Environmental radioactivity surveillance in Germany

The environmental radioactivity surveillance program of the Federal Republic of Germany is briefly described. Some results of intercomparative measurements carried out by the Federal Milk Research Institute are presented.     

RESEARCH METHODS IN LAND-USE HYDROLOGY

Land use changes which affect the hydrological cycle encompass a broad field of agricultural, forestry, and engineering activity. A variety of research methods, ranging from the very simple to the very complex, have been used in attempting to evaluate the effects of such changes. Because of the complexity of the hydrological process, it is difficult to distinguish the effects of changes in land use from natural variations in quality, quantity, peak rates, and other characteristics of runoff. The use of plots, experimental catchments, barometer watersheds, representative basins, benchmark and vigil networks, and other methods for the collection of data, and methods of data analysis ranging from simple graphical correlations to multivariate analysis and mathematical catchment models are reviewed and classified. Current methods of research are mainly of an ad hoc nature and the major deficiency is in the study of fundamental physical processes.     

Exploratory techniques for the determination of potential dose-response relationships between human health and air pollution

This paper seeks to verify the usefulness of selected multivariate statistical techniques for exploring new dose-response relationships between human health and air pollution. We do so by comparing our results with those already established in the literature through hypothesis testing procedures or laboratory work. This use of multivariate techniques is pretheoretical and should be interpreted as suggesting relationships which warrant further investigation with more traditional methodologies. Our results conform very well with those existing in the literature and lend credence to the use of such pretheoretical statistical methods.     

MANAGEMENT OF FLOOD CONTROL SUMPS AND POLLUTANT TRANSPORT1

ABSTRACT: Levee sump systems are used by many riverine communities for temporary storage of urban wet weather flows. The hydrologic performance and transport of stormwater pollutants in sump systems, however, have not been systematically studied. The objective of this paper is to present a case study to demonstrate development and application of a procedure for assessing the hydraulic performance of flood control sumps in an urban watershed. Two sumps of highly variable physical and hydraulic characteristics were selected for analysis. A hydrologic modeling package was used to estimate the flow hydrograph for each outfall as part of the flow balance for the sump. To validate these results, a water balance was used to estimate the total runoff using sump operational data. The hydrologic model calculations provide a satisfactory estimate of the total runoff and its time‐distribution to the sump. The model was then used to estimate pollutant loads to the sump and to the river. Although flow of stormwater through a sump system is regulated solely by flood‐control requirements, these sumps may function as sedimentation basins that provide purification of stormwater. A sample calculation of removals of several conventional pollutants in the target sumps using a mass balance approach is presented.     

Tearing Down the Walls: Environmental Performance Improvement in a Maquiladora Facility

A pilot project in Tijuana brings together government, industry, and the community to identify and solve environmental problems. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.