Risk assessment and prioritisation of contaminated sites on the catchment scale

Contaminated sites pose a significant threat to groundwater resources worldwide. Due to limited available resources a risk-based prioritisation of the remediation efforts is essential. Existing risk assessment tools are unsuitable for this purpose, because they consider each contaminated site separately and on a local scale, which makes it difficult to compare the impact from different sites. Hence a modelling tool for risk assessment of contaminated sites on the catchment scale has been developed. The CatchRisk screening tool evaluates the risk associated with each site in terms of its ability to contaminate abstracted groundwater in the catchment. The tool considers both the local scale and the catchment scale. At the local scale, a flexible, site specific leaching model that can be adjusted to the actual data availability is used to estimate the mass flux over time from identified sites. At the catchment scale, a transport model that utilises the source flux and a groundwater model covering the catchment is used to estimate the transient impact on the supply well. The CatchRisk model was tested on a groundwater catchment for a waterworks north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Even though data scarcity limited the application of the model, the sites that most likely caused the observed contamination at the waterworks were identified. The method was found to be valuable as a basis for prioritising point sources according to their impact on groundwater quality. The tool can also be used as a framework for testing hypotheses on the origin of contamination in the catchment and for identification of unknown contaminant sources.     

Prospects for Reconciling the Conflict between Economic Growth and Biodiversity Conservation with Technological Progress

Abstract: The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is understood in portions of academia and sometimes acknowledged in political circles. Nevertheless, there is not a unified response. In political and policy circles, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is posited to solve the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. In academia, however, the EKC has been deemed fallacious in macroeconomic scenarios and largely irrelevant to biodiversity. A more compelling response to the conflict is that it may be resolved with technological progress. Herein I review the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation in the absence of technological progress, explore the prospects for technological progress to reconcile that conflict, and provide linguistic suggestions for describing the relationships among economic growth, technological progress, and biodiversity conservation. The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is based on the first two laws of thermodynamics and principles of ecology such as trophic levels and competitive exclusion. In this biophysical context, the human economy grows at the competitive exclusion of nonhuman species in the aggregate. Reconciling the conflict via technological progress has not occurred and is infeasible because of the tight linkage between technological progress and economic growth at current levels of technology. Surplus production in existing economic sectors is required for conducting the research and development necessary for bringing new technologies to market. Technological regimes also reflect macroeconomic goals, and if the goal is economic growth, reconciliatory technologies are less likely to be developed. As the economy grows, the loss of biodiversity may be partly mitigated with end‐use innovation that increases technical efficiency, but this type of technological progress requires policies that are unlikely if the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation (and other aspects of environmental protection) is not acknowledged.     

Deflagration to detonation transition in a vapour cloud explosion in open but congested space: Large scale test

The paper reviews large scale experiments with various fuels in air where successful deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) took place. This includes a recent experiment disclosed in the Buncefield R&D program, where DDT developed in the propane/air mixture. The DDT occurred in branches of deciduous trees in a premixed stagnant mixture. An internal R&D investigation programme was initiated to better understand the phenomena. A large scale experiment in an open space with ethane air mixture is presented in the paper. The premixed mixture was ignited at the edge of the congested three-dimensional rigs which consisted of vertical and horizontal pipes. After ignition, the flame accelerated in the congestion and transitioned to detonation at the end of congestion. Stable detonation propagated through the remaining open and uncongested space.The flame acceleration process leading to DDT is scale dependent. It also depends on many parameters leading to a large investigation array and, significant cost. However, such R&D efforts aimed toward a safer plant design, i.e. the prevention of occurrence of a major accident, are a small fraction of a real accident cost.     

赣江流域土地利用方式对无机氮的影响

赣江无机氮是鄱阳湖氮素输入的主要来源,查明流域土地利用方式对赣江无机氮的影响对鄱阳湖的富营养化防治具有重要意义.基于2013年1月和6月对赣江干流和主要支流NO-3-N和NH+4-N的浓度测定,通过不同空间尺度和土地类型等级划分,利用相关分析和冗余分析研究土地利用方式对赣江无机氮浓度的影响.结果表明,不同空间尺度的子流域划分方式对赣江流域土地利用类型与无机氮浓度的相关性有较大影响.与NO-3-N相比,选择更小的子流域划分尺度有助于分析土地利用方式对NH+4-N浓度的影响;在温度较高、微生物活动强烈的季节,也应选择更小的子流域划分尺度研究土地利用方式对无机氮浓度的影响.一级土地利用分类下,赣江流域水田、水域对NO-3-N起"源"作用,林地、草地起"汇"作用;居民建设用地对NH+4-N起"源"作用,林地起"汇"作用.二级土地利用分类下,水田中丘陵水田是赣江NO-3-N浓度的主要来源,其次为平原水田,山区水田最小.居民建设用地中的城镇用地和其它工矿建设用地是赣江NH+4-N的主要污染来源,农村用地是NO-3-N的主要污染来源.     

Impact of leakage location and downwind storage tank on the gas dispersion in a typical chemical tank storage area

Toxic gas leakage in a tank area can have catastrophic consequences. Storage tank leakage location (particularly for high leakage) and downwind storage tanks potentially influence gas diffusion in tank areas. In this study, we developed a numerical and experimental method to investigate the impact of a high leakage location and downwind storage tank on gas diffusion based on three (1.05H, 0.90H, and 0.77H, H was the tank height, 22m) leakage field experiments on the leeward side of storage tank, which have been not conducted before. The experiments revealed an unexpected phenomenon: the maximum ground concentration first decreased and then increased with increasing leakage height. The simulations illustrated that the differences in micrometeorological conditions caused the maximum ground concentration of gas emitted from the roof to be higher than that emitted from the tank wall near the storage tank height. The downwind storage tank 1) had little influence on the entire diffusion direction but altered the local diffusion pattern; 2) reduced the maximum ground concentration (∼18.7%) and the distance from the emission source (approximately a storage tank diameter); and 3) had strong influences on the concentration, velocity, turbulence, and pressure on the leeward side. The concentration negatively correlated with the velocity, pressure, and turbulence in the middle of the two storage tanks on wind centerline. Our results can improve understanding of gas dispersion in tank areas and provide references for mitigating loss and protecting lives during emergency response processes.     

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.     

作物种植专业化与化肥减量来源——兼顾经营规模的影响

以作物种植横向专业化和纵向专业化为切入点,运用中国13个粮食主产省份1980—2018年的面板数据,考察了作物种植专业化对农业化肥减量的影响及其作用机制。研究主要发现：（1）基础回归分析表明,作物种植横向专业化和纵向专业化均对化肥施用强度具有显著的削减效应,对化肥的利用效率有显著的增效作用。且作物种植纵向专业化或社会化服务卷入程度加深,能够增强横向专业化对化肥的减量增效作用。（2）影响路径分析表明,作物种植横向专业化通过扩大农地经营规模,进而增强了作物种植纵向专业化对化肥施用强度的削减效应和利用效率的增效作用。但也应警惕,通过扩大农地经营规模以增强作物种植纵向专业化的减量效应可能存在临界水平。此外,当作物种植横向专业化和纵向专业化积极配合时,可能推移临界点的到来。据此,通过发展作物种植横向专业化,鼓励农户通过服务外包卷入农业的纵向专业化分工以及发展农业适度规模经营,进而实现农业领域化肥的减量增效。     

长三角重点生态功能县域生态资产损益核算

限制开发的重点生态功能县域承担着生态保护与经济发展双重使命,如何实现生态与发展互促共进及生态产品价值化是当前面临的极大难点,生态资产损益核算为量化区域资源有偿使用、生态保护修复、生态文明绩效评价等提供了有效途径。以浙江省嵊州市作为长三角地区重点生态功能区的典型县域,基于栅格尺度评估了近20年生态资产存量与流量时空动态变化,并利用地理探测器结合人类活动类型监测分析了生态资产损益的驱动因素。结果表明：2000—2018年,由于森林生态资产质量降低及面积减少,嵊州市近60%区域的生态资产存量呈减少趋势,而生态资产流量总价值与单位面积价值均增益10%以上。相对于自然因素,社会经济因素对嵊州市生态资产损益平均贡献度更大,为17%。县域城镇化导致粮食供给轻微减损,70%以上乡镇生态资产增益,特别是石璜镇生态保护成效较突出。     

城市内部尺度PM2.5传输关联方法研究—以北京市为例

基于数据驱动思想,以城市内部环境空气质量监测站点为研究对象,建立了目标站点与周边站点间PM_2.5浓度、风向、风速、欧几里得距离等参数的多元线性关联回归模型,使用梯度下降算法学习得到各参数权重系数,计算得出周边站点对目标站点PM_2.5传输贡献,并评估了模型的可行性.以北京市丰台花园（FT）为目标站点的应用研究结果显示,2016年FT站点PM_2.5浓度为82μg/m³,周边站点大兴（DX）、房山（FS）、亦庄（YZ）、东四环（DS）、古城（GC）和万柳（WL）浓度分别为93,82,80,79,77,71μg/m³;FT站点PM_2.5浓度与上一时刻周边站点WL、GC、DX、YZ的相关性分别为0.634、0.631、0.608和0.601,显示其对FT站点PM_2.5污染传输显著;建立的4个季节关联回归模型RMSE值分别为13.22、11.74、12.51和13.22,PM_2.5模拟浓度与监测浓度变化趋势一致,验证了模型的可行性;WL、DX、YZ、GC分别是对应春、夏、秋、冬4个季节对FT站点PM_2.5污染传输贡献较大的站点,其贡献值分别为1.61%、1.71%、2.20%和8.57%.该模型解析的结果可为北京市未来城市规划、建设提供依据,提出的PM_2.5传输多元线性关联回归方法同样可用来解析其他城市内部尺度PM_2.5传输关联,为挖掘城市内部PM_2.5传输路径、精准溯源提供基础.