Network design for water quality monitoring of surface freshwaters: a review

To date, many water quality monitoring networks for surface freshwaters have been rather haphazardly designed without a consistent or logical design strategy. Moreover, design practices in recent years indicate a need for cost-effective and logistically adaptable network design approaches. There are many variables that need to be included in a comprehensive yet practical monitoring network: a holistic appraisal of the monitoring objectives, representative sampling locations, suitable sampling frequencies, water quality variable selection, and budgetary and logistical constraints are examples. In order to investigate the factors which affect the development of an effective water quality monitoring network design methodology, a review of past and current approaches is presented.     

Aerial measurements of artificial radionuclides in Germany in case of a nuclear accident

Gamma-ray spectrometric systems carried by helicopters prove to be indispensable for the surveillance of environmental radioactivity. The aerial measurements are an important tool for rapid and large-scale nuclide specific determination of soil contamination after an accidental release of radionuclides from a nuclear facility. Furthermore this technique is also applied for the determination of anomalies of elevated radioactivity of natural radionuclides, the detection of lost radioactive sources and geological mapping. For the measurements the helicopters are equipped with a NaI(Tl)-detector array and a high purity germanium-semiconductor (HPGe) detector. Especially with the HPGe-detector it is possible to clearly identify individual radionuclides. To improve and to guarantee the quality of this method several exercises with different fields of interest have been carried out during the last years. Thereby the main focus is on the improvement of the instrumentation, data handling and data analysis. The results of the airborne radionuclide measurements from the Black Forest which was performed in co-operation with the Swiss National Emergency Operation Centre, are presented here. During this exercise the gamma dose rate, soil contamination due to 137Cs and the specific activities of natural radionuclides in soil were determined.     

A water quality monitoring network design methodology for the selection of critical sampling points: Part II

In order to resolve the spatial component of the design of a water quality monitoring network, a methodology has been developed to identify the critical sampling locations within a watershed. This methodology, called Critical Sampling Points (CSP), focuses on the contaminant total phosphorus (TP), and is applicable to small, predominantly agricultural-forested watersheds. The CSP methodology was translated into a model, called Water Quality Monitoring Station Analysis (WQMSA). It incorporates a geographic information system (GIS) for spatial analysis and data manipulation purposes, a hydrologic/water quality simulation model for estimating TP loads, and an artificial intelligence technology for improved input data representation. The model input data include a number of hydrologic, topographic, soils, vegetative, and land use factors. The model also includes an economic and logistics component. The validity of the CSP methodology was tested on a small experimental Pennsylvanian watershed, for which TP data from a number of single storm events were available for various sampling points within the watershed. A comparison of the ratios of observed to predicted TP loads between sampling points revealed that the model's results were promising.     

Generality of Models that Predict the Distribution of Species: Conservation Activity and Reduction of Model Transferability for a Threatened Bustard

Abstract:  Predictive models can help clarify the distribution of poorly known species but should display strong transferability when applied to independent data. Nevertheless, model transferability for threatened tropical species is poorly studied. We built models predicting the incidence of the critically endangered Bengal Florican ( Houbaropsis bengalensis ) within the Tonle Sap (TLS) floodplain, Cambodia. Separate models were constructed with soil, land-use, and landscape data and species incidence sampled over the entire floodplain (12,000 km²) and from the Kompong Thom (KT) province (4000 km²). In each case, the probability of Bengal Florican presence within randomly selected 1 × 1 km squares was modeled by binary logistic regression with multimodel inference. We assessed the transferability of the KT model by comparing predictions with observed incidence elsewhere in the floodplain. In terms of standard model-validation statistics, the KT model showed good spatial transferability. Nevertheless, it overpredicted florican presence outside the KT calibration region, classifying 491 km² as suitable habitat compared with 237 km² predicted as suitable by the TLS model. This resulted from higher species incidence within the calibration region, probably owing to a program of conservation education and enforcement that has reduced persecution there. Because both research and conservation activity frequently focus on areas with higher density, such effects could be widespread, reducing transferability of predictive distribution models.     

南北极大气气溶胶单颗粒成分特点研究

运用定量电子探针微区分析技术(EPMA)分别测定了采自北极新奥尔松地区(78?55′N、11?56′E)和南极乔治王岛(62?13′S、58?47′W)极昼天气下PM10大气颗粒物样品.结果表明,北极和南极大气颗粒物化学成分存在很大差异,表现出各自不同的特点.北极的颗粒类型中,“反应的海盐”和“矿物尘”分别占颗粒总数的44%和27%,“新鲜海盐”所占的比例不到10%,“反应的海盐”中以含硝酸盐的颗粒为主,反映了外来物质或人为污染对该地气溶胶影响较大;南极的颗粒类型中,“新鲜海盐”占总数的74%左右,“反应的海盐”占19%,反应的海盐全部含硫酸盐、未发现含硝酸盐的颗粒,推测与海盐反应的含硫物质来源于海洋浮游生物代谢过程产生的二甲硫醚(DMS)及其降解产物,而与人为污染无关.     

畜禽源氨气排放因子估算方法研究

畜禽养殖过程中产生的氨气(NH_3)在人为源NH_3排放中所占的比重较大,对二次气溶胶的形成起重要作用.由于我国畜禽饲养品种多样,各地气候条件和饲养规模存在较大差异,且影响NH_3排放的因素复杂多变,因此,获得准确的畜禽NH_3排放因子较为困难.本文以山西省太原市及其周边地区典型猪场、鸡场、牛场、羊场为实验场所,以杜洛克猪与长白猪的杂交猪、海兰褐蛋鸡、白羽肉鸡、杜泊羊与晋中绵羊的杂交羊、中国黑白花奶牛、金色阿奎丹与西门塔尔杂交肉牛为研究对象,通过3种方法估算它们的NH_3排放因子.结果表明:基于日粮成分和氮代谢沉积率的粗蛋白估算法过程简单、计算便捷、适合所有种类的畜禽,但未考虑NH_3挥发过程中的吸收转化及施肥利用,因而误差较大;基于排泄物含氮率和NH_3挥发率的物质流法涉及粪肥管理的不同阶段,全面考虑了NH_3产生、损失的全过程,与实际情况接近,但参数较多、周期较长、计算过程复杂;基于畜禽舍内NH_3浓度的直接测量法数据来源可靠、参数少,但只能用于相对封闭的环境,不适合牛场和羊场等敞开或半敞开的圈舍,且该方法没有考虑粪尿离开畜禽舍以后的储藏、还田过程,计算结果偏小.通过3种方法的互相印证和比对,猪、奶牛、肉牛、羊、蛋鸡、肉鸡6种实验动物的NH_3排放因子分别为6.90、36.53、22.99、3.94、0.54、0.46 kg·头(只)~(-1)·a~(-1).本研究可以为我国畜禽源NH_3排放因子的本地化测定提供一定的参考,并为准确估算畜禽NH_3排放量、做好农业源NH_3排放清单编制和污染防治工作提供参考.     

A Water Quality Monitoring Network Design Methodology for the Selection of Critical Sampling Points: Part I

The principal instrument to temporally and spatially manage water resources is a water quality monitoring network. However, to date in most cases, there is a clear absence of a concise strategy or methodology for designing monitoring networks, especially when deciding upon the placement of sampling stations. Since water quality monitoring networks can be quite costly, it is very important to properly design the monitoring network so that maximum information extraction can be accomplished, which in turn is vital when informing decision-makers. This paper presents the development of a methodology for identifying the critical sampling locations within a watershed. Hence, it embodies the spatial component in the design of a water quality monitoring network by designating the critical stream locations that should ideally be sampled. For illustration purposes, the methodology focuses on a single contaminant, namely total phosphorus, and is applicable to small, upland, predominantly agricultural-forested watersheds. It takes a number of hydrologic, topographic, soils, vegetative, and land use factors into account. In addition, it includes an economic as well as logistical component in order to approximate the number of sampling points required for a given budget and to only consider the logistically accessible stream reaches in the analysis, respectively. The methodology utilizes a geographic information system (GIS), hydrologic simulation model, and fuzzy logic.     

Critical Sampling Points Methodology: Case Studies of Geographically Diverse Watersheds

Only with a properly designed water quality monitoring network can data be collected that can lead to accurate information extraction. One of the main components of water quality monitoring network design is the allocation of sampling locations. For this purpose, a design methodology, called critical sampling points (CSP), has been developed for the determination of the critical sampling locations in small, rural watersheds with regard to total phosphorus (TP) load pollution. It considers hydrologic, topographic, soil, vegetative, and land use factors. The objective of the monitoring network design in this methodology is to identify the stream locations which receive the greatest TP loads from the upstream portions of a watershed. The CSP methodology has been translated into a model, called water quality monitoring station analysis (WQMSA), which integrates a geographic information system (GIS) for the handling of the spatial aspect of the data, a hydrologic/water quality simulation model for TP load estimation, and fuzzy logic for improved input data representation. In addition, the methodology was purposely designed to be useful in diverse rural watersheds, independent of geographic location. Three watershed case studies in Pennsylvania, Amazonian Ecuador, and central Chile were examined. Each case study offered a different degree of data availability. It was demonstrated that the developed methodology could be successfully used in all three case studies. The case studies suggest that the CSP methodology, in form of the WQMSA model, has potential in applications world-wide.