Observations and model simulations of carbon monoxide emission factors from a California highway

A series of twelve intensively monitored 1-hr CO dispersion studies were conducted near Davis, CA, in winter 1996. The experimental equipment included twelve CO sampling ports at elevations up to 50 m, three sonic anemometers, a tethersonde station, aircraft measurements of wind and temperature profile aloft, and a variety of conventional meteorological equipment. The study was designed to explore the role of vehicular exhaust buoyancy during worst-case meteorological conditions, such as low winds oriented in near-parallel alignment with the road during a surface-based nocturnal inversion. From the study, field estimates of the CO emission factor (EF) from a California vehicle fleet were computed using two different methods. The analysis suggests that the CT-EMFAC/EMFAC (EMission FACtor) models currently used to conduct federal conformity modeling significantly overpredict CO emissions for high-speed, free-flowing traffic on California highways.     

The florence floods—What the papers said

The floods of 1966 in Northern Italy provoked varying reactions from officialdom and the press. Political and administrative problems received as much coverage as the environmental effects of the disaster, but learned opinion gained a new, if rather temporary, status in the newspapers of the time. In retrospect, economic recovery seems to have occurred more rapidly than predicted in the gloomy forecasts of the time, although a clear picture of the disruption caused by the floods     

UNSATURATED FLOW THROUGH SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS: MODEL AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT: The movement of precipitation water infiltrating through the material (refuse) of solid waste landfills is examined via numerical solution of the equations of continuity, and motion (Darcy's Law). The solution of the equations is obtained by a fully implicit, finite-difference scheme. Both unsaturated and saturated surface conditions are considered, making the scheme suitable for real-time simulation of net precipitation and moisture redistribution events. A sensitivity analysis showed that for unsaturated surface conditions the solution is primarily affected by hydraulic conductivity and capillary diffusivity, and is relatively independent of the space and time steps. In addition, the precipitation averaging process is shown to be critical in the correct computation of moisture transport during the time period where the transition from unsaturated to saturated conditions occurs. The model presented herein is suitable for analysis of water movement through landfills, and the design of bottom collection systems.