Deposition of aerially sprayed mexacarbate on balsam fir canopy and the forest floor: Relevance to ULV applications

Abstract

Spray deposit patterns were measured on aluminum coils and live balsam fir needles at different canopy heights, following aerial application of mexacarbate (4‐dimethylamino‐3,5‐xylyl N‐methylcarbamate) over a conifer forest in New Brunswick. Droplet size spectra of the spray cloud were determined on cylindrical Kromekote® cards placed at the corresponding crown heights. Ground deposits were collected on cylindrical Kromekote cards, aluminum coils and natural balsam fir foliage placed In forest clearings and under different types of vegetation.

Canopy deposits decreased progressively from the top to the bottom level of the tree crown. This trend was observed on aluminum coils, live fir foliage, and Kromekote cards. Droplet size spectra were similar at all sampling heights of the tree crown, and were comparable to those obtained on the ground cards placed in the forest clearings. Deposits of mexacarbate obtained on ground samplers on the open forest floor were markedly lower than those found at the top canopy but were similar to those at the mid or bottom canopy level. Droplet size spectra and mexacarbate deposits obtained on samplers placed under different types of forest vegetation indicated a selective filtration of the large droplets present in the spray cloud by plant canopies.     

Landscape change: Perceptions and physical measures

This paper addresses questions of affective responses of residents of rural Arizona to changes in proximate community and riparian landscapes and the congruence of their perceptions of change with physical measures of change in those landscapes. Based on findings and concepts from previous studies, perceptions of change were assessed using a mail survey. Physical measures of land use and vegetation change were obtained from aerial photography for two points in time spanning approximately 13 years and were analyzed using a geographic information system. Significant differences were found in perceptions of change in the community and riparian landscapes. In contrast with previous findings, a majority of respondents found the changes as either improving or having no effect on landscape quality. Those who were more frequent users of the riparian landscape tended to be more aware of changes in it. The findings also suggest challenges for planners and resource managers working in rural areas adjacent to riparian landscapes.     

Use of Physical Sciences in Support of Environmental Management

Offshore drilling for oil and gas has been conducted since the early 1900s. Oil and gas under the seabed continue to be an important part of the energy resources of the United States. The need to balance the value of these resources against the potential for environmental damage is an important concern. This article explains why and how the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the US Department of the Interior uses research in physical sciences to help fulfill its environmental goals, and it provides background information on the role of physical sciences in decision-making for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil, gas, and other minerals development. Established in the 1970s, the MMS Environmental Studies Program is a highly focused marine research program designed to provide the environmental information necessary for OCS energy and nonenergy minerals planning and development activities. The physical sciences research supported by MMS includes physical oceanography, oil-spill risk analyses, atmospheric sciences, and sand and gravel studies. Instead of giving a comprehensive review on physical sciences research in MMS, this article presents sample MMS studies and illustrates how these studies are utilized to support decision-making in environmental management.Published online Note: This version was published online in June 2005 with the cover date of August 2004.     

The Subjective Rating Scales for Measurement of Mental Workload—Thurstonian Scaling

Subjective rating scales for measuring work demands and individual capabilities to cope with work requirements were developed using the Thurstonian procedure. The scales measure six dimensions of mental workload: mental difficulties, feeling of responsibility, awareness of risk, interpersonal conflicts, monotony, and time pressure. Individual scale results make it possible to assess the level of mental workload understood as a relation between the subjective rating of work demands and individual capabilities in each of the six dimensions. Two versions of scales were prepared: classic and modified ones. To assess the level of reliability of the particular scales, 481 participants were examined twice at a 1-month interval. A procedure to prepare scales for the measurement of other dimensions of mental workload is also presented.     

Use of watershed characteristics to select control streams for estimating effects of metal mining wastes on extensively disturbed streams

Impacts of sediments and heavy metals on the biota of streams in the copper-mining district of southwestern Montana were examined by comparing aquatic communities of impacted streams with those of control streams. Control streams were chosen through the use of a technique that identifies similar streams based on similarities in their watershed characteristics. Significant differences between impacted and control sites existed for surface substrate, riparian vegetation, and the number of macroinvertebrate taxa. These results revealed that: (a) chemical and physical habitats at the impacted sites were disrupted, (b) the presence of trout was an inadequate measure of ecological integrity for these sites, and (c) watershed classification based on a combination of mapped terrestrial characteristics provided a reasonable method to select control sites where potential control sites upstream and downstream were unsuitable.     

煤矿井下气候参数和劳动强度对矿工生理参数影响的研究

对机械化采煤工作面的采煤机司机和支柱工的劳动心率和能量代谢进行了现场实测。就气候参数和劳动强度对作业人员的生理参数影响进行了模拟实验,取得一些实验研究成果。对改善劳动条件和作业环境,提高生产效率,保护井下矿工的身心健康与安全,提供了科学依据。     

Effects of degree of water saturation on dispersivity and immobile water in sandy soil columns

Three natural nonaggregated soil samples, with similar grain-size distributions, have been used to determine the dispersive behavior of porous media under steady, saturated and unsaturated flow conditions. Tritium was used as a tracer and was found to have no sorption on the solid matrix. Generated breakthrough curves (BTCs) for the unsaturated experiments were symmetrical with no evidence of tailing. The unsaturated experiments for two of the soils were adequately described by considering all the water in the pore volume as mobile. However, about 10% of the pore water, independent of the degree of saturation, was found to be immobile in the case of the third soil during unsaturated flow. For this soil, there was no mass transfer between the two water regions, indicating that the immobile water is essentially isolated from the flowing water fraction. For all three soils, dispersivity under unsaturated conditions was found to be higher, independent of the degree of water saturation, than the value determined for the saturated experiments. This is inconsistent with what would be expected from the simple bundle-of-capillary-tubes model and does not agree well with a more sophisticated conceptualization of the porous medium. The data, however, clearly indicate a wider range in pore-water velocities when these soils are desaturated.     

富营养化水体中微囊藻毒素（MCs）去除技术研究进展

当前,随着工业的发展水体富营养化程度日益严重。引起富营养化的主要藻类一蓝藻,能够释放对人体及鱼类具有多器官毒性、遗传性和致癌性的毒素——微囊藻毒素（MCs）。MCs治理技术种类繁多,传统的物理法如：混凝沉淀、膜过滤、活性炭吸附、气浮以及直接过滤只能对简单的处理细胞内的MCs;化学氧化法、光催化氧化法以及高级氧化法虽然能有效处理水体中的MCs．但有成本高、易二次污染和操作复杂等缺点,难以满足日益严格的环保要求;生物酶法除了具有生物降解法所具有的廉价、无二次污染、降解彻底和易操作等特点外,还被刺用来监控水体中MCs,它将成为今后重点研究的技术领域．     

南昌典型园林树种燃烧性实验研究

选择南昌西郊和北郊12个园林树种不同器官理化性状测定分析和燃烧试验,根据各树种的含水率、燃点、热值、粗灰分、粗脂肪、木质素、粗纤维、燃烧时间、火烧强度和生物生态学特性等10个因子,应用DPS聚类分析法,对12个园林树种的燃烧性进行了排序,结果表明,难燃树种有5个,依次是：乐昌含笑、珊瑚树、大叶黄杨、白玉兰和海桐;较难燃树种有4个,依次是：女贞、山茶、夹竹桃和含笑;易燃树种有3个,依次是：桂花、巴东木连和红花檵木。为南方防火林带的建设提供了目前公认以外的防火树种。