Importance of information on tillage practices in the modelling of environmental processes and in the use of environmental indicators

Tillage has been and will always be integral to crop production. Tillage can result in the degradation of soil, water, and air quality. Of all farm management practices, tillage may have the greatest impact on the environment. A wide variety of tillage equipment, practices and systems are available to farmers, providing opportunities to enhance environmental performance. These opportunities have made tillage a popular focus of environmental policies and programs such as environmental indicators for agriculture. This paper provides a very brief examination of the role of tillage in crop production, its effect on biophysical processes and, therefore, its impact on the environment. Models of biophysical processes are briefly examined to demonstrate the importance of tillage relative to other farm management practices and to demonstrate the detail of tillage data that these models can demand. The focus of this paper is an examination of the use of information on tillage in Canada's agri-environmental indicators initiative, National Agri-environmental Health Analysis and Reporting Program (NAHARP). Information on tillage is required for several of the indicators in NAHARP. The type of data used, its source, and its quality are discussed. Recommendations regarding the collection of tillage data and use of tillage information are presented.     

The integrated project AquaTerra of the EU sixth framework lays foundations for better understanding of river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems

The integrated project "AquaTerra" with the full title "integrated modeling of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system; advanced tools for the management of catchment areas and river basins in the context of global change" is among the first environmental projects within the sixth Framework Program of the European Union. Commencing in June 2004, it brought together a multidisciplinary team of 45 partner organizations from 12 EU countries, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro. AquaTerra is an ambitious project with the primary objective of laying the foundations for a better understanding of the behavior of environmental pollutants and their fluxes in the soil-sediment-water system with respect to climate and land use changes. The project performs research as well as modeling on river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems through quantification of deposition, sorption and turnover rates and the development of numerical models to reveal fluxes and trends in soil and sediment functioning. Scales ranging from the laboratory to river basins are addressed with the potential to provide improved river basin management, enhanced soil and groundwater monitoring as well as the early identification and forecasting of impacts on water quantity and quality. Study areas are the catchments of the Ebro, Meuse, Elbe and Danube Rivers and the Brévilles Spring. Here we outline the general structure of the project and the activities conducted within eleven existing sub-projects of AquaTerra.     

Environmental Equity and the Role of Public Policy: Experiences in the Rijnmond Region

This Φ Ψ study of environmental equity uses secondary quantitative data to analyze socioeconomic disparities in environmental conditions in the Rijnmond region of the Netherlands. The disparities of selected environmental indicators—exposure to traffic noise (road, rail, and air), NO₂, external safety risks, and the availability of public green space—are analyzed both separately and in combination. Not only exposures to environmental burdens (“bads”) were investigated, but also access to environmental benefits (“goods”). Additionally, we held interviews and reviewed documents to grasp the mechanisms underlying the environmental equity situation, with an emphasis on the role of public policy. Environmental equity is not a priority in public policy for the greater Rotterdam region known as the Rijnmond region, yet environmental standards have been established to provide a minimum environmental quality to all local residents. In general, environmental quality has improved in this region, and the accumulation of negative environmental outcomes (“bads”) has been limited. However, environmental standards for road traffic noise and NO₂ are being exceeded, probably because of the pressure on space and the traffic intensity. We found an association of environmental “bads” with income for rail traffic noise and availability of public green space. In the absence of regulation, positive environmental outcomes (“goods”) are mainly left up to market forces. Consequently, higher-income groups generally have more access to environmental “goods” than lower-income groups.     

The effects of sediment-laden waters on irrigated lands along the lower Yellow River in China

Expansion of irrigation in the Yellow River (Huang He in Chinese) Basin of China is a major accomplishment of the post-revolutionary period in China. Irrigation reliance on the Yellow River was anticipated to not only supply greater reliability of water for crops, but also to improve the productivity of aeolian, saline and alkali soils because of the high sediment loads in the river. Irrigation expansion also was a significant factor in affecting human modification of the landscape ecosystem in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Based on field investigation and sampling of the amount and distribution of used suspended sediment load in irrigated areas, this paper analyzes the impact of the suspended sediment on soil texture, fertility and salinity and the consequences to the landscape ecosystem. Results indicate that soil quality has indeed been improved through irrigation and related deposition of sediment, but some local problems created by long periods of irrigation should not be ignored in the future.     

Sampling and Mapping a Soil Erosion Cover Factor by Integrating Stratification,Model Updating and Cokriging with Images

Cost-efficient sample designs for collection of ground data and accurate mapping of variables are required to monitor natural resources and environmental and ecological systems. In this study, a sample design and mapping method was developed by integrating stratification, model updating, and cokriging with Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery. This method is based on the spatial autocorrelation of variables and the spatial cross-correlation among them. It can lead to sample designs with variable grid spacing, where sampling distances between plots vary depending on spatial variability of the variables from location to location. This has potential cost-efficiencies in terms of sample design and mapping. This method is also applicable for mapping in the case in which no ground data can be collected in some parts of a study area because of the high cost. The method was validated in a case study in which a ground and vegetation cover factor was sampled and mapped for monitoring soil erosion. The results showed that when the sample obtained with three strata using the developed method was used for sampling and mapping the cover factor, the sampling cost was greatly decreased, although the error of the map was slightly increased compared to that without stratification; that is, the sample cost-efficiency quantified by the product of cost and error was greatly increased. The increase of cost-efficiency was more obvious when the cover factor values of the plots within the no-significant-change stratum were updated by a model developed using the previous observations instead of remeasuring them in the field.     

An Assessment of Oil Pollution in the Coastal Zone of Patagonia,Argentina

The Patagonian coast is considered a relatively pristine environment. However, studies conducted along coastal Patagonia have showed hydrocarbon pollution mostly concentrated at ports that have fishing, oil loading, general merchant, and/or tourist activities. A high value of total aliphatic hydrocarbons (TAH) was found at the Rawson fishing port (741 μg/g dw). In other ports with and without petroleum-related activities, hydrocarbon values were approximately 100 μg/g dw. The highest values for TAH and total aromatic hydrocarbons (TArH) were found in Faro Aristizábal, north of San Jorge gulf (1304 and 737 μg/g dw, respectively). This is very likely the result of petroleum-related activities at the Comodoro Rivadavia, Caleta Cordova, and Caleta Olivia ports located within this gulf. In other coastal areas away from potential anthropogenic sources, hydrocarbon values were less than 2 and 3 μg/g dw for TAH and TArH, respectively. This review of published and unpublished information suggests that ports are important oil pollution sources in the Patagonian coast. More detailed studies are needed to evaluate the area affected by port activities, to understand the mechanisms of hydrocarbon distribution in surrounding environments, and to assess bioaccumulation in marine organisms. Despite that some regulations exist to control oil pollution derived from port and docked vessel activities, new and stricter management guidelines should be implemented.     

Estimation of Landscape Potential for Construction of Surface-Flow Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment in Estonia

The main aim of this article is to demonstrate a method of complex landscape analysis in order to estimate the landscape suitability for the construction of surface-flow wetlands (SFW) for wastewater treatment. This is a multilevel suitability analysis from a more general regional (landscape) assessment based on a map of landscape types (1:100,000) toward a detailed analysis based on aerial orthophotos and detailed soil maps (1:10,000). The assessment scheme consists of landscape classification according to the physical-chemical properties of landscape factors (soil conditions, landforms, hydrogeology, expert decisions concerning landscape values, and suitability analysis). The partial suitability values of SFWs are derived by summarizing expert values for landscape factors (each ranging from -1 to +1). By multiplying the summarized partial suitability values with nature protection values (ranging from 0 to 1), we obtain the final suitability value for each landscape type. Any kind of nature protection area has been considered nonsuitable and excluded at regional-level analysis. The results of the regional analysis demonstrate that suitability is distributed relatively equally over the study area. The high suitability potential (classified as "very suitable") is relatively evenly distributed in lowland regions throughout the country. The share of "very suitable" and "suitable" areas in different counties varies from 5 to 23% and 7 to 49%, respectively. The detailed analysis based on aerial orthophotos showed that areas suitable for SFWs can also be found within the areas determined to be unsuitable based on the less detailed map of landscape types, whereas differences are much greater between settlements chosen for the detailed suitability analysis.     

用清洁生产的理念防治农业污染的初步探讨

农业发展面临的农业污染问题,已成为制约农业可持续发展的＂瓶颈＂.农业污染问题已经成为影响农村经济发展,以及农村社会和谐发展的重要因素之一.在论述农业清洁生产涵义的基础上,探讨了农业清洁生产防治农业污染问题.以新疆绿洲农业为例,论述了农业污染现状及发展农业清洁生产的必要性,分析探讨了发展农业清洁生产存在的问题和障碍,并提出了对策和建议.     

WRF-Chem与ADMS对城区尺度大气污染精细化模拟的比较

精细化模拟对城市大气污染预报、朔源和管控具有重要意义.本文以南京市江宁区为例,利用中尺度数值模式WRF-Chem和三维高斯型模式ADMS,针对典型污染个例,开展城区尺度大气污染高分辨模拟,并对其结果进行比较分析.此外,探讨了WRF-Chem中不同城市冠层方案的模拟效果以及ADMS中不同街道峡谷特征对街道内污染扩散的影响.结果表明,WRF-Chem和ADMS都可以合理模拟内外源对关心区域的影响,实现对城区尺度大气污染的高分辨和高效率模拟;相对SLAB、BEP城市冠层方案,WRF-Chem中的UCM方案表现更好,且其模拟性能较ADMS略优;ADMS模拟街道峡谷效应时,街道和建筑尺度参数对模拟结果有较大影响,街道越窄、建筑越高,越不利于街道内污染物的扩散.综合而言,对于城区尺度的大气污染精细化模拟,使用UCM方案的WRF-Chem和ADMS都具有一定的模拟能力,可以根据计算效率和分辨率的要求选用不同模型开展研究.     

臭氧氧化印染工业园废水的效能与机理研究

本研究开展了印染废水臭氧氧化影响因素、降解动力学和淬灭实验,测定了自由基物种、降解产物和琥珀酸脱氢酶活性.结果表明,苯胺去除效率随着pH值、臭氧投加量和臭氧投加速率的增加分别逐渐减小、增加和减小,且臭氧浓度为24 mg·L^-1时苯胺去除效率最高.臭氧氧化苯胺的适宜条件为：臭氧浓度为24 mg·L^-1、臭氧投加量为200 mg·L^-1和臭氧投加速率为4 mg·min^-1,此时苯胺的去除效率为47.2%.臭氧氧化苯胺是直接氧化为主结合羟基自由基反应的作用过程.苯胺脱氨基和裂解苯环后生成戊二酸或L-焦谷氨酸直至矿化.大肠杆菌在原水和臭氧氧化后废水中的酶抑制率分别为83.4%和24.7%.臭氧氧化前处理后,混凝去除色度、SS、COD、总氮、总磷、硫化物和苯胺的效能分别提高了0.72%、0.46%、31.40%、9.40%、22.80%、31.40%和63.30%.研究结果为臭氧氧化印染工业园废水前处理的应用提供了基础依据.