INCREASES IN SODIUM AND CHLORIDE IN THE MOHAWK RIVER,NEW YORK,FROM THE 1950'S TO THE 1970'S ATTRIBUTED TO ROAD SALT1

Regression analyses of major ion concentration in relation to specific conductance of water from the Mohawk River during two separate periods, 1951–53 and 1970–74, indicate statistically insignificant changes in the linear relationship of all constituents studied except chloride. Mean values and changes in the slopes of these relationships indicate that sodium and chloride have had consistently higher yields, in kilograms per square kilometer per year, than the other ions, although all ions show a general 20 percent increase in yields during the two decades. This general increase in ion yields is attributed to an accelerated transport rate of ions out of the basin as a result of a 19 percent increase in mean stream discharge. Transport rates of sodium and chloride have increased by 72 and 145 percent, respectively, in the Mohawk River since the early 1950's. Analysis of the sodium and chloride sources indicates rock salt used as a road deicei to be the primary source. This salt use accounts for 96 percent of the sodium transport increase and 69 percent of the chloride transport increase within the basin during the last two decades.     

GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT1

There are four groundwater resources to be managed: yield, storage capacity, water-in-storage, and transmissivity. Management concepts have changed over the years, with today's concept which covers comprehensive integrated use of the four groundwater resources with surface water resources to provide the most efficient water service for an area in terms of quantity, quality, and cost. Complete geologic and hydrologic understanding provides a base for formulation of plans which can utilize the techniques of artificial recharge, control of sea water intrusion, and variation of pumping patterns while protecting the resources through proper well construction and abandonment, placement of sanitary landfills, and liquid waste disposal. Plan formulation involves varying recharge and extraction amounts while maintaining the total of pumped groundwater and developed surface water equal to the projected and future demand. Physical limitations of the system must be recognized to assure reality of the plans. Legal constraints should not be placed on the plan formulation process. A present worth or other technique is used to provide an economic comparison among plans. Implementation will entail development of legal and organizational structure, with the most difficult problems relating to the management organization in terms of boundaries and powers.     

SME environmental attitudes and participation in local‐scale voluntary initiatives: some practical applications

This paper briefly assesses the economic efficiency case for voluntary initiatives (VIs), discusses some limitations of this type of policy instrument and goes on to consider the role that local‐scale voluntary initiatives might play in assisting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to embrace the issue of environmental performance improvement. The paper examines SME organizational management in relation to the likely effectiveness of their participation in voluntary environment programmes. An environmental attitudes survey carried out with 62 SMEs in East Anglia found that willingness to become involved in such initiatives does exist, but that a better presentation of opportunities for prospective small firms, together with a more tailored approach, will be necessary if VIs for SMEs are to become a more extensive feature of environmental policy making in the UK.     

FLOOD-RUNOFF FORECASTING WITH HEC1F1

HEC1F is a computer program for making short- to medium-term forecasts of uncontrolled flood runoff. The program employs unit hydrographs and hydrologic routing to simulate runoff from a subdivided basin. Estimates of future rainfall can be accommodated. Runoff parameters for gaged headwater subbasins can be estimated (optimized) in real time. Blending of calculated with observed hydrographs can be performed. HEC1F is a component of an on-line software system that includes capability for data acquisition and processing, precipitation analysis, streamflow forecasting, reservoir system analysis, and graphical display of data and simulation results. The conceptual framework for HEC1F is described, and application of the program is illustrated.     

PROBABLE MAXIMUM FLOOD ESTIMATION-EASTERN UNITED STATES1

In 1982, the National Weather Service (NWS) published criteria for developing the spatial and temporal precipitation distribution characteristics of Probable Maximum Storms. The criteria, which are intended for use in the United States east of the 105th meridian, involve four variables: (1) location of the storm center, (2) storm-area size, (3) storm orientation, and (4) temporal arrangement of precipitation amounts. A computer program has been developed which applies the NWS criteria to produce hyetographs of spatially-averaged precipitation for a basin, or for each subbasin if the basin is subdividided. The basis and operational characteristics of the program are described, and an application is illustrated in which the program is used in conjunction with a precipitation-runoff simulation program (HEC-1) to compute a Probable Maximum Flood.     

RAINGAGE NETWORK DESIGN USING NEXRAD PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES1

ABSTRACT: A general framework is proposed for using precipitation estimates from NEXRAD weather radars in raingage network design. NEXRAD precipitation products are used to represent space time rainfall fields, which can be sampled by hypothetical raingage networks. A stochastic model is used to simulate gage observations based on the areal average precipitation for radar grid cells. The stochastic model accounts for subgrid variability of precipitation within the cell and gage measurement errors. The approach is ideally suited to raingage network design in regions with strong climatic variations in rainfall where conventional methods are sometimes lacking. A case study example involving the estimation of areal average precipitation for catchments in the Catskill Mountains illustrates the approach. The case study shows how the simulation approach can be used to quantify the effects of gage density, basin size, spatial variation of precipitation, and gage measurement error, on network estimates of areal average precipitation. Although the quality of NEXRAD precipitation products imposes limitations on their use in network design, weather radars can provide valuable information for empirical assessment of rain‐gage network estimation errors. Still, the biggest challenge in quantifying estimation errors is understanding subgrid spatial variability. The results from the case study show that the spatial correlation of precipitation at subgrid scales (4 km and less) is difficult to quantify, especially for short sampling durations. Network estimation errors for hourly precipitation are extremely sensitive to the uncertainty in subgrid spatial variability, although for storm total accumulation, they are much less sensitive.     

Young females' attention toward road safety images: An ERP study of the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory

Objective: This study examined whether reward and punishment sensitivities, as conceptualized by Gray and McNaughton's revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST), influenced young female drivers' attention toward a series of positive and negative antispeeding advertisement images. Young females' increasing crash risk is associated with their engagement in risky behaviors, which, in turn, has been associated with a stronger behavioral approach system (BAS; sensitive to rewards). It was predicted that individuals with a stronger BAS would elicit larger N100 and N200 mean amplitudes (reflecting greater attention) toward the positive images. Similar associations were predicted in relation to the fight–flight–freeze system (FFFS; sensitive to punishments) for negative images.

Method: Twenty-four female drivers (17–25 years; final N = 16) completed Corr-Cooper's RST-Personality Questionnaire, prior to undergoing an event-related potential computerized visual task (i.e., oddball paradigm) that included positive, negative, and neutral images as targets against checkerboard image distractors.

Results: Contrary to expectations, individuals with a stronger BAS (Reward Reactivity and Impulsivity) demonstrated significantly larger N200 mean amplitudes at the Cz electrode site on presentation of the negative images than those with a weaker BAS. No other significant RST effects were found.

Conclusions: These findings provide some preliminary objective support for the use of negative emotion-based road safety advertisements for young females. Further, this study provides support for using psychophysiological measures to enhance understanding of traffic injury persuasion.     

The annual testosterone profile in cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wrens, Malurus cyaneus, reflects their extreme infidelity

Superb fairy-wrens are cooperatively breeding birds that combine stable, socially monogamous pair bonds and high levels of paternal care, with extreme levels of extra-pair mating and high levels of sexual competition. Our aim was to determine which testosterone correlates would prevail in such a life history that combines features that are conventionally associated with divergent hormone profiles. Unlike the situation in other species with monogamous pair bonds and high levels of paternal care, testosterone was elevated for a very long period of several months. During breeding there was a broad peak in testosterone followed by a gradual decline: this resembles the profile found in polygynous and promiscuous species. We found that three factors correlated with testosterone: development of the sexually selected nuptial plumage, social status and extra-group mating opportunities. Testosterone started increasing months prior to breeding, when the males that are later preferred as extra-group sires develop their nuptial plumage. Although these males did not have higher testosterone levels during breeding, they sustained high testosterone for much longer, and this might lend reliability to this sexual signal. Dominant males in groups had higher testosterone than pair-dwelling males and subordinate helpers. This was not due to differences in age, reproductive capability or mating opportunities, but was presumably associated with the assertion of dominance. In contrast to findings in other species, male testosterone level was not correlated with whether the resident female was fertile or had dependent nestlings. However, testosterone was strongly correlated with the total number of fertile females in the population, and hence with the opportunities for extra-group mating.     

Are Toronto’s streams sick? A look at the fish and benthic invertebrate communities in the Toronto region in relation to the urban stream syndrome

Impacts of urbanization on aquatic ecosystems are intensifying as urban sprawl spreads across the global land base. The urban stream syndrome (USS) identifies “symptoms” associated with urban development including changes in biotic communities, hydrology, water chemistry, and channel morphology. Direct relationships between road density (as surrogate of urbanization) and indicators of the USS were identified for streams in the Toronto region. Significant negative relationships were revealed between road density and biological (fish and benthic macroinvertebrate) richness, diversity, and fish Index of Biotic Integrity scores. Significant positive relationships were found between road density and tolerant fish/benthic macroinvertbrates, benthos Family Biotic Index scores, mean summer stream temperature, stream flashiness, and several water quality variables. Analysis of biological data showed that only four fish species and a reduced number of benthic macroinvertebrate families remained at the most urbanized sites. Road density was found to be a major determinant in both the fish and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure.     

Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models for Selecting Ground-Level Ozone Control Strategies

The traditional strategy for ground-level ozone control is to apply emission reductions across the board throughout certain time periods and locations. In this paper, we study various mixed integer linear programming (MILP) models that seek to select targeted control strategies for the Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW) region to reduce emissions, in order to achieve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) requirements with minimum cost. Statistics and optimization methods are used to determine a potential set of cost-effective control strategies for reducing ozone. These targeted control strategies are specified for different types of emission sources in various time periods and locations. Three MILP models, a static model, a sequential model, and a dynamic model, are studied in this research. These different MILP models allow decision makers to study how the targeted control strategies change under different circumstances. Meanwhile, two types of auxiliary variables are considered as supplemental control strategies in the optimization if the current set of control strategies is unable to reduce ozone to comply with the 8-h ozone standard. Results from the different models can provide decision makers with information concerning how the effectiveness of the control strategies varies with daily emission patterns and meteorology.