SAGA: a decision support system for air pollution management around a coal-fired power plant

Air quality models are currently feasible approaches to prevent air pollution episodes. From one of the first source-oriented modelling approaches for air pollution forecasting (Souto et al., 1994, 1996, 1998), a new decision support system for air quality management, SAGA, was developed to provide support to As Pontes Power Plant (APPP) staff. SAGA can provide air pollution forecasts and manage meteorological and air quality measurements. Power plant decisions are supported by the results of a non-hydrostatic meteorological model (ARPS, Xue et al., 2001) to produce Meteorological Forecasts (MFs), and to be coupled to different Lagrangian dispersion models.     

A simulation-based method to develop strategies for nitrogen pollution control in a creek watershed with sparse data

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Well-defined targets for nitrogen (N) release into the local environment are essential for water management in creeks, but difficulties often arise...     

Modeling the Baltic Sea eutrophication in a decision support system

SANBALTS (Simple As Necessary Baltic Long-Term Large-Scale) is a model of the coupled nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. This model has been developed as an integral part of the decision support system Marine Research on Eutrophication's Nest with the overall aim to evaluate management options for reducing Baltic Sea eutrophication. Simulated nutrient and oxygen concentrations as well as transport flows and major biogeochemical fluxes can be analyzed in many different ways, including construction of detailed nutrient budgets and tracing the fate of nutrient inputs. The large amounts of data that exist for this sea makes it possible to validate model results with observations. Major biogeochemical properties of the Baltic Sea are discussed through an analyses of model sensitivity to external forcing and internal parameterizations. Model results emphasize two features that are especially important for ecosystem management: i) impacts of local measures would always be modified by the long-range transports from other regions and ii) the response to significant changes in loads would only be seen after several decades.     

Brown rust disease control in winter wheat: II. Exploring the optimization of fungicide sprays through a decision support system

A decision support system (DSS) involving an approach for predicting wheat leaf rust (WLR) infection and progress based on night weather variables (i.e., air temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall) and a mechanistic model for leaf emergence and development simulation (i.e., PROCULTURE) was tested in order to schedule fungicide time spray for controlling leaf rust progress in wheat fields. Experiments including a single fungicide treatment based upon the DSS along with double and triple treatment were carried out over the 2007–2009 cropping seasons in four representative Luxembourgish wheat field locations. The study showed that the WLR occurrences and severities differed according to the site, cultivar, and year. We also found out that the single fungicide treatment based on the DSS allowed a good protection of the three upper leaves of susceptible cultivars in fields with predominant WLR occurrences. The harvested grain yield was not significantly different from that of the double and triple fungicide-treated plots (P?<?0.05). Such results could serve as basis or be coupled to cost-effective and environmentally friendly crop management systems in operational context.     

Development of a GIS-based decision support system for urban air quality management in the city of Istanbul

A decision support system has been developed for urban air quality management in the metropolitan area of Istanbul. The system is based on CALMET/CALPUFF dispersion modeling system, digital maps, and related databases to estimate the emissions and spatial distribution of air pollutants with the help of a GIS software. The system estimates ambient air pollution levels at high temporal and spatial resolutions and enables mapping of emissions and air quality levels. Mapping and scenario results can be compared with air quality limits. Impact assessment of air pollution abatement measures can also be carried out.     

Microplastic pollution on the soil and its consequences on the nitrogen cycle: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics (MPs) correspond to plastics between 0.1 μm and 5 mm in diameter, and these can be intentionally manufactured to be microscopic or...     

DDT is still a problem in developed countries: the heavy pollution of Lake Maggiore

The Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), one of the most widely used bioindicators of persistent organic pollutants, trace metals and radionuclides in several worldwide freshwater ecosystems, has been used to monitor DDT contamination trends in Lake Maggiore since 1996, caused by industrial effluents on a tributary of the River Toce, one of the major affluents of the lake. Dreissena specimens were collected at two sampling sites, one within the Baveno Bay, where the River Toce flows, and the other outside (Villa Taranto). Total DDT levels (3119.6 ng/g lipids at Baveno and 1351.2 ng/g lipids at Villa Taranto) in the soft tissues of the Zebra mussel decreased at both stations by about 30-50% in the first year after the closure of the chemical plant reaching an almost steady-state condition. The high concentrations measured in Zebra mussel specimens of Baveno Bay in 2000 (1947 ng/g lipids) and the percentage of pp'DDE in comparison with total DDT concentration, which showed a slight increase in the last years, clearly indicate that a contamination source is still present, deriving probably from the lacustrine sediments and the River Toce. Data show that the environmental risk is very high within the Baveno Bay and the recovery time should be longer than in the other parts of the lake, where DDT levels in Dreissena are presently two times higher than those measured in the other Italian subalpine lakes.     

Research on optimal control of non-point source pollution: a case study from the Danjiang River basin in China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The impact and optimal control of non-point source (NPS) pollution on water environment have become the hot issues of current research. This paper...     

A Cournot competition model with the uniform pollution tariff: an application to NAFTA

This paper investigates the impact of a uniform pollution tariff on production, consumption and consumer welfare in the framework of the Cournot competition. It suggests that the uniform pollution tariff would raise the welfare of US consumers. However, it would penalise the higher-cost producer in the country where environmental regulations are more stringent. The policy implication is that economic integration, such as NAFTA, should take discriminatory pollution tariffs into consideration.     

Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation on the activated sludge biomass in a kraft mill biotreatment system.

Unlike wastewater, pulp and paper mill effluents are generally severely deficient in bioavailable nitrogen and phosphorus. The influence of nitrogen and phosphorus limitations on steady-state or typical pulp and paper mill activated sludge floc properties and performance was studied using a bioreactor-fed synthetic raw mill effluent and seeded with mill activated sludge. Limitation of either nitrogen or phosphorus decreased growth, five-day biochemical oxygen demand, and suspended solids removal. Nitrogen limitation greatly enhanced activated sludge floc poly-beta3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), but not carbohydrate or extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). In contrast, phosphorus limitation increased total floc carbohydrate and EPS, but not PHB. The flocs showed little ability to store either nitrogen or phosphorus. Nitrogen limitation, but not phosphorus limitation, produced much more negative net floc surface charge, increasing fines, while phosphorus limitation, but not nitrogen limitation, increased the floc bound water content and surface hydrophobicity and decreased fines.     

Predictions of U.K. regulated power station contributions to regional air pollution and deposition: a model comparison exercise

Contributions of the emissions from a U.K. regulated fossil-fuel power station to regional air pollution and deposition are estimated using four air quality modeling systems for the year 2003. The modeling systems vary in complexity and emphasis in the way they treat atmospheric and chemical processes, and include the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system in its versions 4.6 and 4.7, a nested modeling system that combines long- and short-range impacts (referred to as TRACK-ADMS [Trajectory Model with Atmospheric Chemical Kinetics-Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System]), and the Fine Resolution Atmospheric Multi-pollutant Exchange (FRAME) model. An evaluation of the baseline calculations against U.K. monitoring network data is performed. The CMAQ modeling system version 4.6 data set is selected as the reference data set for the model footprint comparison. The annual mean air concentration and total deposition footprints are summarized for each modeling system. The footprints of the power station emissions can account for a significant fraction of the local impacts for some species (e.g., more than 50% for SO2 air concentration and non-sea-salt sulfur deposition close to the source) for 2003. The spatial correlation and the coefficient of variation of the root mean square error (CVRMSE) are calculated between each model footprint and that calculated by the CMAQ modeling system version 4.6. The correlation coefficient quantifies model agreement in terms of spatial patterns, and the CVRMSE measures the magnitude of the difference between model footprints. Possible reasons for the differences between model results are discussed. Finally, implications and recommendations for the regulatory assessment of the impact of major industrial sources using regional air quality modeling systems are discussed in the light of results from this case study.     

Selections from the history of environmental pollution, with special attention to air pollution. Part 2: From medieval times to the 19th century

Several comprehensive publications have been issued recently on the environmental pollution of past times, especially from medieval times (e.g. Brimblecombe, 1987a; oldstein, 1988; Brimblecombe and Pfister, 1990; Hughes, 1993; Markham, 1994; Brimblecombe, 1995). The aim of this paper is to give an overview of information on the subject – mainly related to the period between medieval times and the 19th century.     

Modelling the fate of hydrophobic organic contaminants in a boreal forest catchment: A cross disciplinary approach to assessing diffuse pollution to surface waters

The fate of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in soils and waters in a northern boreal catchment was explored through the development of a chemical fate model in a well-characterised catchment system dominated by two land types: forest and mire. Input was based solely on atmospheric deposition, dominated by accumulation in the winter snowpack. Release from soils was governed by the HOC concentration in soil, the soil organic carbon fraction and soil-water DOC content. The modelled export of selected HOCs in surface waters ranged between 11 and 250 ng day⁻¹ during the snow covered period, compared to 200 and 9600 ng/d during snow-melt; highlighting the importance of the snow pack as a source of these chemicals. The predicted levels of HOCs in surface water were in reasonable agreement to a limited set of measured values, although the model tended to over predict concentrations of HOCs for the forested sub-catchment, by over an order of magnitude in the case of hexachlorobenzene and PCB 180. This possibly reflects both the heterogeneity of the forest soils and the complicated and changing hydrology experienced between the different seasons.     

A quantitative approach to the traffic air quality problem: the Traffic Air Quality index

The Traffic Air Quality (TAQ) model is a simple tool to estimate traffic fine particulate emissions on roadways (g/km) and can be used for both real-time analysis and for localized conformity analysis ("hot-spot" analysis for nonattainment areas) as defined by 40 CFR 93.123. This paper is a follow-up to a study published earlier regarding the development of the TAQ model. This paper shows how local air quality levels can be a factor in traffic management in nonattainment areas. Similar to the industrial source quotas measured in tons per year, it is proposed that road segments are to be assigned emission quotas (or TAQ indices) measured in pollutant mass emitted per road length (g/km) above which traffic-measures have to be taken to reduce the fine-particulates emissions on such road links. The TAQ model as well as traffic-rerouting measures along with the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) protocols can be used to have a real-time control of the traffic conditions along expressways to maintain the fine-particulates emissions below the quota assigned per road link and consequently improving the over all local air quality in nonattainment areas.     

Air pollution particulate matter as a potential carrier of SARS-CoV-2 to the nervous system and/or neurological symptom enhancer: arguments in favor

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Entry receptor for SARS-CoV-2 is expressed in nasal epithelial cells, and nasal delivery pathway can be a key feature of transmission. Here, a...     

Environmental accounting on a communal level: A tool to support environmental management and decision-making by communal executives

Starting from an ecological perspective of urban-industrial areas, environmental accounting is used to analyse and to evaluate which environmental impacts are the result of communal activities (e.g. the results of different kinds of water supply systems). Therefore, the anthropogenic fluxes, the changing quality of areas as well as the processes between the environmental fields are taken into account. The approach is based on methodical elements of te Life Cycle Analysis and the Environmental Impact Assessment. Looking at the ‘urban systems’ within the communal activities, ‘ecological modelling’ gives us a new and fuller picture of the spatial and temporal character of urban metabolism. The approach supports the perception of cumulative effects and the postponement of environmental problems and opens new horizons for process-oriented environmental planning within the community. Greater efficiency and a decrease in costs can be arrived at by leaving ‘end of the pipe’ strategies; opportunities for a better planning process and measures for different individuals and organisations can be drawn up. A data base which acts as a ‘support system’ implements the computer-aided approach to environmental accounting.     

Stochastic modeling of atmospheric pollution: a spatial time-series framework. Part II: application to monitoring monthly sulfate deposition over Europe

A spatial time-series framework is adopted for stochastic modeling of monthly averaged sulfate deposition over Europe. The sulfur concentration data used in this study were measured at the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) monitoring network from January 1980 to December 1988. Parametric temporal trend and residual models, associated with long-term (linear trend or annual periodicity) and short-term (seasonal) concentration variability, respectively, are first established at monitoring stations. The resulting model parameters are regionalized in space to arrive at parametric trend and residual models at any unmonitored location. Stochastic simulation is performed for prediction and modeling of joint uncertainty regarding unknown sulfur concentration levels at unmonitored spatial locations and time instants. The case study illustrates the applicability of the proposed spatial time series framework to a real-world data set.     

A mechanistic view on the neurotoxic effects of air pollution on central nervous system: risk for autism and neurodegenerative diseases

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Many reports have shown a strong association between exposure to neurotoxic air pollutants like heavy metal and particulate matter (PM) as an active...