Carbon Monoxide Concentration in a Street Canyon of Buenos Aires City (Argentina)

The analysis of three years of 8-h CO concentration values registered in a deep street canyon downtown shows high frequency of values that exceed WHO health protection guidelines. An inverse relationship between opposing percentiles of the distributions of CO concentrations and mean wind speed could be found. Data also showed a variation of mean CO values with prevailing wind direction. The averaged concentration value obtained when the sampler probe is on the leeward side is lower than the obtained when it is on the windward wall. A preliminary explanation of this feature may be related to the advection of polluted air from a high traffic density area nearby.     

Measuring the adaptation gap: A framework for evaluating climate hazards and opportunities in urban areas

Urban areas are increasingly seen as having distinct need for climate adaptation. Further, as resources are limited, it is essential to prioritize adaptation actions. At the municipal scale, we suggest that priorities be placed where there is a gap between adaption need and existing adaptation effort. Taking Seattle, USA, as an example, we present this gap in terms of four categories of adaptation options (no-regret, primary, secondary, and tertiary) for the three primary urban hazards—flooding, heat wave, and drought. To do so, we first establish current adaptation need by identifying and categorizing adaptation options. Next, we consider for each option the number of hazards addressed and benefit to and beyond climate adaptation, the projected magnitude of the hazards addressed, the projection’s uncertainty, and the required scale and irreversibility of investment. Third, we assessed Seattle’s current adaptation efforts by reviewing adaptation plans and related materials. Finally, we identify the distance or “gap” as the proportion of adaptation options not identified by existing adaptation plans.For Seattle, we categorized seven options as no-regret adaptation, five as primary, two as secondary, and three as tertiary. Each level’s adaptation gap highlights significant opportunities to take steps to reduce climate risks in key areas.     

城市生活垃圾生命周期管理

生命周期评价是一种全面的环境管理工具，具有潜在的发展前景。０它通过对产品，产品系统，工艺活动整个生命周期的环境影响环境改善的机会进行评价。根据国际环境毒理与化学学会１９９３年和ＩＳＯ１４０００环境管理体系中关于生命周期评价的技术框架，本文应生命周期评价在城市生产垃圾管理系统中的作用及管理系统的清单分析，影响评价和改善评价进行研究。     

Applying integrated assessment methodologies to air quality plans: Two European cases

Air pollution Integrated Assessment Models (IAM) can be used for determining how emissions should be reduced to improve air quality and to protect human health in a cost-efficient way. The application of IAM is also useful to spread information to the general public and to explain the effectiveness of proposed Air Quality Plans. In this paper, the application of the RIAT+ system to determine suitable abatement measures to improve the air quality at a regional/local level is presented for two European cases: the Brussels Capital Region (Belgium) and the Porto Urban Area (Portugal). Both regions are affected with PM10 or NO₂ concentrations that exceed the limit values specified by the European Union legislation. To properly assess air quality abatement measures a surrogate model was used, allowing the implementation of an efficient optimization procedure. This model is derived in both cases through a set of simulations performed using a Chemistry Transport Model fed with different emission reduction scenarios. In addition, internal costs (due to the implementation of emission reduction measures) and external costs (due to population exposure to air pollutant concentrations) of policy options were considered. The application of this integrated assessment modelling system in scenario (Brussels case) and optimization (Porto) modes contributes to identifying some advantages and limitations of these two approaches and also provides some guidance when urban air quality has to be assessed.     

Analyzing the cost effectiveness of Santiago, Chile's policy of using urban forests to improve air quality

Santiago, Chile has the distinction of having among the worst urban air pollution problems in Latin America. As part of an atmospheric pollution reduction plan, the Santiago Regional Metropolitan government defined an environmental policy goal of using urban forests to remove particulate matter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) in the Gran Santiago area. We used cost effectiveness, or the process of establishing costs and selecting least cost alternatives for obtaining a defined policy goal of PM(10) removal, to analyze this policy goal. For this study, we quantified PM(10) removal by Santiago's urban forests based on socioeconomic strata and using field and real-time pollution and climate data via a dry deposition urban forest effects model. Municipal urban forest management costs were estimated using management cost surveys and Chilean Ministry of Planning and Cooperation documents. Results indicate that managing municipal urban forests (trees, shrubs, and grass whose management is under the jurisdiction of Santiago's 36 municipalities) to remove PM(10) was a cost-effective policy for abating PM(10) based on criteria set by the World Bank. In addition, we compared the cost effectiveness of managing municipal urban forests and street trees to other control policies (e.g. alternative fuels) to abate PM(10) in Santiago and determined that municipal urban forest management efficiency was similar to these other air quality improvement measures.     

城市滨水景观评价研究初探——以南京市莫愁湖滨水区为例

城市滨水区一直被认为是一个城市最具活力和生态价值的区域，但伴随着城市职能的转型以及水运地位的下降，世界上大部分的滨水区都经历了从繁荣到衰败的过程。然而目前，随着城市人群的生态需求与审美需求的进一步提高，城市滨水区又面临着复兴之势，这也对城市滨水号观设计以及作为其基础而存在的滨水景观评价提出了新的要求。因此。本文将以成分代用模式评价方法为指导，以南京市莫愁湖滨水区为案例对其进行景观评价，并基于此获取影响滨水区景观质量的重要因素，以期对以后的滨水区规划设计起到一定的指导作用。     

Assessment of lead pollution in topsoils of a southern Italy area: Analysis of urban and peri-urban environment

Exposure to lead (Pb) may affect adversely human health. Mapping soil Pb contents is essential to obtain a quantitative estimate of potential risk of Pb contamination. The main aim of this paper was to determine the soil Pb concentrations in the urban and peri-urban area of Cosenza–Rende to map their spatial distribution and assess the probability that soil Pb concentration exceeds a critical threshold that might cause concern for human health. Samples were collected at 149 locations from residual and non-residual topsoil in gardens, parks, flower-beds, and agricultural fields. Fine earth fraction of soil samples was analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence spectrometry. Stochastic images generated by the sequential Gaussian simulation were jointly combined to calculate the probability of exceeding the critical threshold that could be used to delineate the potentially risky areas. Results showed areas in which Pb concentration values were higher to the Italian regulatory values. These polluted areas were quite large and likely, they could create a significant health risk for human beings and vegetation in the near future. The results demonstrated that the proposed approach can be used to study soil contamination to produce geochemical maps, and identify hot-spot areas for soil Pb concentration.     

基于百度指数的长江中游城市群城市网络特征研究

随着地理研究迈入大数据时代,运用互联网展开城市网络结构研究逐渐成为经理地理研究的新思路。以长江中游城市群为研究对象,借助百度指数,获取2011年~2014年百度用户关注度,构建百度指数城市信息流网络,从大城市群视角和所辖三大子城市群视角,分别探讨城市网络格局的时空变化。研究发现:长江中游城市群在一体化进程中城市等级日益明晰,差距拉大。三大子城市群表现出极化效应与扩散效应并存,区域非均衡性突显;互联网的普及在一定程度上重塑和改造着城市群,但非完全颠覆传统城市网络格局,地理区位对城市网络格局和城市影响力的影响仍不容忽视。     

Predicting Opportunities for Greening and Patterns of Vegetation on Private Urban Lands

This paper examines predictors of vegetative cover on private lands in Baltimore, Maryland. Using high-resolution spatial data, we generated two measures: “possible stewardship,” which is the proportion of private land that does not have built structures on it and hence has the possibility of supporting vegetation, and “realized stewardship,” which is the proportion of possible stewardship land upon which vegetation is growing. These measures were calculated at the parcel level and averaged by US Census block group. Realized stewardship was further defined by proportion of tree canopy and grass. Expenditures on yard supplies and services, available by block group, were used to help understand where vegetation condition appears to be the result of current activity, past legacies, or abandonment. PRIZM™ market segmentation data were tested as categorical predictors of possible and realized stewardship and yard expenditures. PRIZM™ segmentations are hierarchically clustered into 5, 15, and 62 categories, which correspond to population density, social stratification (income and education), and lifestyle clusters, respectively. We found that PRIZM 15 best predicted variation in possible stewardship and PRIZM 62 best predicted variation in realized stewardship. These results were further analyzed by regressing each dependent variable against a set of continuous variables reflective of each of the three PRIZM groupings. Housing age, vacancy, and population density were found to be critical determinants of both stewardship metrics. A number of lifestyle factors, such as average family size, marriage rates, and percentage of single-family detached homes, were strongly related to realized stewardship. The percentage of African Americans by block group was positively related to realized stewardship but negatively related to yard expenditures.     

Conceptual Models as Hypotheses in Monitoring Urban Landscapes

Many problems and challenges of ecosystem management currently are driven by the rapid pace and spatial extent of landscape change. Parks and reserves within areas of high human population density are especially challenged to meet the recreational needs of local populations and to preserve valued environmental resources. The complex problem of managing multiple objectives and multiple resources requires an enormous quantity of information, and conceptual models have been proposed as tools for organizing and interpreting this information. Academics generally prefer a bottom-up approach to model construction that emphasizes ecologic theory and process, whereas managers often use a top-down approach that takes advantage of existing information to address more pragmatic objectives. The authors propose a formal process for developing, applying, and testing conceptual models to be used in landscape monitoring that reconciles these seemingly opposing perspectives. The four-step process embraces the role of hypothesis testing in the development of models and evaluation of their utility. An example application of the process to a network of national parks in and around Washington, DC illustrates the ability of the approach to systematically identify monitoring data that would both advance ecologic theory and inform management decisions.