Specifying information needs: improving the working methodology

Specification of information needs is an important step in the design of monitoring networks. Within the framework of Monitoring Strategy 2000+, a programme of the Dutch Directorate General of Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) which seeks to provide innovation in the monitoring sector, a method has been developed to link water management policy to monitoring through specification of information needs. Over the past 2 years, this method has been applied in several projects within the Rijkswaterstaat organisation. Use of this method has led to improvements in the monitoring practice and was judged very positively by the people involved. Nevertheless, the main obstacle to employing the method was the actual translation of policy matters into information products. A special study is carried out, focusing on this aspect within the method, to provide the participants of a project with a mental framework that enables them to clearly specify their information needs. The major requirements for this mental framework are that all participants have a clear view of the process (system), and that they are able to relate their contribution to this process and to the contributions of others (transparency). The first step of the process is to focus the attention of stakeholders on the information they will actually need for decision-making. The next step is to confront the different expressed opinions through the method of the 'devil's advocate', which implies criticising the results of the first step by finding as many as possible arguments against these opinions. This should force the stakeholders to better specify their arguments. The method, its improvements and the results of one pilot project will be discussed in this paper. Electronic Publication     

高压淹没非自由射流压力场的数值解法

对有限空间中的淹没非自由射流流压力场的数值解法进行了较为详细的研究和分析 ,并建立了相应的流场力学模型和压力解的第二类边界条件 ,给出了流场的矩形网格几何和边界标记。文中指出 ,精确的压力解只能从泊松形式的压力方程得到 ,且与边界相邻的点和内点应分别采用不同的方程进行求解     

冬季垃圾填埋场渗滤液回灌水量平衡的实验研究

渗滤液回灌的水量平衡是垃圾填埋场渗滤液回灌处理法工程应用的关键问题之一。着重研究了冬季渗滤水回灌的水量平衡状况。结果表明,冬季回灌水量仍可通过土壤蒸发得到大量削减,径流量、土壤渗出 水与下渗水的比值大于春夏秋三季,平均蒸发量小于些三季。回灌条件下,土壤湿润度提高,蒸发量增大。     

A longevity cost of re-mating but no benefits of polyandry in the almond moth, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cadra cautella</Emphasis>

Species where most but not all females mate monandrously can provide insight into the potential factors both promoting and restricting polyandry. Polyandry is typically explained by direct and/or indirect benefits models; however, polyandry may also confer costs via sexually antagonistic processes. The fitness of polyandrous and monandrous females may also vary with environmental conditions, such as availability of water. For some lepidopterans, water is a vital resource that increases fecundity and may be a direct benefit of multiple mating. Male lepidopterans transfer large spermatophores that may be an important water source for females, particularly for species living in water-depauperate environments. In such species, multiple-mating females may increase their reproductive output. We examined the fitness consequences of multiple mating in the almond moth, Cadra cautella. Males transfer substantial spermatophores; these have a large chitinous process attached, which decrease female longevity. To assess the impact of female mating treatment and water availability on female fitness, females mated once or twice, either with the same or different males, with half the females in each treatment receiving water. Water-fed females had dramatically increased fecundity, but we found no fitness benefits of multiple mating. Male longevity decreased with increased mating frequency and potentially his level of reproductive investment. Water-deprived females that mated twice died sooner than once-mated females, while multiple-mating females that received water lived longer than their water-deprived counterparts. It is interesting to note that the male’s spermatophore process did not affect female fitness or longevity. Why polyandry is maintained in this species is discussed.     

Evaluation of a Market in Wetland Credits: Entrepreneurial Wetland Banking in Chicago

Abstract: With the rise of market‐led approaches to environmental policy, compensation for permitted discharge of dredge or fill material into wetlands under Section 404 of the U.S. Clean Water Act has been purchased increasingly from entrepreneurial third‐party providers. The growth of this practice (i.e., entrepreneurial wetland banking) has resolved many challenges associated with wetland compensation. But it has also produced (1) quantifiable temporal loss of wetland ecological functions, (2) spatial redistribution of wetland area, and (3) a degree of regulatory instability that may pose a threat to entrepreneurial compensation as a sustainable component of wetland‐compensation policy. We used achieved compensation ratios, lapse between bank credit sale and the attainment of performance standards, distance between impact and bank site, and changes in bank market area to examine these 3 factors. We analyzed data from a census of all such transactions in the Chicago District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, compiled from site visits, Corps databases, and contacts with consultants and Section 404 permittees. Entrepreneurial banking provided compensation at a lower overall ratio than nonbank forms of compensation. Approximately 60% of bank credits were sold after site‐protection standards were met but before ecological performance standards were met at the bank site. The average distance between bank and impact site was approximately 26 km. The area of markets within which established banks can sell wetland credits has fluctuated considerably over the study period. Comparing these data with similar data for other compensation mechanisms will assist in evaluating banking as an element of conservation policy. Data characterizing the performance of entrepreneurial wetland banks in actual regulatory environments are scarce, even though it is the most established of similar markets that have become instrumental to federal policy in administering several major environmental protection laws.     

Engineering-geological hazards and management in the Mountain Crimea coastal zone

The main engineering-geological hazards and their factors of the Mountain Crimea coastal region are considered. A characteristic shore line site of Cape Kikineiz and its neighboring coastal area near the Katsiveli settlement has been studied in more detail. The important characteristic of the site is a high diversity of geological conditions with numerous manifestations of dangerous engineering-geological processes: shore and hydrological network abrasion, loss of slopes and rocks stability, etc. These processes have intensified during the last decades under the influence of natural and man-induced factors. The results of preliminary study of geo-environmental situation of the area are presented. The program for further research and possible recommendations for rational coastal hazard management and area ecological state improvement are outlined.     

A health risk assessment for fluoride in Central Europe

Like many elements, fluorine (which generally occurs in nature as fluoride) is beneficial to human health in trace amounts, but can be toxic in excess. The links between low intakes of fluoride and dental protection are well known; however, fluoride is a powerful calcium-seeking element and can interfere with the calcified structure of bones and teeth in the human body at higher concentrations causing dental or skeletal fluorosis. One of the main exposure routes is via drinking water and the World Health Organisation currently sets water quality guidelines for the element. In Central Europe, groundwater resources that exceed the guideline value of 1.5 mg l⁻¹ are widespread and effects on health of high fluoride in water have been reported. The aim of the current project was to develop a geographic information system (GIS) to aid the identification of areas where high-fluoride waters and fluorosis may be a problem; hence, where water treatment technologies should be targeted. The development of the GIS was based upon the collation and digitisation of existing information relevant to fluoride risk in Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary and Slovakia assembled for the first time in a readily accessible form. In addition, geochemistry and health studies to examine in more detail the relationships between high-fluoride drinking waters and health effects in the population were carried out in Moldova and Ukraine demonstrating dental fluorosis prevalence rates of 60–90% in adolescents consuming water containing 2–7 mg l⁻¹ fluoride.     

地表水质灰关联评价中水环境质量系数的研究

分析和阐明地表水环境质量灰关联评价中关联度向量r中各分量的信息荷载,在满足定量、连续、分级的条件下构造了水环境质量系数C,C由首数水质级别数K和尾数水质差异E组成。水环境质量系数既能表示水质级别,又能准确区别同级水质差异。在应用特例中介绍了模糊级别的区分和级别跳跃现象。最后介绍了应用中注意的问题。     

地下水环境质量评价的一种新方法--集对分析法

提出了一种新的地下水环境质量评价模型———集对分析法。该方法是一种处理不确定性问题的理论,其模型数学表达简单,物理意义明确,所含意义深远。研究结果表明:集对分析法简便易行,评价结果准确,在环境质量综合评价中具有广泛的实用价值。     

饮用水水源保护区划分问题探讨

阐述了国内外划定饮用水水源保护区的方法和原则,并举例说明了辽宁省水库水源保护区的划分情况以及相关的技术发展趋势、法律程序等。