Determination of the flow-wetted surface in fractured media

Diffusion and sorption in the rock matrix are important retardation mechanisms for radionuclide transport in fractured media. For the conditions existing in a deep repository in crystalline rock, interaction with the rock matrix is controlled by the water flowrate in the fractures and the surface area in contact with the flowing water (the so-called "flow-wetted surface" (FWS)). The flow-wetted surface may be determined from the frequency of open fractures intersecting a borehole. The choice of packer distance used in these hydraulic measurements is crucial, however, since several open fractures may be found in one packer interval. The use of a packer distance that is too large may result in a considerable underestimation of the flow-wetted surface. This is especially important in zones with a high frequency of open fractures (fracture zones) where a small packer distance is a fundamental requirement. A large volume of hydraulic data has been compiled in Sweden from measurements using quite small packer distances. Over the last decade, the most common packer distance used for the hydraulic tests has been 3 m, although some new measurements using a shorter packer distance have also been performed. In several cases, the resolution of these measurements has been less than 0.5 m. All these data have been analysed in detail. From these data, the flow-wetted surface has been calculated and compared with the flow-wetted surface estimated in earlier studies. The results show the importance of using a small packer distance for carrying out borehole transmissivity measurements.     

Relationship of approaches and a tiered methodology for screening chemicals in the context of long-range transport.

In many national and international initiatives, where thousands of chemicals are screened, the ability of a chemical to be transported over long distances is an important criterion in determining whether environmental concern is warranted. Preliminary screening can be conducted using: (1) effective travel distance (ETD); (2) characteristic travel distance (CTD); and/or (3) the degradation half-life in air. The CTD is the distance traveled before the concentration of a chemical in air is reduced by a factor of 50%, for example. Differences in the distance traveled associated with the environmental release medium of a chemical are taken into account the ETD measure. The ETD can be defined as the distance traveled before the concentration in a stated medium (air, water, soil or sediment) is reduced to a specified level for a given mass release rate to air, to water and/or to soil. However, despite their merits, the use of multimedia screening measures like the ETD and CTD remains inhibited by both the limited availability of degradation data (particularly for soils and sediments) and release pattern information. Preliminary screening in terms of the atmospheric degradation half-life is commonly the only practical option. In this paper, straightforward guidelines based on partitioning coefficients (Henry's law constant and octanol water partitioning coefficient) are proposed to reduce the degradation data requirements of multimedia measures like the ETD and CTD. The values used in the guidelines reflect a quantifiable trade-off between data acquisition requirements and uncertainty. The relationship of the potential screening options (using all degradation data versus using only data identified as required in the CTD and ETD approaches; screening in terms of the degradation half-life in air versus the CTD versus the ETD) is derived and the consequences of the differences are illustrated. A three-tiered screening methodology is then proposed. This tiered methodology will result in significant savings in time and money in national and international screening initiatives.     

Evaluating the Impact of Distance Measures on Deforestation Simulations in the Fluvial Landscapes of Amazonia

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) models frequently employ different accessibility measures as a proxy for human influence on land change processes. Here, we simulate deforestation in Peruvian Amazonia and evaluate different accessibility measures as LUCC model inputs. We demonstrate how the selection, and different combinations, of accessibility measures impact simulation results. Out of the individual measures, time distance to market center catches the essential aspects of accessibility in our study area. The most accurate simulation is achieved when time distance to market center is used in association with distance to transport network and additional landscape variables. Although traditional Euclidean measures result in clearly lower simulation accuracy when used separately, the combination of two complementary Euclidean measures enhances simulation accuracy significantly. Our results highlight the need for site and context sensitive selection of accessibility variables. More sophisticated accessibility measures can potentially improve LUCC models’ spatial accuracy, which often remains low.     

Comparison of a Gaussian diffusion model with guidelines for calculating the separation distance between livestock farming and residential areas to avoid odour annoyance

Complaints by the neighbourhood due to odour pollution from livestock farming are increasing. Therefore, some countries have already developed guidelines to address odour from livestock. These guidelines are in use to assess the necessary separation distance between livestock buildings and residential areas such that odour is not felt as an annoyance. In all these guidelines, the separation distance is calculated as a function of the rate of pollution. These are mainly power functions with an exponent between 0.3 and 0.5. The Austrian regulatory dispersion model, a Gauss model, is used to calculate the frequency distribution of the dilution factor for 12 classes of distances between 50 and 500 m downwind from the source. These data were fitted to an extended Weibull distribution of the dilution factor to determine the exponent of the power function describing the separation distance as a function of the emission. The exponent has a value of about 0.72. This result, achieved with a wind and stability statistics representative for the Austrian flatlands north of the Alps, indicates a stronger dependance of the separation distance from the odour emission than suggested by the guidelines.     

Occurrence and attenuation of specific organic compounds in the groundwater plume at a former gasworks site

The changing contaminant pattern with travelled distance was investigated in the anaerobic groundwater plume downstream from an extended zone containing residual NAPL at a former gas manufacturing plant. With increasing distance, O- and N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds are enriched in the plume relative to the usually assessed coal tar constituents (poly- and monocyclic aromatic compounds). In a first approximation, the overall concentration decrease of the investigated compounds follows a first order overall decay. The half life distance in the plume downgradient from the source varied between 20 m for benzene and up to 167-303 m for alkyl-naphthalenes. Acenaphthene is degraded only within about 50 m downstream from the source area, then its concentration remains constant (ca. 180 microg/l) and far above the legal limit. Dimethyl-benzofurans were the most recalcitrant among all compounds which could be quantified with the analytical method available. The overall groundwater contamination in the plume is seriously underestimated if only BTEX and 16-EPA-PAHs are monitored.     

Theoretical study of the impact of particulate matter gravitational settling on ambient coarse particulate matter monitoring for agricultural emissions

The particle size distributions (PSDs) of particulate matter (PM) in the downwind plume from simulated sources of a cotton gin were analyzed to determine the impact of PM settling on PM monitoring. The PSD of PM in a plume varies as a function of gravitational settling. Gravitational settling has a greater impact on the downwind PSD from sources with PSDs having larger mass median diameters (MMDs). The change in PSD is a function of the source PSD of emitted PM, wind speed, and downwind distance. Both MMD and geometric standard deviation (GSD) in the downwind plume decrease with an increase in downwind distance and source MMD. The larger the source MMD, the greater the change in the downwind MMD and GSD. Also, the greater the distance from the source to the sampler, the greater the change in the downwind MMD and GSD. Variations of the PSD in the downwind plume significantly impact PM10 sampling errors associated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) PM10 samplers. For the emission sources with MMD > 10 microm, the PM10 oversampling rate increases with an increase in downwind distance caused by the decrease of GSD of the PSD in the downwind plume. Gravitational settling of particles does not help reduce the oversampling problems associated with the EPA PM10 sampler. Furthermore, oversampling rates decrease with an increase of the wind speed.     

Environmental factors and spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the global outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1

The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has posed a major threat to global public health. Understanding the spatiotemporal outbreak characteristics and environmental factors of H5N1 outbreaks is of great significance for the establishment of effective prevention and control systems. The time and location of H5N1 outbreaks in poultry and wild birds officially confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health from 2005 to 2019 were collected. Spatial autocorrelation analysis and multidistance spatial agglomeration analysis methods were used to analyze the global outbreak sites of H5N1. Combined with remote sensing data, the correlation between H5N1 outbreaks and environmental factors was analyzed using binary logistic regression methods. We analyzed the correlation between the H5N1 outbreak and environmental factors and finally made a risk prediction for the global H5N1 outbreaks. The results show that the peak of the H5N1 outbreaks occurs in winter and spring. H5N1 outbreaks exhibit aggregation, and a weak aggregation phenomenon is noted on the scale close to 5000 km. Water distance, road distance, railway distance, wind speed, leaf area index (LAI), and specific humidity were protective factors for the outbreak of H5N1, and the odds ratio (OR) were 0.985, 0.989, 0.995, 0.717, 0.832, and 0.935, respectively. Temperature was a risk factor with an OR of 1.073. The significance of these ORs was greater than 95%. The global risk prediction map was obtained. Given that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading globally, the methods and results of this study can provide a reference for studying the spread of COVID-19.

     

The effect of emissions of fertilizer production on the environment contamination by cadmium and arsenic in southern Brazil

The distribution of cadmium and arsenic in rainwater, surface soil and groundwater in a zone of influence of emissions of a phosphate fertilizer factory has been investigated. The analysis of rainwater along a wind line shows that cadmium in the soluble form precipitates close to emission source, whereas arsenic migrates further and also in the soluble form precipitates at a greater distance. The pH controls the distribution of cadmium and arsenic in rain and groundwater. Concentration of soluble cadmium along the impact line increases with reduction of pH and arsenic, contrary to the increase of pH. Concentrations of cadmium and arsenic in surface soil correlate well among themselves near to emission point. In a zone of confluence of emissions with sea air at a distance from the factory there is sedimentation of arsenic on a geochemical barrier and formation of a separate anomaly in soil.     

Evaluation of gas well setback policy in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania in relation to emissions of fine particulate matter

Shale gas has become an important strategic energy source with considerable potential economic benefits and the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in so far as it displaces coal use. However, there still exist environmental health risks caused by emissions from exploration and production activities. In the United States, states and localities have set different minimum setback policies to reduce the health risks corresponding to the emissions from these locations, but it is unclear whether these policies are sufficient. This study uses a Gaussian plume model to evaluate the probability of exposure exceedance from EPA concentration limits for PM2.5 at various locations around a generic wellsite in the Marcellus shale region. A set of meteorological data monitored at ten different stations across Marcellus shale gas region in Pennsylvania during 2015 serves as an input to this model. Results indicate that even though the current setback distance policy in Pennsylvania (500 ft. or 152.4 m) might be effective in some cases, exposure limit exceedance occurs frequently at this distance with higher than average emission rates and/or greater number of wells per wellpad. Setback distances should be 736 m to ensure compliance with the daily average concentration of PM2.5, and a function of the number of wells to comply with the annual average PM2.5 exposure standard.

Implications: The Marcellus Shale gas is known as a significant source of criteria pollutants and studies show that the current setback distance in Pennsylvania is not adequate to protect the residents from exceeding the established limits. Even an effective setback distance to meet the annual exposure limit may not be adequate to meet the daily limit. The probability of exceeding the annual limit increases with number of wells per site. We use a probabilistic dispersion model to introduce a technical basis to select appropriate setback distances.     

Atmospheric deposition to the edge of a spruce forest in Denmark

Atmospheric deposition was measured during 1 year at the forest edge of a Norway spruce stand in Denmark. Inside the forest the deposition of H(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Na(+), K(+), Cl(-), NO(3)(-), NH(4)(2) and SO(4)(2-) with canopy throughfall varies with the distance from the forest edge. The deposition at the edge is found to be 10-20 times as high as deposition to an open field and 2-8 times as high as deposition inside the stand. An exponential decrease in deposition as a function of the distance from the forest edge is found. Increased deposition of K(+) and non-sea salt Mg(2+), which mainly originates as a result of leaching from the needles may be explained by a larger leaf area index (LAI) at the forest edge. Deposition of particulate substances, especially Na(+), Cl(-), Mg(2+) and to some extent SO(4)(2-), NH(4)(+) and NO(3)(-) is increased much more than the LAI, which we believe to be caused by changes in wind movements at the forest edge.     

废印刷电路板的静电分选实验研究

金属与非金属材料的分离是回收利用废印刷电路板的关键环节。对废印刷电路板物料的静电分选进行了实验研究。实验以电压、辊筒转速、电晕电极与辊筒之间的距离、静电极位置、电晕电极位置、电晕电极数量等为考察因素,研究各因素对电选效果的影响规律。结果表明,影响金属与非金属材料分离的主要因素是电压、辊筒转速和电晕电极与辊筒之间的距离,对于-0.9 0.45mm的破碎物料,当电压为24kV,辊筒转速为15Hz(54.6r/min),电晕电极与辊筒之间的距离为5.2cm时,得到最大静电分选综合效率67.37%。     

Use of the lichen Rhizoplaca melanophthalma as a biomonitor in relation to phosphate refineries near Pocatello, Idaho

Phosphate refineries are point sources for atmospheric Cr, Cd, Zn and P. Concentrations of these and other elements were determined in the lichen Rhizoplaca melanophthalma (Ram.) Leuck. and Poelt in relation to distance and direction from phosphate refineries northwest of Pocatello, Idaho. Elemental concentrations in lichens collected were measured using a multi-element Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). Linear regression analysis revealed that concentrations of Cd, Cr, Zn, and P were negatively correlated with distance from the refineries. The concentrations of the elements Cd, Zn, Ca, Mn, B, and Pb were significantly different among four transects in different directions from the pollution source. Analysis of covariance indicated significant differences in concentrations of Cd, Cr, Zn, P, Cu, Ca, Mg, and K in lichens as a function of distance and direction from the pollution source. These results indicate that this lichen species may be used to determine deposition patterns of air pollutants in semi-arid environments.     

Vegetation composition of roadside verges in Scotland: the effects of nitrogen deposition, disturbance and management

Vehicular emissions of NO(x) and NH(3) result in elevated concentrations of nitrogen at roadside verges. To determine the extent that vehicular nitrogen emissions, disturbance and management affect the vegetation composition of road verges, a survey of 92 verges in Scotland was carried out with sites stratified by background nitrogen deposition and road type. NO(x) and NH(3) concentrations were monitored at 15 key sites for a year, and showed a decreasing gradient with increasing distance from the road. Ellenberg fertility indices of the vegetation communities also showed a general decrease with increasing distance from the road, but there was no straightforward correlation with NO(x) and NH(3) air concentrations between sites. Cover of bare ground, ruderal species and salt-tolerant species were highest at the verge edge. The proximity of the verge to traffic is important both in terms of NO(x) and NH(3) gradients, but also for deposited salt, grit and physical disturbance.     

Microbiological and chemical characteristics of an acidic stream draining a disused copper mine

Water samples draining a disused copper mine (Parys Mountain) in Anglesey, North Wales, were analysed for distribution of acidophilic bacteria (iron oxidising and heterotrophic) and for changes in physicochemical composition along the length of the drainage stream. Ten samples were taken at regular distance intervals along a 1 km stretch from the source of the acid mine drainage. The stream remained highly acidic (pH < 2.8) although a slight decrease (0.6 pH unit) in acidity with distance from source was observed. Concentrations of most metals measured decreased with distance along the length of the stream, although some showed a gradual increase and others peaked at c. 200 m from source. Most dissolved iron was in the ferrous form in the upper reaches of the stream, but ferric iron became increasingly dominant downstream as a result of microbial oxidation. Although concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus were low in the acid mine drainage, they were not limiting rates of bacterial iron oxidation, which appeared to be limited more by temperature. The iron oxidising bacteria Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans were both isolated from all sampling sites, although their relative abundances varied; L. ferrooxidans accounted for 57% of all iron oxidising isolates. Numbers of iron oxidising bacteria decreased with distance from drainage source, in contrast to those of acidophilic heterotrophic bacteria which increased. The diversity of heterotrophic isolates also increased with distance. The relationship between the chemistry and microbiology of the stream is discussed.     

Defining the spatial impacts of poultry farm ammonia emissions on species composition of adjacent woodland groundflora using Ellenberg Nitrogen Index,nitrous oxide and nitric oxide emissions and foliar nitrogen as marker variables

The marker variables, Ellenberg Nitrogen Index, nitrous oxide and nitric oxide fluxes and foliar nitrogen, were used to define the impacts of NH3 deposition from nearby livestock buildings on species composition of woodland ground flora, using a woodland site close to a major poultry complex in the UK. The study centred on 2 units in close proximity to each other, containing 350,000 birds, and estimated to emit around 140,000 kg N year(-1) as NH3. Annual mean concentrations of NH3 close to the buildings were very large (60 microg m(-3)) and declined to 3 microg m(-3) at a distance of 650 m from the buildings. Estimated total N deposition ranged from 80 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) at a distance of 30 m to 14 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) at 650 m downwind. Emissions of N2O and NO were 56 and 131 microg N m(-2) h(-1), respectively at 30 m and 13 and 80 microg N m(-2) h(-1), respectively at 250 m downwind of the livestock buildings. Species number in woodland ground flora downwind of the buildings remained fairly constant for a distance of 200 m from the units then increased considerably, doubling at a distance of 650 m. Within the first 200 m downwind, trends in plant species composition were hard to discern because of variations in tree canopy composition and cover. The mean Ellenberg N Index ranged from 6.0 immediately downwind of the livestock buildings to 4.8 at 650 m downwind. The mean abundance weighted Ellenberg N Index also declined with distance from the buildings. Tissue N concentrations in trees, herbs and mosses were all large, reflecting the substantial ammonia emissions at this site. Tissue N content of ectohydric mosses ranged from approximately 4% at 30 m downwind to 1.6% at 650 m downwind. An assessment of the relative merits of the three marker variables concludes, that while Ellenberg Index and trace gas fluxes of N2O and NO give broad indications of impacts of ammonia emissions on woodland vegetation, the application of a critical foliar N content for ectohydric mosses is the most useful method for providing spatial information which could be of value to policy developers and planners.     

Simulation of the evolution of particle size distributions containing coarse particulate in the atmospheric surface layer with a simple convection-diffusion-sedimentation model

The Fugitive Dust Model (FDM) and Industrial Source Complex (ISC), widely used coarse particulate dispersion models, have been shown inaccurate due to the neglect of vertical variations in atmospheric wind speed and turbulent diffusivity (Vesovic et al., 2001), omission of the gravitational advection velocity, and an underestimation of the ground deposition velocity (Kim and Larson, 2001). A simple, transient two-dimensional convection-diffusion-sedimentation model is proposed to simulate the evolution in particle size distribution of an aerosol ‘puff’ containing coarse particulate in the atmospheric surface layer. Monin-Okhubov similarity theory, accompanied by empirical observations made by Businger et al. (1971), is adopted to characterize the surface layer wind speed and turbulent diffusivity profiles over a wide range of atmospheric conditions. A first order analysis of the crossing trajectories effect suggests simulation data presented here are not significantly affected by particle inertia. The model is validated against Suffield experimental data in which coarse particulate deposition was measured out to a distance of 800 m from the source (Walker, 1965). Good agreement is found for the decay in ground deposits with distance from the source for stable atmospheres. Deposition data was also simulated for unstable atmospheric stratification and the current model was determined to modestly underestimate the peak concentration with increasing accuracy further downwind of the release. The current model's effective deposition velocity was compared to that suggested by Kim et al. (2000) and shows improvement with respect to FDM. Lastly, the model was used to simulate the dispersion of nine lognormal aerosol puffs in the lowest 50 m of the atmospheric surface layer for four classes of atmospheric stability. The simulated mass median aerodynamic diameters (MMAD) at multiple downwind sampling locations were calculated and plotted with distance from the source. The first 50 m from the source was found to have a substantial impact on the evolution of MMAD for stable atmospheric conditions. Away from the source, it was observed that particle size distributions were truncated by removal of all particles larger than about 60 μm. A particle Peclet number was also defined to quantify the relative importance of turbulent dispersion and sedimentation on particle motion in the vertical direction.     

Heavy metal contamination of roadside soils in the Greater Athens area

The airborne contamination of roadside soils with Pb, Cd, Zn and Ni was evaluated for the Greater Athens Area of Greece. High levels of lead enrichment were found in the upper 0-5 cm soil layer along roads with heavy traffic loads. The central section of the study area appeared to have soils with the highest levels of lead enrichment. The contamination decreased exponentially with the distance from the road edge and dropped to a background level at about 50 m. Most of the lead was concentrated in the upper 5 cm of the soil and was associated with carbonates and crystalline oxides. The main source of contamination was automobile exhausts. Roadside soils were also enriched with airborne Cd and Zn, but to a lesser degree than with Pb. The enrichment of the soil with these two elements fell rapidly and exponentially with distance. No evidence of Ni contamination of roadside soils was obtained.     

Use of the terrestrial moss Pseudoscleropodium purum to detect sources of small scale contamination by PAHs

Here we present a simple, economic method of identifying sources of small scale contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The method involves determining the concentrations of the contaminants in the terrestrial moss Pseudoscleropodium purum and consists of the following steps: i) testing for the existence of gradients of decreasing concentrations of PAHs in the moss in relation to distance from different emission sources; ii) measurement of the concentration of PAHs at 35 pairs of sampling sites, each separated by a distance of 1 km; iii) study of the distribution of the differences in concentration between these pairs of sampling sites and elimination of extreme values (affected by small scale sources of contamination); iv) characterization of normal distributions to determine the probability of the data being thus distributed; and v) testing the method in the surroundings of possible sources of small scale contamination by PAHs. The decrease in concentration of all of the compounds followed a steep gradient with increasing distance from the emission source; after elimination of the outliers, the distribution of the differences in concentration between the 35 pairs of sampling sites was normal for all compounds, except benzo(a)pyrene. Application of the method to 15 different types of industries provided satisfactory results and the method proved to be a very useful tool for monitoring and evaluating air quality.     

Air intake contamination by building exhausts: tracer gas investigation of atmospheric dispersion models in the urban environment

The establishment of a safe distance between sources of pollution and air intakes is based on a complex exercise that should take into account several wind, physical, and topographical factors. To estimate the maximum concentrations of the pollutants as a function of the distance from the emission source, some heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system designers use the atmospheric dispersion models suggested by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Two of these models, the Halitsky and Wilson-Chui-Lamb models, have been developed and evaluated mainly with laboratory data. There have been relatively few evaluations with full-scale field data. The objective of this study, carried out on a building in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was to compare the measured concentrations of a tracer gas emitted by an exhaust stack with those predicted by these models. The results indicate that the Halitsky model gives lower than actual dilution, while the Wilson-Chui-Lamb model generally gives acceptable estimates, with occasional over-estimations of the dilution.     

Characteristics of nitrate horizontal transport in a paddy field of the Tai Lake region,China

The characteristics of nitrate horizontal transport in a major paddy soil, Wu Shan soil in the Tai Lake region, were studied. The concentration of nitrate during horizontal movement decreased with the increasing in distance from the tracer source, the change following a logarithmic function. The concentration of the nitrate was strongly correlated with the soil moisture content, as an exponential function. The horizontal transport velocity of nitrate was significantly correlated with the distance of the tracer source as power function. Therefore, the velocity of nitrate horizontal transport was controlled by the concentration gradient of nitrate, and soil water potential gradient from beginning to the 20 cm mark in the horizontal column. However, the velocity of nitrate horizontal was stable beyond 20 cm, where it was controlled by soil matric potential.