Mathematical analysis of the whole core injection method accuracy for measuring phenanthrene biodegradation rates in undisturbed marine sediments

Rates of 14C-phenanthrene mineralization in contaminated, undisturbed marine sediments were measured using the whole core injection method to assess microbial natural attenuation activity as a function of sediment depth. Submerged sediments were sampled from Eagle Harbor, a marine superfund site in Puget Sound. Experiments show significant biodegradation activities (0.0012-0.0036 day(-1)) in the sediment horizons from 0 to 10 cm. The purpose and scope of this paper is to evaluate the range of experimental conditions giving valid results; a mathematical simulation described competing contaminant 14C-phenanthrene diffusion and simultaneous biodegradation (Monod kinetics), both retarded by sorption. The effect of aging was examined with two sorption models in presumed pseudo-homogenous sediments having effective properties. The simulation predictions provide quantitative guidelines for the successful use of the whole core injection method. (1) The effective Monod constant KS' in sediment is increased by a large partition coefficient KP between sediment and water and makes the apparent 14C-phenanthrene biodegradation approach first-order kinetics. (2) When KS'>1 mg(-1) l(-1), the measured 14C-phenanthrene biodegradation extent is biased by inadequately distributed injected tracer only when less than 7% of the sediment horizon is initially probed and mixed with injected tracer. (3) A short incubation time (<20 days) is necessary when a mobile indicator, e.g., gaseous 14CO2, is used. For longer incubation times, predictions show that a 14CO2 indicator diffuses to adjacent horizons, thus smearing the depth profile of biodegradation. (4) This method employing a radiolabeled tracer provides accurate biodegradation rates for freshly contaminated sediments, and represents an upper limit to the natural phenanthrene biodegradation extents if the contaminant is aged over 50 days.     

Challenges in quantifying biosphere-atmosphere exchange of nitrogen species

Recent research in nitrogen exchange with the atmosphere has separated research communities according to N form. The integrated perspective needed to quantify the net effect of N on greenhouse-gas balance is being addressed by the NitroEurope Integrated Project (NEU). Recent advances have depended on improved methodologies, while ongoing challenges include gas-aerosol interactions, organic nitrogen and N(2) fluxes. The NEU strategy applies a 3-tier Flux Network together with a Manipulation Network of global-change experiments, linked by common protocols to facilitate model application. Substantial progress has been made in modelling N fluxes, especially for N(2)O, NO and bi-directional NH(3) exchange. Landscape analysis represents an emerging challenge to address the spatial interactions between farms, fields, ecosystems, catchments and air dispersion/deposition. European up-scaling of N fluxes is highly uncertain and a key priority is for better data on agricultural practices. Finally, attention is needed to develop N flux verification procedures to assess compliance with international protocols.     

三维脚型测量技术及方法的研究

本文阐述了人体脚型的测量方法及特点,比较后得出人工测量与三维扫描测量技术之间的差别。以YETI三维脚型扫描仪为模型,详细分析了脚型扫描仪的结构原理,摸索并提出了简单实用的测量方法,讨论了YETI三维脚型扫描仪获得的原始数据、脚型横截面以及脚型投影图的特点。     

低温浓缩-气相色谱/质谱法分析固定污染源废气中的丙烯腈

建立了固定污染源废气中丙烯腈的气袋采样-低温浓缩-气相色谱/质谱分析方法。结果表明,该法在丙烯腈质量浓度16.1~4 050μg/m~3范围内具有良好的线性,相关系数R~20.999,检出限为9.54μg/m~3,回收率、日内与日间精密度均符合质控要求,能够满足废气中丙烯腈分析的要求。     

Using ecological memory as an indicator to monitor the ecological restoration of four forest plantations in subtropical China

A large area of plantations has been established worldwide and especially in China. Evaluating the restoration status of these plantations is essential for their long-term management. Based on our previous work, we used an ecological memory (EM) approach to evaluate four 26-year-old plantations that represent four common kinds of plantations in subtropical China, i.e., mixed broad-leaved plantation (MBP), mixed coniferous plantation (MCP), eucalyptus plantation (EP), and mixed legume plantation (MLP). Comparing them with the regional climax community, i.e., monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest (BF), all four plantations accumulated nearly the same pattern of EM during succession. EM was >50 % for soil minerals, light conditions, soil age, soil animals, and soil microbes. EM was about 25 % for soil pollen and 10 % for birds, soil seed bank, and plant species. The total EM value of the four plantations ranged from 50.96 to 52.54, which indicated that all four plantations were in the regional, natural trajectory of succession and between the early and medium successional stages. The results indicated that natural succession processes are unlikely to be accelerated by planting late-stage tree species without sufficient EM. The results also demonstrated that all four plantations were in positive successional trajectories, and the positive succession dynamics were greater in the MLP and MCP. We suggest that the entire natural succession trajectory be used to evaluate the restoration of a site and that the ultimate restoration target be divided into several milestones along the reference trajectory to monitor progress. Forest restoration may be accelerated by starting with a minimum dynamic unit supporting sufficient EM.     

Water chemistry in 179 randomly selected Swedish headwater streams related to forest production,clear-felling and climate

From a policy perspective, it is important to understand forestry effects on surface waters from a landscape perspective. The EU Water Framework Directive demands remedial actions if not achieving good ecological status. In Sweden, 44 % of the surface water bodies have moderate ecological status or worse. Many of these drain catchments with a mosaic of managed forests. It is important for the forestry sector and water authorities to be able to identify where, in the forested landscape, special precautions are necessary. The aim of this study was to quantify the relations between forestry parameters and headwater stream concentrations of nutrients, organic matter and acid-base chemistry. The results are put into the context of regional climate, sulphur and nitrogen deposition, as well as marine influences. Water chemistry was measured in 179 randomly selected headwater streams from two regions in southwest and central Sweden, corresponding to 10 % of the Swedish land area. Forest status was determined from satellite images and Swedish National Forest Inventory data using the probabilistic classifier method, which was used to model stream water chemistry with Bayesian model averaging. The results indicate that concentrations of e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter are related to factors associated with forest production but that it is not forestry per se that causes the excess losses. Instead, factors simultaneously affecting forest production and stream water chemistry, such as climate, extensive soil pools and nitrogen deposition, are the most likely candidates The relationships with clear-felled and wetland areas are likely to be direct effects.     

Mapping afforestation and deforestation from 1974 to 2012 using Landsat time-series stacks in Yulin District, a key region of the Three-North Shelter region, China

The Three-North Shelter Forest Program is the largest afforestation reconstruction project in the world. Remote sensing is a crucial tool to map land use and land cover change, but it is still challenging to accurately quantify the change in forest extent from time-series satellite images. In this paper, 30 Landsat MSS/TM/ETM+ epochs from 1974 to 2012 were collected, and the high-quality ground surface reflectance (GSR) time-series images were processed by integrating the 6S atmosphere transfer model and a relative reflectance normalization algorithm. Subsequently, we developed a vegetation change tracking method to reconstruct the forest change history (afforestation and deforestation) from the time-series Landsat GSR images based on the integrated forest z-score (IFZ) model by Huang et al. (2009a), which was improved by multi-phenological IFZ models and the smoothing processing of IFZ data for afforestation mapping. The mapping result showed a large increase in the extent of forest, from 380,394 ha (14.8 % of total district area) in 1974 to 1,128,380 ha (43.9 %) in 2010. Finally, the land cover and forest change map was validated with an overall accuracy of 89.1 % and a kappa coefficient of 0.858. The forest change time was also successfully retrieved, with 22.2 % and 86.5 % of the change pixels attributed to the correct epoch and within three epochs, respectively. The results confirmed a great achievement of the ecological revegetation projects in Yulin district over the last 40 years and also illustrated the potential of the time-series of Landsat images for detecting forest changes and estimating tree age for the artificial forest in a semi-arid zone strongly influenced by human activities.     

Development of a multi-criteria index ranking system for urban runoff best management practices (BMPs) selection

Low impact development best management practices (LID-BMPs) are considered to be cost-effective measures for mitigating the water quantity and quality impact of urban runoff. Currently, there are many types of LID-BMPs, and each type has its own intrinsic technical and/or economical characteristics and limitations for implementation. The selection of the most appropriate BMP type(s) for a specific installation site is therefore a very important planning step. In the present study, a multi-criteria selection index system (MCIS) for LID-BMP planning was developed. The selection indexes include 12 first-level indices and 26 second-level indices which reflect the specific installation site characteristics pertaining to site suitability, runoff control performance, and economics of implementation. A mechanism for ranking the BMPs was devised. First, each individual second-level index was assigned a numeric value that was based on site characteristics and information on LID-BMPs. The quantified indices were normalized and then integrated to obtain the score for each of the first-level index. The final evaluation scores of each LID-BMP were then calculated based on the scores for the first-level indices. Finally, the appropriate BMP types for a specific installation site were determined according to the rank of the final evaluation scores. In order to facilitate the application of the MCIS BMP ranking system, the computational process has been coded into a software program, BMPSELEC. A case study demonstrating the MCIS methodology, using an LID-BMP implementation planning at a college campus in Foshan, Guangdong Province, is presented.     

环境监测实验室方法确认过程中常见问题探讨

根据实验室资质认定对于方法确认的要求,结合环境监测实验室的特点,提出了新项目方法确认的具体步骤,并分析了其中存在的常见问题。指出在方法确认过程中,应严格按照标准方法和监测技术规范进行全过程试验,尤其不能忽视采样现场实验、空白实验和检出限的测定。建议在精密度与准确度检验过程中,使用高、中、低不同浓度的有证标准样品,实际样品加标回收,比对试验（方法比对、人员比对、实验室间比对）,增加分析次数等多种手段,确保新项目开展的可靠性。     

Robust Regression with Data-Dependent Regularization Parameters and Autoregressive Temporal Correlations

We introduce robust procedures for analyzing water quality data collected over time. One challenging task in analyzing such data is how to achieve robustness in presence of outliers while maintaining high estimation efficiency so that we can draw valid conclusions and provide useful advices in water management. The robust approach requires specification of a loss function such as the Huber, Tukey’s bisquare and the exponential loss function, and an associated tuning parameter determining the extent of robustness needed. High robustness is at the cost of efficiency loss in parameter loss. To this end, we propose a data-driven method which leads to more efficient parameter estimation. This data-dependent approach allows us to choose a regularization (tuning) parameter that depends on the proportion of “outliers” in the data so that estimation efficiency is maximized. We illustrate the proposed methods using a study on ammonium nitrogen concentrations from two sites in the Huaihe River in China, where the interest is in quantifying the trend in the most recent years while accounting for possible temporal correlations and “irregular” observations in earlier years.