Temporal trends in agricultural water use and the relationships to hydroclimatic factors in the High Plains aquifer region

The High Plains aquifer (HPA) is the primary water source for agricultural irrigation in the US Great Plains. The water levels in many locations of the aquifer have declined steadily over the past several decades because the rate of water withdrawals exceeds recharge, which has been a serious concern to the water resources management in the region. We evaluated temporal trends and variations in agricultural water use and hydroclimatic variables including precipitation, air temperature, reference evapotranspiration, runoff, groundwater level, and terrestrial water storage across the HPA region for different periods from 1985 to 2020 at the grid, county, or region scale. The results showed that water withdrawals decreased from 21.3 km³/year in 1985 to 18.2 km³/year in 2015, while irrigated croplands increased from 71,928 km² in 1985 to 78,464 km² in 2015 in the entire HPA. The hydroclimatic time-series showed wetting trends in most of the northern HPA, but drying and warming trends in the southern region from 1985 to 2020. The groundwater level time-series indicated flat trends in the north, but significant declining in the central and southern HPA. Trends in irrigation water withdrawals and irrigation area across the HPA were controlled by the advancement of irrigation systems and technologies and the management of sustainable water use, but also were affected by dynamical changes in the hydroclimatic conditions.     

典型地区农用地污染调查及风险管控标准探讨

针对《土壤污染风险管控标准——农用地土壤污染风险管控标准》(GB 15618—2018),提出以土壤中全量浓度筛选值和管控值作为衡量农用地土壤污染风险管控的标准,对湖南省部分稻田农用地土壤及点对点稻米样品中镉、铅、砷、汞的总量和有效态浓度及稻米中含量进行监测,根据重金属总量浓度分为低风险、中风险、高风险3组。结果显示:(1)土壤及稻米中镉含量基本为随着风险级别的升高而增加,铅、砷在土壤和稻米中含量无规律性结果,汞监测结果均为未检出。(2)低风险组稻米镉超标率为12. 0%,高风险组稻米镉达标率为33. 3%,表明利用总量浓度对农用地土壤潜在风险进行分组存在一定的局限性。(3)依据4种重金属在土壤中总量及稻米(早稻)中含量情况,对风险级别进行调整并综合判断:有58个样品为低风险组,占样品总数的68. 2%,超标率为零;有15个样品为中风险组,占样品总数的17. 7%,超标率为80. 0%;有12个样品为高风险组,占样品总数的14. 1%,超标率为100. 0%。调整后评价结果与上述标准的划分目标更接近,能够提高上述标准的准确性和实用性。     

A proactive process risk assessment approach based on job hazard analysis and resilient engineering

Complex systems often experience a long period of incubation before accidents occur. Therefore, a proactive risk assessment is essential for process safety. The conventional job hazard analysis (JHA) method has been an effective tool to conduct a process risk assessment in the high-risk industrial field. However, the conventional JHA is inadequate for the proactive risk assessment since it is usually conducted during and before one specific operation process. Operations such as startup and maintenance are performed repeatedly on the lifecycle of a plant. Therefore, the risk reduction measures for the industrial process should include not only preventive actions obtained from the conventional JHA but also recovery ones. Resilience engineering (RE) has proven to be helpful for the recovery analysis of a complex system. The objective of this paper is to propose a proactive and comprehensive process risk assessment approach based on JHA and RE. The mechanism of applying RE to address operation process risk is illustrated. The integrated approach can provide guidelines to establish proactive risk reduction measures as well as maintain a low-risk level. Finally, a gas transmission startup process risk assessment case is presented to demonstrate its applicability.     

Assessment of deep aquifer groundwater quality in a geographically unique climatic region of Southern Western Ghats,India using water quality indices

Water quality index (WQI) models are generally used in hydrochemical studies to simplify complex data into single values to reflect the overall quality. In this study, deep groundwater quality in the Chittur and Palakkad Taluks of the Bharathapuzha river basin of Kerala, India, was assessed by employing the WQI method developed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME). The assessment of overall water quality is indispensable due to the specific characteristics of the study area, such as geography, climate, over-drafting, and prevalent agricultural practices. Forty representative samples were collected from the study area for monsoon (MON) and pre-monsoon (PRM) seasons. The results showed a general increase of contents from MON to PRM. The major cations were spread in the order Ca²⁺>Na+>Mg²⁺>K⁺ and the anions HCO₃⁻>Cl⁻>CO₃²⁻ based on their relative abundance. Among various parameters analysed, alkalinity and bicarbonate levels during MON were comparatively high, which is indicative of carbonate weathering, and 90% of the samples failed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017)/Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS, 2012) drinking water guidelines. The CCME WQI analysis revealed that nearly 50% of the samples during each season represented good and excellent categories. The samples in the poor category comprised 10% in MON and 15% in PRM. The overall WQI exhibited 15% of poor category samples as well. The spatial depiction of CCME WQI classes helped to expose zones of degraded quality in the centre to eastward parts. The spatial and temporal variations of CCME WQI classes and different physicochemical attributes indicated the influence of common factors attributing to the deep groundwater quality. The study also revealed inland salinity at Kolluparamba and Peruvamba stations, where agricultural activities were rampant with poor surface water irrigation.     

Five-wheel framework for system-based monitoring of heavy metal pollution in rivers

Sectorial approach for monitoring heavy metal pollution in rivers has failed to report realistic pollution status and associated ecological and human health risks. The increasing spread of heavy metals from different sources and emerging risks to human and environmental health call for reexamining heavy metal pollution monitoring frameworks. Also, the sources, spread, and load of heavy metals in the environment have changed significantly over time, requiring consequent modification in the monitoring frameworks. Therefore, studies on heavy metal monitoring in rivers conducted in the last decade were evaluated for experimental designs, research frameworks, and data presentations. Most studies (∼99%) (i) lacked inclusiveness of all environmental compartments; (ii) focused on “one pollutant – one/two compartment” or sometimes “one pollutant – one compartment – one effect” approach; and (iii) remained “data-rich but information poor.” An ecological approach with integrative system thinking is proposed to develop a holistic approach for monitoring river pollution. It is visualized that heavy metal monitoring, risk analyses, and water management must incorporate tracking pollutants in different environmental compartments of a river (water, sediment, and floodplain/bank soil) and consider correlating it with riverbank land use. The systems-based pollution monitoring and assessment studies will reveal the critical factors that drive heavy metals pollutant movement in ecosystems and associated potential risks to the environment, wildlife, and humans. Also, water quality and pollution indexing tools would help better communicate complex pollution data and associated risks among all stakeholders. Therefore, integrating systems approaches in scientific- and policy-based tools would help sustainably manage the health of rivers, wildlife, and humans.     

基于TVR的腐蚀油气管道失效概率及安全寿命研究

为避免因腐蚀导致油气管道失效，针对因管道特性和腐蚀尺寸的不确定性使得管道剩余强度成为概率模型的特点，建立了腐蚀管道强度损失随机模型；借助可靠性理论，通过分析管道腐蚀进程的时变性特点，将管道系统由损伤积累和抗力衰减导致的剩余强度随机化；提出基于穿越率的腐蚀油气管道失效评定及安全寿命预测方法。研究结果表明:腐蚀速率和运行压力对管道失效概率及安全寿命影响显著,管道尺寸影响适中，而相关系数和拉伸强度影响较小；若腐蚀速率Va=0.2 mm/a，VL=10 mm/a或局部腐蚀缺陷半径达到管道壁厚的0.5倍时，建议作为重点风险段监测并检修。所建方法是对腐蚀油气管道运营监控和风险评估的有益补充。     

珠江口表层水中多环芳烃的分布特征及健康风险评估

分别于2015年2、5、8、11月在珠江八大入海口采集表层水体样品,应用固相萃取富集法对该区域表层水体中16种USEPA优控多环芳烃(PAHs)的时空分布特征进行分析,并利用终生致癌风险增量模型(ILCR)对该区域的饮水健康风险进行评价。结果表明:珠江口4个季度所采集的水样中,∑15PAHs的浓度范围为18.0~50.3 ng/L,含量处于中等水平。其中7种强致癌性∑7PAHs的浓度范围为1.53~3.73 ng/L,占∑15PAHs的5.89%~11.1%,∑15PAHs和∑7PAHs在枯水期(2、11月)样品中明显高于丰水期(5、8月)。就组成特征而言,各采样点PAHs以3、4环为主。珠江口表层水中非致癌类PAHs的危害商数值为0.99×10~(-5)~2.73×10~(-5),远低于USEPA规定的阈值(1);致癌类PAHs产生的健康风险为6.50×10~(-8)~2.37×10~(-7),其中Ba P导致的饮水途径健康风险最高,所有点位致癌类PAHs的健康风险均低于USEPA推荐的对致癌物质最大可接受风险水平(10~(-6)),表明珠江口表层水中PAHs尚不具备严重的致癌风险,但是仍然存在潜在的健康风险,需要重点控制和管理。     

生理因素对驾驶人行为及风险感知影响研究综述

为全面认识驾驶人行为及风险感知并分析行为成因，从驾驶人生理因素着手，从驾驶人视力、阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合征和肌肉骨骼疾患3个方面梳理国内外驾驶人行为及风险感知的研究成果与研究不足。研究结果表明:驾驶人的生理疾病对其驾驶能力和危险感知存在显著影响;生理疾病严重程度与异常驾驶行为中的一般性失误、危险性失误行为之间具有显著正相关关系，疾病严重程度越高，出行失误行为的频率越高；之后可从理论和实验两方面着手，针对驾驶人的不同属性进行研究。     

新制备生物炭的特性表征及其对石油烃污染土壤的吸附效果

生物炭作为一种绿色环保的功能材料因其在污水处理和污染土壤修复方面具有显著效果而受到极大关注.采用红外光谱、元素分析仪及微孔分析对不同温度(200、300、400、500和600℃)条件下制备的木屑和麦秆生物炭进行特性表征,并采用制备的生物炭净化石油污染土壤,分别考察了污染物性质、生物质原料和热解温度对其净化效果的影响.结果表明,随着热解温度的增高,生物炭芳香化程度增加,极性降低,微孔结构逐渐发育,表面积增大.加入生物炭33 d后,污染土壤中总石油烃及其组分烷烃的浓度比对照略有降低,而PAHs浓度下降显著.随着热解温度升高,2种生物炭对PAHs的吸附强度均逐渐增大,芳香度增高、表面积增大是强吸附的主要原因.2种生物炭在400℃及以下温度制备时对PAHs的吸附强度为:木屑生物炭＞麦秆生物炭;而400℃以上温度制备的生物炭吸附强度则相反,即麦秆生物炭＞木屑生物炭,说明生物炭原料对其吸附强度也具有显著影响.     

交通干道沿线土壤重金属监测与评估综述

公路运营所带来的铅、镉、锌等重金属污染物对人体健康安全存在着潜在和长期的影响。近年来,开展交通干道沿线重金属污染监测与评估工作已经成为环境监测工作的重要内容。从监测技术、评估方法、可能影响因素等几个方面对该领域的研究进展及成果进行了综述。采样段面的选取、点位的布设与样品的收集应该同时遵循全面性和代表性的原则。在同一交通干道内,均匀布置采样段面的同时可以尽量包含高车流量、中车流量与低车流量3种类型。考虑到重金属在横向距离上的分布规律,可以在0~100 m处设置密集采样点位,在100~300 m处设置适量采样点位。评估方法一般同时采用Kriging空间插值分析、污染指数分析、多元统计分析,生态风险评价与健康风险评价等多种分析方法。