Hydrologic Controls on Nitrogen and Phosphorous Dynamics in Relict Oxbow Wetlands Adjacent to an Urban Restored Stream

Although wetlands are known to be sinks for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), their function in urban watersheds remains unclear. We analyzed water and nitrate (NO₃^?) and phosphate (PO₄^3?) dynamics during precipitation events in two oxbow wetlands that were created during geomorphic stream restoration in Baltimore County, Maryland that varied in the nature and extent of connectivity to the adjacent stream. Oxbow 1 (Ox1) received 1.6‐4.2% and Oxbow 2 (Ox2) received 4.2‐7.4% of cumulative streamflow during storm events from subsurface seepage (Ox1) and surface flow (Ox2). The retention time of incoming stormwater ranged from 0.2 to 6.7 days in Ox1 and 1.8 to 4.3 days in Ox2. Retention rates in the wetlands ranged from 0.25 to 2.74 g N/m²/day in Ox1 and 0.29 to 1.94 g N/m²/day in Ox2. Percent retention of the NO₃^?‐N load that entered the wetlands during the storm events ranged from 64 to 87% and 23 to 26%, in Ox1 and Ox2, respectively. During all four storm events, Ox1 and Ox2 were a small net source of dissolved PO₄^3? to the adjacent stream (i.e., more P exited than entered the wetland), releasing P at a rate of 0.23‐20.83 mg P/m²/day and 3.43‐24.84 mg P/m²/day, respectively. N and P removal efficiency of the oxbows were regulated by hydrologic connectivity, hydraulic loading, and retention time. Incidental oxbow wetlands have potential to receive urban stream and storm flow and to be significant N sinks, but they may be sources of P in urban watersheds.     

Correlating emissions with time and temperature to predict worst-case emissions from open liquid area sources

The two primary factors influencing ambient air pollutant concentrations are emission rate and dispersion rate. Gaussian dispersion modeling studies for odors, and often other air pollutants, vary dispersion rates using hourly meteorological data. However, emission rates are typically held constant, based on one measured value. Using constant emission rates can be especially inaccurate for open liquid area sources, like wastewater treatment plant units, which have greater emissions during warmer weather, when volatilization and biological activity increase. If emission rates for a wastewater odor study are measured on a cooler day and input directly into a dispersion model as constant values, odor impact will likely be underestimated. Unfortunately, because of project schedules, not all emissions sampling from open liquid area sources can be conducted under worst-case summertime conditions. To address this problem, this paper presents a method of varying emission rates based on temperature and time of the day to predict worst-case emissions. Emissions are varied as a linear function of temperature, according to Henry's law, and a tenth order polynomial function of time. Equation coefficients are developed for a specific area source using concentration and temperature measurements, captured over a multiday period using a data-logging monitor. As a test case, time/temperature concentration correlation coefficients were estimated from field measurements of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at the Rowlett Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Garland, TX. The correlations were then used to scale a flux chamber emission rate measurement according to hourly readings of time and temperature, to create an hourly emission rate file for input to the dispersion model ISCST3. ISCST3 was then used to predict hourly atmospheric concentrations of H2S. With emission rates varying hourly, ISCST3 predicted 384 acres of odor impact, compared with 103 acres for constant emissions. Because field sampling had been conducted on relatively cool days (85-90 degrees F), the constant emission rate underestimated odor impact significantly (by 73%).     

The benefits of lower ozone due to air pollution emission reductions (2002–2011) in the Eastern United States during extreme heat

ABSTRACT

Using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model and the Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program – Community Edition (BenMAP-CE) tool, we estimate the benefits of anthropogenic emission reductions between 2002 and 2011 in the Eastern United States (US) with respect to surface ozone concentrations and ozone-related health and economic impacts, during a month of extreme heat, July 2011. Based on CMAQ simulations using emissions appropriate for 2002 and 2011, we estimate that emission reductions since 2002 likely prevented 10– 15 ozone exceedance days (using the 2011 maximum 8-hr average ozone standard of 75 ppbv) throughout the Ohio River Valley and 5– 10 ozone exceedance days throughout the Washington, DC – Baltimore, MD metropolitan area during this extremely hot month. CMAQ results were fed into the BenMAP-CE tool to determine the health and health-related economic benefits of anthropogenic emission reductions between 2002 and 2011. We estimate that the concomitant health benefits from the ozone reductions were significant for this anomalous month: 160–800 mortalities (95% confidence interval (CI): 70–1,010) were avoided in July 2011 in the Eastern U.S, saving an estimated $1.3–$6.6 billion (CI: $174 million–$15.5 billion). Additionally, we estimate that emission reductions resulted in 950 (CI: 90–2,350) less hospital admissions from respiratory symptoms, 370 (CI: 180–580) less hospital admissions for pneumonia, 570 (CI: 0–1650) less Emergency Room (ER) visits from asthma symptoms, 922,020 (CI: 469,960–1,370,050) less minor restricted activity days (MRADs), and 430,240 (CI: ?280,350–963,190) less symptoms of asthma exacerbation during July 2011.

Implications: We estimate the benefits of air pollution emission reductions on surface ozone concentrations and ozone-related impacts on human health and the economy between 2002 and 2011 during an extremely hot month, July 2011, in the eastern United States (US) using the CMAQ and BenMAP-CE models. Results suggest that, during July 2011, emission reductions prevented 10-15 ozone exceedance days in the Ohio River Valley and 5-10 ozone exceedance days in the Mid Atlantic; saved 160-800 lives in the Eastern US, saving $1.3 - $6.5 billion; and resulted in 950 less hospital admissions for respiratory symptoms, 370 less hospital admissions for pneumonia, 570 less Emergency Room visits for asthma symptoms, 922,020 less minor restricted activity days, and 430,240 less symptoms of asthma exacerbation.     

Which visibility indicators best represent a population’s preference for a level of visual air quality?

Several studies have been carried out over the past 20 or so years to assess the level of visual air quality that is judged to be acceptable in urban settings. Groups of individuals were shown slides or computer-projected scenes under a variety of haze conditions and asked to judge whether each image represented acceptable visual air quality. The goal was to assess the level of haziness found to be acceptable for purposes of setting an urban visibility regulatory standard. More recently, similar studies were carried out in Beijing, China, and the more pristine Grand Canyon National Park and Great Gulf Wilderness. The studies clearly showed that when preference ratings were compared to measures of atmospheric haze such as atmospheric extinction, visual range, or deciview (dv), there was not a single indicator that represented acceptable levels of visual air quality for the varied urban or more remote settings. For instance, using a Washington, D.C., setting, 50% of the observers rated the landscape feature as not having acceptable visual air quality at an extinction of 0.19 km^?1 (21 km visual range, 29 dv), while the 50% acceptability point for a Denver, Colorado, setting was 0.075 km^?1 (52 km visual range, 20 dv) and for the Grand Canyon it was 0.023 km^?1 (170 km visual range, 7 dv). Over the past three or four decades, many scene-specific visibility indices have been put forth as potential indicators of visibility levels as perceived by human observers. They include, but are not limited to, color and achromatic contrast of single landscape features, average and equivalent contrast of the entire image, edge detection algorithms such as the Sobel index, and just-noticeable difference or change indexes. This paper explores various scene-specific visual air quality indices and examines their applicability for use in quantifying visibility preference levels and judgments of visual air quality.

Implications: Visibility acceptability studies clearly show that visibility become more unacceptable as haze increases. However, there are large variations in the preference levels for different scenes when universal haze indicators, such as atmospheric extinction, are used. This variability is significantly reduced when the sky–landscape contrast of the more distant landscape features in the observed scene is used. Analysis suggest that about 50% of individuals would find the visibility unacceptable if at any time the more distant landscape features nearly disappear, that is, they are at the visual range. This common metric could form the basis for setting an urban visibility standard.     

Monitoring PAHs in the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay, Australia, using semipermeable membrane devices and EROD activity in yellowfin bream, Acanthopagrus australis

Two water quality monitoring strategies designed to sample hydrophobic organic contaminants have been applied and evaluated across an expected concentration gradient in PAHs in the Moreton region. Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) that sequester contaminants via passive diffusion across a membrane were used to evaluate the concentration of PAHs at four and five sites in spring and summer 2001/2002, respectively. In addition, induction of hepatic cytochrome P4501, EROD activity, in yellowfin bream, Acanthopagrus australis, captured in the vicinity of SPMD sampling sites following deployment in summer was used as a biomarker of exposure to PAHs and related chemicals. SPMDs identified a clear and reproducible gradient in PAH contamination with levels increasing from east to west in Moreton Bay and upstream in the Brisbane River. The highest PAH concentrations expressed as B(a)P-toxicity equivalents (TEQs) were found in urban areas, which were also furthest upstream and experienced the least flushing. Cytochrome P4501 induction in A. australis was similar at all sites. The absence of clear trends in EROD activity may be attributable to factors not measured in this study or variable residency time of A. australis in contaminated areas. It is also possible that fish in the Moreton region are displaying enzymatic adaptation, which has been reported previously for fish subjected to chronic exposure to organic contaminants. These potential interferences complicate interpretation of EROD activity from feral biota. It is, therefore, suggested that future monitoring combine the two methods by applying passive sampler extracts to in vitro EROD assays.     

Threatened Status, Rarity, and Diversity as Alternative Selection Measures for Protected Areas: A Test Using Afrotropical Antelopes

A major aim of conservation today is the maintenance of biodiversity. Practically, this pursuit might involve protecting a representative sample of the current biotic diversity (where diversity can have a variety of different meanings as in Vane-Wright et al. 1991), safeguarding species with traits that may be correlated with susceptibility to extinction (see International Council for Bird Preservation 1992), or protecting those species that are currently categorized as under short-term threat of extinction. Priority areas for conservation may vary, however, depending on which of these three approaches is taken. We investigated the designation of priority areas using these different approaches for Afrotropical antelope. Sites were selected on the basis of (1) biotic diversity—simple species richness and taxonomic diversity; (2) uniqueness of the fauna relative to other sites—how geographically restricted the component species were; and (3) degree of endangerment of the fauna. When insufficient sites to represent all the species could be selected, there was little agreement between the priority sites selected using the different methods. Sites selected by each approach were also generally poor at representing the diversity components ranked highly by other approaches. Also, many of the species were represented in only one site in the selected network, which on its own probably does not represent a viable population for the species. Therefore, it is important that the precise aims and consequences of any selection procedure be understood. A combination of different approaches, emphasizing different aspects of biodiversity and implemented sequentially, may be the best compromise for preserving a full range of biotic diversity.     

Evaluation of military helmets and roof padding on head injury potential from vertical impacts

Objective: Soldiers in military vehicles subjected to underbelly blasts can sustain traumatic head and neck injuries due to a head impact with the roof. The severity of head and neck trauma can be influenced by the amount of head clearance available to the occupant as well as factors such as wearing a military helmet or the presence of padding on the interior roof. The aim of the current study was to examine the interaction between a Hybrid III headform, the helmet system, and the interior roof of the vehicle under vertical loading.

Methods: Using a head impact machine and a Hybrid III headform, tests were conducted on a rigid steel plate in a number of different configurations and velocities to assess helmet shell and padding performance, to evaluate different vehicle roof padding materials, and to determine the relative injury mitigating contributions of both the helmet and the roof padding. The resultant translational head acceleration was measured and the head injury criterion (HIC) was calculated for each impact.

Results: For impacts with a helmeted headform hitting the steel plate only, which represented a common scenario in an underbelly blast event, velocities of ≤6 m/s resulted in HIC values below the FMVSS 201U threshold of 1,000, and a velocity of 7 m/s resulted in HIC values well over the threshold. Roof padding was found to reduce the peak translational head acceleration and the HIC, with rigid IMPAXX foams performing better than semirigid ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam. However, the head injury potential was reduced considerably more by wearing a helmet than by the addition of roof padding.

Conclusions: The results of this study provide initial quantitative findings that provide a better understanding of helmet–roof interactions in vertical impacts and the contributions of the military helmet and roof padding to mitigating head injury potential. Findings from this study will be used to inform further testing with the future aim of developing a new minimum head clearance standard for occupants of light armored vehicles.     

Young drivers' responses to anti-speeding advertisements: Comparison of self-report and objective measures of persuasive processing and outcomes

Objective: Self-report measures are typically used to assess the effectiveness of road safety advertisements. However, psychophysiological measures of persuasive processing (i.e., skin conductance response [SCR]) and objective driving measures of persuasive outcomes (i.e., in-vehicle Global Positioning System [GPS] devices) may provide further insights into the effectiveness of these advertisements. This study aimed to explore the persuasive processing and outcomes of 2 anti-speeding advertisements by incorporating both self-report and objective measures of speeding behavior. In addition, this study aimed to compare the findings derived from these different measurement approaches.

Methods: Young drivers (N = 20, M age = 21.01 years) viewed either a positive or negative emotion–based anti-speeding television advertisement. While viewing the advertisement, SCR activity was measured to assess ad-evoked arousal responses. The RoadScout GPS device was then installed in participants' vehicles for 1 week to measure on-road speed-related driving behavior. Self-report measures assessed persuasive processing (emotional and arousal responses) and actual driving behavior.

Results: There was general correspondence between the self-report measures of arousal and the SCR and between the self-report measure of actual driving behavior and the objective driving data (as assessed via the GPS devices).

Conclusions: This study provides insights into how psychophysiological and GPS devices could be used as objective measures in conjunction with self-report measures to further understand the persuasive processes and outcomes of emotion-based anti-speeding advertisements.