly during investigated period, the intensity of urban heat island and heat wave events being most significant. The correlation analyses revealed that, at the pixel-scale, Ts possessed a strong positive correlation with percent impervious surfaces and negative correlation with vegetation abundances at the regional scale, respectively. This analysis provided an integrated research scheme and the findings can be very useful for urban ecosystem modeling.

The Urbanism of Material

OpenAIRE

LAURA MARY HARPER

2018-01-01

This thesis investigates how the urban environment is constructed over time. The aim of this research is to understand the relationship between the decisions, logic and methods used at the scale of an individual site to the wider organisation and form of the urban environment. The thesis draws on the concept of bottom up systems to investigate ideas of collective organisation and characteristics in the urban environment. Using a series of architectural and urban case studies in Melbourne and ...

Rural-urban migration and urban unemployment in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Aigbokhan, B E

1988-01-01

This paper argues that urban unemployment in Nigeria has been due largely to a failure on the part of the government to pursue policies that reflect commitment on its part to its stated objectives, particularly with regard to employment opportunities. Rural-urban migration has been taking place in the country since the 1960s and at an increasing rate since the 1970s. Economic policies have contributed to this, notably the rural-urban imbalance resulting from the pattern of allocation of public investment expenditures and the wages determination process which tends to concentrate more on the urban sector. These have contributed to the widening urban-rural income differentials. In the face of such migration, the urban industrial sector has been able to absorb only a negligible proportion of migrants. A major factor that has contributed to this is the increased capital-intensity of the sector. Some laudable measures have been introduced this year, notably the establishment of the Directorate of Employment and the Directorate of Food, Road, and Rural infrastructure. The latter, if effectively implemented, should enhance rural income and thereby reduce the rural-urban income gap. The former should reduce the problem of open unemployment. While it is too early to assess the effects of these 2 measures on urban unemployment, they may not improve urban unemployment significantly. There is still the need to design policies to increase labor absorption in general.

Near surface geophysics techniques and geomorphological approach to reconstruct the hazard cave map in historical and urban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Lazzari, M.; Loperte, A.; Perrone, A.

2009-04-01

investigation has been carried out, integrating the method of ERT (a multielectrode system with a Wenner-Schlumberger array layout) with the GPR (profiles were obtained using a SIR 2000-GSSI system equipped with two antennas of 400 and 200 MHz, connected by fiber-optic cables to the control unit) profiling. During the field survey, four ERT measurements and eight GPR profiles were carried out along the road network of Rabatana. The field survey permitted to evidence, for the Rabatana historical site, about 100 caves for which it is possible to see clear entrances, while at least 300 other caves are located in Tursi urban area and surroundings. This survey excludes all the caves and cisterns not directly ispectionable, but well showed in geophysical data. Since 1973, this site was subjected to the evacuation of its inhabitants in a new urban site due to catastrophic landslides caused by intense rainfalls that occurred on January 1972. Starting from 1974, the Rabatana has been almost completely deserted. Recently, a renewed interest for this site has been developed to recover the historical center, removing the current constraint of total evacuation. However at present, the site is still characterized by a particular morphological history and environmental factors that generate widespread risk conditions for the inhabitants and built-up areas. Morphological evolution of the sandy hillslopes on which Tursi town rises is characterized by very intense erosive phenomena such as landslides, deep gullies, rills, and piping, which affect the whole perimeter of urban settlements and threaten the conservation of these sites. From the point of view of the process of physical degradation, the sandy facies are characterized by desiccation cracks to which the piping erosion and detachment blocks along the slopes are closely linked. In some cases large voids do not develop, but seepage erosion and running sand cause morphologically similar surface collapse phenomena (sinkholes). Outlets

Urban Marine Habitat Use by Waterbirds in Narragansett Bay

Science.gov (United States)

We examined patterns of habitat use by waterbirds (waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds) at a series of urban and non-urban marine habitats in Narragansett Bay during 2005-2007. Average waterbird abundance at urban sites was significantly higher than at rural sites (304 ± 59.7...

Nitrogen sources, transport and processing in peri-urban floodplains.

Science.gov (United States)

Gooddy, D C; Macdonald, D M J; Lapworth, D J; Bennett, S A; Griffiths, K J

2014-10-01

Peri-urban floodplains are an important interface between developed land and the aquatic environment and may act as a source or sink for contaminants moving from urban areas towards surface water courses. With increasing pressure from urban development the functioning of floodplains is coming under greater scrutiny. A number of peri-urban sites have been found to be populated with legacy landfills which could potentially cause pollution of adjacent river bodies. Here, a peri-urban floodplain adjoining the city of Oxford, UK, with the River Thames has been investigated over a period of three years through repeated sampling of groundwaters from existing and specially constructed piezometers. A nearby landfill has been found to have imprinted a strong signal on the groundwater with particularly high concentrations of ammonium and generally low concentrations of nitrate and dissolved oxygen. An intensive study of nitrogen dynamics through the use of N-species chemistry, nitrogen isotopes and dissolved nitrous oxide reveals that there is little or no denitrification in the majority of the main landfill plume, and neither is the ammonium significantly retarded by sorption to the aquifer sediments. A simple model has determined the flux of total nitrogen and ammonium from the landfill, through the floodplain and into the river. Over an 8 km reach of the river, which has a number of other legacy landfills, it is estimated that 27.5 tonnes of ammonium may be delivered to the river annually. Although this is a relatively small contribution to the total river nitrogen, it may represent up to 15% of the ammonium loading at the study site and over the length of the reach could increase in-stream concentrations by nearly 40%. Catchment management plans that encompass floodplains in the peri-urban environment need to take into account the likely risk to groundwater and surface water quality that these environments pose. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All

Long-term urban carbon dioxide observations reveal spatial and temporal dynamics related to urban characteristics and growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Logan E; Lin, John C; Bowling, David R; Pataki, Diane E; Strong, Courtenay; Schauer, Andrew J; Bares, Ryan; Bush, Susan E; Stephens, Britton B; Mendoza, Daniel; Mallia, Derek; Holland, Lacey; Gurney, Kevin R; Ehleringer, James R

2018-03-20

Cities are concentrated areas of CO 2 emissions and have become the foci of policies for mitigation actions. However, atmospheric measurement networks suitable for evaluating urban emissions over time are scarce. Here we present a unique long-term (decadal) record of CO 2 mole fractions from five sites across Utah's metropolitan Salt Lake Valley. We examine "excess" CO 2 above background conditions resulting from local emissions and meteorological conditions. We ascribe CO 2 trends to changes in emissions, since we did not find long-term trends in atmospheric mixing proxies. Three contrasting CO 2 trends emerged across urban types: negative trends at a residential-industrial site, positive trends at a site surrounded by rapid suburban growth, and relatively constant CO 2 over time at multiple sites in the established, residential, and commercial urban core. Analysis of population within the atmospheric footprints of the different sites reveals approximately equal increases in population influencing the observed CO 2 , implying a nonlinear relationship with CO 2 emissions: Population growth in rural areas that experienced suburban development was associated with increasing emissions while population growth in the developed urban core was associated with stable emissions. Four state-of-the-art global-scale emission inventories also have a nonlinear relationship with population density across the city; however, in contrast to our observations, they all have nearly constant emissions over time. Our results indicate that decadal scale changes in urban CO 2 emissions are detectable through monitoring networks and constitute a valuable approach to evaluate emission inventories and studies of urban carbon cycles.

Long-term urban carbon dioxide observations reveal spatial and temporal dynamics related to urban characteristics and growth

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Logan E.; Lin, John C.; Bowling, David R.; Pataki, Diane E.; Strong, Courtenay; Schauer, Andrew J.; Bares, Ryan; Bush, Susan E.; Stephens, Britton B.; Mendoza, Daniel; Mallia, Derek; Holland, Lacey; Gurney, Kevin R.; Ehleringer, James R.

2018-03-01

Cities are concentrated areas of CO2 emissions and have become the foci of policies for mitigation actions. However, atmospheric measurement networks suitable for evaluating urban emissions over time are scarce. Here we present a unique long-term (decadal) record of CO2 mole fractions from five sites across Utah’s metropolitan Salt Lake Valley. We examine “excess” CO2 above background conditions resulting from local emissions and meteorological conditions. We ascribe CO2 trends to changes in emissions, since we did not find long-term trends in atmospheric mixing proxies. Three contrasting CO2 trends emerged across urban types: negative trends at a residential-industrial site, positive trends at a site surrounded by rapid suburban growth, and relatively constant CO2 over time at multiple sites in the established, residential, and commercial urban core. Analysis of population within the atmospheric footprints of the different sites reveals approximately equal increases in population influencing the observed CO2, implying a nonlinear relationship with CO2 emissions: Population growth in rural areas that experienced suburban development was associated with increasing emissions while population growth in the developed urban core was associated with stable emissions. Four state-of-the-art global-scale emission inventories also have a nonlinear relationship with population density across the city; however, in contrast to our observations, they all have nearly constant emissions over time. Our results indicate that decadal scale changes in urban CO2 emissions are detectable through monitoring networks and constitute a valuable approach to evaluate emission inventories and studies of urban carbon cycles.

The contribution of ineffective urban planning practices to disaster and disaster risks accumulation in urban areas: the case of former Kunduchi quarry site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benedict F. Malele

2009-04-01

Full Text Available This study examined the link between urban planning practices and disaster risks. The study used the former Kunduchi Quarry Site within the City of Dar es Salaam to demonstrate how laxity in enforcing the laid down planning rules, regulations and procedures facilitates the accumulation and occurrence of disaster risks and disasters in urban areas. This undermines one of the central roles of urban planning, which is to protect the lives of people from disaster risks and disasters. In exploring this, the study specifically focused on understanding the rules, regulations and procedures of planning in Tanzania; the extent to which they are followed and, where they are not followed, their implications for disaster risks and disasters; the coping initiatives adopted by local communities to reduce risks and their level of success or failure; and finally the drawing of lessons and recommendations for disaster risk reduction in urban areas. Strongly emerging from this study is the finding that although planning rules and regulations do exist, they are not enforced. As a result urban communities suffer from disaster risks and disasters caused by unregulated activities. The study analyzed the coping initiatives that urban communities apply to reduce disaster risks in their areas. It noted that, while a range of “coping” responses could be observed, these are not lasting solutions to the disaster risks being faced. Sustainable solutions seem to be known by the local community but they are not adopted for fear of compromising or undermining their existing livelihood strategies.

Controls on Biogeochemical Cycling of Nitrogen in Urban Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Templer, P. H.; Hutyra, L.; Decina, S.; Rao, P.; Gately, C.

2017-12-01

Rates of atmospheric nitrogen deposition are declining across much of the United States and Europe, yet they remain substantially elevated by almost an order of magnitude over pre-industrial levels and occur as hot spots in urban areas. We measured atmospheric inputs of inorganic and organic nitrogen in multiple urban sites around the Boston Metropolitan area, finding that urban rates are substantially elevated compared to nearby rural areas, and that the range of these atmospheric inputs are as large as observed urban to rural gradients. Within the City of Boston, the variation in deposition fluxes can be explained by traffic intensity, vehicle emissions, and spring fertilizer additions. Throughfall inputs of nitrogen are approximately three times greater than bulk deposition inputs in the city, demonstrating that the urban canopy amplifies rates of nitrogen reaching the ground surface. Similar to many other metropolitan areas of the United States, the City of Boston has 25% canopy cover; however, 25% of this tree canopy is located above impervious pavement. Throughfall inputs that do not have soil below the canopy to retain excess nitrogen may lead to greater inputs of nitrogen into nearby waterways through runoff. Most measurement stations for atmospheric nitrogen deposition are intentionally located away from urban areas and point sources of pollution to capture regional trends. Our data show that a major consequence of this network design is that hotspots of nitrogen deposition and runoff into urban and coastal waterways is likely underestimated to a significant degree. A more complete determination of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and its fate in urban ecosystems is critical for closing regional nitrogen budgets and for improving our understanding of biogeochemical nitrogen cycling across multiple spatial scales.

Flood forecasting within urban drainage systems using NARX neural network.

Science.gov (United States)

Abou Rjeily, Yves; Abbas, Oras; Sadek, Marwan; Shahrour, Isam; Hage Chehade, Fadi

2017-11-01

Urbanization activity and climate change increase the runoff volumes, and consequently the surcharge of the urban drainage systems (UDS). In addition, age and structural failures of these utilities limit their capacities, and thus generate hydraulic operation shortages, leading to flooding events. The large increase in floods within urban areas requires rapid actions from the UDS operators. The proactivity in taking the appropriate actions is a key element in applying efficient management and flood mitigation. Therefore, this work focuses on developing a flooding forecast system (FFS), able to alert in advance the UDS managers for possible flooding. For a forecasted storm event, a quick estimation of the water depth variation within critical manholes allows a reliable evaluation of the flood risk. The Nonlinear Auto Regressive with eXogenous inputs (NARX) neural network was chosen to develop the FFS as due to its calculation nature it is capable of relating water depth variation in manholes to rainfall intensities. The campus of the University of Lille is used as an experimental site to test and evaluate the FFS proposed in this paper.

Contribution of urbanization to the increase of extreme heat events in an urban agglomeration in east China: Urbanization and the Increase of EHEs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Xuchao [Institute of Island and Coastal Ecosystems, Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan China; Ruby Leung, L. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington USA; Zhao, Naizhuo [Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock Texas USA; Zhao, Chun [School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei China; Qian, Yun [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington USA; Hu, Kejia [Institute of Island and Coastal Ecosystems, Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan China; Liu, Xiaoping [School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou China; Chen, Baode [Shanghai Typhoon Institute of China Meteorological Administration, Shanghai China

2017-07-03

The urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is emblematic of China’s rapid urbanization during the past decades. Based on homogenized daily maximum and minimum temperature data, the contributions of urbanization to trends of extreme temperature indices (ETIs) during summer in YRD are evaluated. Dynamically classifying the observational stations into urban and rural areas, this study presents unexplored changes in temperature extremes during the past four decades in the YRD region and quantifies the amplification of the positive trends in ETIs by the urban heat island effect. Overall, urbanization contributes to more than one third in the increase of intensity of extreme heat events in the region, which is comparable to the contribution of greenhouse gases. Compared to rural stations, more notable shifts to the right in the probability distribution of temperature and ETIs were observed in urban stations.

Avidity of anti-malarial antibodies inversely related to transmission intensity at three sites in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Ssewanyana, Isaac; Arinaitwe, Emmanuel; Nankabirwa, Joaniter I; Yeka, Adoke; Sullivan, Richard; Kamya, Moses R; Rosenthal, Philip J; Dorsey, Grant; Mayanja-Kizza, Harriet; Drakeley, Chris; Greenhouse, Bryan; Tetteh, Kevin K A

2017-02-10

People living in malaria endemic areas acquire protection from severe malaria quickly, but protection from clinical disease and control of parasitaemia is acquired only after many years of repeated infections. Antibodies play a central role in protection from clinical disease; however, protective antibodies are slow to develop. This study sought to investigate the influence of Plasmodium falciparum exposure on the acquisition of high-avidity antibodies to P. falciparum antigens, which may be associated with protection. Cross-sectional surveys were performed in children and adults at three sites in Uganda with varied P. falciparum transmission intensity (entomological inoculation rates; 3.8, 26.6, and 125 infectious bites per person per year). Sandwich ELISA was used to measure antibody responses to two P. falciparum merozoite surface antigens: merozoite surface protein 1-19 (MSP1-19) and apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1). In individuals with detectable antibody levels, guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) was added to measure the relative avidity of antibody responses by ELISA. Within a site, there were no significant differences in median antibody levels between the three age groups. Between sites, median antibody levels were generally higher in the higher transmission sites, with differences more apparent for AMA-1 and in ≥5 year group. Similarly, median avidity index (proportion of high avidity antibodies) showed no significant increase with increasing age but was significantly lower at sites of higher transmission amongst participants ≥5 years of age. Using 5 M GuHCl, the median avidity indices in the ≥5 year group at the highest and lowest transmission sites were 19.9 and 26.8, respectively (p = 0.0002) for MSP1-19 and 12.2 and 17.2 (p = 0.0007) for AMA1. Avidity to two different P. falciparum antigens was lower in areas of high transmission intensity compared to areas with lower transmission. Appreciation of the mechanisms behind these findings as

Evolution of multispectral aerosol optical properties in a biogenically-influenced urban environment during the CARES campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Gyawali, M.; Arnott, W. P.; Zaveri, R. A.; Song, C.; Pekour, M.; Flowers, B.; Dubey, M. K.; Setyan, A.; Zhang, Q.; Harworth, J. W.; Radney, J. G.; Atkinson, D. B.; China, S.; Mazzoleni, C.; Gorkowski, K.; Subramanian, R.; Jobson, B. T.; Moosmüller, H.

2013-03-01

Ground-based aerosol measurements made in June 2010 within Sacramento urban area (site T0) and at a 40-km downwind location (site T1) in the forested Sierra Nevada foothills area are used to investigate the evolution of multispectral optical properties as the urban aerosols aged and interacted with biogenic emissions. Along with black carbon and non-refractory aerosol mass and composition observations, spectral absorptio (βabs), scattering (βsca), and extinction (βext) coefficients for wavelengths ranging from 355 to 1064 nm were measured at both sites using photoacoustic (PA) instruments with integrating nephelometers and using cavity ring-down (CRD) instruments. The daytime average Ångström exponent of absorption (AEA) was ~1.6 for the wavelength pair 405 and 870 nm at T0, while it was ~1.8 for the wavelength pair 355 and 870 nm at T1, indicating a modest wavelength-dependent enhancement of absorption at both sites throughout the study. The measured and Mie theory calculations of multispectral βsca showed good correlation (R2=0.85-0.94). The average contribution of supermicron aerosol (mainly composed of sea salt particles advected in from the Pacific Ocean) to the total scattering coefficient ranged from less than 20% at 405 nm to greater than 80% at 1064 nm. From 22 to 28 June, secondary organic aerosol mass increased significantly at both sites due to increased biogenic emissions coupled with intense photochemical activity and air mass recirculation in the area. During this period, the short wavelength scattering coefficients at both sites gradually increased due to increase in the size of submicron aerosols. At the same time, BC mass-normalized absorption cross-section (MAC) values for ultraviolet wavelengths at T1 increased by ~60% compared to the relatively less aged urban emissions at the T0 site. In contrast, the average MAC values for 870 nm wavelength were identical at both sites. These results suggest formation of moderately brown secondary

Evaluation of Fourier and Response Spectra at Ichihasama and Koromogawa Seismic Intensity Observation Sites During the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Nishikawa, Hayato; Miyajima, Masakatsu

In this study, we evaluate an acceleration Fourier and response spectra at Ichihasama and Koromogawa seismic intensity observation sites which observed JMA seismic intensity of 6 upper but seismic waveform records don't exist during the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake in 2008. Firstly, formula to evaluate acceleration Fourier and response spectra are developed using peak ground acceleration, JMA seismic intensity and predominant period of earthquake spectra based on records obtained from crustal earthquakes with Magnitude of 6 to 7. Acceleration Fourier and response spectra are evaluated for another local government site which are not chosen for development of the formula. The evaluated values mostly agree with the observed ones. Finally, acceleration Fourier and response spectra are evaluated for Ichihasama and Koromogawa observation sites. It is clarified that short period below 1 second was predominated in the evaluated spectra.

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...

Intensive Circulation of Japanese Encephalitis Virus in Peri-urban Sentinel Pigs near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julien Cappelle

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Despite the increased use of vaccination in several Asian countries, Japanese Encephalitis (JE remains the most important cause of viral encephalitis in Asia in humans with an estimated 68,000 cases annually. Considered a rural disease occurring mainly in paddy-field dominated landscapes where pigs are amplifying hosts, JE may nevertheless circulate in a wider range of environment given the diversity of its potential hosts and vectors. The main objective of this study was to assess the intensity of JE transmission to pigs in a peri-urban environment in the outskirt of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We estimated the force of JE infection in two cohorts of 15 sentinel pigs by fitting a generalised linear model on seroprevalence monitoring data observed during two four-month periods in 2014. Our results provide evidence for intensive circulation of JE virus in a periurban area near Phnom Penh, the capital and most populated city of Cambodia. Understanding JE virus transmission in different environments is important for planning JE virus control in the long term and is also an interesting model to study the complexity of vector-borne diseases. Collecting quantitative data such as the force of infection will help calibrate epidemiological model that can be used to better understand complex vector-borne disease epidemiological cycles.

Filling some black holes: modeling the connection between urbanization, infrastructure, and global service intensity in 112 metropolitan regions across the world

OpenAIRE

Van De Vijver, Elien; Derudder, Ben; Bassens, David; Witlox, Frank

2012-01-01

This empirical article combines insights from previous research on the level of knowledge-intensive service in metropolitan areas with the aim to develop an understanding of the spatial structure of the global service economy. We use a stepwise regression model with GaWC’s measure of globalized service provisioning as the dependent variable and a range of variables focusing on population, infrastructure, urban primacy, and national regulation as independent variables. The discussion of the re...

Bumble bees (Bombus spp along a gradient of increasing urbanization.

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Karin Ahrné

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Bumble bees and other wild bees are important pollinators of wild flowers and several cultivated crop plants, and have declined in diversity and abundance during the last decades. The main cause of the decline is believed to be habitat destruction and fragmentation associated with urbanization and agricultural intensification. Urbanization is a process that involves dramatic and persistent changes of the landscape, increasing the amount of built-up areas while decreasing the amount of green areas. However, urban green areas can also provide suitable alternative habitats for wild bees. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied bumble bees in allotment gardens, i.e. intensively managed flower rich green areas, along a gradient of urbanization from the inner city of Stockholm towards more rural (periurban areas. Keeping habitat quality similar along the urbanization gradient allowed us to separate the effect of landscape change (e.g. proportion impervious surface from variation in habitat quality. Bumble bee diversity (after rarefaction to 25 individuals decreased with increasing urbanization, from around eight species on sites in more rural areas to between five and six species in urban allotment gardens. Bumble bee abundance and species composition were most affected by qualities related to the management of the allotment areas, such as local flower abundance. The variability in bumble bee visits between allotment gardens was higher in an urban than in a periurban context, particularly among small and long-tongued bumble bee species. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that allotment gardens and other urban green areas can serve as important alternatives to natural habitats for many bumble bee species, but that the surrounding urban landscape influences how many species that will be present. The higher variability in abundance of certain species in the most urban areas may indicate a weaker reliability of the ecosystem

Urban transportation: Perspectives on mobility and choice

Science.gov (United States)

Sincoff, M. Z. (Editor); Dajani, J. S. (Editor); Arnold, G. R.; Bird, J. W.; Brooks, C. M. (Editor); Cobb, W. E.; Cross, J. E.; Darby, L. F.; Erb, N. H.; Ficht, J. C.

1974-01-01

A study of urban transportation systems are presented characterized by intensive scrutiny of many ideas, philosophies, and academic perspectives. This report is intended to communicate some dimensions of the urban transportation problem to the general public.

Key Parameters for Urban Heat Island Assessment in A Mediterranean Context: A Sensitivity Analysis Using the Urban Weather Generator Model

Science.gov (United States)

Salvati, Agnese; Palme, Massimo; Inostroza, Luis

2017-10-01

Although Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a fundamental effect modifying the urban climate, being widely studied, the relative weight of the parameters involved in its generation is still not clear. This paper investigates the hierarchy of importance of eight parameters responsible for UHI intensity in the Mediterranean context. Sensitivity analyses have been carried out using the Urban Weather Generator model, considering the range of variability of: 1) city radius, 2) urban morphology, 3) tree coverage, 4) anthropogenic heat from vehicles, 5) building’s cooling set point, 6) heat released to canyon from HVAC systems, 7) wall construction properties and 8) albedo of vertical and horizontal surfaces. Results show a clear hierarchy of significance among the considered parameters; the urban morphology is the most important variable, causing a relative change up to 120% of the annual average UHI intensity in the Mediterranean context. The impact of anthropogenic sources of heat such as cooling systems and vehicles is also significant. These results suggest that urban morphology parameters can be used as descriptors of the climatic performance of different urban areas, easing the work of urban planners and designers in understanding a complex physical phenomenon, such as the UHI.

Case study: Rainfall partitioning across a natural-to-urban forest gradient during an extreme rain event

Science.gov (United States)

Akin, B. H.; Van Stan, J. T., II; Cote, J. F.; Jarvis, M. T.; Underwood, J.; Friesen, J.; Hildebrandt, A.; Maldonado, G.

2017-12-01

Trees' partitioning of rainfall is an important first process along the rainfall-to-runoff pathway that has economically significant influences on urban stormwater management. However, important knowledge gaps exist regarding (1) its role during extreme storms and (2) how this role changes as forest structure is altered by urbanization. Little research has been conducted on canopy rainfall partitioning during large, intense storms, likely because canopy water storage is rapidly overwhelmed (i.e., 1-3 mm) by short duration events exceeding, for example, 80 mm of rainfall. However, canopy structure controls more than just storage; it also affects the time for rain to drain to the surface (becoming throughfall) and the micrometeorological conditions that drive wet canopy evaporation. In fact, observations from an example extreme ( 100 mm with maximum 5-minute intensities exceeding 55 mm/h) storm across a urban-to-natural gradient in pine forests in southeast Georgia (USA), show that storm intensities were differentially dampened by 33% (tree row), 28% (forest fragment), and 17% (natural forests). In addition, maximum wet canopy evaporation rates were higher for the exposed tree row (0.18 mm/h) than for the partially-enclosed fragment canopy (0.14 mm/h) and the closed canopy natural forest site (0.11). This resulted in interception percentages decreasing from urban-to-natural stand structures (25% to 16%). A synoptic analysis of the extreme storm in this case study also shows that the mesoscale meteorological conditions that developed the heavy rainfall is expected to occur more often with projected climate changes.

Reducing urban heat island effects to improve urban comfort and balance energy consumption in Bucharest (Romania)

Science.gov (United States)

Constantinescu, Dan; Ochinciuc, Cristina Victoria; Cheval, Sorin; Comşa, Ionuţ; Sîrodoev, Igor; Andone, Radu; Caracaş, Gabriela; Crăciun, Cerasella; Dumitrescu, Alexandru; Georgescu, Mihaela; Ianoş, Ioan; Merciu, Cristina; Moraru, Dan; Opriş, Ana; Paraschiv, Mirela; Raeţchi, Sonia; Saghin, Irina; Schvab, Andrei; Tătui-Văidianu, Nataşa

2017-04-01

In the recent decades, extreme temperature events and derived hazards are frequent and trigger noteworthy impacts in Romania, especially over the large urban areas. The cities produce significant disturbances of many elements of the regional climate, and generates adverse effects such as Urban Heat Islands (UHI). This presentation condenses the outputs of an ongoing research project (REDBHI) developed through (2013-2017) focused on developing a methodology for monitoring and forecasting indoor climate and energy challenges related to the intensity of UHI of Bucharest (Romania), based on relevant urban climate zones (UCZs). Multi-criteria correlations between the UHI and architectural, urban and landscape variables were determined, and the vulnerability of buildings expressed in the form of transfer function between indoor micro-climate and outdoor urban environment. The vulnerability of civil buildings was determined in relation with the potential for amplifying the thermal hazards intensity through the anthropogenic influence. The project REDBHI aims at developing innovative and original products, with direct applicability, which can be used in any urban settlement and have market potential with regards to energy design and consulting. The concrete innovative outcomes consist of a) localization of the Bucharest UCZs according to the UHI intensity, identifying reference buildings and sub-zones according to urban anthropic factors and landscape pattern; b) typology of representative buildings with regards to energy consumption and CO2 emitted as a result of building exploitation; c) 3D modelling of the reference buildings and of the thermal/energy reaction to severe climatic conditions d) empirical validation of the dynamic thermal/energy analysis; d) development of an pilot virtual studio capable to simulate climate alerts, analyse scenarios and suggest measures to mitigate the UHI effects, and disseminate the outcomes for educational purposes; e) compendium of

Topography and geology site effects from the intensity prediction model (ShakeMap) for Austria

Science.gov (United States)

del Puy Papí Isaba, María; Jia, Yan; Weginger, Stefan

2017-04-01

The seismicity in Austria can be categorized as moderated. Despite the fact that the hazard seems to be rather low, earthquakes can cause great damage and losses, specially in densely populated and industrialized areas. It is well known, that equations which predict intensity as a function of magnitude and distance, among other parameters, are useful tool for hazard and risk assessment. Therefore, this study aims to determine an empirical model of the ground shaking intensities (ShakeMap) of a series of earthquakes occurred in Austria between 1000 and 2014. Furthermore, the obtained empirical model will lead to further interpretation of both, contemporary and historical earthquakes. A total of 285 events, which epicenters were located in Austria, and a sum of 22.739 reported macreoseismic data points from Austria and adjoining countries, were used. These events are enclosed in the period 1000-2014 and characterized by having a local magnitude greater than 3. In the first state of the model development, the data was careful selected, e.g. solely intensities equal or greater than III were used. In a second state the data was adjusted to the selected empirical model. Finally, geology and topography corrections were obtained by means of the model residuals in order to derive intensity-based site amplification effects.

Comparative toxicity and endocrine disruption potential of urban and rural atmospheric organic PM1 in JEG-3 human placental cells.

Science.gov (United States)

van Drooge, Barend L; Marqueño, Anna; Grimalt, Joan O; Fernández, Pilar; Porte, Cinta

2017-11-01

Outdoor ambient air particulate matter and air pollution are related to adverse effects on human health. The present study assesses the cytotoxicity and ability to disrupt aromatase activity of organic PM 1 extracts from rural and urban areas at equivalent air volumes from 2 to 30 m 3 , in human placental JEG-3 cells. Samples were chemically analyzed for particle bounded organic compounds with endocrine disrupting potential, i.e. PAH, O-PAH, phthalate esters, but also for organic molecular tracer compounds for the emission source identification. Rural samples collected in winter were cytotoxic at the highest concentration tested and strongly inhibited aromatase activity in JEG-3 cells. No cytotoxicity was detected in summer samples from the rural site and the urban samples, while aromatase activity was moderately inhibited in these samples. In the urban area, the street site samples, collected close to intensive traffic, showed stronger inhibition of aromatase activity than the samples simultaneously collected at a roof site, 50 m above ground level. The cytotoxicity and endocrine disruption potential of the samples were linked to combustion products, i.e. PAH and O-PAH, especially from biomass burning in the rural site in winter. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization Urban Heat Island Effect and Modelling of Secondary Pollutant Formations at Urban Hotspots

Science.gov (United States)

Undi, G. S. N. V. K. S. N. S.

2017-12-01

More than 60 percent of the world population is living the urban zones by 2020. This socio of economic transformations will bring considerable changes to the ambient atmosphere. More than 70 percent of the air pollutants in the urban hotspots are from vehicular emissions. in the urban hotspots. In the urban hotspots, the meteorological and dispersion conditions will have different characteristics than in surrounding rural areas. Reactive pollutants transformations are drastically influenced by the local meteorological conditions. The complexity of urban structure alters the pollutants dispersion in the hotspots. This relationship between urban meteorology and air pollution is an important aspect of consideration. In the atmosphere, drastic changes have been noticed from micro to regional and global scales. However, the characteristics of air pollutant emissions vary with time and space, favorable dispersion conditions transport them from local to regional scale. In the present study, the impact of land cover change on Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) has been characterized by considering the three different zones with varying land use patterns. An attempt has been made to estimate the impact of UHI on secondary pollutants (O3) transformations. Envi-Met model has been used to characterize the UHI intensity for the selected zones. Meteorological and air quality measurements were carried out at the selected locations. The diurnal variations of Ozone (O3) concentration for three zones are correlated with the UHI intensity. And the monitoring and model results of O3 concentrations are in good agreement. It is observed from the obtained model results that the metrological parameters influence on local air quality is significant in urban zones.

Coupling Intensive Land Use and Landscape Ecological Security for Urban Sustainability: An Integrated Socioeconomic Data and Spatial Metrics Analysis in Hangzhou City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoteng Cen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the unprecedented rate of urbanization throughout the world, human society is still facing the challenge of coordinating urban socioeconomic development and ecological conservation. In this article, we integrated socioeconomic data and spatial metrics to investigate the coupling relationship between intensive land use (ILU system and landscape ecological security (LES system for urban sustainable development, and to determine how these systems interact with each other. The values of ILU and LES were first calculated according to two evaluation subsystems under the pressure-state-response (PSR framework. A coupling model was then established to analyze the coupling relationship within these two subsystems. The results showed that the levels of both subsystems were generally increasing, but there were several fluctuation changes in LES. The interaction in each system was time lagged; urban land use/cover change (LUCC and ecosystem transformation were determined by political business cycles and influenced by specific factors. The coupling relationship underwent a coordinated development mode from 1992–2012. From the findings we concluded that the coupling system maintained a stable condition and underwent evolving threshold values. The integrated ILU and LES system was a coupling system in which subsystems were related to each other and internal elements had mutual effects. Finally, it was suggested that our results provided a multi-level interdisciplinary perspective on linking socioeconomic-ecological systems. The implications for urban sustainable development were also discussed.

Nitrogen sources, transport and processing in peri-urban floodplains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gooddy, D.C.; Macdonald, D.M.J.; Lapworth, D.J.; Bennett, S.A.; Griffiths, K.J.

2014-01-01

Peri-urban floodplains are an important interface between developed land and the aquatic environment and may act as a source or sink for contaminants moving from urban areas towards surface water courses. With increasing pressure from urban development the functioning of floodplains is coming under greater scrutiny. A number of peri-urban sites have been found to be populated with legacy landfills which could potentially cause pollution of adjacent river bodies. Here, a peri-urban floodplain adjoining the city of Oxford, UK, with the River Thames has been investigated over a period of three years through repeated sampling of groundwaters from existing and specially constructed piezometers. A nearby landfill has been found to have imprinted a strong signal on the groundwater with particularly high concentrations of ammonium and generally low concentrations of nitrate and dissolved oxygen. An intensive study of nitrogen dynamics through the use of N-species chemistry, nitrogen isotopes and dissolved nitrous oxide reveals that there is little or no denitrification in the majority of the main landfill plume, and neither is the ammonium significantly retarded by sorption to the aquifer sediments. A simple model has determined the flux of total nitrogen and ammonium from the landfill, through the floodplain and into the river. Over an 8 km reach of the river, which has a number of other legacy landfills, it is estimated that 27.5 tonnes of ammonium may be delivered to the river annually. Although this is a relatively small contribution to the total river nitrogen, it may represent up to 15% of the ammonium loading at the study site and over the length of the reach could increase in-stream concentrations by nearly 40%. Catchment management plans that encompass floodplains in the peri-urban environment need to take into account the likely risk to groundwater and surface water quality that these environments pose. - Highlights: • Peri-urban floodplains have been found to

Nitrogen sources, transport and processing in peri-urban floodplains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gooddy, D.C., E-mail: dcg@bgs.ac.uk [British Geological Survey, Maclean Building, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom); Macdonald, D.M.J.; Lapworth, D.J. [British Geological Survey, Maclean Building, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom); Bennett, S.A. [British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG (United Kingdom); Griffiths, K.J. [British Geological Survey, Maclean Building, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom)

2014-10-01

Peri-urban floodplains are an important interface between developed land and the aquatic environment and may act as a source or sink for contaminants moving from urban areas towards surface water courses. With increasing pressure from urban development the functioning of floodplains is coming under greater scrutiny. A number of peri-urban sites have been found to be populated with legacy landfills which could potentially cause pollution of adjacent river bodies. Here, a peri-urban floodplain adjoining the city of Oxford, UK, with the River Thames has been investigated over a period of three years through repeated sampling of groundwaters from existing and specially constructed piezometers. A nearby landfill has been found to have imprinted a strong signal on the groundwater with particularly high concentrations of ammonium and generally low concentrations of nitrate and dissolved oxygen. An intensive study of nitrogen dynamics through the use of N-species chemistry, nitrogen isotopes and dissolved nitrous oxide reveals that there is little or no denitrification in the majority of the main landfill plume, and neither is the ammonium significantly retarded by sorption to the aquifer sediments. A simple model has determined the flux of total nitrogen and ammonium from the landfill, through the floodplain and into the river. Over an 8 km reach of the river, which has a number of other legacy landfills, it is estimated that 27.5 tonnes of ammonium may be delivered to the river annually. Although this is a relatively small contribution to the total river nitrogen, it may represent up to 15% of the ammonium loading at the study site and over the length of the reach could increase in-stream concentrations by nearly 40%. Catchment management plans that encompass floodplains in the peri-urban environment need to take into account the likely risk to groundwater and surface water quality that these environments pose. - Highlights: • Peri-urban floodplains have been found to

Source apportionment analysis of atmospheric particulates in an industrialised urban site in southwestern Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Querol, X.; Alastuey, A.; Sanchez-de-la-Campa, A.; Plana, F.; Ruiz, C.R.; Rosa, J. de la

2002-01-01

A detailed physical and chemical characterisation of total suspended particles (TSP) in the highly industrialised city of Huelva (southwestern Spain) was carried out. The results evidenced a coarse grain-size prevalence (PM 10 accounting for only 40% of TSP mass, 37 and 91 μg/m 3 , respectively). PM 10 levels are in the usual range for urban background sites in Spain. The crustal, anthropogenic and marine components accounted for a mean of a 40%, 24% and 5% of bulk TSP, respectively. As expected from the industrial activities, relatively high PO 4 3- and As levels for an urban site were detected. In addition to the crustal and marine components, source apportionment analysis revealed three additional emission sources influencing the levels and composition of TSP: (a) a petrochemical source, (b) a mixed metallurgical-phosphate source, (c) and an unknown source (Sb and NO 3 - ). Due to the high local emissions, the mean TSP anthropogenic contribution (mostly PM 10 ) obtained for all possible air mass transport scenarios reached 18-29 μg/m 3 . The 2010 annual EU PM 10 limit value (20 μg/m 3 ) would be exceeded by the anthropogenic load recorded for all the air mass transport scenarios, with the exception of the North Atlantic transport (only 15% of the sampling days). Under African air mass transport scenarios (20% of sampling days), the TSP crustal contribution reached near three times the local crustal contribution. It must be pointed out that this crustal input should diminish when sampling PM 10 due to the dominant coarse size distribution of this type of particles. (author)

Urban Surfaces in a New Era

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Støvring, Jan Luxhøj

Pluvial floods in highly urbanized areas are a frequently occurring problem for society due to intense rainstorms and the continuous sealing of the urban landscape. Permeable pavement (PP) systems offer more benefits for dealing with pluvial floods. The aim of this thesis is two-fold: 1) to explore...

Analysis of potential urban unstable areas and landslide-induced damages on Volterra historical site through a remote sensing approach

Science.gov (United States)

Del Soldato, Matteo; Bianchini, Silvia; Nolesini, Teresa; Frodella, William; Casagli, Nicola

2017-04-01

Multisystem remote sensing techniques were exploited to provide a comprehensive overview of Volterra (Italy) site stability with regards to its landscape, urban fabric and cultural heritage. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) techniques allow precise measurements of Earth surface displacement, as well as the detection of building deformations on large urban areas. In the field of cultural heritage conservation Infrared thermography (IRT) provides surface temperature mapping and therefore detects various potential criticalities, such as moisture, seepage areas, cracks and structural anomalies. Between winter 2014 and spring 2015 the historical center and south-western sectors of Volterra (Tuscany region, central Italy) were affected by instability phenomena. The spatial distribution, typology and effect on the urban fabrics of the landslide phenomena were investigated by analyzing the geological and geomorphological settings, traditional geotechnical monitoring and advanced remote sensing data such as Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI). The ground deformation rates and the maximum settlement values derived from SAR acquisitions of historical ENVISAT and recent COSMO-SkyMed sensors, in 2003-2009 and 2010-2015 respectively, were compared with background geological data, constructive features, in situ evidences and detailed field inspections in order to classify landslide-damaged buildings. In this way, the detected movements and their potential correspondences with recognized damages were investigated in order to perform an assessment of the built-up areas deformations and damages on Volterra. The IRT technique was applied in order to survey the surface temperature of the historical Volterra wall-enclosure, and allowed highlighting thermal anomalies on this cultural heritage element of the site. The obtained results permitted to better correlate the landslide effects of the recognized deformations in the urban fabric, in order to provide useful

Energy Intensity of the Electric Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mieczysław Dziubiński

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Continuous energy intensity is a dependency between continuous energy intensity and energy intensity of movement. In the paper it is proposed analyze energy intensity of the movement, as the size specifying the power demand to the wheel drive and presented the balance of power of an electric car moving in the urban cycle. The object of the test was the hybrid vehicle with an internal combustion engine and electric motor. The measurements were carried out for 4 speeds and 2 driving profiles.

Comparative toxicity and endocrine disruption potential of urban and rural atmospheric organic PM1 in JEG-3 human placental cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drooge, Barend L. van; Marqueño, Anna; Grimalt, Joan O.; Fernández, Pilar; Porte, Cinta

2017-01-01

Outdoor ambient air particulate matter and air pollution are related to adverse effects on human health. The present study assesses the cytotoxicity and ability to disrupt aromatase activity of organic PM 1 extracts from rural and urban areas at equivalent air volumes from 2 to 30 m 3 , in human placental JEG-3 cells. Samples were chemically analyzed for particle bounded organic compounds with endocrine disrupting potential, i.e. PAH, O-PAH, phthalate esters, but also for organic molecular tracer compounds for the emission source identification. Rural samples collected in winter were cytotoxic at the highest concentration tested and strongly inhibited aromatase activity in JEG-3 cells. No cytotoxicity was detected in summer samples from the rural site and the urban samples, while aromatase activity was moderately inhibited in these samples. In the urban area, the street site samples, collected close to intensive traffic, showed stronger inhibition of aromatase activity than the samples simultaneously collected at a roof site, 50 m above ground level. The cytotoxicity and endocrine disruption potential of the samples were linked to combustion products, i.e. PAH and O-PAH, especially from biomass burning in the rural site in winter. - Highlights: • Organic extracts of outdoor ambient air PM1 showed aromatase activity inhibition in exposed human placental JEG-3 cells. • Cytotoxicity and strongest endocrine disruption was observed in rural winter samples, while lowest inhibition was observed in urban background site 50 m above a busy street. • Cytotoxicity and aromatase activity inhibition in the samples were linked to combustion products, i.e. PAH and O-PAH, especially from biomass burning. - Organic extracts from ambient air PM 1 related to biomass burning are more cytotoxic and have stronger endocrine disruption potential than urban PM 1 .

Integrated urban malaria control: a case study in dar es salaam, Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Caldas de Castro, Marcia; Yamagata, Yoichi; Mtasiwa, Deo; Tanner, Marcel; Utzinger, Jurg; Keiser, Jennifer; Singer, Burton H

2004-08-01

The rapid growth of cities in sub-Saharan Africa, much of it driven by rural-urban migration, is associated with complex transformations of these ecosystems and an intricate set of challenges for malaria control. Urban malaria transmission is substantially less intense and much more focal than in rural and peri-urban settings. However, the danger of epidemics is higher and the presence of substantial non-immune populations places people of all ages at comparable levels of risk. The limited number of breeding sites in urban centers suggests that prevention strategies based on vector control, with emphasis on environmental management, should be a central feature of urban malaria control programs. We focus on malaria in the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Following a brief review of the 100-year history of malaria control in this urban center, we describe and evaluate a control program that operated from 1988 to 1996 as a consequence of a bilateral agreement between the governments of Tanzania and Japan. We present an innovative urban malaria risk mapping methodology based on high-resolution aerial photography with ground-based validation. This strategy clarifies that remote sensing technology at a level of resolution of one meter is essential if this kind of information is to play a role in guiding the detailed specification of intervention strategies for urban malaria control. The Tanzania-Japan multiple-intervention malaria control program, adaptively implemented over time, is described and evaluated with implications for urban malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa more generally. Copyright 2004 The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

The fluorescence properties of aerosol larger than 0.8 μm in urban and tropical rainforest locations

Science.gov (United States)

Gabey, A. M.; Stanley, W. R.; Gallagher, M. W.; Kaye, P. H.

2011-06-01

UV-LIF measurements were performed on ambient aerosol in Manchester, UK (urban city centre, winter) and Borneo, Malaysia (remote, tropical) using a Wide Issue Bioaerosol Spectrometer, version 3 (WIBS3). These sites are taken to represent environments with minor and significant primary biological aerosol (PBA) influences respectively, and the urban dataset describes the fluorescent background aerosol against which PBA must be identified by researchers using LIF. The ensemble aerosol at both sites was characterised over 2-3 weeks by measuring the fluorescence intensity and optical equivalent diameter (DP) of single particles sized 0.8 ≤ DP ≤ 20 μm. Filter samples were also collected for a subset of the Manchester campaign and analysed using energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX) spectroscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), which revealed mostly non-PBA at D ≤ 1 μm. The WIBS3 features three fluorescence channels: the emission following a 280 nm excitation is recorded at 310-400 nm (channel F1) and 400-600 nm (F2), and fluorescence excited at 350 nm is detected at 400-600 nm (F3). In Manchester the primary size mode of fluorescent and non-fluorescent material was present at 0.8-1.2 μm, with a secondary fluorescent mode at 2-4 μm. In Borneo non-fluorescent material peaked at 0.8-1.2 μm and fluorescent at 3-4 μm. Agreement between fluorescent number concentrations in each channel differed at the two sites, with F1 and F3 reporting similar concentrations in Borneo but F3 outnumbering F1 by a factor of 2-3 across the size spectrum in Manchester. The fluorescence intensity in each channel generally rose with DP at both sites with the exception of F1 intensity in Manchester, which peaked at DP = 4 μm, causing a divergence between F1 and F3 intensity at larger DP. This divergence and the differing fluorescent particle concentrations demonstrate the additional discrimination provided by the F1 channel in Manchester. The relationships between

Hourly Water Quality Dynamics in Rivers Downstream of Urban Areas: Quantifying Seasonal Variation and Modelling Impacts of Urban Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchins, M.; McGrane, S. J.; Miller, J. D.; Hitt, O.; Bowes, M.

2016-12-01

Continuous monitoring of water flows and quality is invaluable in improving understanding of the influence of urban areas on river health. When used to inform predictive modelling, insights can be gained as to how urban growth may affect the chemical and biological quality of rivers as they flow downstream into larger waterbodies. Water flow and quality monitoring in two urbanising sub-catchments (long term flow records are available, but particular focus is given to monitoring of an extended set of sites during prolonged winter rainfall. In the Ray sub-catchment streams were monitored in which urban cover varied across a range of 7-78%. A rural-urban gradient in DO was apparent in the low flow period prior to the storms. Transient low DO (works (STW). In this respect temperature- and respiration-driven DO sags in summer were at least if not more severe than those driven by the winter storms. Likewise, although winter storm NH4 concentrations violated EU legislation downstream of the STW, they were lower than summer concentrations in pollutant flushes following dry spells. In contrast the predominant phenomenon affecting water quality in the Cut during the storms was dilution. Here, a river water quality model was calibrated and applied over the course of a year to capture the importance of periphyton photosynthesis and respiration cycles in determining water quality and to predict the influence of hypothetical urban growth on downstream river health. The periods monitored intensively, dry spells followed by prolonged rainfall, represent: (i) marked changes in conditions likely to become more prevalent in future, (ii) situations under which water quality in urban areas is likely to be particularly vulnerable, being influenced for example by first flush effects followed by capacity exceedance at STW. Despite this, whilst being somewhat long lasting in places, impacts on DO were not severe.

Environmental Legionella spp. collected in urban test sites of South East Queensland, Australia, are virulent to human macrophages in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Amba; Eglezos, Sofroni; Huston, Wilhelmina

2016-01-01

Legionellae are frequent contaminants of potable water supplies, resulting in sporadic infections and occasional outbreaks. Isolates of Legionella were collected from urban test sites within South East Queensland and evaluated for their virulence potential in vitro. Two strains (from the species Legionella londiniensis and Legionella quinlivanii) were demonstrated to have the ability to infect human macrophages, while a strain from the species Legionella anisa did not maintain an infection over the same time course. This suggests that the spectrum of urban environmentally associated Legionella with potential to cause human disease might be greater than currently considered. Copyright © 2015 Institut Pasteur. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Assessment of macroinvertebrate communities in adjacent urban stream basins, Kansas City, Missouri, metropolitan area, 2007 through 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Eric D.; Krempa, Heather M.

2013-01-01

Macroinvertebrates were collected as part of two separate urban water-quality studies from adjacent basins, the Blue River Basin (Kansas City, Missouri), the Little Blue River and Rock Creek Basins (Independence, Missouri), and their tributaries. Consistent collection and processing procedures between the studies allowed for statistical comparisons. Seven Blue River Basin sites, nine Little Blue River Basin sites, including Rock Creek, and two rural sites representative of Missouri ecological drainage units and the area’s ecoregions were used in the analysis. Different factors or levels of urban intensity may affect the basins and macroinvertebrate community metrics differently, even though both basins are substantially developed above their downstream streamgages (Blue River, 65 percent; Little Blue River, 52 percent). The Blue River has no flood control reservoirs and receives wastewater effluent and stormflow from a combined sewer system. The Little Blue River has flood control reservoirs, receives no wastewater effluent, and has a separate stormwater sewer system. Analysis of macroinvertebrate community structure with pollution-tolerance metrics and water-quality parameters indicated differences between the Blue River Basin and the Little Blue River Basin.

Morphologies and elemental compositions of local biomass burning particles at urban and glacier sites in southeastern Tibetan Plateau: Results from an expedition in 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Tafeng; Cao, Junji; Zhu, Chongshu; Zhao, Zhuzi; Liu, Suixin; Zhang, Daizhou

2018-07-01

Many studies indicate that the atmospheric environment over the southern part of the Tibetan Plateau is influenced by aged biomass burning particles that are transported over long distances from South Asia. However, our knowledge of the particles emitted locally (within the plateau region) is poor. We collected aerosol particles at four urban sites and one remote glacier site during a scientific expedition to the southeastern Tibetan Plateau in spring 2010. Weather and backward trajectory analyses indicated that the particles we collected were more likely dominated by particles emitted within the plateau. The particles were examined using an electron microscope and identified according to their sizes, shapes and elemental compositions. At three urban sites where the anthropogenic particles were produced mainly by the burning of firewood, soot aggregates were in the majority and made up >40% of the particles by number. At Lhasa, the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau, tar balls and mineral particles were also frequently observed because of the use of coal and natural gas, in addition to biofuel. In contrast, at the glacier site, large numbers of chain-like soot aggregates (~25% by number) were noted. The morphologies of these aggregates were similar to those of freshly emitted ones at the urban sites; moreover, physically or chemically processed ageing was rarely confirmed. These limited observations suggest that the biomass burning particles age slowly in the cold, dry plateau air. Anthropogenic particles emitted locally within the elevated plateau region may thus affect the environment within glaciated areas in Tibet differently than anthropogenic particles transported from South Asia. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urban Stormwater Temperature Surges: A Central US Watershed Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sean J. Zeiger

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Impacts of urban land use can include increased stormwater runoff temperature (Tw leading to receiving water quality impairment. There is therefore a need to target and mitigate sources of thermal pollution in urban areas. However, complex relationships between urban development, stormwater runoff and stream water heating processes are poorly understood. A nested-scale experimental watershed study design was used to investigate stormwater runoff temperature impacts to receiving waters in a representative mixed-use urbanizing watershed of the central US. Daily maximum Tw exceeded 35.0 °C (threshold for potential mortality of warm-water biota at an urban monitoring site for a total of five days during the study period (2011–2013. Sudden increases of more than 1.0 °C within a 15 min time interval of Tw following summer thunderstorms were significantly correlated (CI = 95%; p < 0.01 to cumulative percent urban land use (r2 = 0.98; n = 29. Differences in mean Tw between monitoring sites were significantly correlated (CI = 95%; p = 0.02 to urban land use practices, stream distance and increasing discharge. The effects of the 2012 Midwest USA drought and land use on Tw were also observed with maximum Tw 4.0 °C higher at an urban monitoring site relative to a rural site for 10.5 h. The current work provides quantitative evidence of acute increases in Tw related to urban land use. Results better inform land managers wishing to create management strategies designed to preserve suitable thermal stream habitats in urbanizing watersheds.

Five-year measurements of ambient ammonia and its relationships with other trace gases at an urban site of Delhi, India

Science.gov (United States)

Saraswati; Sharma, S. K.; Mandal, T. K.

2018-04-01

In this study, we present the 5-year measurements of ambient ammonia (NH3), oxides of nitrogen (NO and NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) along with the meteorological parameters at an urban site of Delhi, India from January 2011 to December 2015. The average mixing ratios of ambient NH3, NO, NO2 and CO over the entire period of observations were recorded as 19.3 ± 4.4 (ppb), 20.1 ± 5.9 (ppb), 18.6 ± 4.6 (ppb) and 1.8 ± 0.5 (ppm), respectively. The mixing ratios of NH3, NO, NO2 and CO were recorded highest during winter season, followed by summer and monsoon season. In the present case, a substantial seasonal variation of NH3 was observed during all the seasons except NO, NO2 and CO. The results emphasized that the traffic could be one of the significant sources of ambient NH3 at the urban site of Delhi as illustrated by positive correlations of NH3 with traffic related pollutants (NO x and CO). Surface wind as well as back trajectory analysis also supports the road side traffic and agricultural activities at the nearby area indicating possible major sources of ambient NH3 at observational site. Trajectory analysis, potential source contribution function and concentration weighted trajectory analysis indicated the surrounding nearby areas (NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) as a significant source region of ambient NH3 at the observational site of Delhi.

A statistical intercomparison between 'urban' and 'rural' precipitation chemistry data from Greater Manchester and the two nearby secondary national network sites in the United Kingdom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, D.S.; Longhurst, J.W.S. (Manchester Polytechnic, Manchester (United Kingdom). Acid Rain Information Centre, Dept. of Environmental and Graphical Studies)

1992-11-01

Precipitation chemistry data from a dense urban monitoring network in Greater Manchester, northwest England, were compared with interpolated values from the U.K. secondary national acid deposition monitoring network for the year 1988. Differences were found to be small. However, when data from individual sites from the Greater Manchester network were compared with data from the two nearest secondary national network sites, significant differences were found using simple and complex statistical analyses. Precipitation chemistry at rural sites could be similar to that at urban sites, but the sources of some ions were thought to be different. The synoptic-scale gradients of precipitation chemistry, as shown by the secondary national network, also accounted for some of the differences. 34 refs., 7 figs., 8 tabs.

Decreased waterborne pathogenic bacteria in an urban aquifer related to intense shallow geothermal exploitation.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Gil, Alejandro; Gasco-Cavero, Samanta; Garrido, Eduardo; Mejías, Miguel; Epting, Jannis; Navarro-Elipe, Mercedes; Alejandre, Carmen; Sevilla-Alcaine, Elena

2018-08-15

The implications of intensive use of shallow geothermal energy resources in shallow urban aquifers are still not known for waterborne pathogens relevant to human health. Firstly, we hypothesized that waterborne enteric pathogens would be relatively increased in heated groundwater plumes. To prove this, microbiological sampling of 31 piezometers covering the domain of an urban groundwater body affected by microbiological contamination and energetically exploited by 70 groundwater heat pump systems was performed. Mean differences of pathogenic bacteria contents between impacted and non-impacted monitoring points were assessed with a two-tailed independent Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U and correlation coefficients were also calculated. Surprisingly, the results obtained revealed a significant and generalized decrease in waterborne pathogen contents in thermally impacted piezometers compared to that of non-impacted piezometers. This decrease is hypothesized to be caused by a heat shock to bacteria within the heat exchangers. The statistically significant negative correlations obtained between waterborne pathogen counts and temperature could be explained by the spatial distribution of the bacteria, finding that bacteria start to recover with increasing distance from the injection point. Also, different behavior groups fitting exponential regression models were found for the bacteria species studied, justified by the different presence and influence of several aquifer parameters and major, minor and trace elements studied, as well as the coexistence with other bacteria species. The results obtained from this work reinforce the concept of shallow geothermal resources as a clean energy source, as they could also provide the basis to control the pathogenic bacteria contents in groundwater bodies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Predicting summer site occupancy for an invasive species, the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula, in an urban environment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy L Adams

Full Text Available Invasive species are often favoured in fragmented, highly-modified, human-dominated landscapes such as urban areas. Because successful invasive urban adapters can occupy habitat that is quite different from that in their original range, effective management programmes for invasive species in urban areas require an understanding of distribution, habitat and resource requirements at a local scale that is tailored to the fine-scale heterogeneity typical of urban landscapes. The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula is one of New Zealand's most destructive invasive pest species. As brushtail possums traditionally occupy forest habitat, control in New Zealand has focussed on rural and forest habitats, and forest fragments in cities. However, as successful urban adapters, possums may be occupying a wider range of habitats. Here we use site occupancy methods to determine the distribution of brushtail possums across five distinguishable urban habitat types during summer, which is when possums have the greatest impacts on breeding birds. We collected data on possum presence/absence and habitat characteristics, including possible sources of supplementary food (fruit trees, vegetable gardens, compost heaps, and the availability of forest fragments from 150 survey locations. Predictive distribution models constructed using the programme PRESENCE revealed that while occupancy rates were highest in forest fragments, possums were still present across a large proportion of residential habitat with occupancy decreasing as housing density increased and green cover decreased. The presence of supplementary food sources was important in predicting possum occupancy, which may reflect the high nutritional value of these food types. Additionally, occupancy decreased as the proportion of forest fragment decreased, indicating the importance of forest fragments in determining possum distribution. Control operations to protect native birds from possum predation in

Analysing urban planning implications from an electric vehicles scenario for urban structure-, transport- and energy-systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rid, Wolfgang [Stuttgart Univ. (Germany). Lehrstuhl Stadtplanung und Entwerfen; Fachhochschule Erfurt (Germany). Fachgebiet Stadt- und Regionaloekonomie; Pesch, Franz; Wewer, Max; Sperle, Tilman [Stuttgart Univ. (Germany). Lehrstuhl Stadtplanung und Entwerfen

2013-06-01

Depending on scenarios of actual electric vehicles on the road, ''electric mobility'' will heavily affect urban planning and infrastructure. We analyze these effects by developing an ''urban typology for electro-mobility''. By doing so, we seek to demonstrate that both requirements from electric vehicle scenarios (infrastructure, on-site provision of renewable energy etc.) and potential benefits (noise-reduction, NOx-reduction, modal-split etc.) are dependent on the urban context. The typology was developed according to preliminary studies' results recommending to use the GFZ (Gross Floor Area) and residential density to describe different types of urban structure, but additionally makes use of the proportion of public space and number of resident families (per ha net residential area) to extract five different ''urban types for electro-mobility''. Electro-mobility will have a significant climate effect only if 'green' electric power production is able to provide the additional amount of renewable energy needed. On-site power plants must be further developed to reduce externalities from large scale power plants providing C02-free energy (e.g. externalities from offshore wind energy plants). The potential to produce renewable energy from on-site power plants is dependent on the type of the urban context: Advanced ''plus-energy-concepts'' for example, today, are restricted to building scales of low-density residential zones, whereas in inner city zones, buildings have to provide energy for far more people per floorspace or for cooling purposes, as well. On-site renewable energy plants should be placed in urban settings, where they can work most efficiently and where they can be best integrated into the urban context given, hence, electro-mobility needs to be viewed from an urban perspective. Many other projects, so far, have investigated technical solutions to improve

The effects of habitat edges and trampling intensity on vegetation in urban forests

OpenAIRE

Hamberg, Leena

2009-01-01

Although changes in urban forest vegetation have been documented in previous Finnish studies, the reasons for these changes have not been studied explicitly. Especially, the consequences of forest fragmentation, i.e. the fact that forest edges receive more solar radiation, wind and air-borne nutrients than interiors have been ignored. In order to limit the change in urban forest vegetation we need to know why it occurs. Therefore, the effects of edges and recreational use of urban forests on ...

Computer aided site management. Site use management by digital mapping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chupin, J.C.

1990-01-01

The logistics program developed for assisting the Hague site management is presented. A digital site mapping representation and geographical data bases are used. The digital site map and its integration into a data base are described. The program can be applied to urban and rural land management aid. Technical administrative and economic evaluations of the program are summarized [fr

Not just a rural occurrence: differences in agricultural equipment crash characteristics by rural-urban crash site and proximity to town.

Science.gov (United States)

Harland, Karisa K; Greenan, Mitchell; Ramirez, Marizen

2014-09-01

Although approximately one-third of agricultural equipment-related crashes occur near town, these crashes are thought to be a rural problem. This analysis examines differences between agricultural equipment-related crashes by their urban-rural distribution and distance from a town. Agricultural equipment crashes were collected from nine Midwest Departments of Transportation (2005-2008). Crash zip code was assigned as urban or rural (large, small and isolated) using Rural-Urban Commuting Areas. Crash proximity to a town was estimated with ArcGIS. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of crashing in an urban versus rural zip codes and across rural gradients. ANOVA analysis estimated mean distance (miles) from a crash site to a town. Over four years, 4444 crashes involved agricultural equipment. About 30% of crashes occurred in urban zip codes. Urban crashes were more likely to be non-collisions (aOR=1.69[1.24-2.30]), involve ≥2 vehicles (2 vehicles: aOR=1.58[1.14-2.20], 3+ vehicles: aOR=1.68[0.98-2.88]), occur in a town (aOR=2.06[1.73-2.45]) and within one mile of a town (aOR=1.65[1.40-1.95]) than rural crashes. The proportion of crashes within a town differed significantly across rural gradients (Purban-rural distribution (Pagricultural equipment are unexpectedly common in urban areas and near towns and cities. Education among all roadway users, increased visibility of agricultural equipment and the development of complete rural roads are needed to increase road safety and prevent agricultural equipment-related crashes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial Intensity Duration Frequency Relationships Using Hierarchical Bayesian Analysis for Urban Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Rupa, Chandra; Mujumdar, Pradeep

2016-04-01

In urban areas, quantification of extreme precipitation is important in the design of storm water drains and other infrastructure. Intensity Duration Frequency (IDF) relationships are generally used to obtain design return level for a given duration and return period. Due to lack of availability of extreme precipitation data for sufficiently large number of years, estimating the probability of extreme events is difficult. Typically, a single station data is used to obtain the design return levels for various durations and return periods, which are used in the design of urban infrastructure for the entire city. In an urban setting, the spatial variation of precipitation can be high; the precipitation amounts and patterns often vary within short distances of less than 5 km. Therefore it is crucial to study the uncertainties in the spatial variation of return levels for various durations. In this work, the extreme precipitation is modeled spatially using the Bayesian hierarchical analysis and the spatial variation of return levels is studied. The analysis is carried out with Block Maxima approach for defining the extreme precipitation, using Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution for Bangalore city, Karnataka state, India. Daily data for nineteen stations in and around Bangalore city is considered in the study. The analysis is carried out for summer maxima (March - May), monsoon maxima (June - September) and the annual maxima rainfall. In the hierarchical analysis, the statistical model is specified in three layers. The data layer models the block maxima, pooling the extreme precipitation from all the stations. In the process layer, the latent spatial process characterized by geographical and climatological covariates (lat-lon, elevation, mean temperature etc.) which drives the extreme precipitation is modeled and in the prior level, the prior distributions that govern the latent process are modeled. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm (Metropolis Hastings

On the urban heat island effect dependence on temperature trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camilloni, I.; Barros, V.

1997-01-01

For US, Argentine and Australian cities, yearly mean urban to rural temperature differences (ΔT u-r ) and rural temperatures (T r ) are negatively correlated in almost every case, suggesting that urban heat island intensity depends, among other parameters on the temperature itself. This negative correlation is related to the fact that interannual variability of temperature is generally lower in urban environments than in rural areas. This seems to hold true at low frequencies leading to opposite trends in the two variables. Hence, urban stations are prone to have lower trends in absolute value than rural ones. Therefore, regional data sets including records from urban locations, in addition to urban growth bias may have a second type of urban bias associated with temperature trends. A bulk estimate of this second urban bias trend for the contiguous United States during 1901-1984 indicates that it could be of the same order as the urban growth bias and of opposite sign. If these results could be extended to global data, it could be expected that the spurious influence of urban growth on global temperature trends during warming periods will be offset by the diminishing of the urban heat island intensity. 36 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs

Changing bee and hoverfly pollinator assemblages along an urban-rural gradient.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam J Bates

Full Text Available The potential for reduced pollination ecosystem service due to global declines of bees and other pollinators is cause for considerable concern. Habitat degradation, destruction and fragmentation due to agricultural intensification have historically been the main causes of this pollinator decline. However, despite increasing and accelerating levels of global urbanization, very little research has investigated the effects of urbanization on pollinator assemblages. We assessed changes in the diversity, abundance and species composition of bee and hoverfly pollinator assemblages in urban, suburban, and rural sites across a UK city.Bees and hoverflies were trapped and netted at 24 sites of similar habitat character (churchyards and cemeteries that varied in position along a gradient of urbanization. Local habitat quality (altitude, shelter from wind, diversity and abundance of flowers, and the broader-scale degree of urbanization (e.g. percentage of built landscape and gardens within 100 m, 250 m, 500 m, 1 km, and 2.5 km of the site were assessed for each study site. The diversity and abundance of pollinators were both significantly negatively associated with higher levels of urbanization. Assemblage composition changed along the urbanization gradient with some species positively associated with urban and suburban land-use, but more species negatively so. Pollinator assemblages were positively affected by good site habitat quality, in particular the availability of flowering plants.Our results show that urban areas can support diverse pollinator assemblages, but that this capacity is strongly affected by local habitat quality. Nonetheless, in both urban and suburban areas of the city the assemblages had fewer individuals and lower diversity than similar rural habitats. The unique development histories of different urban areas, and the difficulty of assessing mobile pollinator assemblages in just part of their range, mean that complementary studies in

Defining urban and rural areas: a new approach

Science.gov (United States)

Arellano, Blanca; Roca, Josep

2017-10-01

The separation between the countryside and the city, from rural and urban areas, has been one of the central themes of the literature on urban and territorial studies. The seminal work of Kingsley Davis [10] in the 1950s introduced a wide and fruitful debate which, however, has not yet concluded in a rigorous definition that allows for comparative studies at the national and subnational levels of a scientific nature. In particular, the United Nations (UN) definition of urban and rural population is overly linked to political and administrative factors that make it difficult to use data adequately to understand the human settlement structure of different countries. The present paper seeks to define a more rigorous methodology for the identification of rural and urban areas. For this purpose it uses the night lights supplied by the SNPP satellite, and more specifically by the VIIRS sensor for the determination of the urbanization gradient, and by means of the same construct a more realistic indicator than the statistics provided by the UN. The arrival of electrification to nearly every corner of the planet is certainly the first and most meaningful indicator of artificialization of land. In this sense, this paper proposes a new methodology designed to identify highly impacted (urbanized) landscapes worldwide based on the analysis of satellite imagery of night-time lights. The application of this methodology on a global scale identifies the land highly impacted by light, the urbanization process, and allows an index to be drawn up of Land Impacted by Light per capita (LILpc) as an indicator of the level of urbanization. The methodology used in this paper can be summarized in the following steps: a) a logistic regression between US Urban Areas (UA), as a dependent variable, and night-time light intensity, as an explanatory variable, allows us to establish a nightlight intensity level for the determination of Areas Highly Impacted by Light (AHIL); b) the delimitation of

Research on centrality of urban transport network nodes

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Wang, Kui; Fu, Xiufen

2017-05-01

Based on the actual data of urban transport in Guangzhou, 19,150 bus stations in Guangzhou (as of 2014) are selected as nodes. Based on the theory of complex network, the network model of Guangzhou urban transport is constructed. By analyzing the degree centrality index, betweenness centrality index and closeness centrality index of nodes in the network, the level of centrality of each node in the network is studied. From a different point of view to determine the hub node of Guangzhou urban transport network, corresponding to the city's key sites and major transfer sites. The reliability of the network is determined by the stability of some key nodes (transport hub station). The research of network node centralization can provide a theoretical basis for the rational allocation of urban transport network sites and public transport system planning.

Quantifying the Trends in Land Surface Temperature and Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity in Mediterranean Cities in View of Smart Urbanization

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Anastasios Polydoros

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Land Surface Temperature (LST is a key parameter for the estimation of urban fluxes as well as for the assessment of the presence and strength of the surface urban heat island (SUHI. In an urban environment, LST depends on the way the city has been planned and developed over time. To this end, the estimation of LST needs adequate spatial and temporal data at the urban scale, especially with respect to land cover/land use. The present study is divided in two parts: at first, satellite data from MODIS-Terra 8-day product (MOD11A2 were used for the analysis of an eighteen-year time series (2001–2017 of the LST spatial and temporal distribution in five major cities of the Mediterranean during the summer months. LST trends were retrieved and assessed for their statistical significance. Secondly, LST values and trends for each city were examined in relation to land cover characteristics and patterns in order to define the contribution of urban development and planning on LST; this information is important for the drafting of smart urbanization policies and measures. Results revealed (a positive LST trends in the urban areas especially during nighttime ranging from +0.412 °K in Marseille to +0.923 °K in Cairo and (b the SUHI has intensified during the last eighteen years especially during daytime in European Mediterranean cities, such as Rome (+0.332 °K and Barcelona (+0.307 °K.

An investigation of wash-off controlling parameters at urban and commercial monitoring sites.

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Berretta, C; Gnecco, I; Lanza, L G; La Barbera, P

2007-01-01

The relationship between the parameters of the wash-off function and the controlling hydrologic variables are investigated in this paper, assuming that the pollutant generation process basically depends on the watershed rainfall-runoff response characteristics. Data collected during an intense monitoring program carried out by the Department of Environmental Engineering of the University of Genova (Italy) within a residential area, an auto dismantler facility, a tourism terminal and a urban waste truck depot are used to this aim. The observed runoff events are classified into different TSS mass delivery processes and the occurrence of the first flush phenomenon is also investigated. The correlation between the mathematical parameters describing the exponential process and the hydrological parameters of the corresponding rainfall-runoff event is analysed: runoff parameters and in particular the maximum flow discharge over the time of concentration of the drainage network are proposed as the controlling factor for the total mass of pollutant that is made available for wash-off during each runoff event.

An intensive monitoring campaign of PAHs for assessing the impact of a steel plant.

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Di Gilio, A; Ventrella, G; Giungato, P; Tutino, M; Giua, R; Assennato, G; de Gennaro, G

2017-02-01

This study provided a useful approach for assessing the impact of industrial sources on surrounding, especially in a sensitive industrial area as Taranto (South of Italy). Taranto is one of the most industrialized Italian towns, where several emission sources operate simultaneously in proximity to the urban settlement. An intensive monitoring campaign of PAHs was carried out from January 28th to July 30th, 2011, in seven sites located in residential settlement around the industrial area and in the city center. The collected data were integrated with the information about wind direction and speed by means bivariate polarplot in order to characterize and localize the industrial sources. High BaP concentrations were detected especially when Benzene to Toluene ratio (B/T ratio) values excedeed 1 and all receptor sites were downwind to the steel plant. Moreover, in order to discriminate among PAH sources and quantify their contributions, a source apportionment analysis of the collected data was provided by means Principal component Analysis (PCA) and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) methods. Finally, the processing of PMF5.0 output by bivariate polar plot, confirmed the impact of steel plant on both industrial sites downwind the steel plant and the city center. B[a]P apportionment was quite similar for industrial and urban sites: the traffic source contributed only 11% and 24% to B[a]P measured at two sites, respectively. Therefore, the proximity of Taranto downtown to industrial pole makes negligible all other source contributions to PAH concentrations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

a Probabilistic Embedding Clustering Method for Urban Structure Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, X.; Li, H.; Zhang, Y.; Gao, L.; Zhao, L.; Deng, M.

2017-09-01

Urban structure detection is a basic task in urban geography. Clustering is a core technology to detect the patterns of urban spatial structure, urban functional region, and so on. In big data era, diverse urban sensing datasets recording information like human behaviour and human social activity, suffer from complexity in high dimension and high noise. And unfortunately, the state-of-the-art clustering methods does not handle the problem with high dimension and high noise issues concurrently. In this paper, a probabilistic embedding clustering method is proposed. Firstly, we come up with a Probabilistic Embedding Model (PEM) to find latent features from high dimensional urban sensing data by "learning" via probabilistic model. By latent features, we could catch essential features hidden in high dimensional data known as patterns; with the probabilistic model, we can also reduce uncertainty caused by high noise. Secondly, through tuning the parameters, our model could discover two kinds of urban structure, the homophily and structural equivalence, which means communities with intensive interaction or in the same roles in urban structure. We evaluated the performance of our model by conducting experiments on real-world data and experiments with real data in Shanghai (China) proved that our method could discover two kinds of urban structure, the homophily and structural equivalence, which means clustering community with intensive interaction or under the same roles in urban space.

A PROBABILISTIC EMBEDDING CLUSTERING METHOD FOR URBAN STRUCTURE DETECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Lin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Urban structure detection is a basic task in urban geography. Clustering is a core technology to detect the patterns of urban spatial structure, urban functional region, and so on. In big data era, diverse urban sensing datasets recording information like human behaviour and human social activity, suffer from complexity in high dimension and high noise. And unfortunately, the state-of-the-art clustering methods does not handle the problem with high dimension and high noise issues concurrently. In this paper, a probabilistic embedding clustering method is proposed. Firstly, we come up with a Probabilistic Embedding Model (PEM to find latent features from high dimensional urban sensing data by “learning” via probabilistic model. By latent features, we could catch essential features hidden in high dimensional data known as patterns; with the probabilistic model, we can also reduce uncertainty caused by high noise. Secondly, through tuning the parameters, our model could discover two kinds of urban structure, the homophily and structural equivalence, which means communities with intensive interaction or in the same roles in urban structure. We evaluated the performance of our model by conducting experiments on real-world data and experiments with real data in Shanghai (China proved that our method could discover two kinds of urban structure, the homophily and structural equivalence, which means clustering community with intensive interaction or under the same roles in urban space.

Chapter B. Physical, Chemical, and Biological Responses of Streams to Increasing Watershed Urbanization in the Piedmont Ecoregion of Georgia and Alabama, 2003

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, M. Brian; Calhoun, Daniel L.

2007-01-01

As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program?s effort to assess the physical, chemical, and biological responses of streams to urbanization, 30 wadable streams were sampled near Atlanta, Ga., during 2002?2003. Watersheds were selected to minimize natural factors such as geology, altitude, and climate while representing a range of urban development. A multimetric urban intensity index was calculated using watershed land use, land cover, infrastructure, and socioeconomic variables that are highly correlated with population density. The index was used to select sites along a gradient from low to high urban intensity. Response variables measured include stream hydrology and water temperature, instream habitat, field properties (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity), nutrients, pesticides, suspended sediment, sulfate, chloride, Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations, and characterization of algal, invertebrate and fish communities. In addition, semipermeablemembrane devices (SPMDs)?passive samplers that concentrate hydrophobic organic contaminants such as polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)?were used to evaluate water-quality conditions during the 4 weeks prior to biological sampling. Changes in physical, chemical, and biological conditions were evaluated using both nonparametric correlation analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordinations and associated comparisons of dataset similarity matrices. Many of the commonly reported effects of watershed urbanization on streams were observed in this study, such as altered hydrology and increases in some chemical constituent levels. Analysis of water-chemistry data showed that specific conductance, chloride, sulfate, and pesticides increased as urbanization increased. Nutrient concentrations were not directly correlated to increases in development, but were inversely correlated to percent forest in the watershed. Analyses of SPMD-derived data showed that

Heavy Metal Pollution in Settled Dust Associated with Different Urban Functional Areas in a Heavily Air-Polluted City in North China

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Dejun; Han, Zhangxiong; Yang, Jinsong; Yang, Guanglin; Liu, Xingqi

2016-01-01

Understanding variations of heavy metals in atmospheric particles between different functional areas is significant for pollution control and urban planning in cities. To reveal pollution and spatial distribution of heavy metals in atmospheric particles from different urban functional areas in Shijiazhuang in North China, 43 settled dust samples were collected over the main urban area and heavy metal concentrations were determined in their pollution indexes (IPIs) of the ten heavy metals are 2.7–13.6 (5.7 ± 2.2), suggesting high or very high pollution levels of most dust. Relatively lower IPIs occur mainly in the administration-education area, the commercial area, and other unclassified sites; while peaks occur mainly in the North Railway Station, the northeastern industrial area, and some sites near heavily trafficked areas, implying the significant influence of intensive industrial (including coal combustion) and traffic activities on atmospheric heavy metal accumulation. These results suggest a clear need of mitigating atmospheric heavy metal pollution via controlling emissions of toxic metals (especially Cd and Pb) from industrial and traffic sources in the city. PMID:27834903

Heavy Metal Pollution in Settled Dust Associated with Different Urban Functional Areas in a Heavily Air-Polluted City in North China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Dejun; Han, Zhangxiong; Yang, Jinsong; Yang, Guanglin; Liu, Xingqi

2016-11-10

Understanding variations of heavy metals in atmospheric particles between different functional areas is significant for pollution control and urban planning in cities. To reveal pollution and spatial distribution of heavy metals in atmospheric particles from different urban functional areas in Shijiazhuang in North China, 43 settled dust samples were collected over the main urban area and heavy metal concentrations were determined in their pollution indexes (IPIs) of the ten heavy metals are 2.7-13.6 (5.7 ± 2.2), suggesting high or very high pollution levels of most dust. Relatively lower IPIs occur mainly in the administration-education area, the commercial area, and other unclassified sites; while peaks occur mainly in the North Railway Station, the northeastern industrial area, and some sites near heavily trafficked areas, implying the significant influence of intensive industrial (including coal combustion) and traffic activities on atmospheric heavy metal accumulation. These results suggest a clear need of mitigating atmospheric heavy metal pollution via controlling emissions of toxic metals (especially Cd and Pb) from industrial and traffic sources in the city.

Anthropogenic Carbon Pump in an Urbanized Estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Park, J. H.; Yoon, T. K.; Jin, H.; Begum, M. S.

2015-12-01

The importance of estuaries as a carbon source has been increasingly recognized over the recent decades. However, constraining sources of CO2 evasion from urbanized estuaries remains incomplete, particularly in densely populated river systems receiving high loads of organic carbon from anthropogenic sources. To account for major factors regulating carbon fluxes the tidal reach of the Han River estuary along the metropolitan Seoul, characterization of organic carbon in the main stem and major urban tributaries were combined with continuous, submersible sensor measurements of pCO2 at a mid-channel location over a year and continuous underway measurements using a submersible sensor and two equilibrator sytems across the estuarine section receiving urban streams. Single-site continuous measurements exhibited large seasonal and diurnal variations in pCO2, ranging from sub-ambient air levels to exceptionally high values approaching 10,000 ppm. Diurnal variations of pCO2 were pronounced in summer and had an inverse relationship with dissolved oxygen, pointing to a potential role of day-time algal consumption of CO2. Cruise measurements displayed sharp pCO2 pulses along the confluences of urban streams as compared with relatively low values along the upper estuary receiving low-CO2 outflows from upstream dams. Large downstream increases in pCO2, concurrent with increases in DOC concentrations and fluorescence intensities indicative of microbially processed organic components, imply a translocation and subsequent dilution of CO2 carried by urban streams and/or fast transformations of labile C during transit along downstream reaches. The unique combination of spatial and temporal continuous measurements of pCO2 provide insights on estuarine CO2 pulses that might have resulted from the interplay between high loads of CO2 and organic C of anthropogenic origin and their priming effects on estuarine microbial processing of terrigenous and algal organic matter.

Influence of land urbanization on carbon sequestration of urban vegetation: A temporal cooperativity analysis in Guangzhou as an example.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Qian; Dong, Yu-Xiang; Yang, Ren

2018-04-13

Land urbanization can affect carbon sequestration. In this study, the relationships between land urbanization and carbon sequestration of urban vegetation were studied for Guangzhou, China. The methodology was based on land use data from Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery, MODIS13Q1 data, and climate data, and the improved Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach (CASA) model and linear system models were employed. Characteristics such as the amount of expansion, spatial agglomeration, spatial expansion intensity, and spatial growth of built-up land were analyzed, and the influence of land urbanization (built-up land expansion) on carbon sequestration of urban vegetation was elucidated by a temporal sequential cooperativity analysis. The main results were as follows. (1) Land urbanization had a clear influence on carbon sequestration of urban vegetation in Guangzhou, and the proportion and spatial agglomeration of built-up land showed significant negative correlations with this carbon sequestration; the correlation coefficients were -0.443 and -0.537, respectively, in 2014. (2) The spatial expansion intensity and spatial growth of built-up land showed small correlations with carbon sequestration, and the correlations from 2000 to 2005 were relatively larger than those at other times; this was because the built-up land expansion speed was the fastest during this period. (3) The temporal sequential cooperativity analysis revealed that carbon was lost as natural surfaces were transformed to artificial surfaces, and land urbanization effects on carbon sequestration showed no significant temporal lag. Carbon sequestration of urban vegetation in the city could be improved by adding urban green spaces; however, this would likely take some time as the system recovers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rhine Cities - Urban Flood Integration (UFI)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Redeker, C.

2013-01-01

While agglomerations along the Rhine are confronted with the uncertainties of an increasing flood risk due to climate change, different programs are claiming urban river front sites. Simultaneously, urban development, flood management, as well as navigation and environmental protection are

Carotenoid coloration and health status of urban Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus).

Science.gov (United States)

Sumasgutner, Petra; Adrion, Marius; Gamauf, Anita

2018-01-01

As the world experiences rapid urban expansion, natural landscapes are being transformed into cities at an alarming rate. Consequently, urbanization is identified as one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time, yet we lack a clear understanding of how urbanization affects free-living organisms. Urbanization leads to habitat fragmentation and increased impervious surfaces affecting for example availability and quality of food. Urbanization is also associated with increased pollution levels that can affect organisms directly, via ecophysiological constraints and indirectly by disrupting trophic interactions in multi-species networks. Birds are highly mobile, while an individual is not necessarily exposed to urban stressors around the clock, but nestlings of altricial birds are. Such a city-dwelling species with a long nestling phase is the Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) in Vienna, Austria, which forage on a diverse diet differing in composition from rural habitats. Furthermore, prey items vary in nutritional value and contents of micronutrients like carotenoids, which might impact the nestlings' health. Carotenoids are pigments that are incorporated into integument tissues but also have antioxidant and immunostimulatory capacity, resulting in a trade-off between these functions. In nestlings these pigments function in parent-offspring communication or sibling competition by advertising an individual's physical or physiological condition. Anthropogenic disturbance and pollutants could have disruptive effects on the coloration of these traits. In this study, we measured carotenoid based coloration and other indicators of individual health (body condition and susceptibility to the ectoparasite Carnus hemapterus) of 154 nestling kestrels (n = 91 nests) along an urban gradient from 2010 to 2015. We found skin yellowness of nestlings from nest-sites in the city-center to be least pronounced. This result might indicate that inner-city nestlings are

Carotenoid coloration and health status of urban Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Sumasgutner

Full Text Available As the world experiences rapid urban expansion, natural landscapes are being transformed into cities at an alarming rate. Consequently, urbanization is identified as one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time, yet we lack a clear understanding of how urbanization affects free-living organisms. Urbanization leads to habitat fragmentation and increased impervious surfaces affecting for example availability and quality of food. Urbanization is also associated with increased pollution levels that can affect organisms directly, via ecophysiological constraints and indirectly by disrupting trophic interactions in multi-species networks. Birds are highly mobile, while an individual is not necessarily exposed to urban stressors around the clock, but nestlings of altricial birds are. Such a city-dwelling species with a long nestling phase is the Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus in Vienna, Austria, which forage on a diverse diet differing in composition from rural habitats. Furthermore, prey items vary in nutritional value and contents of micronutrients like carotenoids, which might impact the nestlings' health. Carotenoids are pigments that are incorporated into integument tissues but also have antioxidant and immunostimulatory capacity, resulting in a trade-off between these functions. In nestlings these pigments function in parent-offspring communication or sibling competition by advertising an individual's physical or physiological condition. Anthropogenic disturbance and pollutants could have disruptive effects on the coloration of these traits. In this study, we measured carotenoid based coloration and other indicators of individual health (body condition and susceptibility to the ectoparasite Carnus hemapterus of 154 nestling kestrels (n = 91 nests along an urban gradient from 2010 to 2015. We found skin yellowness of nestlings from nest-sites in the city-center to be least pronounced. This result might indicate that inner

“Shared Growth” Urban Renewal Initiatives in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

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Michael V. Tomeldan

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Urban renewal is a strategy for revitalizing underutilized and degraded sections of an inner city in the hopes of reducing crime, enhancing the environment, preventing further depreciation of land values, and stimulating economic activity. Many urban renewal projects in the past, however, have been associated with substantial demolition of properties, the displacement of residents, expensive infrastructure, and the gentrification of the urban renewal site.In this study, urban renewal schemes in Makati City, Philippines, are explored to determine the appropriate developments for identified urban renewal sites that are situated on the fringes of its affluent sections. The urban renewal proposals seek to involve the participation of the residents of the blighted areas so that they themselves can benefit from the revitalization initiatives. The conceptualized “shared growth” urban renewal initiatives will attempt to minimize dislocation, encourage investment, improve the urban environment, create a more vibrant neighborhood, and spread the economic benefits of the initiatives to the original residents of the redevelopment sites. KEYWORDS: Urban renewal, shared growth, sustainable urbanism

Urbanization Impacts on Mammals across Urban-Forest Edges and a Predictive Model of Edge Effects

OpenAIRE

Villaseñor, Nélida R.; Driscoll, Don A.; Escobar, Martín A. H.; Gibbons, Philip; Lindenmayer, David B.

2014-01-01

With accelerating rates of urbanization worldwide, a better understanding of ecological processes at the wildland-urban interface is critical to conserve biodiversity. We explored the effects of high and low-density housing developments on forest-dwelling mammals. Based on habitat characteristics, we expected a gradual decline in species abundance across forest-urban edges and an increased decline rate in higher contrast edges. We surveyed arboreal mammals in sites of high and low housing den...

Global Learning Spectral Archive- A new Way to deal with Unknown Urban Spectra -

Science.gov (United States)

Jilge, M.; Heiden, U.; Habermeyer, M.; Jürgens, C.

2015-12-01

Rapid urbanization processes and the need of identifying urban materials demand urban planners and the remote sensing community since years. Urban planners cannot overcome the issue of up-to-date information of urban materials due to time-intensive fieldwork. Hyperspectral remote sensing can facilitate this issue by interpreting spectral signals to provide information of occurring materials. However, the complexity of urban areas and the occurrence of diverse urban materials vary due to regional and cultural aspects as well as the size of a city, which makes identification of surface materials a challenging analysis task. For the various surface material identification approaches, spectral libraries containing pure material spectra are commonly used, which are derived from field, laboratory or the hyperspectral image itself. One of the requirements for successful image analysis is that all spectrally different surface materials are represented by the library. Currently, a universal library, applicable in every urban area worldwide and taking each spectral variability into account, is and will not be existent. In this study, the issue of unknown surface material spectra and the demand of an urban site-specific spectral library is tackled by the development of a learning spectral archive tool. Starting with an incomplete library of labelled image spectra from several German cities, surface materials of pure image pixels will be identified in a hyperspectral image based on a similarity measure (e.g. SID-SAM). Additionally, unknown image spectra of urban objects are identified based on an object- and spectral-based-rule set. The detected unknown surface material spectra are entered with additional metadata, such as regional occurrence into the existing spectral library and thus, are reusable for further studies. Our approach is suitable for pure surface material detection of urban hyperspectral images that is globally applicable by taking incompleteness into account

Measuring topology of low-intensity DNA methylation sites for high-throughput assessment of epigenetic drug-induced effects in cancer cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gertych, Arkadiusz; Farkas, Daniel L.; Tajbakhsh, Jian

2010-01-01

Epigenetic anti-cancer drugs with demethylating effects have shown to alter genome organization in mammalian cell nuclei. The interest in the development of novel epigenetic drugs has increased the demand for cell-based assays to evaluate drug performance in pre-clinical studies. An imaging-based cytometrical approach that can measure demethylation effects as changes in the spatial nuclear distributions of methylated cytosine and global DNA in cancer cells is introduced in this paper. The cells were studied by immunofluorescence with a specific antibody against 5-methylcytosine (MeC), and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) for delineation of methylated sites and global DNA in nuclei. In the preprocessing step the segmentation of nuclei in three-dimensional images (3-D) is followed by an automated assessment of nuclear DAPI/MeC patterns to exclude dissimilar entities. Next, low-intensity MeC (LIM) and low-intensity DNA (LID) sites of similar nuclei are localized and processed to obtain specific nuclear density profiles. These profiles sampled at half of the total nuclear volume yielded two parameters: LIM 0.5 and LID 0.5 . The analysis shows that zebularine and 5-azacytidine-the two tested epigenetic drugs introduce changes in the spatial distribution of low-intensity DNA and MeC signals. LIM 0.5 and LID 0.5 were significantly different (p < 0.001) in 5-azacytidine treated (n = 660) and zebularine treated (n = 496) vs. untreated (n = 649) DU145 human prostate cancer cells. In the latter case the LIM sites were predominantly found at the nuclear border, whereas treated populations showed different degrees of increase in LIMs towards the interior nuclear space, in which a large portion of heterochromatin is located. The cell-by-cell evaluation of changes in the spatial reorganization of MeC/DAPI signals revealed that zebularine is a more gentle demethylating agent than 5-azacytidine. Measuring changes in the topology of low-intensity sites can potentially be a

A holistic life cycle analysis of waste management scenarios at increasing source segregation intensity: the case of an Italian urban area.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Maria, Francesco; Micale, Caterina

2014-11-01

Life cycle analysis of several waste management scenarios for an Italian urban area was performed on the basis of different source segregation collection (SS) intensities from 0% up to 52%. Source segregated waste was recycled and or/recovered by composting. Residual waste management options were by landfilling, incineration with energy recovery or solid recovered fuel (SRF) production to substitute for coal. The increase in fuel and materials consumption due to increase in SS had negligible influence on the environmental impact of the system. Recycling operations such as incineration and SRF were always advantageous for impact reduction. There was lower impact for an SS of 52% even though the difference with the SS intensity of 35% was quite limited, about 15%. In all the configurations analyzed, the best environmental performance was achieved for the management system producing SRF by the biodrying process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does urbanization influence the spatial ecology of Gila monsters in the Sonoran Desert?

Science.gov (United States)

Kwiatkowski, M.A.; Schuett, G.W.; Repp, R.A.; Nowak, E.M.; Sullivan, B.K.

2008-01-01

To assess whether urbanization influences the spatial ecology of a rare and protected venomous reptilian predator, the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum, we compared home range (HR) size and movement parameters at three sites varying in degree of urbanization in the Sonoran Desert. We predicted that the urban population of H. suspectum would exhibit smaller HRs, avoid human structures and show less movement. Multivariate analysis indicated that males generally exhibited larger HRs and had higher movement rates and activity levels than females at all three sites. Contrary to our predictions, however, HR size and movement parameters did not vary across the sites in relation to the level of urbanization. At the urban site, individuals often crossed narrow roads and regularly used artificial structures as refuges for extended periods. Furthermore, the population sex ratio at the urban site was female-biased, consistent with the expectation that occupation of larger HRs and higher movement rates results in higher mortality for males in urbanized areas. Gila monsters did not appear to alter certain aspects of their spatial ecology in response to low levels of human activity but additional work will be required to assess population viability and possible effects in the long term and with higher levels of urbanization.

PM10 concentration levels at an urban and background site in Cyprus: the impact of urban sources and dust storms.

Science.gov (United States)

Achilleos, Souzana; Evans, John S; Yiallouros, Panayiotis K; Kleanthous, Savvas; Schwartz, Joel; Koutrakis, Petros

2014-12-01

Air quality in Cyprus is influenced by both local and transported pollution, including desert dust storms. We examined PM10 concentration data collected in Nicosia (urban representative) from April 1, 1993, through December 11, 2008, and in Ayia Marina (rural background representative) from January 1, 1999, through December 31, 2008. Measurements were conducted using a Tapered Element Oscillating Micro-balance (TEOM). PM10 concentrations, meteorological records, and satellite data were used to identify dust storm days. We investigated long-term trends using a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) after controlling for day of week, month, temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity. In Nicosia, annual PM10 concentrations ranged from 50.4 to 63.8 μg/m3 and exceeded the EU annual standard limit enacted in 2005 of 40 μg/m3 every year A large, statistically significant impact of urban sources (defined as the difference between urban and background levels) was seen in Nicosia over the period 2000-2008, and was highest during traffic hours, weekdays, cold months, and low wind conditions. Our estimate of the mean (standard error) contribution of urban sources to the daily ambient PM10 was 24.0 (0.4) μg/m3. The study of yearly trends showed that PM10 levels in Nicosia decreased from 59.4 μg/m3 in 1993 to 49.0 μg/m3 in 2008, probably in part as a result of traffic emission control policies in Cyprus. In Ayia Marina, annual concentrations ranged from 27.3 to 35.6 μg/m3, and no obvious time trends were observed. The levels measured at the Cyprus background site are comparable to background concentrations reported in other Eastern Mediterranean countries. Average daily PM10 concentrations during desert dust storms were around 100 μg/m3 since 2000 and much higher in earlier years. Despite the large impact ofdust storms and their increasing frequency over time, dust storms were responsible for a small fraction of the exceedances of the daily PM10 limit. Implications: This

Source origin of trace elements in PM from regional background, urban and industrial sites of Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Querol, X.; Viana, M.; Alastuey, A.; Amato, F.; Moreno, T.; Castillo, S.; Pey, J.; de la Rosa, J.; Sánchez de la Campa, A.; Artíñano, B.; Salvador, P.; García Dos Santos, S.; Fernández-Patier, R.; Moreno-Grau, S.; Negral, L.; Minguillón, M. C.; Monfort, E.; Gil, J. I.; Inza, A.; Ortega, L. A.; Santamaría, J. M.; Zabalza, J.

Despite their significant role in source apportionment analysis, studies dedicated to the identification of tracer elements of emission sources of atmospheric particulate matter based on air quality data are relatively scarce. The studies describing tracer elements of specific sources currently available in the literature mostly focus on emissions from traffic or large-scale combustion processes (e.g. power plants), but not on specific industrial processes. Furthermore, marker elements are not usually determined at receptor sites, but during emission. In our study, trace element concentrations in PM 10 and PM 2.5 were determined at 33 monitoring stations in Spain throughout the period 1995-2006. Industrial emissions from different forms of metallurgy (steel, stainless steel, copper, zinc), ceramic and petrochemical industries were evaluated. Results obtained at sites with no significant industrial development allowed us to define usual concentration ranges for a number of trace elements in rural and urban background environments. At industrial and traffic hotspots, average trace metal concentrations were highest, exceeding rural background levels by even one order of magnitude in the cases of Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, W, V, Ni, Cs and Pb. Steel production emissions were linked to high levels of Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Mo, Cd, Se and Sn (and probably Pb). Copper metallurgy areas showed high levels of As, Bi, Ga and Cu. Zinc metallurgy was characterised by high levels of Zn and Cd. Glazed ceramic production areas were linked to high levels of Zn, As, Se, Zr, Cs, Tl, Li, Co and Pb. High levels of Ni and V (in association) were tracers of petrochemical plants and/or fuel-oil combustion. At one site under the influence of heavy vessel traffic these elements could be considered tracers (although not exclusively) of shipping emissions. Levels of Zn-Ba and Cu-Sb were relatively high in urban areas when compared with industrialised regions due to tyre and brake abrasion, respectively.

Making better places urban design now

CERN Document Server

Hayward, Richard

2013-01-01

Making Better Places: Urban Design Now discusses how to make better places: how monotonous or rich urban development can be, how appropriate to traffic requirements urban improvements are, or how sustainable an urban design approach can be to existing and future urban dispersal. The book reviews the gap existing between the various environmental disciplines leading to the emergence of urban design; as well as the gap between the rhetoric and practical achievements of urban design. The practice of urban design entails the premise that environments are to be created and transformed to provide the most opportunities for the largest number of people. By using an urban tissue plan, the urban developmental planner can produce and evaluate site development appraisal and design proposals. The book also provides an abstract perspective that considers built forms as a set of signs to provide a mechanism which shows the modification of urban space. The text also addresses the issue of urban change in established centers...

Studying the urban thermal environment under a human-biometeorological point of view: The case of a large coastal metropolitan city, Athens

Science.gov (United States)

Katavoutas, George; Georgiou, Giorgos K.; Asimakopoulos, Dimosthenis N.

2015-01-01

The thermal environment in modern cities has become potentially unfavorable and harmful for its residents, as a result of urbanization and industrialization. Exposure to these extreme thermal conditions increases the heat stress of people in cities considerably. In this context, the present study aims to investigate the urban thermal environment of the large coastal metropolitan city of Athens, in a human-biometeorologically significant way, utilizing the thermo-physiological assessment index PET. The analysis was based on three hour measurements derived from three-year datasets (2006-2009), at 12 monitoring sites located in the urban complex of Athens, on its boundaries and beyond them. The differences of PET values have been investigated in order to attribute urban and exurban thermal characteristics to the considered sites. The frequency and spatial distribution of PET as well as the urban/rural differences of PET have also been analyzed. Finally, a trend analysis has been applied in order to detect possible PET trends by employing long-term recording data (1985-2008). In terms of thermal human-biometeorological conditions, the analysis reveals that among the considered stations, those located inside the urban complex and the industrialized area present urban thermal characteristics, regardless the fact that they are installed either in a park and on a hill or at an open field. The spatial distribution of PET, at 0200 LST, shows a difference of about 3 to 4 °C, on the main axis of the city (SSW-NNE) in the summer period, while the difference exceeds 2.5 °C in the winter period. In general, cooler (less warm) thermal perception is observed at the north/northeast sites of the city as well as at the areas beyond the eastern boundaries of it. The PET differences between urban and rural sites hold a positive sign, except of those at 0500 LST and at 0800 LST. The highest differences are noted at 1400 LST and the most intense of them is noticed in the summer period

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Urbanization in a Developed Region of Eastern Coastal China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiadan Li

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This study presents a practical methodology to monitor the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban expansion in response to rapid urbanization at the provincial scale by integrating remote sensing, urban built-up area boundaries, spatial metrics and spatial regression. Sixty-seven cities were investigated to examine the differences of urbanization intensity, urbanization patterns and urban land use efficiency in conjunction with the identification of socio-economic indicators and planning strategies. Planning proposals to allocate the urbanization intensity among different-sized cities by considering sustainable urban development were also explored. The results showed that the urban area of Zhejiang Province expanded from 31,380 ha in 1980 to 415,184 ha in 2010, indicating that the area of the urban region expanded to more than 13-times the initial urban area. The urban built-up area boundaries became more complex and irregular in shape as the urban area expanded throughout the entire study period. Rapid urban population growth and economic development were identified as significant in stimulating the urban expansion process. However, different-sized cities exhibited marked differences in urban development. Small cities experienced the rapidest urbanization before 2000. Large cities, which are estimated to have the highest urban land use efficiency, had the most dramatic sprawl in urban area at the beginning of the 21st century. Promoting the development of large cities to mega-cities is recommended in Zhejiang Province to ensure sustainable urban development with consideration of land resource preservation.

A holistic life cycle analysis of waste management scenarios at increasing source segregation intensity: The case of an Italian urban area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Di Maria, Francesco, E-mail: francesco.dimaria@unipg.it; Micale, Caterina

2014-11-15

Highlights: • Waste management scenarios starting from different SS intensity were analyzed by LCA. • Several experimental data were utilized for the inventory. • Collection activities influences marginally global impact. • Maximum global environmental gain was achieved by SRF for coke substitution. - Abstract: Life cycle analysis of several waste management scenarios for an Italian urban area was performed on the basis of different source segregation collection (SS) intensities from 0% up to 52%. Source segregated waste was recycled and or/recovered by composting. Residual waste management options were by landfilling, incineration with energy recovery or solid recovered fuel (SRF) production to substitute for coal. The increase in fuel and materials consumption due to increase in SS had negligible influence on the environmental impact of the system. Recycling operations such as incineration and SRF were always advantageous for impact reduction. There was lower impact for an SS of 52% even though the difference with the SS intensity of 35% was quite limited, about 15%. In all the configurations analyzed, the best environmental performance was achieved for the management system producing SRF by the biodrying process.

A holistic life cycle analysis of waste management scenarios at increasing source segregation intensity: The case of an Italian urban area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Maria, Francesco; Micale, Caterina

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Waste management scenarios starting from different SS intensity were analyzed by LCA. • Several experimental data were utilized for the inventory. • Collection activities influences marginally global impact. • Maximum global environmental gain was achieved by SRF for coke substitution. - Abstract: Life cycle analysis of several waste management scenarios for an Italian urban area was performed on the basis of different source segregation collection (SS) intensities from 0% up to 52%. Source segregated waste was recycled and or/recovered by composting. Residual waste management options were by landfilling, incineration with energy recovery or solid recovered fuel (SRF) production to substitute for coal. The increase in fuel and materials consumption due to increase in SS had negligible influence on the environmental impact of the system. Recycling operations such as incineration and SRF were always advantageous for impact reduction. There was lower impact for an SS of 52% even though the difference with the SS intensity of 35% was quite limited, about 15%. In all the configurations analyzed, the best environmental performance was achieved for the management system producing SRF by the biodrying process

People, places and infrastructure: Countering urban violence and ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

People, Places, and Infrastructure: Countering Urban Violence and Promoting Justice in Mumbai, Rio, and Durban. In today's rapidly urbanizing world, cities offer economic opportunity and social mobility, yet they are also places of violence for increasingly large numbers of residents. As urbanization spreads, new sites are ...

Green Roof for Stormwater Management in a Highly Urbanized Area: The Case of Seoul, Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Shafique

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Urbanization changes natural pervious surfaces to hard, impervious surfaces such as roads, buildings and roofs. These modifications significantly affect the natural hydrologic cycle by increasing stormwater runoff rates and volume. Under these circumstances, green roofs offer multiple benefits including on-site stormwater management that mimics the natural hydrologic conditions in an urban area. It can retain a large amount of rainwater for a longer time and delay the peak discharge. However, there is very limited research that has been carried out on the retrofitted green roof for stormwater management for South Korean conditions. This study has investigated the performance of retrofitted green roofs for stormwater management in a highly urbanized area of Seoul, the capital city of Korea. In this study, various storm events were monitored and the research results were analyzed to check the performance of the green roof with controlling the runoff in urban areas. Results also allowed us to conclude that the retention mainly depends on the intensity and duration of the rain events. From the analysis, average runoff retention on the green roof was 10% to 60% in different rain events. The application of an extensive green roof provides promising results for stormwater management in the highly urbanized area of Seoul.

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Urbanization in a Developed Region of Eastern Coastal China

OpenAIRE

Li, Jiadan; Deng, Jinsong; Wang, Ke; Li, Jun; Huang, Tao; Lin, Yi; Yu, Haiyan

2014-01-01

This study presents a practical methodology to monitor the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban expansion in response to rapid urbanization at the provincial scale by integrating remote sensing, urban built-up area boundaries, spatial metrics and spatial regression. Sixty-seven cities were investigated to examine the differences of urbanization intensity, urbanization patterns and urban land use efficiency in conjunction with the identification of socio-economic indicators and planning str...

Urban climate effects on extreme temperatures in Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Schatz, Jason; Kucharik, Christopher J.

2015-09-01

As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme heat, cities and their urban heat island (UHI) effects are growing, as are the urban populations encountering them. These mutually reinforcing trends present a growing risk for urban populations. However, we have limited understanding of urban climates during extreme temperature episodes, when additional heat from the UHI may be most consequential. We observed a historically hot summer and historically cold winter using an array of up to 150 temperature and relative humidity sensors in and around Madison, Wisconsin, an urban area of population 402 000 surrounded by lakes and a rural landscape of agriculture, forests, wetlands, and grasslands. In the summer of 2012 (third hottest since 1869), Madison’s urban areas experienced up to twice as many hours ⩾32.2 °C (90 °F), mean July TMAX up to 1.8 °C higher, and mean July TMIN up to 5.3 °C higher than rural areas. During a record setting heat wave, dense urban areas spent over four consecutive nights above the National Weather Service nighttime heat stress threshold of 26.7 °C (80 °F), while rural areas fell below 26.7 °C nearly every night. In the winter of 2013-14 (coldest in 35 years), Madison’s most densely built urban areas experienced up to 40% fewer hours ⩽-17.8 °C (0 °F), mean January TMAX up to 1 °C higher, and mean January TMIN up to 3 °C higher than rural areas. Spatially, the UHI tended to be most intense in areas with higher population densities. Temporally, both daytime and nighttime UHIs tended to be slightly more intense during more-extreme heat days compared to average summer days. These results help us understand the climates for which cities must prepare in a warming, urbanizing world.

Commonness and ecology, but not bigger brains, predict urban living in birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Dale, Svein; Lifjeld, Jan T; Rowe, Melissah

2015-04-11

Several life history and ecological variables have been reported to affect the likelihood of species becoming urbanized. Recently, studies have also focused on the role of brain size in explaining ability to adapt to urban environments. In contrast, however, little is known about the effect of colonization pressure from surrounding areas, which may confound conclusions about what makes a species urban. We recorded presence/absence data for birds in 93 urban sites in Oslo (Norway) and compared these with species lists generated from 137 forest and 51 farmland sites surrounding Oslo which may represent source populations for colonization. We found that the frequency (proportion of sites where present) of a species within the city was strongly and positively associated with its frequency in sites surrounding the city, as were both species breeding habitat and nest site location. In contrast, there were generally no significant effects of relative brain mass or migration on urban occupancy. Furthermore, analyses of previously published data showed that urban density of birds in six other European cities was also positively and significantly associated with density in areas outside cities, whereas relative brain mass showed no such relationship. These results suggest that urban bird communities are primarily determined by how frequently species occurred in the surrounding landscapes and by features of ecology (i.e. breeding habitat and nest site location), whereas species' relative brain mass had no significant effects.

Using Spatial Semantics and Interactions to Identify Urban Functional Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yandong Wang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The spatial structures of cities have changed dramatically with rapid socio-economic development in ways that are not well understood. To support urban structural analysis and rational planning, we propose a framework to identify urban functional regions and quantitatively explore the intensity of the interactions between them, thus increasing the understanding of urban structures. A method for the identification of functional regions via spatial semantics is proposed, which involves two steps: (1 the study area is classified into three types of functional regions using taxi origin/destination (O/D flows; and (2 the spatial semantics for the three types of functional regions are demonstrated based on point-of-interest (POI categories. To validate the existence of urban functional regions, we explored the intensity of interactions quantitatively between them. A case study using POI data and taxi trajectory data from Beijing validates the proposed framework. The results show that the proposed framework can be used to identify urban functional regions and promotes an enhanced understanding of urban structures.

Trip generation data collection in urban areas.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-01

There is currently limited data on urban, multimodal trip generation at the individual site level. This lack of : data limits the ability of transportation agencies to assess development impacts on the transportation system : in urban and multimodal ...

Understanding the health impacts of urbanization in China: A living laboratory for urban biogeochemistry research

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Y. G.

2015-12-01

China has the largest population in the world, and by 2011, more than 50% of its population are now living in cities. This ongoing societal change has profound impacts on environmental quality and population health. In addition to intensive discharges of waste, urbanization is not only changing the land use and land cover, but also inducing fundamental changes in biogeochemical processes. Unlike biogeochemistry in non-urban environment, the biological component of urban biogeochemistry is dominated by direct human activities, such as air pollution derived from transport, wastewater treatment, garbage disposal and increase in impervious surface etc. Managing urban biogeochemistry will include source control over waste discharge, eco-infrastructure (such as green space and eco-drainage), resource recovery from urban waste stream, and integration with peri-urban ecosystem, particularly with food production system. The overall goal of managing urban biogeochemistry is for human health and wellbeing, which is a global challenge. In this paper, the current status of urban biogeochemistry research in China will be briefly reviewed, and then it will focus on nutrient recycling and waste management, as these are the major driving forces of environmental quality changes in urban areas. This paper will take a holistic view on waste management, covering urban metabolism analysis, technological innovation and integration for resource recovery from urban waste stream, and risk management related to waste recycling and recovery.

Source and chemical species characterization of PM10 and human health risk assessment of semi-urban, urban and industrial areas of West Bengal, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Suraj; Rabha, Rumi; Chowdhury, Mallika; Padhy, Pratap Kumar

2018-09-01

Levels of particulate matter of size ten micron (PM 10 ) in outdoor air, potential PM 10 -bound seven metals - manganese, zinc, cadmium, lead, copper, nickel and cobalt - and twelve water-soluble organic and inorganic ionic components - fluoride, acetate, chloride, nitrite, bromide, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, oxalate, sodium, potassium and calcium - were investigated during two different season. Atmospheric PM 10 samples were collected concurrently from three different sites, i.e., Durgapur (Industrial), Berhampore (Urban) and Bolpur (Semi-urban), West Bengal, India, during summer (April-June 2014) and winter (December 2014-February 2015). Average PM 10 levels were found to be in the range of 189.58-219.96 μg/m 3 at the semi-urban site, 293.41-324.27 μg/m 3 at the urban site and 316.93-344.69 μg/m 3 at the industrial site during summer and winter season respectively. Data on metals and water soluble ions were analyzed statistically (Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis) for their source identification and apportionment in the study areas. Principle component analysis models, from three different sites, identified four different factors which share common sources, viz., soil & road re-suspension, motor vehicle and traffic, waste dumping, biomass aerosols, and construction. The pollution load and health risk assessments of selected metals were undertaken in three different sites, within children and adults of the study areas, and were found to be within the safe range. Furthermore, an attempt has also been made to provide basic information on pollution, their sources and exposure pathways for humans in the vicinity of semi-urban, urban and industrial regions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rapid Recovery of an Urban Remnant Reptile Community following Summer Wildfire.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Robert A; Doherty, Tim S

2015-01-01

Reptiles in urban remnants are threatened with extinction by increased fire frequency, habitat fragmentation caused by urban development, and competition and predation from exotic species. Understanding how urban reptiles respond to and recover from such disturbances is key to their conservation. We monitored the recovery of an urban reptile community for five years following a summer wildfire at Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia, using pitfall trapping at five burnt and five unburnt sites. The reptile community recovered rapidly following the fire. Unburnt sites initially had higher species richness and total abundance, but burnt sites rapidly converged, recording a similar total abundance to unburnt areas within two years, and a similar richness within three years. The leaf-litter inhabiting skink Hemiergis quadrilineata was strongly associated with longer unburnt sites and may be responding to the loss of leaf litter following the fire. Six rarely-captured species were also strongly associated with unburnt areas and were rarely or never recorded at burnt sites, whereas two other rarely-captured species were associated with burnt sites. We also found that one lizard species, Ctenotus fallens, had a smaller average body length in burnt sites compared to unburnt sites for four out of the five years of monitoring. Our study indicates that fire management that homogenises large areas of habitat through frequent burning may threaten some species due to their preference for longer unburnt habitat. Careful management of fire may be needed to maximise habitat suitability within the urban landscape.

Agriculture and irrigation as potential drivers of urban heat island

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, R.; Buzan, J. R.; Mishra, V.; Kumar, R.; Shindell, D. T.; Huber, M.

2017-12-01

More than half the population are urban dwellers and are most vulnerable to global environmental changes. Urban extents are more prone to intense heating as compared to the surroundings rural area. Presently about 33% of India's population lives in the urban area and is expected to rise steeply, so a better understanding of the phenomenon affecting the urban population is very much important. Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a well-known phenomenon which potentially affects energy consumption, spreading of diseases and mortality. In general, almost all (90%) of the major urban area of the country faces UHI at night time in the range (1-5 °C) while 60% of the regions face Urban Cool Island (UCI) in the range of -1 to 6 °C in day time. Our observations and simulations show that vegetation and irrigation in the surrounding non urban directly affects day time Urban Cool Island effects. This is due to the relative cooling by vegetation and irrigated lands in the vicinity of these urban regions. There is a contrasting variation in UHI/UCI intensities in different seasons and in different time of the day. Most of the urban regions face UHI effect in summers whereas this phenomenton reverses in winters. Daytime UCI is more prominent in the months of April and May due to minimum availability of moisture. We observed that apart from vegetation and irrigation, aerosol is also an important factor governing UHI phenomenon.

Pricing the urban cooling benefits of solar panel deployment in Sydney, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, S; Goldstein, M; Pitman, A J; Haghdadi, N; MacGill, I

2017-03-06

Cities import energy, which in combination with their typically high solar absorption and low moisture availability generates the urban heat island effect (UHI). The UHI, combined with human-induced warming, makes our densely populated cities particularly vulnerable to climate change. We examine the utility of solar photovoltaic (PV) system deployment on urban rooftops to reduce the UHI, and we price one potential value of this impact. The installation of PV systems over Sydney, Australia reduces summer maximum temperatures by up to 1 °C because the need to import energy is offset by local generation. This offset has a direct environmental benefit, cooling local maximum temperatures, but also a direct economic value in the energy generated. The indirect benefit associated with the temperature changes is between net AUD$230,000 and $3,380,000 depending on the intensity of PV systems deployment. Therefore, even very large PV installations will not offset global warming, but could generate enough energy to negate the need to import energy, and thereby reduce air temperatures. The energy produced, and the benefits of cooling beyond local PV installation sites, would reduce the vulnerability of urban populations and infrastructure to temperature extremes.

Pricing the urban cooling benefits of solar panel deployment in Sydney, Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, S.; Goldstein, M.; Pitman, A. J.; Haghdadi, N.; MacGill, I.

2017-01-01

Cities import energy, which in combination with their typically high solar absorption and low moisture availability generates the urban heat island effect (UHI). The UHI, combined with human-induced warming, makes our densely populated cities particularly vulnerable to climate change. We examine the utility of solar photovoltaic (PV) system deployment on urban rooftops to reduce the UHI, and we price one potential value of this impact. The installation of PV systems over Sydney, Australia reduces summer maximum temperatures by up to 1 °C because the need to import energy is offset by local generation. This offset has a direct environmental benefit, cooling local maximum temperatures, but also a direct economic value in the energy generated. The indirect benefit associated with the temperature changes is between net AUD$230,000 and $3,380,000 depending on the intensity of PV systems deployment. Therefore, even very large PV installations will not offset global warming, but could generate enough energy to negate the need to import energy, and thereby reduce air temperatures. The energy produced, and the benefits of cooling beyond local PV installation sites, would reduce the vulnerability of urban populations and infrastructure to temperature extremes. PMID:28262843

Landscape and Local Correlates of Bee Abundance and Species Richness in Urban Gardens.

Science.gov (United States)

Quistberg, Robyn D; Bichier, Peter; Philpott, Stacy M

2016-03-31

Urban gardens may preserve biodiversity as urban population densities increase, but this strongly depends on the characteristics of the gardens and the landscapes in which they are embedded. We investigated whether local and landscape characteristics are important correlates of bee (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) abundance and species richness in urban community gardens. We worked in 19 gardens in the California central coast and sampled bees with aerial nets and pan traps. We measured local characteristics (i.e., vegetation and ground cover) and used the USGS National Land Cover Database to classify the landscape surrounding our garden study sites at 2 km scales. We classified bees according to nesting type (i.e., cavity, ground) and body size and determined which local and landscape characteristics correlate with bee community characteristics. We found 55 bee species. One landscape and several local factors correlated with differences in bee abundance and richness for all bees, cavity-nesting bees, ground-nesting bees, and different sized bees. Generally, bees were more abundant and species rich in bigger gardens, in gardens with higher floral abundance, less mulch cover, more bare ground, and with more grass. Medium bees were less abundant in sites surrounded by more medium intensity developed land within 2 km. The fact that local factors were generally more important drivers of bee abundance and richness indicates a potential for gardeners to promote bee conservation by altering local management practices. In particular, increasing floral abundance, decreasing use of mulch, and providing bare ground may promote bees in urban gardens. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Multilevel Hierarchical Modeling of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Responses to Urbanization in Nine Metropolitan Regions across the Conterminous United States

Science.gov (United States)

Kashuba, Roxolana; Cha, YoonKyung; Alameddine, Ibrahim; Lee, Boknam; Cuffney, Thomas F.

2010-01-01

Multilevel hierarchical modeling methodology has been developed for use in ecological data analysis. The effect of urbanization on stream macroinvertebrate communities was measured across a gradient of basins in each of nine metropolitan regions across the conterminous United States. The hierarchical nature of this dataset was harnessed in a multi-tiered model structure, predicting both invertebrate response at the basin scale and differences in invertebrate response at the region scale. Ordination site scores, total taxa richness, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (EPT) taxa richness, and richness-weighted mean tolerance of organisms at a site were used to describe invertebrate responses. Percentage of urban land cover was used as a basin-level predictor variable. Regional mean precipitation, air temperature, and antecedent agriculture were used as region-level predictor variables. Multilevel hierarchical models were fit to both levels of data simultaneously, borrowing statistical strength from the complete dataset to reduce uncertainty in regional coefficient estimates. Additionally, whereas non-hierarchical regressions were only able to show differing relations between invertebrate responses and urban intensity separately for each region, the multilevel hierarchical regressions were able to explain and quantify those differences within a single model. In this way, this modeling approach directly establishes the importance of antecedent agricultural conditions in masking the response of invertebrates to urbanization in metropolitan regions such as Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado; and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Also, these models show that regions with high precipitation, such as Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; and Portland, Oregon, start out with better regional background conditions of invertebrates prior to urbanization but experience faster negative rates of change with urbanization. Ultimately, this urbanization

Photochemical processing of organic aerosol at nearby continental sites: contrast between urban plumes and regional aerosol

Science.gov (United States)

Slowik, J. G.; Brook, J.; Chang, R. Y.-W.; Evans, G. J.; Hayden, K.; Jeong, C.-H.; Li, S.-M.; Liggio, J.; Liu, P. S. K.; McGuire, M.; Mihele, C.; Sjostedt, S.; Vlasenko, A.; Abbatt, J. P. D.

2011-03-01

As part of the BAQS-Met 2007 field campaign, Aerodyne time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometers (ToF-AMS) were deployed at two sites in southwestern Ontario from 17 June to 11 July 2007. One instrument was located at Harrow, ON, a rural, agriculture-dominated area approximately 40 km southeast of the Detroit/Windsor/Windsor urban area and 5 km north of Lake Erie. The second instrument was located at Bear Creek, ON, a rural site approximately 70 km northeast of the Harrow site and 50 km east of Detroit/Windsor. Positive matrix factorization analysis of the combined organic mass spectral dataset yields factors related to secondary organic aerosol (SOA), direct emissions, and a factor tentatively attributed to the reactive uptake of isoprene and/or condensation of its early generation reaction products. This is the first application of PMF to simultaneous AMS measurements at different sites, an approach which allows for self-consistent, direct comparison of the datasets. Case studies are utilized to investigate processing of SOA from (1) fresh emissions from Detroit/Windsor and (2) regional aerosol during periods of inter-site flow. A strong correlation is observed between SOA/excess CO and photochemical age as represented by the NOx/NOy ratio for Detroit/Windsor outflow. Although this correlation is not evident for more aged air, measurements at the two sites during inter-site transport nevertheless show evidence of continued atmospheric processing by SOA production. However, the rate of SOA production decreases with airmass age from an initial value of ~10.1 μg m-3 ppmvCO-1 h-1 for the first ~10 h of plume processing to near-zero in an aged airmass (i.e. after several days). The initial SOA production rate is comparable to the observed rate in Mexico City over similar timescales.

Mozambique - Urban Land Regularization

Data.gov (United States)

Millennium Challenge Corporation — This baseline survey was developed for the impact evaluation of activities related to 'improving land access in urban hotspot areas.' The site-specific interventions...

Effect of air pollution on peri-urban agriculture: a case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agrawal, M.; Singh, B.; Rajput, M.; Marshall, F.; Bell, J.N.B.

2003-01-01

Peri-urban agriculture is vital for the urban populations of many developing countries. Increases in both industrialization and urbanization, and associated air pollution threaten urban food production and its quality. Six hour mean concentrations were monitored for SO 2 , NO 2 and O 3 and plant responses were measured in terms of physiological characteristics, pigment, biomass and yield. Parameter reductions in mung bean (Vigna radiata), palak (Beta vulgaris), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and mustard (Brassica compestris) grown within the urban fringes of Varanasi, India correlated directly with the gaseous pollutants levels. The magnitude of response involved all three gaseous pollutants at peri-urban sites; O 3 had more influence at a rural site. The study concluded that air pollution in Varanasi could negatively influence crop yield. - Urban air pollution has a negative impact on peri-urban agriculture

Effect of air pollution on peri-urban agriculture: a case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agrawal, M.; Singh, B.; Rajput, M.; Marshall, F.; Bell, J.N.B

2003-12-01

Peri-urban agriculture is vital for the urban populations of many developing countries. Increases in both industrialization and urbanization, and associated air pollution threaten urban food production and its quality. Six hour mean concentrations were monitored for SO{sub 2}, NO{sub 2} and O{sub 3} and plant responses were measured in terms of physiological characteristics, pigment, biomass and yield. Parameter reductions in mung bean (Vigna radiata), palak (Beta vulgaris), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and mustard (Brassica compestris) grown within the urban fringes of Varanasi, India correlated directly with the gaseous pollutants levels. The magnitude of response involved all three gaseous pollutants at peri-urban sites; O{sub 3} had more influence at a rural site. The study concluded that air pollution in Varanasi could negatively influence crop yield. - Urban air pollution has a negative impact on peri-urban agriculture.

Ground-level airborne particulate matter near important Portuguese Cultural Heritage sites in high polluted (Lisbon) and low polluted (Evora) urban environments

Science.gov (United States)

Schiavon, N.; Wagner, F.; Candeias, A.; Kandler, K.; Tobias, L.; Mirao, J.

2012-04-01

As part of a wider project on aerosol composition in the Southwestern part of the Iberian peninsula, an intensive field monitoring/sampling/analytical campaign has been conducted in August and December 2011 to assess indoor and outdoor atmospheric aerosol optical and microphysical parameters (Nephelometry), number/mass/size distribution (TEOM, MAAP, OPS) and single particle minero-chemical composition on filter collected samples (VP-SEM+EDS, XRD) at several sheltered and unsheltered locations close to important Cultural Heritage monuments in Evora and Lisbon, Portugal. Sites investigated included the Igreja do S. Francisco in Evora, the Cristo Rei sanctuary, Jeronimos Monastery, and Lisbon Castle in Lisbon. At Cristo Rei measurements at sea level, around 100m and around 180m were carried out in order to determine the vertical profile of the particle size distribution. Measurements were taken at different times of day reflecting changes in atmospheric mixing and air pollution levels. Measurements were also performed near an air quality monitoring station at Avenida de Libertade (the busiest traffic artery in Lisbon city center) during traffic peak hour. One of the aims of the campaign was to determine differences in airborne particulate matter compositions and concentrations between an urban coastal high pollution (Lisbon) and a low pollution (Evora) environments and how these could affect the nature of decay patterns and processes in the building materials of the monuments under investigation. Preliminary results indicate significant differences in particle properties between the 2 cities as well as between indoor and outdoor locations. One interesting result was the detection of considerable amounts of particle of oceanic origin (such as sodium chloride) in the Evora site even at 130 km away from the coast. Despite its relatively unpolluted location, single particle analysis by SEM+EDS at the Evora site reveals the presence of significant numbers of particle of

Water-soluble components in PM10 aerosols over an urban and a suburban site in the city of Sfax (Tunisia)

OpenAIRE

AZRI, C.; MABROUK, C.; ABIDA, H.; MEDHIOUB, K.

2010-01-01

This study examines the influence of source and meteorological factors on the physico-chemical characteristics of atmospheric aerosols collected at two sampling sites, urban and suburban, in the city of Sfax (Tunisia) during the year of 2004. Atmospheric aerosols were further analyzed for their chemical composition and spatio-temporal evolution was investigated. Based on particle content distribution, the species studied were classified into distinct groups with different content and temporal...

The intensity of non-target site mechanisms influences the level of resistance of sourgrass to glyphosate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flávia Regina da Costa

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Non-target site mechanisms are involved in the resistance of sourgrass (Digitaria insularis to glyphosate. Studies on the 14C-glyphosate absorption and translocation as well as the detection of glyphosate and its metabolites in sourgrass plants were carried out under controlled conditions to investigate if the differential response of resistant sourgrass biotypes (R1 and R2 is derived from the intensity of non-target site mechanisms involved in the resistance to glyphosate. Different pattern of absorption was observed between S (susceptible and R2 from 12 up to 48 hours after treatment with glyphosate (HAT, and between S and R1 just at 12 HAT. The initial difference in glyphosate absorption among the biotypes did not maintained at 96 HAT and afterwards. Smaller amount of herbicide left the treated leaf into the rest of shoot and roots in R2 (25% than in S (58% and R1 (52%. In addition, slight difference in glyphosate translocation was observed between S and R1. We found high percentage (81% of glyphosate in the S biotype up to 168 HAT, while just 44% and 2% of glyphosate was recovered from R1 and R2 plant tissues. In addition, high percentage of glyphosate metabolites was found in R2 (98% and R1 (56% biotypes, while a very low percentage (11% was found in the S biotype. As previous studies indicated resistant factors of 3.5 and 5.6 for R1 and R2, respectively, we conclude that the differential response of sourgrass biotypes is derived from the intensity of the non-target site mechanisms involved in the resistance to glyphosate.

Modifications of the urban heat island characteristics under exceptionally hot weather - A case study

Science.gov (United States)

Founda, Dimitra; Pierros, Fragiskos; Santamouris, Mathew

2016-04-01

Considerable recent research suggests that heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer in the future. Heat waves are characterised by the dominance of prolonged abnormally hot conditions related to synoptic scale anomalies, thus they affect extensive geographical areas. Heat waves (HW) have a profound impact on humans and they have been proven to increase mortality. Urban areas are known to be hotter than the surrounding rural areas due to the well documented urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. Urban areas face increased risk under heat waves, due to the added heat from the urban heat island and increased population density. Given that urban populations keep increasing, citizens are exposed to significant heat related risk. Mitigation and adaptation strategies require a deep understanding of the response of the urban heat islands under extremely hot conditions. The response of the urban heat island under selected episodes of heat waves is examined in the city of Athens, from the comparison between stations of different characteristics (urban, suburban, coastal and rural). Two distinct episodes of heat waves occurring during summer 2000 were selected. Daily maximum air temperature at the urban station of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) exceeded 40 0C for at least three consecutive days for both episodes. The intensity of UHI during heat waves was compared to the intensity under 'normal' conditions, represented from a period 'before' and 'after' the heat wave. Striking differences of UHI features between HW and no HW cases were observed, depending on the time of the day and the type of station. The comparison between the urban and the coastal station showed an increase of the order of 3 0C in the intensity of UHI during the HW days, as regards both daytime and nighttime conditions. The comparison between urban and a suburban (inland) station, revealed some different behaviour during HWs, with increases of the order of 3 0C in the nocturnal

Evapotranspiration and surface energy balance across an agricultural-urban landscape gradient in Southern California, USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiflett, S. A.; Anderson, R. G.; Jenerette, D.

2014-12-01

Urbanization substantially affects energy, surface and air temperature, and hydrology due to extensive modifications in land surface properties such as vegetation, albedo, thermal capacity and soil moisture. The magnitude and direction of these alterations depends heavily on the type of urbanization that occurs. We investigated energy balance variation in a local network of agricultural and urban ecosystems using the eddy covariance method to better understand how vegetation fraction and degree of urbanization affects energy exchanges between the land surface and the atmosphere. We deployed eddy flux systems within a well-irrigated, agricultural citrus orchard, a moderately developed urban zone with a substantial amount of local vegetative cover, and an intensely developed urban zone with minimal vegetative cover and increased impervious surfaces relative to the other two sites. Latent energy (LE) fluxes in the agricultural area ranged from 7.9 ± 1.4 W m-2 (nighttime) to 168.7 ± 6.2 W m-2 (daytime) compared to 10.2 ± 3.5 W m-2 and 40.6 ± 4.1 W m-2, respectively, for the moderately developed urban area. Sensible energy (H) fluxes ranged from -9.1 ± 1.0 W m-2 (nighttime) to 119 ± 7.0 W m-2 (daytime) in the agricultural area compared to 9.6 ± 2.6 W m-2 and 134 ± 6.0 W m-2, respectively, for the moderately developed urban zone. Daytime LE is reduced with increasing urbanization; however, daily cycles of LE are less recognizable in urban areas compared to distinct daily cycles obtained above a mature citrus crop. In contrast, both daytime and nighttime H increases with increasing degree of urbanization. Reduction in vegetation and increases in impervious surfaces along an urbanization gradient leads to alterations in energy balance, which are associated with microclimate and water use changes.

Site-Specific Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reeh, Henrik; Hemmersam, Peter

2015-01-01

Currently, cities across the Northern European region are actively redeveloping their former industrial harbours. Indeed, harbours areas are essential in the long-term transition from industrial to information and experience societies; harbours are becoming sites for new businesses and residences...... question is how innovation may contribute to urban life and site-specific qualities....

Environmental consequences of intensive forest harvesting for bioenergy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyck, W.J.; Maclaren, J.P.

1994-01-01

This paper examines environmental concerns regarding intensive forest harvesting, and outlines current knowledge. Site productivity and nutrient removal, site productivity and soil disturbance, and site preparation impacts are discussed. Biodiversity, off-site impacts, positive environmental impacts of intensive biomass harvesting, acid rain, climate change, estimating the carbon stored by a forest, site productivity research needs and application of models are discussed. (UK)

Understanding Climate Variability of Urban Ecosystems Through the Lens of Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Ripplinger, J.; Jenerette, D.; Wang, J.; Chandler, M.; Ge, C.; Koutzoukis, S.

2017-12-01

The Los Angeles megacity is vulnerable to climate warming - a process that locally exacerbates the urban heat island effect as it intensifies with size and density of the built-up area. We know that large-scale drivers play a role, but in order to understand local-scale climate variation, more research is needed on the biophysical and sociocultural processes driving the urban climate system. In this study, we work with citizen scientists to deploy a high-density network of microsensors across a climate gradient to characterize geographic variation in neighborhood meso- and micro-climates. This research asks: How do urbanization, global climate, and vegetation interact across multiple scales to affect local-scale experiences of temperature? Additionally, citizen scientist-led efforts generated research questions focused on examining microclimatic differences among yard groundcover types (rock mulch vs. lawn vs. artificial turf) and also on variation in temperature related to tree cover. Combining sensor measurements with Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) spatial models and satellite-based temperature, we estimate spatially-explicit maps of land surface temperature and air temperature to illustrate the substantial difference between surface and air urban heat island intensities and the variable degree of coupling between land surface and air temperature in urban areas. Our results show a strong coupling between air temperature variation and landcover for neighborhoods, with significant detectable signatures from tree cover and impervious surface. Temperature covaried most strongly with urbanization intensity at nighttime during peak summer season, when daily mean air temperature ranged from 12.8C to 30.4C across all groundcover types. The combined effects of neighborhood geography and vegetation determine where and how temperature and tree canopy vary within a city. This citizen science-enabled research shows how large-scale climate drivers and urbanization

Characterization and origin of organic and inorganic pollution in urban soils in Pisa (Tuscany, Italy).

Science.gov (United States)

Cardelli, Roberto; Vanni, Giacomo; Marchini, Fausto; Saviozzi, Alessandro

2017-10-12

We assessed the quality of 31 urban soils in Pisa by analyzing total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, and the platinum group elements (PGEs). The risk was evaluated by the geological accumulation index (I geo ) and the enrichment factor (EF). Results were compared with those obtained from a non-urban site and with the quantitative limits fixed by Italian legislation. In nearly all the monitored sites, the legal limit for TPH of 60 mg/kg in residential areas was exceeded, indicating widespread and intense pollution throughout the entire city area. The I geo indicated no Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn pollution and minimal Pb and Cr pollution due to anthropogenic enrichment. Legal Hg and Zn limits of 1 and 150 mg/kg, respectively, were exceeded in about 20% of sites; Cd (2 mg/kg), Cr (150 mg/kg), and Cu (120 mg/kg) in only one site; and the Ni legal limit of 120 mg/kg was never exceeded. Some urban soils showed a higher Hg level than the more restrictive legal limit of 5 mg/kg concerning areas for industrial use. Based on the soluble, exchangeable, and carbonate-bound fractions, Mn and Zn showed the highest mobility, suggesting a more potential risk of soil contamination than the other metals. The TPH and both Cr and Hg amounts were not correlated with any of the other monitored metals. The total contents of Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu in soils were positively correlated with each other, suggesting a common origin from vehicular traffic. The PGE values (Pt and Pd) were below the detection limits in 75%-90% of the monitored areas, suggesting that their accumulation is at an early stage.

Rapid Recovery of an Urban Remnant Reptile Community following Summer Wildfire.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert A Davis

Full Text Available Reptiles in urban remnants are threatened with extinction by increased fire frequency, habitat fragmentation caused by urban development, and competition and predation from exotic species. Understanding how urban reptiles respond to and recover from such disturbances is key to their conservation. We monitored the recovery of an urban reptile community for five years following a summer wildfire at Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia, using pitfall trapping at five burnt and five unburnt sites. The reptile community recovered rapidly following the fire. Unburnt sites initially had higher species richness and total abundance, but burnt sites rapidly converged, recording a similar total abundance to unburnt areas within two years, and a similar richness within three years. The leaf-litter inhabiting skink Hemiergis quadrilineata was strongly associated with longer unburnt sites and may be responding to the loss of leaf litter following the fire. Six rarely-captured species were also strongly associated with unburnt areas and were rarely or never recorded at burnt sites, whereas two other rarely-captured species were associated with burnt sites. We also found that one lizard species, Ctenotus fallens, had a smaller average body length in burnt sites compared to unburnt sites for four out of the five years of monitoring. Our study indicates that fire management that homogenises large areas of habitat through frequent burning may threaten some species due to their preference for longer unburnt habitat. Careful management of fire may be needed to maximise habitat suitability within the urban landscape.

Multisite study of particle number concentrations in urban air.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Roy M; Jones, Alan M

2005-08-15

Particle number concentration data are reported from a total of eight urban site locations in the United Kingdom. Of these, six are central urban background sites, while one is an urban street canyon (Marylebone Road) and another is influenced by both a motorway and a steelworks (Port Talbot). The concentrations are generally of a similar order to those reported in the literature, although higher than those in some of the other studies. Highest concentrations are at the Marylebone Road site and lowest are at the Port Talbot site. The central urban background locations lie somewhere between with concentrations typically around 20 000 cm(-3). A seasonal pattern affects all sites, with highest concentrations in the winter months and lowest concentrations in the summer. Data from all sites show a diurnal variation with a morning rush hour peak typical of an anthropogenic pollutant. When the dilution effects of windspeed are accounted for, the data show little directionality at the central urban background sites indicating the influence of sources from all directions as might be expected if the major source were road traffic. At the London Marylebone Road site there is high directionality driven by the air circulation in the street canyon, and at the Port Talbot site different diurnal patterns are seen for particle number count and PM10 influenced by emissions from road traffic (particle number count) and the steelworks (PM10) and local meteorological factors. Hourly particle number concentrations are generally only weakly correlated to NO(x) and PM10, with the former showing a slightly closer relationship. Correlations between daily average particle number count and PM10 were also weak. Episodes of high PM10 concentration in summer typically show low particle number concentrations consistent with transport of accumulation mode secondary aerosol, while winter episodes are frequently associated with high PM10 and particle number count arising from poor dispersion of

Urbanization effects on stream habitat characteristics in Boston, Massachusetts; Birmingham, Alabama; and Salt Lake City, Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Short, T.M.; Giddings, E.M.P.; Zappia, H.; Coles, J.F.

2005-01-01

Relations between stream habitat and urban land-use intensity were examined in 90 stream reaches located in or near the metropolitan areas of Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC); Birmingham, Alabama (BIR); and Boston, Massachusetts (BOS). Urban intensity was based on a multi-metric index (urban intensity index or UII) that included measures of land cover, socioeconomic organization, and urban infrastructure. Twenty-eight physical variables describing channel morphology, hydraulic properties, and streambed conditions were examined. None of the habitat variables was significantly correlated with urbanization intensity in all three study areas. Urbanization effects on stream habitat were less apparent for streams in SLC and BIR, owing to the strong influence of basin slope (SLC) and drought conditions (BIR) on local flow regimes. Streamflow in the BOS study area was not unduly influenced by similar conditions of climate and physiography, and habitat conditions in these streams were more responsive to urbanization. Urbanization in BOS contributed to higher discharge, channel deepening, and increased loading of fine-grained particles to stream channels. The modifying influence of basin slope and climate on hydrology of streams in SLC and BIR limited our ability to effectively compare habitat responses among different urban settings and identify common responses that might be of interest to restoration or water management programs. Successful application of land-use models such as the UII to compare urbanization effects on stream habitat in different environmental settings must account for inherent differences in natural and anthropogenic factors affecting stream hydrology and geomorphology. The challenge to future management of urban development is to further quantify these differences by building upon existing models, and ultimately develop a broader understanding of urbanization effects on aquatic ecosystems. ?? 2005 by the American Fisheries Society.

24 CFR 983.57 - Site selection standards.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

...; (vi) If the poverty rate in the area where the proposed PBV development will be located is greater... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Site selection standards. 983.57 Section 983.57 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development...

Compact Cities Are Complex, Intense and Diverse but: Can We Design Such Emergent Urban Properties?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hye Kyung Lim

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Compact cities are promoted by global and local policies in response to environmental, economic and social challenges. It is argued that increased density and diversity of urban functions and demographics are expected to deliver positive outcomes. ‘Emerged’ urban area which have developed incrementally seem to exhibit such dense and diverse characteristics, acquired through adaptation by multiple actors over time and space. Today, ‘design-based’ planning approaches aim to create the same characteristics here and now. An example of such is the City of Gothenburg, Sweden, which strives to involve multiple actors to ‘design’ urban density and mixed use, but with unsatisfactory outcomes. There is reason to investigate in what way current planning approaches need modification to better translate policy goals into reality. This paper studied which type of planning approach appears to best deliver the desired urban characteristics. Two cities are studied, Gothenburg and Tokyo. Today, these cities operate under different main planning paradigms. Tokyo applies a rule-based approach and Gothenburg a design-based approach. Five urban areas were studied in each city, representing outcomes of three strategic planning approaches that have been applied historically in both cities: 1 emergent compact urban form; 2 designed dispersed urban form; and 3 designed compact urban form. Planning outcomes in the form of density, building scales and diversity were analysed to understand if such properties of density and diversity are best achieved by a specific planning approach. The results show that different planning approaches deliver very different outcomes when it comes to these qualities. To better support ambitions for compact cities in Gothenburg, the prevailing mix of ‘planning by design’ and ‘planning by developmental control’ needs to be complemented by a third planning strategy of ‘planning by coding’ or ‘rule-based planning�

Ivestigating Earth Science in Urban Schoolyards

Science.gov (United States)

Endreny, Anna; Siegel, Donald I.

2009-01-01

The Urban Schoolyards project is a two year partnership with a university Earth Science Department and the surrounding urban elementary schools. The goal of the project was to develop the capacity of elementary teachers to teach earth science lessons using their schoolyards and local parks as field sites. The university personnel developed lessons…

Denitrification controls in urban riparian soils: implications for reducing urban nonpoint source nitrogen pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yangjie; Chen, Zhenlou; Lou, Huanjie; Wang, Dongqi; Deng, Huanguang; Wang, Chu

2014-09-01

The purpose of this research was to thoroughly analyze the influences of environmental factors on denitrification processes in urban riparian soils. Besides, the study was also carried out to identify whether the denitrification processes in urban riparian soils could control nonpoint source nitrogen pollution in urban areas. The denitrification rates (DR) over 1 year were measured using an acetylene inhibition technique during the incubation of intact soil cores from six urban riparian sites, which could be divided into three types according to their vegetation. The soil samples were analyzed to determine the soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (STN), C/N ratio, extractable NO3 (-)-N and NH4 (+)-N, pH value, soil water content (SWC), and the soil nitrification potential to evaluate which of these factors determined the final outcome of denitrification. A nitrate amendment experiment further indicated that the riparian DR was responsive to added nitrate. Although the DRs were very low (0.099 ~ 33.23 ng N2O-N g(-1) h(-1)) due to the small amount of nitrogen moving into the urban riparian zone, the spatial and temporal patterns of denitrification differed significantly. The extractable NO3 (-)-N proved to be the dominant factor influencing the spatial distribution of denitrification, whereas the soil temperature was a determinant of the seasonal DR variation. The six riparian sites could also be divided into two types (a nitrate-abundant and a nitrate-stressed riparian system) according to the soil NO3 (-)-N concentration. The DR in nitrate-abundant riparian systems was significantly higher than that in the nitrate-stressed riparian systems. The DR in riparian zones that were covered with bushes and had adjacent cropland was higher than in grass-covered riparian sites. Furthermore, the riparian DR decreased with soil depth, which was mainly attributed to the concentrated nitrate in surface soils. The DR was not associated with the SOC, STN, C/N ratio, and

Soils in urban and industrial environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burghardt, W.

1994-01-01

Urban areas are expanding rapidly. Therefore the interest in soil science activities on urban and industrial sites grows. The paper gives an overview of the research and mapping activities in Germany. A model of soils in urban ecosystems shows the relationships of development of soils and soil quality to land use. The water regime of soils is influenced by the characteristics of urban landscape and sealing. Of special interest are the typical substrates. Some properties of soils which develop on tipped substrates of natural material are discussed. Of importance are technological substrates as rubble, ash, slag, waste material and sludges in urban environments. Proposals of classification of urban and industrial soils are presented. For proper use by the municipal authorities availability and application of information on urban soils must be a part of research. (orig.) [de

Carbonaceous content of atmospheric aerosols in Lisbon urban atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Mirante, Fátima; Oliveira, C.; Martins, N.; Pio, C.; Caseiro, A.; Cerqueira, M.; Alves, C.; Oliveira, C.; Oliveira, J.; Camões, F.; Matos, M.; Silva, H.

2010-05-01

Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal with about 565,000 residents and a population density of 6,600 inhabitants per square kilometre. The town is surrounded by satellite cities, forming together a region known as "Lisbon Metropolitan Area" with about 3 million inhabitants. It is estimated that more than one million citizens come into the Lisbon area every day from the outskirts, leading to elevated traffic densities and intense traffic jams. Airborne particulate matter limit values are frequently exceeded, with important consequences on air pollution levels and obvious negative impacts on human health. Atmospheric aerosols are known to have in their structure significant amounts of carbonaceous material. The knowledge of the aerosols carbon content, particularly on their several carbon forms (as TC, EC and OC, meaning respectively Total, Elemental and Organic carbon) is often required to provide information for source attribution. In order to assess the vehicles PM input, two sampling campaigns (summer and winter periods) were carried out in 2008 in Lisbon in two contrasting sites, a roadside and an urban background site. Particulate matter was collected in two fractions on quartz fibre filters using Hi-Vol samplers (coarse fraction, 2.5µmwork was performed under Project PAHLIS (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Contamination in Lisbon Urban Atmosphere - PTDC/AMB/65699/2006) financed by "Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia" - FCT. Fátima Mirante acknowledges FCT her PhD grant (SFRH/BD/45473/2008).

Atmospheric pollution in Lisbon urban atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, C.

2009-04-01

Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal with about 565,000 residents in 2008 and a population density of 6,600 inhabitants per square kilometre. Like several other major metropolis, the town is surrounded by satellite cities, forming together a region known as "Lisbon Metropolitan Area" with about 3 million inhabitants, a quarter of the overall Portuguese population. Besides their local residents, it is estimated that more than one million citizens come into the Lisbon area every day from the outskirts, leading to elevated traffic densities and intense traffic jams, with important consequences on air pollution levels and obvious negative impacts on human health. Airborne particulate matter limit values are frequently exceeded, making urgent the existence of consistent programs to monitor and help taking measures to control them. Within the Portuguese project PAHLIS (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Contamination in Lisbon Urban Atmosphere) financed by the Portuguese Science Foundation ("Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia"), an aerosol and vapour phase sampling program is being implemented in the city of Lisbon at two selected contrasting zones, namely a typically busy area with intense road traffic and frequent exceedences of the particulate matter standard for the maximum allowable concentration, and a residential quieter area, thus with a cleaner atmosphere characterised as an urban background site. An one month-long sampling campaign was performed during the summer of 2008, where particulate matter was collected in two fractions (coarse 2.5µmwork are expected to cover a lack of reliable information regarding sources of atmospheric pollutants in Portugal and present, for the first time, systematic data of PAHs levels in Lisbon. Acknowledgement: This work was performed under Project PAHLIS (PTDC/AMB/65699/2006) financed by "Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia". C. Oliveira thanks Project PAHLIS his scholarship.

Mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in urban green spaces: implications for urban wildlife conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallo, Travis; Fidino, Mason; Lehrer, Elizabeth W; Magle, Seth B

2017-12-01

As urban growth expands and natural environments fragment, it is essential to understand the ecological roles fulfilled by urban green spaces. To evaluate how urban green spaces function as wildlife habitat, we estimated mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in city parks, cemeteries, golf courses, and natural areas throughout the greater Chicago, Illinois, USA region. We found similar α-diversity (with the exception of city parks), but remarkably dissimilar communities in different urban green spaces. Additionally, the type of urban green space greatly influenced species colonization and persistence rates. For example, coyotes (Canis latrans) had the highest, but white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) the lowest probability of persistence in golf courses compared to other green space types. Further, most species had a difficult time colonizing city parks even when sites were seemingly available. Our results indicate that urban green spaces contribute different, but collectively important, habitats for maintaining and conserving biodiversity in cities. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Air ion concentrations in various urban outdoor environments

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Xuan; Jayaratne, Rohan; Morawska, Lidia

2010-06-01

Atmospheric ions are produced by many natural and anthropogenic sources and their concentrations vary widely between different environments. There is very little information on their concentrations in different types of urban environments, how they compare across these environments and their dominant sources. In this study, we measured airborne concentrations of small ions, particles and net particle charge at 32 different outdoor sites in and around a major city in Australia and identified the main ion sources. Sites were classified into seven groups as follows: park, woodland, city centre, residential, freeway, power lines and power substation. Generally, parks were situated away from ion sources and represented the urban background value of about 270 ions cm -3. Median concentrations at all other groups were significantly higher than in the parks. We show that motor vehicles and power transmission systems are two major ion sources in urban areas. Power lines and substations constituted strong unipolar sources, while motor vehicle exhaust constituted strong bipolar sources. The small ion concentration in urban residential areas was about 960 cm -3. At sites where ion sources were co-located with particle sources, ion concentrations were inhibited due to the ion-particle attachment process. These results improved our understanding on air ion distribution and its interaction with particles in the urban outdoor environment.

Measuring Land Change in Coastal Zone around a Rapidly Urbanized Bay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faming Huang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Urban development is a major cause for eco-degradation in many coastal regions. Understanding urbanization dynamics and underlying driving factors is crucial for urban planning and management. Land-use dynamic degree indices and intensity analysis were used to measure land changes occurred in 1990, 2002, 2009, and 2017 in the coastal zone around Quanzhou bay, which is a rapidly urbanized bay in Southeast China. The comprehensive land-use dynamic degree and interval level intensity analysis both revealed that land change was accelerating across the three time intervals in a three-kilometer-wide zone along the coastal line (zone A, while land change was fastest during the second time interval 2002–2009 in a separate terrestrial area within coastal zone (zone B. Driven by urbanization, built-up gains and cropland losses were active for all time intervals in both zones. Mudflat losses were active except in the first time interval in zone A due to the intensive sea reclamation. The gain of mangrove was active while the loss of mangrove is dormant for all three intervals in zone A. Transition level analysis further revealed the similarities and differences in processes within patterns of land changes for both zones. The transition from cropland to built-up was systematically targeted and stationary while the transition from woodland to built-up was systematically avoiding transition in both zones. Built-up tended to target aquaculture for the second and third time intervals in zone A but avoid Aquaculture for all intervals in zone B. Land change in zone A was more significant than that in zone B during the second and third time intervals at three-level intensity. The application of intensity analysis can enhance our understanding of the patterns and processes in land changes and suitable land development plans in the Quanzhou bay area. This type of investigation is useful to provide information for developing sound land use policy to achieve urban

Measuring Land Change in Coastal Zone around a Rapidly Urbanized Bay.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Faming; Huang, Boqiang; Huang, Jinliang; Li, Shenghui

2018-05-23

Urban development is a major cause for eco-degradation in many coastal regions. Understanding urbanization dynamics and underlying driving factors is crucial for urban planning and management. Land-use dynamic degree indices and intensity analysis were used to measure land changes occurred in 1990, 2002, 2009, and 2017 in the coastal zone around Quanzhou bay, which is a rapidly urbanized bay in Southeast China. The comprehensive land-use dynamic degree and interval level intensity analysis both revealed that land change was accelerating across the three time intervals in a three-kilometer-wide zone along the coastal line (zone A), while land change was fastest during the second time interval 2002⁻2009 in a separate terrestrial area within coastal zone (zone B). Driven by urbanization, built-up gains and cropland losses were active for all time intervals in both zones. Mudflat losses were active except in the first time interval in zone A due to the intensive sea reclamation. The gain of mangrove was active while the loss of mangrove is dormant for all three intervals in zone A. Transition level analysis further revealed the similarities and differences in processes within patterns of land changes for both zones. The transition from cropland to built-up was systematically targeted and stationary while the transition from woodland to built-up was systematically avoiding transition in both zones. Built-up tended to target aquaculture for the second and third time intervals in zone A but avoid Aquaculture for all intervals in zone B. Land change in zone A was more significant than that in zone B during the second and third time intervals at three-level intensity. The application of intensity analysis can enhance our understanding of the patterns and processes in land changes and suitable land development plans in the Quanzhou bay area. This type of investigation is useful to provide information for developing sound land use policy to achieve urban sustainability in

Documentation of archaeological sites in northern iraq using remote sensing methods

Science.gov (United States)

Matoušková, E.; Pavelka, K.; Nováček, K.; Starková, L.

2015-08-01

The MULINEM (The Medieval Urban Landscape in Northeastern Mesopotamia) project is aiming to investigate a Late Sasanian and Islamic urban network in the land of Erbil, historic province of Hidyab (Adiabene) that is located in the northern Iraq. The research of the hierarchical urban network in a defined area belongs to approaches rarely used in the study of the Islamic urbanism. The project focuses on the cluster of urban sites of the 6th-17th centuries A.D. This paper focuses on remote sensing analysis of historical sites with special interest of FORMOSAT-2 data that have been gained through a research announcement: Free FORMOSAT-2 satellite Imagery. Documentation of two archaeological sites (Makhmúr al-Qadima and Kushaf) are introduced. FORMOSAT-2 data results have been compared to historic CORONA satellite data of mentioned historical sites purchased earlier by the University of West Bohemia. Remote sensing methods were completed using in-situ measurements.

'Solurban' project - Solar utilisation potential of urban sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robinson, D.; Scartezzini, J.-L.; Montavon, M. [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Laboratoire d' Energie Solaire et de Physique du Batiment (LESO-PB), Lausanne (Switzerland); Compagnon, R. [Ecole d' ingenieurs et d' architectes de Fribourg (EIAF), University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Fribourg (Switzerland)

2005-07-01

This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a project that examined three urban locations in Switzerland with respect to their potentials for using solar energy and daylight to reduce energy demands in the lighting, heating and hot-water generation areas. The three urban areas examined included the Matthaeus district in Basle with its older residential apartment buildings, the Bellevaux residential district of Lausanne and the Meyrin district in Geneva - a nineteen-sixties satellite town. The calculation methodology and the three-dimensional digital models used are discussed. The results, including radiation availability and sky-access are discussed. Appropriate active and passive solar technologies are reviewed.

The fluorescence properties of aerosol larger than 0.8 μm in urban and tropical rainforest locations

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A. M. Gabey

2011-06-01

Full Text Available UV-LIF measurements were performed on ambient aerosol in Manchester, UK (urban city centre, winter and Borneo, Malaysia (remote, tropical using a Wide Issue Bioaerosol Spectrometer, version 3 (WIBS3. These sites are taken to represent environments with minor and significant primary biological aerosol (PBA influences respectively, and the urban dataset describes the fluorescent background aerosol against which PBA must be identified by researchers using LIF. The ensemble aerosol at both sites was characterised over 2–3 weeks by measuring the fluorescence intensity and optical equivalent diameter (D_P of single particles sized 0.8 ≤ D_P ≤ 20 μm. Filter samples were also collected for a subset of the Manchester campaign and analysed using energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX spectroscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM, which revealed mostly non-PBA at D ≤ 1 μm.

The WIBS3 features three fluorescence channels: the emission following a 280 nm excitation is recorded at 310–400 nm (channel F1 and 400–600 nm (F2, and fluorescence excited at 350 nm is detected at 400–600 nm (F3. In Manchester the primary size mode of fluorescent and non-fluorescent material was present at 0.8–1.2 μm, with a secondary fluorescent mode at 2–4 μm. In Borneo non-fluorescent material peaked at 0.8–1.2 μm and fluorescent at 3–4 μm. Agreement between fluorescent number concentrations in each channel differed at the two sites, with F1 and F3 reporting similar concentrations in Borneo but F3 outnumbering F1 by a factor of 2–3 across the size spectrum in Manchester.

The fluorescence intensity in each channel generally rose with D_P at both sites with the exception of F1 intensity in Manchester, which peaked at D_P = 4 μm, causing a divergence between F1 and F3 intensity at larger D_P. This divergence and the differing

Daily variation of urban heat island effect and its correlations to urban greenery: A case study of Adelaide

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Ali Soltani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Urban structure and landscape cause an artificial temperature increase in cities, known as the urban heat island effect. The magnitude of such urban–rural temperature difference varies in daily and seasonal basis. Daily patterns of urban heat accumulation in Adelaide is under investigation. In this paper, East–West air temperature profile of Adelaide metropolitan area was mapped in 60 journeys alongside a straight cross route connecting Adelaide Hills to the West Beach under clear sky between 26 July and 15 August 2013. The most intense urban–rural temperature differences of 5.9 °C occurred during midnight in Adelaide. However, maximum urban heat variation occurred during the late afternoon when the near-surface urban heat fluctuates by 2 °C between the CBD East and Western Parklands. During summer heatwaves, the afternoon heat stress limits public life vibrancy in Adelaide. Increased urban greenery can facilitate resilience to heat by providing shadow and evaporative cooling. A better understanding of daily urban heat variations and the cooling effect of urban greenery assists urban policy making and public life management in the context of climate change.

Land use and air quality in urban environments: Human health risk assessment due to inhalation of airborne particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Mateos, A C; Amarillo, A C; Carreras, H A; González, C M

2018-02-01

Particle matter (PM) and its associated compounds are a serious problem for urban air quality and a threat to human health. In the present study, we assessed the intraurban variation of PM, and characterized the human health risk associated to the inhalation of particles measured on PM filters, considering different land use areas in the urban area of Cordoba city (Argentina) and different age groups. To assess the intraurban variation of PM, a biomonitoring network of T. capillaris was established in 15 sampling sites with different land use and the bioaccumulation of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn was quantified. After that, particles were collected by instrumental monitors placed at the most representative sampling sites of each land use category and an inhalation risk was calculated. A remarkable intraurban difference in the heavy metals content measured in the biomonitors was observed, in relation with the sampling site land use. The higher content was detected at industrial areas as well as in sites with intense vehicular traffic. Mean PM 10 levels exceeded the standard suggested by the U.S. EPA in all land use areas, except for the downtown. Hazard Index values were below EPA's safe limit in all land use areas and in the different age groups. In contrast, the carcinogenic risk analysis showed that all urban areas exceeded the acceptable limit (1 × 10 -6 ), while the industrial sampling sites and the elder group presented a carcinogenic risk higher that the unacceptable limit. These findings validate the use of T. capillaris to assess intraurban air quality and also show there is an important intraurban variation in human health risk associated to different land use. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Urban wetlands: restoration or designed rehabilitation?

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Beth Ravit

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The continuing loss of urban wetlands due to an expanding human population and urban development pressures makes restoration or creation of urban wetlands a high priority. However, urban wetland restorations are particularly challenging due to altered hydrologic patterns, a high proportion of impervious surface and stormwater runoff, degraded urban soils, historic contamination, and competitive pressure from non-native species. Urban wetland projects must also consider human-desired socio-economic benefits. We argue that using current wetland restoration approaches and existing regulatory “success” criteria, such as meeting restoration targets for vegetation structure based on reference sites in non-urban locations, will result in “failed” urban restorations. Using three wetland Case Studies in highly urbanized locations, we describe geophysical tools, stormwater management methods, and design approaches useful in addressing urban challenges and in supporting “successful” urban rehabilitation outcomes. We suggest that in human-dominated landscapes, the current paradigm of “restoration” to a previous state must shift to a paradigm of “rehabilitation”, which prioritizes wetland functions and values rather than vegetation structure in order to provide increased ecological benefits and much needed urban open space amenities.

Working Capital Management of SriLakshminarayana Cooperative Urban Bank Ltd.,Tiruvarur

OpenAIRE

Nagarajapillai, Ramu

2007-01-01

In fact, under the new competitive pressures in Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) to enhance their overall efficiency pose serious challenges. Since the operational efficiency of the UCB is crucial in ensuring adequate and timely flow of credit to urban and semi-urban people for diverse purposes, intensive observation on their performance deserves serious consideration. In this context, present study examined management of resources of the Sri Lakshminarayana Cooperative Urban Bank Ltd. (SLNCUB)...

Urbanization-related changes in European aspen (Populus tremula L.): Leaf traits and litter decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikula, Suvi; Vapaavuori, Elina; Manninen, Sirkku

2010-01-01

We investigated foliar and litter responses of European aspen (Populus tremula L.) to urbanization, including factors such as increased temperature, moisture stress and nitrogen (N) deposition. Leaf samples were collected in 2006-2008 from three urban and three rural forest stands in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, southern Finland, and reciprocal litter transplantations were established between urban and rural sites. Urban leaves exhibited a higher amount of epicuticular waxes and N concentration, and a lower C:N ratio than rural ones, but there was no difference in specific leaf area. Urban litter had a slightly higher N concentration, lower concentrations of lignin and total phenolics, and was more palatable to a macrofaunal decomposer. Moreover, litter decay was faster at the urban site and for urban litter. Urbanization thus resulted in foliar acclimatization in terms of increased amount of epicuticular waxes, as well as in accelerated decomposition of the N-richer leaf litter. - Urbanization can modify leaf traits of aspen and accelerate litter decomposition through changes in litter traits as well as in environmental conditions at the decomposition site.

Concentrations of heavy metals in urban soils of Havana city, Cuba

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz Rizo, O.; Echevarria Castillo, F.; Arado Lopez, J. O.; Hernandez Merlo, M.

2011-01-01

Concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Fe in the top-soils (0-10 cm) of Havana city urbanized and un-urbanized areas were measured by X-ray fluorescence analysis. The mean Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb contents in the urban topsoil samples from Havana City (151 ± 90, 13.9 ± 4.1, 66 ± 26, 101 ± 51, 240 ± 132 and 101 ± 61 mg.kg -1 , respectively) were compared with mean concentrations for other cities around the world. The results revealed higher concentrations of heavy metals in topsoil samples from industrial sites. Lowest heavy metal contents were determined in the un-urbanized areas. The comparison with Dutch soil quality guidelines showed a slightly contamination with Cr, Co, Ni Cu and Zn in all studied sites and with Pb in industrial soils. On the other hand, the metal-to-iron normalisation using Earth crust contents as background showed that soils from urbanized areas in Havana city (industrial sites, parks and school grounds) are moderately enriched by zinc, moderately to severe enriched (city parks and school grounds) and severe enriched (industrial sites) by lead. (Author)

Handling Imprecision in Qualitative Data Warehouse: Urban Building Sites Annoyance Analysis Use Case

Science.gov (United States)

Amanzougarene, F.; Chachoua, M.; Zeitouni, K.

2013-05-01

Data warehouse means a decision support database allowing integration, organization, historisation, and management of data from heterogeneous sources, with the aim of exploiting them for decision-making. Data warehouses are essentially based on multidimensional model. This model organizes data into facts (subjects of analysis) and dimensions (axes of analysis). In classical data warehouses, facts are composed of numerical measures and dimensions which characterize it. Dimensions are organized into hierarchical levels of detail. Based on the navigation and aggregation mechanisms offered by OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) tools, facts can be analyzed according to the desired level of detail. In real world applications, facts are not always numerical, and can be of qualitative nature. In addition, sometimes a human expert or learned model such as a decision tree provides a qualitative evaluation of phenomenon based on its different parameters i.e. dimensions. Conventional data warehouses are thus not adapted to qualitative reasoning and have not the ability to deal with qualitative data. In previous work, we have proposed an original approach of qualitative data warehouse modeling, which permits integrating qualitative measures. Based on computing with words methodology, we have extended classical multidimensional data model to allow the aggregation and analysis of qualitative data in OLAP environment. We have implemented this model in a Spatial Decision Support System to help managers of public spaces to reduce annoyances and improve the quality of life of the citizens. In this paper, we will focus our study on the representation and management of imprecision in annoyance analysis process. The main objective of this process consists in determining the least harmful scenario of urban building sites, particularly in dense urban environments.

Nitrogen sources, transport and processing in peri-urban floodplains

OpenAIRE

Gooddy, D.C.; Macdonald, D.M.J.; Lapworth, D.J.; Bennett, S.A.; Griffiths, K.J.

2014-01-01

Peri-urban floodplains are an important interface between developed land and the aquatic environment and may act as a source or sink for contaminants moving from urban areas towards surface water courses. With increasing pressure from urban development the functioning of floodplains is coming under greater scrutiny. A number of peri-urban sites have been found to be populated with legacy landfills which could potentially cause pollution of adjacent river bodies. Here, a peri-urban floodplain ...

Urban Boundary Extraction and Urban Sprawl Measurement Using High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images: a Case Study of China's Provincial

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, H.; Ning, X.; Zhang, H.; Liu, Y.; Yu, F.

2018-04-01

Urban boundary is an important indicator for urban sprawl analysis. However, methods of urban boundary extraction were inconsistent, and construction land or urban impervious surfaces was usually used to represent urban areas with coarse-resolution images, resulting in lower precision and incomparable urban boundary products. To solve above problems, a semi-automatic method of urban boundary extraction was proposed by using high-resolution image and geographic information data. Urban landscape and form characteristics, geographical knowledge were combined to generate a series of standardized rules for urban boundary extraction. Urban boundaries of China's 31 provincial capitals in year 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 were extracted with above-mentioned method. Compared with other two open urban boundary products, accuracy of urban boundary in this study was the highest. Urban boundary, together with other thematic data, were integrated to measure and analyse urban sprawl. Results showed that China's provincial capitals had undergone a rapid urbanization from year 2000 to 2015, with the area change from 6520 square kilometres to 12398 square kilometres. Urban area of provincial capital had a remarkable region difference and a high degree of concentration. Urban land became more intensive in general. Urban sprawl rate showed inharmonious with population growth rate. About sixty percent of the new urban areas came from cultivated land. The paper provided a consistent method of urban boundary extraction and urban sprawl measurement using high-resolution remote sensing images. The result of urban sprawl of China's provincial capital provided valuable urbanization information for government and public.

Different integrated geophysical approaches to investigate archaeological sites in urban and suburban area.

Science.gov (United States)

Piro, Salvatore; Papale, Enrico; Zamuner, Daniela

2016-04-01

Geophysical methods are frequently used in archaeological prospection in order to provide detailed information about the presence of structures in the subsurface as well as their position and their geometrical reconstruction, by measuring variations of some physical properties. Often, due to the limited size and depth of an archaeological structure, it may be rather difficult to single out its position and extent because of the generally low signal-to-noise ratio. This problem can be overcome by improving data acquisition, processing techniques and by integrating different geophysical methods. In this work, two sites of archaeological interest, were investigated employing several methods (Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Fluxgate Differential Magnetic) to obtain precise and detailed maps of subsurface bodies. The first site, situated in a suburban area between Itri and Fondi, in the Aurunci Natural Regional Park (Central Italy), is characterized by the presence of remains of past human activity dating from the third century B.C. The second site, is instead situated in an urban area in the city of Rome (Basilica di Santa Balbina), where historical evidence is also present. The methods employed, allowed to determine the position and the geometry of some structures in the subsurface related to this past human activity. To have a better understanding of the subsurface, we then performed a qualitative and quantitative integration of this data, which consists in fusing the data from all the methods used, to have a complete visualization of the investigated area. Qualitative integration consists in graphically overlaying the maps obtained by the single methods; this method yields only images, not new data that may be subsequently analyzed. Quantitative integration is instead performed by mathematical and statistical solutions, which allows to have a more accurate reconstruction of the subsurface and generates new data with high

Modeling Urban Collaborative Growth Dynamics Using a Multiscale Simulation Model for the Wuhan Urban Agglomeration Area, China

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Yan Yu

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Urban agglomeration has become the predominant form of urbanization in China. In this process, spatial interaction evidently played a significant role in promoting the collaborative development of these correlated cities. The traditional urban model’s focus on individual cities should be transformed to an urban system model. In this study, a multi-scale simulation model has been proposed to simulate the agglomeration development process of the Wuhan urban agglomeration area by embedding the multi-scale spatial interaction into the transition rule system of cellular automata (CA. A system dynamic model was used to predict the demand for new urban land at an aggregated urban agglomeration area scale. A data field approach was adopted to measuring the interaction of intercity at city scale. Neighborhood interaction was interpreted with a logistic regression method at the land parcel scale. Land use data from 1995, 2005, and 2015 were used to calibrate and evaluate the model. The simulation results show that there has been continuing urban growth in the Wuhan urban agglomeration area from 1995 to 2020. Although extension-sprawl was the predominant pattern of urban spatial expansion, the trend of extensive growth to intensive growth is clear during the entire period. The spatial interaction among these cities has been reinforced, which guided the collaborative development and formed the regional urban system network.

Characteristics, sources and evolution of fine aerosol (PM1) at urban, coastal and forest background sites in Lithuania

Science.gov (United States)

Masalaite, A.; Holzinger, R.; Remeikis, V.; Röckmann, T.; Dusek, U.

2017-01-01

The chemical and isotopic composition of organic aerosol (OA) samples collected on PM1 filters was determined as a function of desorption temperature to investigate the main sources of organic carbon and the effects of photochemical processing on atmospheric aerosol. The filter samples were collected at an urban (54°38‧ N, 25°18‧ E), coastal (55°55‧ N, 21°00‧ E) and forest (55°27‧ N, 26°00' E) site in Lithuania in March 2013. They can be interpreted as winter-time samples because the monthly averaged temperature was -4 °C. The detailed chemical composition of organic compounds was analysed with a thermal desorption PTR-MS. The mass concentration of organic aerosol at the forest site was roughly by a factor of 30 lower than at the urban and coastal site. This fact could be an indication that in this cold month the biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation was very low. Moreover, the organic aerosol collected at the forest site was more refractory and contained a larger fraction of heavy molecules with m/z > 200. The isotopic composition of the aerosol was used to differentiate the two main sources of organic aerosol in winter, i.e. biomass burning (BB) and fossil fuel (FF) combustion. Organic aerosol from biomass burning is enriched in 13C compared to OA from fossil fuel emissions. δ13COC values of the OA samples showed a positive correlation with the mass fraction of several individual organic compounds. Most of these organic compounds contained nitrogen indicating that organic nitrogen compounds formed during the combustion of biomass may be indicative of BB. Other compounds that showed negative correlations with δ13COC were possibly indicative of FF. These compounds included heavy hydrocarbons and were on the average less oxidized than the bulk organic carbon. The correlation of δ13COC and the O/C ratio was positive at low but negative at high desorption temperatures at the forest site. We propose that this might be due to

On the simultaneous deployment of two single-particle mass spectrometers at an urban background and a roadside site during SAPUSS

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M. Dall'Osto

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS provides size-resolved information on the chemical composition of single particles with high time resolution. Within SAPUSS (Solving Aerosol Problems by Using Synergistic Strategies, continuous ATOFMS measurements of ambient particles were made simultaneously at two urban locations: urban background (UB site and roadside (RS site in the city of Barcelona (Spain from 17 September to 18 October 2010. Two different instrumental configurations were used: ATOFMS (TSI 3800 with a converging nozzle inlet (high efficiency at about 800–2000 nm at the UB site and ATOFMS (TSI 3800-100 with an aerodynamic lens inlet (high efficiency at about 300–700 nm at the RS site. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that two ATOFMS instruments have been deployed in the same field study. The different instrument configurations had an impact on the observed particle types at the two sites. Nevertheless, 10 particle types were detected at both locations, including local and regional elemental carbon (22.7–58.9 % of total particles, fresh and aged sea salt (1.0–14.6 %, local and regional nitrate-containing aerosols (3–11.6 %, local lead-containing metallic particles (0.1–0.2 %, and transported Fe-nitrate particles (0.8–2.5 %. The ATOFMS at the UB also characterized four particle types: calcium-containing dust (0.9 %, Saharan dust (1.3 %, vanadium-containing particles (0.9 %, and vegetative debris (1.7 %. By contrast, the high statistical counts of fine particles detected at the RS allowed identification of eight particle types. Four of these contained organic nitrogen of primary and secondary origin, which highlights the complex nature of the sources and processes that contribute to this aerosol chemical component. Aminium salts were found related to coarse sulfate-rich particle types, suggesting heterogeneous reaction mechanisms for their formation. The other four particle

Scenario Analysis on Climate Change Impacts of Urban Land Expansion under Different Urbanization Patterns: A Case Study of Wuhan Metropolitan

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Xinli Ke

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Urban land expansion plays an important role in climate change. It is significant to select a reasonable urban expansion pattern to mitigate the impact of urban land expansion on the regional climate in the rapid urbanization process. In this paper, taking Wuhan metropolitan as the case study area, and three urbanization patterns scenarios are designed to simulate spatial patterns of urban land expansion in the future using the Partitioned and Asynchronous Cellular Automata Model. Then, simulation results of land use are adjusted and inputted into WRF (Weather Research and Forecast model to simulate regional climate change. The results show that: (1 warming effect is strongest under centralized urbanization while it is on the opposite under decentralized scenario; (2 the warming effect is stronger and wider in centralized urbanization scenario than in decentralized urbanization scenario; (3 the impact trends of urban land use expansion on precipitation are basically the same under different scenarios; (4 and spatial distribution of rainfall was more concentrated under centralized urbanization scenario, and there is a rainfall center of wider scope, greater intensity. Accordingly, it can be concluded that decentralized urbanization is a reasonable urbanization pattern to mitigate climate change in rapid urbanization period.

Spectroscopic study of site selective DNA damage induced by intense soft X-rays

CERN Document Server

Fujii, K

2003-01-01

To investigate the mechanisms of DNA damage induced by direct photon impact, we observed the near edge X-ray absorption fine structures (NEXAFS) of DNA nucleobases using monochromatic synchrotron soft X-rays around nitrogen and oxygen K-shell excitation regions. Each spectrum obtained has unique structure corresponding to pi* excitation of oxygen or nitrogen 1s electron. These aspects open a way of nucleobase-selective photo-excitation in a DNA molecule using high resolution monochromatized soft X-rays. From the analysis of polarization-dependent intensities of the pi* resonance peak, it is clarified that adenine, guanine an uracil form orientated surface structure. Furthermore from the direct measurement of positive ions desorbed from photon irradiated DNA components, it is revealed that the sugar moiety is a fragile site in a DNA molecule. (author)

Photochemical processing of organic aerosol at nearby continental sites: contrast between urban plumes and regional aerosol

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J. G. Slowik

2011-03-01

Full Text Available As part of the BAQS-Met 2007 field campaign, Aerodyne time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometers (ToF-AMS were deployed at two sites in southwestern Ontario from 17 June to 11 July 2007. One instrument was located at Harrow, ON, a rural, agriculture-dominated area approximately 40 km southeast of the Detroit/Windsor/Windsor urban area and 5 km north of Lake Erie. The second instrument was located at Bear Creek, ON, a rural site approximately 70 km northeast of the Harrow site and 50 km east of Detroit/Windsor. Positive matrix factorization analysis of the combined organic mass spectral dataset yields factors related to secondary organic aerosol (SOA, direct emissions, and a factor tentatively attributed to the reactive uptake of isoprene and/or condensation of its early generation reaction products. This is the first application of PMF to simultaneous AMS measurements at different sites, an approach which allows for self-consistent, direct comparison of the datasets. Case studies are utilized to investigate processing of SOA from (1 fresh emissions from Detroit/Windsor and (2 regional aerosol during periods of inter-site flow. A strong correlation is observed between SOA/excess CO and photochemical age as represented by the NO_x/NO_y ratio for Detroit/Windsor outflow. Although this correlation is not evident for more aged air, measurements at the two sites during inter-site transport nevertheless show evidence of continued atmospheric processing by SOA production. However, the rate of SOA production decreases with airmass age from an initial value of ~10.1 μg m⁻³ ppmv_CO⁻¹ h⁻¹ for the first ~10 h of plume processing to near-zero in an aged airmass (i.e. after several days. The initial SOA production rate is comparable to the observed rate in Mexico City over similar timescales.

Thermal signatures of urban land cover types: High-resolution thermal infrared remote sensing of urban heat island in Huntsville, AL

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Chor Pang

1996-01-01

The main objective of this research is to apply airborne high-resolution thermal infrared imagery for urban heat island studies, using Huntsville, AL, a medium-sized American city, as the study area. The occurrence of urban heat islands represents human-induced urban/rural contrast, which is caused by deforestation and the replacement of the land surface by non-evaporating and non-porous materials such as asphalt and concrete. The result is reduced evapotranspiration and more rapid runoff of rain water. The urban landscape forms a canopy acting as a transitional zone between the atmosphere and the land surface. The composition and structure of this canopy have a significant impact on the thermal behavior of the urban environment. Research on the trends of surface temperature at rapidly growing urban sites in the United States during the last 30 to 50 years suggests that significant urban heat island effects have caused the temperatures at these sites to rise by 1 to 2 C. Urban heat islands have caused changes in urban precipitation and temperature that are at least similar to, if not greater than, those predicted to develop over the next 100 years by global change models. Satellite remote sensing, particularly NOAA AVHRR thermal data, has been used in the study of urban heat islands. Because of the low spatial resolution (1.1 km at nadir) of the AVHRR data, these studies can only examine and map the phenomenon at the macro-level. The present research provides the rare opportunity to utilize 5-meter thermal infrared data acquired from an airplane to characterize more accurately the thermal responses of different land cover types in the urban landscape as input to urban heat island studies.

The effects of urban warming on herbivore abundance and street tree condition.

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Adam G Dale

Full Text Available Trees are essential to urban habitats because they provide services that benefit the environment and improve human health. Unfortunately, urban trees often have more herbivorous insect pests than rural trees but the mechanisms and consequences of these infestations are not well documented. Here, we examine how temperature affects the abundance of a scale insect, Melanaspis tenebricosa (Comstock (Hemiptera: Diaspididae, on one of the most commonly planted street trees in the eastern U.S. Next, we examine how both pest abundance and temperature are associated with water stress, growth, and condition of 26 urban street trees. Although trees in the warmest urban sites grew the most, they were more water stressed and in worse condition than trees in cooler sites. Our analyses indicate that visible declines in tree condition were best explained by scale-insect infestation rather than temperature. To test the broader relevance of these results, we extend our analysis to a database of more than 2700 Raleigh, US street trees. Plotting these trees on a Landsat thermal image of Raleigh, we found that warmer sites had over 70% more trees in poor condition than those in cooler sites. Our results support previous studies linking warmer urban habitats to greater pest abundance and extend this association to show its effect on street tree condition. Our results suggest that street tree condition and ecosystem services may decline as urban expansion and global warming exacerbate the urban heat island effect. Although our non-probability sampling method limits our scope of inference, our results present a gloomy outlook for urban forests and emphasize the need for management tools. Existing urban tree inventories and thermal maps could be used to identify species that would be most suitable for urban conditions.

Intensive archaeological survey of the proposed Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Conference Center and Educational Facility, Savannah River Site, Aiken County, South Carolina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stephenson, K.; Crass, D.C.; Sassaman, K.E.

1993-02-01

Documented in this report are the methods and results of an intensive archaeological survey for the proposed University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) Conference Center and Educational Facility on the DOE Savannah River Site (SRS). Archaeological investigations conducted by the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP) on the 70-acre project area and associated rights-of-way consisted of subsurface testing at two previously recorded sites and the discovery of one previously unrecorded site. The results show that 2 sites contain archaeological remains that may yield significant information about human occupations in the Aiken Plateau and are therefore considered eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Adverse impacts to these sites can be mitigated through avoidance.

Does urban poverty increase body fluctuating asymmetry?

Science.gov (United States)

Ozener, Bariş

2011-12-01

Perturbations during development leave enduring signs on the adult body. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is a good bio-indicator of stress during ontogeny. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of urban poverty on the fluctuating asymmetry of young Turkish males. Young males from a lower socioeconomic group (N = 140, Mean age = 18.17 +/- 0.61) were selected from slum areas of Ankara, the capital of Turkey, where urban poverty is intense. An upper socioeconomic group, on the other hand, consisted of students from two private colleges and included children from some of the richest families in Turkey (N = 120, Mean age = 18.08 +/- 0.54). Eight anthropometric traits of all subjects were measured. Considering the seven measurements demonstrate ideal FA, the individuals living in poor areas of the city displayed higher FA. The discrepancy between the two groups was even greater for a measure of composite FA. In conclusion, poor living conditions in Ankara, where urban poverty is intense, adversely impact the developmental stability of young Turkish males.

Intensive archaeological survey of the F/H Surface Enhancement Project Area, Savannah River Site, Aiken and Barnwell Counties, South Carolina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sassaman, K.E.; Gillam, J.C.

1993-08-01

Twelve archaeological sites and four artifact occurrences were located by intensive survey of two tracts of land for the F and H Surface Enhancement Project on the Savannah River Site, Aiken and Barnwell Counties, South Carolina. Fieldwork in the 480-acre project area included surface reconnaissance of 3.6 linear kilometers of transects, 140 shovel tests along 4.2 linear kilometers of transects, an additional 162 shovel tests at sites and occurrences, and the excavation of six l {times} 2 m test units. All but one of the sites contained artifacts of the prehistoric era; the twelfth site consists of the remains of a twentieth-century home place. The historic site and six of the prehistoric sites consist of limited and/or disturbed contexts of archaeological deposits that have little research potential and are therefore considered ineligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The remaining five sites have sufficient content and integrity to yield information important to ongoing investigations into upland site use. These sites (38AK146, 38AK535, 38AK539, 38AK541, and 38AK543) are thus deemed eligible for nomination to the NRHP and the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP) recommends that they be preserved through avoidance or data recovery.

Sustainable urban structures to challenge climate change

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Emil CREANGA

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Public spaces within the city in all their form of different types - streets, boulevards, squares, plazas, market places, green areas - are the backbone of cities. Over the centuries buildings defined the shape and quality of public spaces, valorising them in various ways. The post-modern development of urban form generated a great number of “urban spaces”, where there is no longer correspondence between architectural forms and social and political messages: shopping malls and theme parks, inner public spaces, strip developments etc. Urban sprawl accompanied by loss of agricultural/rural land and its impact on the environment are serious concerns for most cities over Europe. To strike the right balance between inner city regeneration, under-use of urban land in the old abandoned sites and the ecological benefits that accompany the new private business initiatives in suburban areas, is one of the major challenges confronting cities in Europe. The paper will analyze the complex relations between architecture and public space, in an attempt to understand how traditional urban structures, public and green spaces, squares and streets, could provide orientation for quality-oriented regeneration. Case in point is Bucharest - capital city of Romania - where aggressive intervention in the urban structure during the 1980s disrupted the fabric of the city. The investigation is oriented towards fundamental questions such as: how to secure and preserve sites that serve as initial points in upgrading processes, how to balance private investment criteria and the quality interests of the urban communities. The major aim is to provide a support for decision making in restoring the fundamental role of public urban space in shaping urban form and supporting community life.

The spatial variability of air temperature and nocturnal urban heat island intensity in the city of Brno, Czech Republic

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Dobrovolný Petr

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This study seeks to quantify the effects of a number of factors on the nocturnal air temperature field in a medium-sized central European city located in complex terrain. The main data sources consist of mobile air temperature measurements and a geographical database. Temperature measurements were taken along several profiles through the city centre and were made under a clear sky with no advection. Altogether nine sets of detailed measurements, in all seasons, were assembled. Altitude, quantity of vegetation, density of buildings and the structure of the transportation (road system were considered as explanatory variables. The result is that the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI and the density of buildings were the most important factors, each of them explaining a substantial part (more than 50% of overall air temperature variability. Mobile measurements with NDVI values as a covariate were used for interpolation of air temperature for the entire study area. The spatial variability of nocturnal air temperature and UHI intensity in Brno is the main output presented. Air temperatures interpolated from mobile measurements and NDVI values indicate that the mean urban heat island (UHI intensity in the early night in summer is at its highest (approximately 5 °C in the city centre and decreases towards the suburban areas.

How can urban green spaces be planned for climate adaptation in subtropical cities?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yu, Zhaowu; Guo, Xieying; Jørgensen, Gertrud

2017-01-01

of a focus in urban ecology studies. In this paper, we proposed and defined the urban cooling island (UCI) extent, intensity, and efficiency, as well as the threshold value of efficiency (TVoE) introduced from the “law of diminishing marginal utility” for the first time. The radiative transfer equation has......The cooling effect of greenspaces is an important ecosystem service, essential for mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect and thus increasing urban resilience to climate change. Techniques based on landscape planning to alleviate the increasing frequency of extreme climate are becoming more...... are within the 30–180 m limit, and the mean UCI extent and intensity are 104 m and 1.78 °C. (4) The greenspaces connected with waterbodies intensified the UCI effects, whereas the grassland-based greenspace shows the weakest UCI effects. The methodology and results of this study could help urban planners...

24 CFR 583.320 - Site control.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Site control. 583.320 Section 583... DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY FACILITIES SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROGRAM Program Requirements § 583.320 Site control. (a) Site control. (1) Where grant funds will be used for acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction...

Consequences of Urban Stability Conditions for Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Urban Dispersion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lundquist, J K; Chan, S T

2005-11-30

The validity of omitting stability considerations when simulating transport and dispersion in the urban environment is explored using observations from the Joint URBAN 2003 field experiment and computational fluid dynamics simulations of that experiment. Four releases of sulfur hexafluoride, during two daytime and two nighttime intensive observing periods, are simulated using the building-resolving computational fluid dynamics model, FEM3MP to solve the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations with two options of turbulence parameterizations. One option omits stability effects but has a superior turbulence parameterization using a non-linear eddy viscosity (NEV) approach, while the other considers buoyancy effects with a simple linear eddy viscosity (LEV) approach for turbulence parameterization. Model performance metrics are calculated by comparison with observed winds and tracer data in the downtown area, and with observed winds and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) profiles at a location immediately downwind of the central business district (CBD) in the area we label as the urban shadow. Model predictions of winds, concentrations, profiles of wind speed, wind direction, and friction velocity are generally consistent with and compare reasonably well with the field observations. Simulations using the NEV turbulence parameterization generally exhibit better agreement with observations. To further explore this assumption of a neutrally-stable atmosphere within the urban area, TKE budget profiles slightly downwind of the urban wake region in the 'urban shadow' are examined. Dissipation and shear production are the largest terms which may be calculated directly. The advection of TKE is calculated as a residual; as would be expected downwind of an urban area, the advection of TKE produced within the urban area is a very large term. Buoyancy effects may be neglected in favor of advection, shear production, and dissipation. For three of the IOPs, buoyancy

The EVNATURB project: toward an operational platform to assess Blue Green Solutions eco-systemic services in urban environment

Science.gov (United States)

Schertzer, D. J. M.; Versini, P. A.; Tchiguirinskaia, I.

2017-12-01

Urban areas are facing an expected increase in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change. Combined with unsustainable urbanization, this should exacerbate the environmental consequences related to the water cycle as stormwater management issues, urban heat island increase and biodiversity degradation. Blue Green Solutions (BGS), such as green roofs, vegetated swales or urban ponds, appear to be particularly efficient to reduce the potential impact of new and existing urban developments with respect to these issues. Based on this statement, the French ANR EVNATURB project aims to develop a platform to assess the eco-systemic services provided by BGS and related with the previously mentioned issues. By proposing a multi-disciplinary consortium coupling monitoring, modelling and prospecting, it attempts to tackle several scientific issues currently limiting BGS wide implementation. Based on high resolution monitored sites and modelling tools, space-time variability of the related physical processes will be studied over a wide range of scales (from the material to the district scale), as well as local social-environmental stakes and constraints, to better consider the complexity of the urban environment. The EVNATURB platform developed during the project is intended for every stakeholder involved in urban development projects (planners, architects, engineering and environmental certification companies…) and will help them to implement BGS and evaluate which ones are the most appropriate for a particular project depending on its environmental objectives and constraints, and particularly for obtaining environmental certification.

Evolution of air pollution source contributions over one decade, derived by PM10 and PM2.5 source apportionment in two metropolitan urban areas in Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Diapouli, E.; Manousakas, M.; Vratolis, S.; Vasilatou, V.; Maggos, Th; Saraga, D.; Grigoratos, Th; Argyropoulos, G.; Voutsa, D.; Samara, C.; Eleftheriadis, K.

2017-09-01

Metropolitan Urban areas in Greece have been known to suffer from poor air quality, due to variety of emission sources, topography and climatic conditions favouring the accumulation of pollution. While a number of control measures have been implemented since the 1990s, resulting in reductions of atmospheric pollution and changes in emission source contributions, the financial crisis which started in 2009 has significantly altered this picture. The present study is the first effort to assess the contribution of emission sources to PM10 and PM2.5 concentration levels and their long-term variability (over 5-10 years), in the two largest metropolitan urban areas in Greece (Athens and Thessaloniki). Intensive measurement campaigns were conducted during 2011-2012 at suburban, urban background and urban traffic sites in these two cities. In addition, available datasets from previous measurements in Athens and Thessaloniki were used in order to assess the long-term variability of concentrations and sources. Chemical composition analysis of the 2011-2012 samples showed that carbonaceous matter was the most abundant component for both PM size fractions. Significant increase of carbonaceous particle concentrations and of OC/EC ratio during the cold period, especially in the residential urban background sites, pointed towards domestic heating and more particularly wood (biomass) burning as a significant source. PMF analysis further supported this finding. Biomass burning was the largest contributing source at the two urban background sites (with mean contributions for the two size fractions in the range of 24-46%). Secondary aerosol formation (sulphate, nitrate & organics) was also a major contributing source for both size fractions at the suburban and urban background sites. At the urban traffic site, vehicular traffic (exhaust and non-exhaust emissions) was the source with the highest contributions, accounting for 44% of PM10 and 37% of PM2.5, respectively. The long

Effects of urban density on carbon dioxide exchanges: Observations of dense urban, suburban and woodland areas of southern England.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, H C; Kotthaus, S; Grimmond, C S B; Bjorkegren, A; Wilkinson, M; Morrison, W T J; Evans, J G; Morison, J I L; Iamarino, M

2015-03-01

Anthropogenic and biogenic controls on the surface-atmosphere exchange of CO2 are explored for three different environments. Similarities are seen between suburban and woodland sites during summer, when photosynthesis and respiration determine the diurnal pattern of the CO2 flux. In winter, emissions from human activities dominate urban and suburban fluxes; building emissions increase during cold weather, while traffic is a major component of CO2 emissions all year round. Observed CO2 fluxes reflect diurnal traffic patterns (busy throughout the day (urban); rush-hour peaks (suburban)) and vary between working days and non-working days, except at the woodland site. Suburban vegetation offsets some anthropogenic emissions, but 24-h CO2 fluxes are usually positive even during summer. Observations are compared to estimated emissions from simple models and inventories. Annual CO2 exchanges are significantly different between sites, demonstrating the impacts of increasing urban density (and decreasing vegetation fraction) on the CO2 flux to the atmosphere. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Wastewater re-use for peri-urban agriculture: a viable option for adaptive water management?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kurian, M.; Reddy, V.R.; Dietz, T.; Brdjanovic, D.

2013-01-01

Urbanization is known to spur land modification in the form of conversion of common land to human settlements. This factor, combined with climate variability, can alter the duration, frequency and intensity of storm drain overflows in urban areas and lead to public health risks. In peri-urban

Wastewater re-use for peri-urban agriculture : a viable option for adaptive water management?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kurian, M.; Ratna, Reddy V.; Dietz, A.J.; Brdjanovic, D.

2013-01-01

Urbanization is known to spur land modification in the form of conversion of common land to human settlements. This factor, combined with climate variability, can alter the duration, frequency and intensity of storm drain overflows in urban areas and lead to public health risks. In peri-urban

Assessing the edible city: Environmental implications of urban agriculture in the Northeast United States

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goldstein, Benjamin Paul

signicant action in research, design and practice. In the Northeast United States, where per capita diets are amongst the most environmentally intensive globally, there is a growing interest in local food production as a way to reduce the ecological burdens of food demand. Urban farms and pro-urban...... literature, leaving a number of lingering questions surrounding urban agriculture's environmental performance. In a Northern context, it remains to be seen whether the benets of reducing distance from farm to fork are outweighed by the energy demanded by yearround growing systems. Even if urban agriculture...... does provide leaner resource intensities at the farm scale, do these add up to meaningful shifts in a city's environmental footprint at the urban scale? The aim of this project was to begin removing these uncertainties using the Northeast United States as a case study, since cities within that region...

Comparisons of urban and rural heat stress conditions in a hot–humid tropical city

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Ahmed A. Balogun

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Background: In recent years the developing world, much of which is located in the tropical countries, has seen dramatic growth of its urban population associated with serious degradation of environmental quality. Climate change is producing major impacts including increasing temperatures in these countries that are considered to be most vulnerable to the impact of climate change due to inadequate public health infrastructure and low income status. However, relevant information and data for informed decision making on human health and comfort are lacking in these countries. Objective: The aim of this paper is to study and compare heat stress conditions in an urban (city centre and rural (airport environments in Akure, a medium-sized tropical city in south-western Nigeria during the dry harmattan season (January–March of 2009. Materials and methods: We analysed heat stress conditions in terms of the mean hourly values of the thermohygrometric index (THI, defined by simultaneous in situ air temperature and relative humidity measurements at both sites. Results: The urban heat island (UHI exists in Akure as the city centre is warmer than the rural airport throughout the day. However, the maximum UHI intensity occurs at night between 1900 and 2200 hours local time. Hot conditions were predominant at both sites, comfortable conditions were only experienced in the morning and evenings of January at both sites, but the rural area has more pleasant morning and evenings and less of very hot and torrid conditions. January has the lowest frequency of hot and torrid conditions at both sites, while March and February has the highest at the city centre and the airport, respectively. The higher frequencies of high temperatures in the city centre suggest a significant heat stress and health risk in this hot humid environment of Akure. Conclusions: More research is needed to achieve better understanding of the seasonal variation of indoor and outdoor heat stress

Effects of Urbanization and Seasonal Cycle on the Surface Urban Heat Island Patterns in the Coastal Growing Cities: A Case Study of Casablanca, Morocco

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Hicham Bahi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The urban heat island (UHI phenomenon is a harmful environmental problem in urban areas affecting both climatic and ecological processes. This paper aims to highlight and monitor the spatial distribution of Surface UHI (SUHI in the Casablanca region, Morocco, using remote sensing data. To achieve this goal, a time series of Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI-TIRS images was acquired from 1984 to 2016 and analyzed. In addition, nocturnal MODIS images acquired from 2005 to 2015 were used to evaluate the nighttime SUHI. In order to better analyze intense heat produced by urban core, SUHI intensity (SUHII was computed by quantifying the difference of land surface temperature (LST between urban and rural areas. The urban core SUHII appears more significant in winter seasons than during summer, while the pattern of SUHII becomes moderate during intermediate seasons. During winter, the average daytime SUHII gradually increased in the residential area of Casablanca and in some small peri-urban cities by more than 1 °C from 1984 to 2015. The industrial areas of the Casablanca region were affected by a significant rise in SUHII exceeding 15 °C in certain industrial localities. In contrast, daytime SUHII shows a reciprocal effect during summer with emergence of a heat island in rural areas and development of cool islands in urban and peri-urban areas. During nighttime, the SUHII remains positive in urban areas year-round with higher values in winter as compared to summer. The results point out that the seasonal cycle of daytime SUHII as observed in the Casablanca region is different from other mid-latitude cities, where the highest values are often observed in summer during the day.

Floral abundance, richness, and spatial distribution drive urban garden bee communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Plascencia, M; Philpott, S M

2017-10-01

In urban landscapes, gardens provide refuges for bee diversity, but conservation potential may depend on local and landscape features. Foraging and population persistence of bee species, as well as overall pollinator community structure, may be supported by the abundance, richness, and spatial distribution of floral resources. Floral resources strongly differ in urban gardens. Using hand netting and pan traps to survey bees, we examined whether abundance, richness, and spatial distribution of floral resources, as well as ground cover and garden landscape surroundings influence bee abundance, species richness, and diversity on the central coast of California. Differences in floral abundance and spatial distribution, as well as urban cover in the landscape, predicted different bee community variables. Abundance of all bees and of honeybees (Apis mellifera) was lower in sites with more urban land cover surrounding the gardens. Honeybee abundance was higher in sites with patchy floral resources, whereas bee species richness and bee diversity was higher in sites with more clustered floral resources. Surprisingly, bee species richness and bee diversity was lower in sites with very high floral abundance, possibly due to interactions with honeybees. Other studies have documented the importance of floral abundance and landscape surroundings for bees in urban gardens, but this study is the first to document that the spatial arrangement of flowers strongly predicts bee abundance and richness. Based on these findings, it is likely that garden managers may promote bee conservation by managing for floral connectivity and abundance within these ubiquitous urban habitats.

Geological characterization of contaminated sites near the city of Horsens, Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Theis Raaschou; Poulsen, Søren Erbs; Thomsen, Peter

characterization of three contaminated sites situated in urban and semi-urban areas around the city of Horsens in corporation with authorities. The existing data from the three field sites include lithological profiles from boreholes. In order to increase the data density, Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT...

Geochemical study of urban soils in public areas of an industrialized town (Ajka, western Hungary)

Science.gov (United States)

Zacháry, D.; Jordán, Gy.; Szabó, Cs.

2012-04-01

Soil is one of the most essential parts of urban ecosystem contributing to the biogeochemical cycles along the rock-soil-plant-animal and human pathway. Soil plays a fundamental role in plant nutrient uptake and groundwater filtration, too. Urban soils differ from non-urban soils in many aspects, including their origin, and they may also concentrate contaminants in large quantities due to intensive human activities. The pollution sources are industry, traffic, fertilizer, tailing and waste. In addition to the increasing rate of urban areas, urban soils are under growing interest and their pollution have received significant attention in the past few decades. This work focuses on the toxic element (As, Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni) content of soils and their spatial distribution in order to find a link between contamination sources and the receiving urban soils at sensitive receptor locations such as children's playgrounds and parks. Ajka town is located in western Hungary. It has an old-established industrial history with multiple contamination sources of heavy alumina industry and coal-based power plants supplied by the nearby bauxite and coal mines. At 44 locations 46 soil samples have been collected at a depth of 0-10 cm along a 1x1 km grid. The whole grid covers an area of 48 km2. In each grid cell a sampling site was selected at public areas. Sample preparation included drying at 40 C°, thorough homogenization and sieving to 2 mm fine earth before chemical analysis. Grain size distribution and soil pH were also determined. Samples were analyzed with ICP-OES and SEM methods. The As, Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd and Ni concentrations range from 2.07 ppm to 9.48 ppm, 0.02 ppm to 2.84 ppm, 5.08 ppm to 35.74 ppm, 2.55 ppm to 47.78 ppm, 17.00 ppm to 91.00 ppm, 0.07 ppm to 0.61 ppm and 5.57 ppm to 32.09 ppm, respectively. The results revealed the contaminated areas associated with past industrial sites. This study also identified locations with considerable contamination at

Restoration treatments in urban park forests drive long-term changes in vegetation trajectories.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Lea R; Handel, Steven N

2016-04-01

Municipalities are turning to ecological restoration of urban forests as a measure to improve air quality, ameliorate urban heat island effects, improve storm water infiltration, and provide other social and ecological benefits. However, community dynamics following urban forest restoration treatments are poorly documented. This study examines the long-term effects of ecological restoration undertaken in New York City, New York, USA, to restore native forest in urban park natural areas invaded by woody non-native plants that are regional problems. In 2009 and 2010, we sampled vegetation in 30 invaded sites in three large public parks that were restored 1988-1993, and 30 sites in three large parks that were similarly invaded but had not been restored. Data from these matched plots reveal that the restoration treatment achieved its central goals. After 15-20 years, invasive species removal followed by native tree planting resulted in persistent structural and compositional shifts, significantly lower invasive species abundance, a more complex forest structure, and greater native tree recruitment. Together, these findings indicate that successional trajectories of vegetation dynamics have diverged between restored forests and invaded forests that were not restored. In addition, the data suggest that future composition of these urban forest patches will be novel assemblages. Restored and untreated sites shared a suite of shade-intolerant, quickly-growing tree species that colonize disturbed sites, indicating that restoration treatments created sites hospitable for germination and growth of species adapted to high light conditions and disturbed soils. These findings yield an urban perspective on the use of succession theory in ecological restoration. Models of ecological restoration developed in more pristine environments must be modified for use in cities. By anticipating both urban disturbances and ecological succession, management of urban forest patches can be

Phosphorus flows in a peri-urban region with intensive food production: A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bittman, S; Sheppard, S C; Poon, D; Hunt, D E

2017-02-01

Excess phosphorus (P) in peri-urban regions is an emerging issue, whereas there is global depletion of quality mined supplies of P. The flow of P across the landscape leading to regional surpluses and deficits is not well understood. We computed a regional P budget with internal P flows in a fairly discreet peri-urban region (Lower Fraser Valley, BC) with closely juxtaposed agricultural and non-agricultural urban ecosystems, in order to clarify the relationship between food production, food consumption and other activities involving use of P (e.g. keeping pets and horses and using soaps). We hypothesized changes that might notably improve P efficiency in peri-urban settings and wider regions. Livestock feed for the dairy and poultry sectors was the largest influx of P: the peri-urban land is too limited to grow feed grains and they are imported from outside the region. Fertilizer and import of food were the next largest influxes of P and a similar amount of P flows as food from the agricultural to urban ecosystems. Export of horticultural crops (berries and greenhouse crops) and poultry represented agricultural effluxes that partially offset the influxes. P efficiency was lower for horticultural production (21%) than animal production (32%), the latter benefited from importing feed crops, suggesting a regional advantage for animal products. There was 2.0, 3.8, 5.7 and 5.6 tonnes imported P per $ million farm cash receipts for horticulture, dairy, poultry meat and eggs. Eliminating fertilizer for corn and grass would reduce the ratio for the dairy industry. The net influx, dominated by fertilizer, animal feed and food was 8470 tonnes P per year or 3.2 kg P per person per year, and of this the addition to agricultural soils was 3650 tonnes P. The efflux in sewage effluent to the sea was 1150 tonnes P and exported sewage solids was 450 tonnes P. Municipal solid waste disposal was most difficult to quantify and was about 1800 tonnes P, 80% of which was partly reused

Volatile organic compounds in the western Mediterranean basin: urban and rural winter measurements during the DAURE campaign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Seco

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs have key environmental and biological roles, but little is known about the daily VOC mixing ratios in Mediterranean urban and natural environments. We measured VOC mixing ratios concurrently at an urban and a rural site during the winter DAURE campaign in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, by means of PTR-MS at both locations: a PTR-Quad-MS at the urban site and a PTR-ToF-MS at the rural site. All VOC mixing ratios measured were higher at the urban site (e.g. acetaldehyde, isoprene, benzene, and toluene with averages up to 1.68, 0.31, 0.58 and 2.71 ppbv, respectively, with the exception of some short-chain oxygenated VOCs such as acetone (with similar averages of 0.7–1.6 ppbv at both sites. The average diurnal pattern also differed between the sites. Most of the VOCs at the urban location showed their highest mixing ratios in the morning and evening. These peaks coincided with traffic during rush hour, the main origin of most of the VOCs analyzed. Between these two peaks, the sea breeze transported the urban air inland, thus helping to lower the VOC loading at the urban site. At the rural site, most of the measured VOCs were advected by the midday sea breeze, yielding the highest daily VOC mixing ratios (e.g. acetaldehyde, isoprene, benzene, and toluene with averages up to 0.65, 0.07, 0.19, and 0.41 ppbv, respectively. Only biogenic monoterpenes showed a clear local origin at this site. In addition, the concentrations of fine particulate matter observed at both sites, together with the synoptic meteorological conditions and radio-sounding data, allowed the identification of different atmospheric scenarios that had a clear influence on the measured VOC mixing ratios. These results highlight the differences and relationships in VOC mixing ratios between nearby urban and rural areas in Mediterranean regions. Further research in other urban-rural areas is warranted to better understand the urban

Variability of multifractal parameters in an urban precipitation monitoring network

Science.gov (United States)

Licznar, Paweł; De Michele, Carlo; Dżugaj, Dagmara; Niesobska, Maria

2014-05-01

Precipitation especially over urban areas is considered a highly non-linear process, with wide variability over a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. Despite obvious limitations of rainfall gauges location at urban sites, rainfall monitoring by gauge networks is a standard solution of urban hydrology. Often urban precipitation gauge networks are formed by modern electronic gauges and connected to control units of centralized urban drainage systems. Precipitation data, recorded online through these gauge networks, are used in so called Real-Time-Control (RTC) systems for the development of optimal strategies of urban drainage outflows management. As a matter of fact, the operation of RTC systems is motivated mainly by the urge of reducing the severity of urban floods and combined sewerage overflows, but at the same time, it creates new valuable precipitation data sources. The variability of precipitation process could be achieved by investigating multifractal behavior displayed by the temporal structure of precipitation data. There are multiply scientific communications concerning multifractal properties of point-rainfall data from different worldwide locations. However, very little is known about the close variability of multifractal parameters among closely located gauges, at the distances of single kilometers. Having this in mind, here we assess the variability of multifractal parameters among gauges of the urban precipitation monitoring network in Warsaw, Poland. We base our analysis on the set of 1-minute rainfall time series recorded in the period 2008-2011 by 25 electronic weighing type gauges deployed around the city by the Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Company in Warsaw as a part of local RTC system. The presence of scale invariance and multifractal properties in the precipitation process was investigated with spectral analysis, functional box counting method and studying the probability distributions and statistical moments of the rainfall

Sustainable urban development and geophysics

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lanbo; Chan, L. S.

2007-09-01

investigated [2]. The first objective of urban geophysics is to study systematically the geophysical fields in cities, searching for principles and processes governing the intensity and patterns of variation of the geophysical properties, as well as the potential consequences on the biosphere. Secondly, geophysics has already been found to be a useful tool for subsurface detection and investigation, hazard mitigation, and assessment of environmental contamination. Geophysicists have documented numerous cases of successful applications of geophysical techniques to solve problems related to hazard mitigation, safeguarding of lifeline infrastructure and urban gateways (air- and sea-ports, railway and highway terminals), archaeological and heritage surveys, homeland security, urban noise control, water supplies, sanitation and solid waste management etc. In contrast to conventional geophysical exploration, the undertaking of geophysical surveys in an urban setting faces many new challenges and difficulties. First of all, the ambient cultural noise in cities caused by traffic, electromagnetic radiation and electrical currents often produce undesirably strong interference with geophysical measurements. Secondly, subsurface surveys in an urban area are often targeted at the uppermost several metres of the ground, which are the most heterogeneous layers with many man-made objects. Thirdly, unlike conventional geophysical exploration which requires resolution in the order of metres, many urban geophysical surveys demand a resolution and precision in the order of centimetres or even millimetres. Finally restricted site access and limited time for conducting geophysical surveys, regulatory constraints, requirements for traffic management and special logistical arrangements impose additional difficulties. All of these factors point to the need for developing innovative research methods and geophysical instruments suitable for use in urban settings. This special issue on 'Sustainable urban

Biomonitoring seasonal variation of urban air polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using Ficus benghalensis leaves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prajapati, Santosh Kumar; Tripathi, B.D.

2008-01-01

Temporal and seasonal variations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations in leaves of Ficus benghalensis were investigated in Varanasi city (India). Leaf samples were collected from six sites from urban area of Varanasi and from a control site. PAH extraction was done by sonication in dichloromethane-acetone and quantification by GC-MS. In January total leaf PAHs concentrations at all the urban sites were twice higher as compared to other season's viz. summer and rainy. In contrast, at the control site leaf PAHs concentrations showed lower values than urban sites. The maximum concentrations of total PAHs in winter were due to the medium molecular weight PAHs which increases with respect to both low and high molecular weight PAHs. The temporal variation of medium molecular weight PAHs was similar both at the urban and remote sites. These results support biomonitoring ability of Ficus benghalensis leaves to temporal variations in PAHs contamination. - Biomonitoring PAHs in atmosphere using F. benghalensis leaves for its temporal and seasonal variation is cost effective as well as easier

Photochemistry in Power Plant and Urban Plumes over Forested and Agricultural Regions during SOS (1990s) and SENEX (2013) field intensives (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Trainer, M.; Frost, G. J.; Kim, S.; Ryerson, T. B.; Pollack, I. B.; Roberts, J. M.; Veres, P. R.; Flocke, F. M.; Neuman, J. A.; Nowak, J. B.; Nenes, A.; Warneke, C.; Graus, M.; Gilman, J.; Lerner, B. M.; Kuster, W.; Atlas, E. L.; Hanisco, T. F.; Wolfe, G. M.; Keutsch, F. N.; Kaiser, J.; Lee, Y.; Brock, C. A.; Middlebrook, A. M.; Liao, J.; Welti, A.; Parrish, D. D.; Fehsenfeld, F. C.; De Gouw, J. A.

2013-12-01

Extensive forested regions of the southeastern United States show high emissions of biogenic reactive hydrocarbons such as isoprene, while emissions of these compounds are typically much lower from agricultural areas. The Southern Oxidant Study (SOS) field intensives during the 1990s contributed to an improved understanding of ozone (O3) formation resulting from nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from urban areas and power plants in the presence and absence of the biogenic hydrocarbons. Decreases in NOx emissions from power plants and urban areas have contributed to the widespread reduction of ambient O3 over the southeastern US during the past two decades. Measurements of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), NOx, and their reaction products made at successive distances downwind of emission sources during the SOS (1999) and the Southeast Nexus (SENEX, 2013) campaigns reflect the modulation of the photochemical processing of biogenic VOCs by ambient NOx concentrations. The results constrain the ambient levels of HOx radicals as a function of NOx, and they reflect the mechanisms of the coupling between anthropogenic and biogenic emissions that form species such as ozone, formaldehyde, PeroxyAcetic Nitric anhydride (PAN), nitric acid, as well as, inorganic and organic aerosols.

Urban summer heat load. Meteorological data as a proxy for metropolitan biodiversity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kappes, Heike [Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden (Netherlands); Katzschner, Lutz [Kassel Univ. (Germany). Environmental Meteorological Dept.; Nowak, Carsten [Senckenberg Gesellschaft fuer Naturforschung, Gelnhausen (Germany). Conservation Genetics Section; Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

2012-10-15

Regional climate models forecast that the incidence of extreme heat waves will increase in Central Europe, and the associated intensification of urban heat islands causes concerns about human health and biodiversity. We investigated species diversity of terrestrial gastropods across an urban gradient in a metropolitan area. We considered 34 sites of different degrees of urbanization and of different thermal stress classes (TSC) that were derived from a classification of urban heat load based on the physiological equivalent temperature (PET). A total of 31 species were recorded with 0-21 species per site (mean: 4.4 {+-} 5.2 species per site). Alpha diversity was best explained by TSC, bush cover and perennial vegetation cover, and it decreased with increasing thermal stress. Overall, thermal stress predicted snail and slug species richness better than urban cover (ANOVA(analysis of variance); TSC: F = 10.0, p < 0.001; urbanization: F = 3.9, p = 0.018), and the proportional loss in species richness was higher for native species than for introduced species. The results indicate that climatic stress contributes to the impoverishment of biodiversity in urban areas. We propose that TSC and/or PET are useful indicators for environmental stress levels in biodiversity studies in natural and anthropogenically transformed landscapes. (orig.)

Distribution and variability of total mercury in snow cover?a case study from a semi-urban site in Pozna?, Poland

OpenAIRE

Siudek, Patrycja

2016-01-01

In the present paper, the inter-seasonal Hg variability in snow cover was examined based on multivariate statistical analysis of chemical and meteorological data. Samples of freshly fallen snow cover were collected at the semi-urban site in Pozna? (central Poland), during 3-month field measurements in winter 2013. It was showed that concentrations of atmospherically deposited Hg were highly variable in snow cover, from 0.43 to 12.5?ng?L?1, with a mean value of 4.62?ng?L?1. The highest Hg conc...

Project VISION (Very Intensive Scientific Intercurricular On-Site Education

Science.gov (United States)

Roig, Gustavo A.

1999-01-01

Project VISION (Very Intensive Scientific Intercurricular On-Site Education) is a joint effort among NASA/John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida International University, Universidad del Turabo, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the Caguas/Gurabo Public Schools in Puerto Rico. The project's main mission is to institutionalize change among the elementary and middle school science and math teachers at participating schools so that their students receive continuously enriched instruction in the principles of science and math through the use of hands-on and minds-on experiments called learning modules. These leaming modules incorporate the national science and math education standards provided by the National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessments and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, respectively. The use of learning modules that require hands-on and minds-on activities in a classroom setting garners great enthusiasm and motivation on the part of the target students for the understanding of the lesson's underlying math and science principles. With this enthusiasm and motivation, comes acceptance, attention, participation, discipline, acquiescence, and collaboration. Additionally, the use of hands-on activities may also require learning through a gamut of senses. Not only can the student use his/her eyes and ears during these activities, but most times, they can also use their senses of touch, smell, and taste, as well as intuition. Learning is, therefore, achieved using most or all the human senses. The combination of motivation/enthusiasm and the use of multiple senses creates an ideal environment conducive to leaming at a profound level.

River flooding due to intense precipitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, James C.

2014-01-01

River stage can rise and cause site flooding due to local intense precipitation (LIP), dam failures, snow melt in conjunction with precipitation or dam failures, etc. As part of the re-evaluation of the design basis as well as the PRA analysis of other external events, the likelihood and consequence of river flooding leading to the site flooding need to be examined more rigorously. To evaluate the effects of intense precipitation on site structures, the site watershed hydrology and pond storage are calculated. To determine if river flooding can cause damage to risk-significant systems, structures, and components (SSC), water surface elevations are analyzed. Typically, the amount and rate of the input water is determined first. For intense precipitation, the fraction of the rainfall in the watershed drainage area not infiltrated into the ground is collected in the river and contributes to the rise of river water elevation. For design basis analysis, the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) is evaluated using the Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) based on the site topography/configuration. The peak runoff flow rate and water surface elevations resulting from the precipitation induced flooding can then be estimated. The runoff flow hydrograph and peak discharge flows can be developed using the synthetic hydrograph method. The standard step method can then be used to determine the water surface elevations along the river channel. Thus, the flood water from the local intense precipitation storm and excess runoff from the nearby river can be evaluated to calculate the water surface elevations, which can be compared with the station grade floor elevation to determine the effects of site flooding on risk-significant SSCs. The analysis needs to consider any possible diversion flow and the effects of changes to the site configurations. Typically, the analysis is performed based on conservative peak rainfall intensity and the assumptions of failure of the site drainage facilities

A study on the relationship between carbon budget and ecosystem service in urban areas according to urbanization

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S. J.; Lee, W. K.

2017-12-01

The study on the analysis of carbon storage capacity of urban green spaces with increasing urban forest. Modern cities have experienced rapid economic development since Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The rapid economic growth caused an exponential concentration of population to the cities and decrease of green spaces due to the conversion of forest and agricultural lands to build-up areas with rapid urbanization. As green areas including forests, grasslands, and wetlands provide diverse economic, environmental, and cultural benefits, the decrease of green areas might be a huge loss. Also, the process of urbanization caused pressure on the urban environment more than its natural capacity, which accelerates global climate change. This study tries to see the relations between carbon budget and ecosystem services according to the urbanization. For calculating carbon dynamics, this study used VISIT(Vegetation Integrated Simulator for trace gases) model. And the value that ecosystem provides is explained with the concept of ecosystem service and calculated by InVEST model. Study sites are urban and peri-urban areas in Northeast Asia. From the result of the study, the effect of the urbanization can be understood in regard to carbon storage and ecosystem services.

Buzz in Paris: flower production and plant-pollinator interactions in plants from contrasted urban and rural origins.

Science.gov (United States)

Desaegher, James; Nadot, Sophie; Dajoz, Isabelle; Colas, Bruno

2017-12-01

Urbanisation, associated with habitat fragmentation, affects pollinator communities and insect foraging behaviour. These biotic changes are likely to select for modified traits in insect-pollinated plants from urban populations compared to rural populations. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment involving four plant species commonly found in both urban and rural landscapes of the Île-de-France region (France): Cymbalaria muralis, Geranium robertianum, Geum urbanum and Prunella vulgaris. The four species were grown in four urban and four rural experimental sites in 2015. For each species and each experimental site, plants were grown from seeds collected in five urban and five rural locations. During flowering, we observed flower production and insect-flower interactions during 14 weeks and tested for the effects of experimental site location and plant origin on flower production and on the number of floral visits. The study species had various flower morphology and hence were visited by different floral visitors. The effect of experimental sites and seed origin also varied among study species. We found that (1) insect visits on P. vulgaris were more frequent in rural than in urban sites; (2) for C. muralis, the slope relating the number of pollinator visits to the number of flowers per individual was steeper in urban versus rural sites, suggesting a greater benefit in allocating resources to flower production in urban conditions; (3) as a likely consequence, C. muralis tended to produce more flowers in plants from urban versus rural origin.

Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Roadside Soil in Urban Area and the Related Impacting Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Meie; Zhang, Haizhen

2018-05-24

Heavy metal contamination in roadside soil due to traffic emission has been recognized for a long time. However, seldom has been reported regarding identification of critical factors influencing the accumulation of heavy metals in urban roadside soils due to the frequent disturbances such as the repair of damaged roads and green belt maintanance. Heavy metals in the roadside soils of 45 roads in Xihu district, Hangzhou city were investigated. Results suggested the accumulation of Cu, Pb, Cd, Cr, and Zn in roadside soil was affected by human activity. However, only two sites had Pb and Zn excessing the standards for residential areas, respectively, according to Chinese Environmental Quality Standards for soils. The concentrations of Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn were significantly and positively correlated to soil pH and organic matter. An insignificant correlation between the age of the roads or vegetation cover types and the concentration of heavy metals was found although they were reported closely relating to the accumulation of heavy metals in roadside soils of highways. The highest Pb, Cd, and Cr taking place in sites with heavy traffic and significant differences in the concentrations of Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn among the different categories of roads suggested the contribution of traffic intensity. However, it was difficult to establish a quantitative relationship between traffic intensity and the concentrations of heavy metals in the roadside soil. It could be concluded that impaction of traffic emission on the accumulation of heavy metals in roadside soils in urban area was slight and soil properties such as pH and organic matters were critical factors influencing the retention of heavy metals in soils.

Thermal Comfort Level Assessment in Urban Area of Petrolina-PE County, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Vieira de Azevedo

Full Text Available Abstract This study evaluated the thermal conditions of urban areas in Petrolina-PE, from continuous data collected in urban and rural areas for the year of 2012. The results characterized urban heat islands (UHI with varying intensity in urban areas, especially UHI = 5.3 °C (high intensity occurred on April 28, 2012. It was evident that the constituent elements of urban areas contribute to the formation and expansion of UHI bringing thermal discomfort for its inhabitants. An adaptation to Thom’s equation for calculating the Thermal Discomfort Index (DIT, was used to obtain the maximum (DITx and minimum (DITm thermal discomfort. In the urban area, the DITm indicated thermal comfort in 23.0% of the days and partial comfort in 77.0% of days surveyed. Already, the DITx characterized 71.6% of days with partial comfort and 28.4% of days with thermal discomfort. In the rural area, The DITm indicated that 41.5% of days were thermally comfortable and 58.5% of days had partial comfort. However, the DITx pointed 87.7% of the days of this environment with partial thermal comfort and 12.3% of thermally uncomfortable days. Finally, the results showed that afforestation of urban area constitutes to an effective and efficient way to mitigate thermal discomfort.

Projected Impact of Urban Growth on Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Amato, Federico; Murgante, Beniamino; Martellozzo, Federico

2017-04-01

Human activities on land use such as intensive agricultural techniques and urbanization are generating a number of social and economic benefit for contemporary society. Besides, these phenomena are one of the most significant causes of Land Degradation. Firstly, intensive agriculture is on the one hand creating an advantage in the short-period in terms of food production, while on the other is producing serious long-period problems in terms of loss of ecosystem services, including some important for agriculture itself. Secondly, the rapid growth of urban areas in recent decades is generating deep environmental issues. The World Urbanization Prospect by the United Nations (UN) shows that more than half of the world's population today (54%) lives in urban areas. This figure was only 30% in 1950, and estimates are that it will rise to 66% by 2050. Urban growth is responsible for the increase of air pollution, waste production, energy consumption, and land take. Moreover, the expansion of urban areas is making the problem of urban heat islands more relevant, and studies are proving how land cover changes are among the main factors that affect local microclimates. Consequently, territorial planning will play an important role in the fight to mitigate the effects of climate change, as land cover has a significant impact on the energy exchanges between the earth and the atmosphere. This study couples urban growth simulation models based on cellular automata to multiple linear regression techniques that are used to formulate equations for predicting the effects of simulated urban development on soil surface temperature. The proposed methodology is applied to the case study of the Italian national territory, considering various alternative scenarios of land use changes and of their impact on local surface temperatures. The results show that the areas with the greatest urban pressure might be subject to significant climatic changes due to the increased impact of urban heat

Urban Environmental Education: Leveraging Technology and Ecology to Engage Students in Studying the Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Michael; Vaughn, Meredith Houle; Strauss, Eric; Cotter, Lindsey

2011-01-01

In this paper, we describe the outcomes of the first year of an intensive, urban ecology focused, summer program for urban high school youth. Students in our program conduct scientific investigations of their urban ecosystems while exploring potential career options in science and technology fields. In conducting their investigations, the students…

Use of chemical analysis and assays of semipermeable membrane devices extracts to assess the response of bioavailable organic pollutants in streams to urbanization in six metropolitan areas of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Wade L.; Goodbred, Steve L.; Leiker, Thomas L.; Inouye, Laura; Johnson, B. Thomas

2007-01-01

Studies to assess the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems are being conducted as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The overall objectives of these studies are to (1) determine how hydrologic, geomorphic, water quality, habitat, and biological characteristics respond to land-use changes associated with urbanization in specific environmental settings, and (2) compare these responses across environmental settings. As part of an integrated assessment, semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were deployed in streams along a gradient of urban land-use intensity in and around Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and Denver-Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2003; and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Portland, Oregon, in 2004. Sites were selected to avoid point-source discharge and to minimize natural variability within each of the six metropolitan areas. In addition to standard chemical analysis for hydrophobic organic contaminants, three assays were used to address mixtures and potential toxicity: (1) Fluoroscan provides an estimate of the total concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); (2) the P450RGS assay indicates the presence and levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists; and (3) Microtox® measures toxicological effects on photo-luminescent bacteria.Of the 140 compounds targeted or identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis in this study, 67 were not detected. In terms of numbers and types of compounds, the following were detected: 2 wood preservatives, 6 insecticides (parent compounds), 5 herbicides, 22 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 2 dibenzofurans, 4 polychlorinated biphenyls, 7 compounds associated with fragrances or personal care products, 4 steroids associated with wastewater, 5 polydibromated diphenyl ethers (flame retardants), 3 plasticizers, 3 antimicrobials/disinfectants, and 3 detergent metabolites.Of the 73

Siting and public acceptance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Lise, Pasquale.

1977-01-01

The paper discusses the problem of nuclear power plant siting according to presently applicable legislation in Italy, taking into account urban and environmental aspects. Act No 393 of 2 August 1975 on the siting of nuclear plants introduced a significant change in that prior to its adoption, the competence to license nuclear installations was divided amongst so many bodies that approval was inevitably delayed. Act No. 393 lays down the siting procedure which involves authorities at regional and State level and provides a step by step consultation of the Communes concerned and gives them a time limit for replying to the proposed project, while enabling the necessary scientific, environmental and urban investigations to be made. Thus although ultimate decisions rest with the State, the regional bodies representing the public have a voice in them. In such planning the authorities must take into account the public interest, from the environmental and social angles as well as political and economic interests. (NEA) [fr

GIS Based Measurement and Regulatory Zoning of Urban Ecological Vulnerability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaorui Zhang

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Urban ecological vulnerability is measured on the basis of ecological sensitivity and resilience based on the concept analysis of vulnerability. GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA methods are used, supported by the spatial analysis tools of GIS, to define different levels of vulnerability for areas of the urban ecology. These areas are further classified into different types of regulatory zones. Taking the city of Hefei in China as the empirical research site, this study uses GIS-MCDA, including the index system, index weights and overlay rules, to measure the degree of its ecological vulnerability on the GIS platform. There are eight indices in the system. Raking and analytical hierarchy process (AHP methods are used to calculate index weights according to the characteristics of the index system. The integrated overlay rule, including selection of the maximum value, and weighted linear combination (WLC are applied as the overlay rules. In this way, five types of vulnerability areas have been classified as follows: very low vulnerability, low vulnerability, medium vulnerability, high vulnerability and very high vulnerability. They can be further grouped into three types of regulatory zone of ecological green line, ecological grey line and ecological red line. The study demonstrates that ecological green line areas are the largest (53.61% of the total study area and can be intensively developed; ecological grey line areas (19.59% of the total area can serve as the ecological buffer zone, and ecological red line areas (26.80% cannot be developed and must be protected. The results indicate that ecological green line areas may provide sufficient room for future urban development in Hefei city. Finally, the respective regulatory countermeasures are put forward. This research provides a scientific basis for decision-making around urban ecological protection, construction and sustainable development. It also provides theoretical method