Investigation of PM2.5 pollution during COVID-19 pandemic in Guangzhou, China

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness about various environmental issues, including PM_2.5 pollution. Here, PM_2.5 pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown was traced and analyzed to clarify the sources and factors influencing PM_2.5 in Guangzhou, with an emphasis on heavy pollution. The lockdown led to large reductions in industrial and traffic emissions, which significantly reduced PM_2.5 concentrations in Guangzhou. Interestingly, the trend of PM_2.5 concentrations was not consistent with traffic and industrial emissions, as minimum concentrations were observed in the fourth period (3/01-3/31, 22.45 μg/m³) of the lockdown. However, the concentrations of other gaseous pollutants, e.g., SO₂, NO₂ and CO, were correlated with industrial and traffic emissions, and the lowest values were noticed in the second period (1/24-2/03) of the lockdown. Meteorological correlation analysis revealed that the decreased PM_2.5 concentrations during COVID-19 can be mainly attributed to decreased industrial and traffic emissions rather than meteorological conditions. When meteorological factors were included in the PM_2.5 composition and backward trajectory analyses, we found that long-distance transportation and secondary pollution offset the reduction of primary emissions in the second and third stages of the pandemic. Notably, industrial PM_2.5 emissions from western, southern and southeastern Guangzhou play an important role in the formation of heavy pollution events. Our results not only verify the importance of controlling traffic and industrial emissions, but also provide targets for further improvements in PM_2.5 pollution.     

焙烧炉筒体结构强度有限元分析

对焙烧炉筒体结构进行有限元建模仿真,考虑热应力、压力和重力对筒体结构受力的影响,计算了焙烧炉关键部位的蠕变疲劳寿命,同时探究进气温度、保温层及对流系数等参数的影响。结果表明:热应力是影响结构强度的关键因素;焙烧炉筒体在许用蠕变变形量为5%的情况下,其使用寿命超过设计寿命;在筒体加热过渡段铺设保温层,降低与外界空气对流和提高进气温度,有利于降低筒体应力。     

Experimental Evaluation of the Sustainability of Dwarf Bamboo (Pseudosasa usawai) Sprout-Harvesting Practices in Yangminshan National Park,Taiwan

Sustainable harvest of natural products that meets the needs of local people has been viewed by many as an important means for sustaining conservation projects. Although plants often respond to tissue damage through compensatory growth, it may not secure long-term sustainability of the populations because many plants enhance individual well-being at the expense of propagation. Sustainability may further be threatened by infrequent, large-scale events, especially ill-documented ones. We studied the impacts of sprout harvesting on sprout growth in a dwarf bamboo (Pseudosasa usawai) population that has seemingly recovered from an infrequent, large-scale masting event. Experimental results suggest that although a single sprout harvest did not significantly alter the subsequent abundance and structure of sprouts, culm damage that accompanied sprout harvesting resulted in shorter, thinner, and fewer sprouts. Weaker recovery was found in windward, continually harvested, and more severely damaged sites. These findings suggest that sprout growth of damaged dwarf bamboos is likely non-compensatory, but is instead supported through physiological integration whose strength is determined by the well-being of the supplying ramets. Healthy culms closer to the damage also provided more resources than those farther away. Sustainable harvesting of sprouts could benefit from organized community efforts to limit the magnitude of culm damage, provide adequate spacing between harvested sites, and ensure sufficient time interval between harvests. Vegetation boundaries relatively resilient to infrequent, large-scale events are likely maintained by climatic factors and may be sensitive to climate change. Continual monitoring is, therefore, integral to the sustainability of harvesting projects.     

海南文昌火箭发射场雷电环境分析

利用海南省18个气象台站的雷暴人工观测资料和海南闪电定位网的观测资料,分析了海南文昌火箭发射场的雷暴特征和雷电环境,结果表明:海南岛的中部和北部雷暴活动较强,西部、东部和南部近海地区的雷暴活动较弱,文昌发射场处在北部较强的雷暴区;采用Krigine(克里格)方法拟合的结果为文昌火箭发射场雷暴日数的年变化从1982年以后逐渐减少,发射场一年中各月都有雷暴发生,4-10月为雷暴高发期;发射场西部、西北部和北部区域雷暴活动较其它区域要强,79%的雷电流强度小于40 kA,而只有5.9%的雷电流强度大于60 kA,一天中闪电的发生有两个高峰时段,一个出现在凌晨5时到6时,另一个时段出现在14时到18时,午后15时左右是闪电活动最频繁的时段。     

Mapping afforestation and deforestation from 1974 to 2012 using Landsat time-series stacks in Yulin District, a key region of the Three-North Shelter region, China

The Three-North Shelter Forest Program is the largest afforestation reconstruction project in the world. Remote sensing is a crucial tool to map land use and land cover change, but it is still challenging to accurately quantify the change in forest extent from time-series satellite images. In this paper, 30 Landsat MSS/TM/ETM+ epochs from 1974 to 2012 were collected, and the high-quality ground surface reflectance (GSR) time-series images were processed by integrating the 6S atmosphere transfer model and a relative reflectance normalization algorithm. Subsequently, we developed a vegetation change tracking method to reconstruct the forest change history (afforestation and deforestation) from the time-series Landsat GSR images based on the integrated forest z-score (IFZ) model by Huang et al. (2009a), which was improved by multi-phenological IFZ models and the smoothing processing of IFZ data for afforestation mapping. The mapping result showed a large increase in the extent of forest, from 380,394 ha (14.8 % of total district area) in 1974 to 1,128,380 ha (43.9 %) in 2010. Finally, the land cover and forest change map was validated with an overall accuracy of 89.1 % and a kappa coefficient of 0.858. The forest change time was also successfully retrieved, with 22.2 % and 86.5 % of the change pixels attributed to the correct epoch and within three epochs, respectively. The results confirmed a great achievement of the ecological revegetation projects in Yulin district over the last 40 years and also illustrated the potential of the time-series of Landsat images for detecting forest changes and estimating tree age for the artificial forest in a semi-arid zone strongly influenced by human activities.     

Electrogeneration of H(2) for Pd-catalytic hydrodechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol in groundwater

A novel electrolytic groundwater remediation process, which used the H₂ continuously generated at cathode to achieve in situ catalytic hydrodechlorination, was developed for the treatment of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) in groundwater. Catalytic hydrodechlorination using Pd supported on bamboo charcoal and external H₂ showed that 2,4-DCP was completely dechlorinated to phenol within 30 min at pH ? 5.5. In a divided electrolytic system, the catalytic hydrodechlorination of 2,4-DCP in cathodic compartment by H₂ generated at the cathode under 20 and 50 mA reached 100% at 120 and 60 min, respectively. Two column experiments with influent pHs of 5.5 (unconditioned) and 2 were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of this process. The 2,4-DCP removal efficiencies were about 63% and nearly 100% at influent pHs of 5.5 and 2, respectively. Phenol was solely produced by 2,4-DCP hydrodechlorination, and was subsequently degraded at the anode. A low pH could enhance the hydrodechlorination, but was not necessarily required. This study provides the preliminary results of a novel effective electrolytic process for the remediation of groundwater contaminated by chlorinated aromatics.     

Microwave enhanced advanced oxidation process for treating dairy manure at low pH

This study investigated the treatment of dairy manure using the microwave enhanced advanced oxidation process (MW-AOP) at pH 2. An experimental design was developed based on a statistical program using response surface methodology to explore the effects of temperature, hydrogen peroxide dosage and heating time on sugar production, nutrient release and solids destruction. Temperature, hydrogen peroxide dosage and acid concentration were key factors affecting reducing sugar production. The highest reducing sugar yield of 7.4% was obtained at 160°C, 0 mL, 15 min heating time, and no H₂O₂ addition. Temperature was a dominant factor for an increase of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in the treated dairy manure. The important factors for volatile fatty acids (VFA) production were microwave temperature and hydrogen peroxide dosage. Temperature was the most important parameter, and heating time, to a lesser extent affecting orthophosphate release. Heating time, hydrogen peroxide dosage and temperature were significant factors for ammonia release. There was a maximum of 96% and 196% increase in orthophosphate and ammonia concentration, respectively at 160°C, 0.5 mL H₂O₂ and 15 min heating time. The MW-AOP is an effective method in dairy manure treatment for sugar production, nutrient solubilisation, and solids disintegration.     

外源Cd对不同利用方式红壤脲酶活性的影响

采用室内培养实验,通过将外源Cd添加到同一母质、全镉含量相近的不同利用方式的红壤中(林地、水稻土和菜园土),研究了外源Cd污染对不同利用方式红壤脲酶活性的影响。结果表明:整个培养过程中,Cd污染对3种红壤脲酶活性都有抑制作用,且随重金属浓度的增强而增强。同剂量Cd污染对3种红壤脲酶活性的抑制效应不同,大小为林地>水稻土>菜园土。实验设定的Cd处理水平下,对林地、水稻土和菜园土脲酶活性产生显著抑制作用(p<0.05)的Cd浓度分别为5、30和50 mg/kg土。