DIGITAL SIMULATION OF THE EFFECT OF THERMAL DISCHARGE ON STREAM WATER QUALITY1

A modified transient version of the Streeter-Phelps model along with the energy balance equation is employed to analyze the effects of waste heat discharge from power plants on stream water quality. Analysis is also made to examine the effects of the upstream water quality and stream velocity on the downstream DO concentration level. The resulting coupled nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations representing the energy, BOD and DO concentrations are solved by the method of characteristics and simulated on a digital computer. Final numerical results indicate that the allowable quantity of thermal discharge does heavily depend on the upstream quality.     

Assessment of vegetation stress using reflectance or fluorescence measurements

Current methods for large-scale vegetation monitoring rely on multispectral remote sensing, which has serious limitation for the detection of vegetation stress. To contribute to the establishment of a generalized spectral approach for vegetation stress detection, this study compares the ability of high-spectral-resolution reflectance (R) and fluorescence (F) foliar measurements to detect vegetation changes associated with common environmental factors affecting plant growth and productivity. To obtain a spectral dataset from a broad range of species and stress conditions, plant material from three experiments was examined, including (i) corn, nitrogen (N) deficiency/excess; (ii) soybean, elevated carbon dioxide, and ozone levels; and (iii) red maple, augmented ultraviolet irradiation. Fluorescence and R spectra (400-800 nm) were measured on the same foliar samples in conjunction with photosynthetic pigments, carbon, and N content. For separation of a wide range of treatment levels, hyperspectral (5-10 nm) R indices were superior compared with F or broadband R indices, with the derivative parameters providing optimal results. For the detection of changes in vegetation physiology, hyperspectral indices can provide a significant improvement over broadband indices. The relationship of treatment levels to R was linear, whereas that to F was curvilinear. Using reflectance measurements, it was not possible to identify the unstressed vegetation condition, which was accomplished in all three experiments using F indices. Large-scale monitoring of vegetation condition and the detection of vegetation stress could be improved by using hyperspectral R and F information, a possible strategy for future remote sensing missions.     

武夷山风景名胜区流域水质季节变化特征及评价

为了解武夷山风景名胜区流域内水质状况及其影响因素,在2008-2009年间对武夷山国家风景名胜区流域8个采样点水质污染物指标进行了逐月监测,研究该流域地表水质的季节变化特征并进行评价.结果表明,该流域水体中的pH值在6.45～7.80,冬、春季较高,夏、秋季较低;NH3-N、NO-3-N、TN、TP质量浓度从大到小依次为冬季、春季、夏季、秋季,CODMn从大到小依次为夏季、冬季、春季、秋季;相对而言,水质随季节的变化以秋季较好,冬季较差.流域内水文特征、生态环境和人类、农业活动对溪流水质有一定的影响,尤其水体中TP、TN质量浓度较高,说明农业面源污染的影响明显.     

The effect of environmental and design parameters on subjective road safety — a case study in Poland

In order to get a better insight into the safety effects of alternative road designs, the subjective safety experiment has been conducted. The experiment has been designed to test the effect of geometric design characteristics and road environment on the subjective safety of rural road curves. The method used here allows to investigate the effect of a real driving environment on safety in a complex way. The results have shown the importance of the composed effect of curve geometry and curve environment on the subjective safety of rural curves.