Environmental quality assessment of Port Blair in Andaman islands

The Andman and Nicobar archipelago comprises of about 556 small and big islands covering an area of 8493 sq. kms in the Bay of Bengal. The very remoteness of these islands from the mainland has preserved their pristine environment and spectacular natural beauty. The Andman and Nicobar Administration is going for major developmental projects to cope with the increasing needs of the people, which ultimately results in significant changes in environmental quality. This paper describes the existing environmental quality around Port Blair city, which will give baseline scenario to assess the environmental impacts due to developments in the future.In order to monitor the air quality of the region, sampling stations were selected based on the locations of various industries and domestic activities. Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), Sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) were monitored for a period of one month during winter season. In addition, micrometeorological data, viz. wind speed and direction were also recorded and analysed to obtain the representative meteorological scenario of the air basin. The monitored values of ambient air quality was found to be within the NAAQ standards of India.Similarly, noise levels were also measured at various locations viz., residential areas, commercial centres, villages, stone quarry sites and construction sites. Noise levels were found to exceed the standards at stone quarry, construction sites and other locations.Water quality studies were carried out with respect to surface and ground water. The various physico- chemical and bacteriological parameters were analysed. It was observed that the physico-chemical parameters of surface and ground water lie within the standards stipulated for Indian subcontinent except for heavy metals which exceed the limits in ground water samples. Bacteriological analysis of sea water and ground water indicate that they are contaminated with faecal matters. Further, the ground water can be used for drinking purposes only after adequate treatment.     

Radiostrontium-90 (90Sr) Ultra-Traces Measurements by Coupling Ionic Chromatography (HPIC) and on Line Liquid Scintillation Counting (OLLSC)

The important role of the beta emitter Strontium-90 in our environmental has been studied since the nuclear age. This long half-life isotope (28.1 years) is produced in a relatively high yield (5.8 % from Uranium-235) during the fission of heavy elements. It has been reported to be the major artificial source of internal irradiation of the human body. Its valence shell electron configuration is the same as Calcium and so this isotope is easily fixed in the bones. The classical analysis of this particular isotope requires several weeks since it produces Yttrium-90 which is also a beta emitter. We developed a new trace analysis method by coupling High Performance Ionic Chromatography (HPIC), to separate Strontium-90 from natural or power plant reactor water, and on-line liquid scintillation counting detector, measuring the beta emission of low concentration Strontium-90 before Yttrium-90 is formed in a significant amount. We report here some analysis parameters : HPIC setup, scintillation cocktail, window, counting efficiency, linearity, pre-concentration and detection limits. We were able to determine very low concentrations of Strontium-90. The minimum concentration detected without a pre-concentration system was 0.5 ppt from a 200 µL sample (6.3×10-12 mole/L). The analysis only requires a few hours.     

Bakterielle Mineralisierung von Dibenzofuran,Dibenzo-p-dioxin und 1,2,4,5-Tetrachlorbenzol in Böden

Quantitative degradation of dibenzofuran (DBF), dibenzo-p-dioxin (DBD), and 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorbenzene (TeCB) by the bacterial strains sphingomonas sp. HH 69, sphingomonas sp. RW1 and pseudomonas sp. PS 14 was investigated by radio-tracer techniques in liquid cultures and especially in samples of different soils. Pure strains converted DBF, DBD and TeCB up to 80% to CO₂ within few days. This degradation occurred not only in aerated liquid cultures but also in heterogeneous soils, with low levels of other pollutatns at favourable pH-values. Rate and degree of the mineralization of DBF, DBD and TeCB were independent of the DBF-, DBD-, or TeCB-concentration in the soils within a broad range. There was obviously a close correlation between the starting concentration of active cells (starting bacterial count) and the rate of degradation of the test substances in soil; by raising the starting bacterial count in the soil samples, mineralization of DBF, DBD, and TeCB, respectively, was clearly accelerated. However, under nearly the same coniditions in more acid soils (pH-values < 4) no significant degradation of DBF, DBD, and TeCB to CO₂ took place. As expected, this difficulty can be overcome by mixing CaCO₂ into the acid soils (liming). Easily utilizable substances like peptone, triolein, and glucose added as special carbon and energy sources to low contaminated soils, had only a small—if any—effect on the mineralization of DBF, DBD, and TeCB. In soils contaminated by a mixture of pollutants, the bacterial strains could develop their degradation capacity only to a limited extent and showed different degradation effects depending on the basic type of contamination. The efficiency of the degradation specialists was thus dependent on the “Chemical Environment” (type and concentration of contaminants present).     

Growth pattern andβ-dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) content of green macroalgae at different irradiances

Growth rates and intracellular-dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) concentrations of five green algal species collected from different geographic regions in 1986 and 1989 were determined under four photon flux rates. InUlothrix implexa, U. subflaccida andAcrosiphonia arcta from Antarctica, growth was light-saturated at lower irradiances than in temperateUlva rigida from Southern Chile andBlidingia minima from Germany. The DMSP content ofUlothrix implexa, A. arcta andUlva rigida was directly correlated with the light factor: with increasing irradiance, algal DMSP level increased. In contrast, inUlothrix subflaccida andB. minima DMSP concentrations gradually decreased up to a photon flux rate of 30µmol m^–2 s^–1, then increased markedly under the highest photon flux rate tested. In non-growing, dark-incubatedA. arcta DMSP content was reduced by 35%, while the DMSP pool of all other species remained unchanged, at the level of pre-culture conditions. Under full darkness all plants exhibited a significantly higher DMSP concentration compared with algae grown at low photon flux rates of 2 to 30µmol m^–2 s^–1. These data show a correlation between growth pattern and DMSP biosynthesis, and may point to a species-specific minimum amount of light energy necessary for DMSP accumulation.Contribution no. 302 of the Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research     

An estimate on the rainout of atmospheric CO2

IntroductionCarboncirculatesbetweentheatmosphere ,biosphere ,oceansandthelithosphere(Warneck ,1988) .Thecarbonfluxesbetweenthesereservoirs,suchasburningoffuels ,photosynthesisandrespirationofecosystems,andtheuptakeoftheocean ,havebeenestimatedquantitative…     

Geo-Profiling: beyond the Current Limits. A Preliminary Study of Mathematical Methods to Improve the Monitoring of Invasive Species

The Geographic Profiling (GP) is a data analysis tool that has great potential. Presently, it is used only minimally, and is almost always used “as it is”, independently on other analysis or data processing methods. GP was initially created as a forensic tool, to find the origin of a series of events (crimes) done by a single actor. However, using this method in integration with others, it is possible to enlarge the opportunities of geographical data analysis. The promising results of this method in integration with others, even if some of them are quite well known methods since many years–and thus well tested–show a number of further possible applications. Here we treat data clustering and partitioning with Kmeans and Dbscan methods; space partitioning (Voronoi tessellation) and a method to assign weights to the events constituting the data set. The software used in this review was written in Python, was released under GPL license and is available on Bitbucket (https://bitbucket.org/ugosnt/al_and_ugo/).     

Project house water: a novel interdisciplinary framework to assess the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of flood-related impacts

Protecting our water resources in terms of quality and quantity is considered one of the big challenges of the twenty-first century, which requires global and multidisciplinary solutions. A specific threat to water resources, in particular, is the increased occurrence and frequency of flood events due to climate change which has significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts. In addition to climate change, flooding (or subsequent erosion and run-off) may be exacerbated by, or result from, land use activities, obstruction of waterways, or urbanization of floodplains, as well as mining and other anthropogenic activities that alter natural flow regimes. Climate change and other anthropogenic induced flood events threaten the quantity of water as well as the quality of ecosystems and associated aquatic life. The quality of water can be significantly reduced through the unintentional distribution of pollutants, damage of infrastructure, and distribution of sediments and suspended materials during flood events. To understand and predict how flood events and associated distribution of pollutants may impact ecosystem and human health, as well as infrastructure, large-scale interdisciplinary collaborative efforts are required, which involve ecotoxicologists, hydrologists, chemists, geoscientists, water engineers, and socioeconomists. The research network “project house water” consists of a number of experts from a wide range of disciplines and was established to improve our current understanding of flood events and associated societal and environmental impacts. The concept of project house and similar seed fund and boost fund projects was established by the RWTH Aachen University within the framework of the German excellence initiative with support of the German research foundation (DFG) to promote and fund interdisciplinary research projects and provide a platform for scientists to collaborate on innovative, challenging research. Project house water consists of six proof-of-concept studies in very diverse and interdisciplinary areas of research (ecotoxicology, water, and chemical process engineering, geography, sociology, economy). The goal is to promote and foster high-quality research in the areas of water research and flood-risk assessments that combine and build off-laboratory experiments with modeling, monitoring, and surveys, as well as the use of applied methods and techniques across a variety of disciplines.     

How to support the effective management of Natura 2000 sites?

In Europe, biodiversity conservation relies on the Natura 2000 network. However, it is often difficult to ensure the favourable conservation status of species and habitats due to scarce financial resources. Therefore, we examined the current management strategies and conditions of three Italian Natura 2000 sites based on a questionnaire and stakeholder meetings. Additionally, we qualitatively assessed the potential of ecosystem services provision. Then an A'WOT analysis was carried out to identify and highlight internal and external factors affecting natural and semi-natural ecosystems and the socio-economic context, aiming to propose new instruments and approaches for effective management. The analysis revealed opportunities for developing tourism and the high potential of regulating services, whereas the bureaucratic burden and a lack of funding threaten the attainment of biodiversity conservation goals. Thus, we propose that payments for ecosystem services should be considered to support the effective management of Natura 2000 sites.