Hydrological Responses to Climate and Land‐Use Changes along the North American East Coast: A 110‐Year Historical Reconstruction

The North American east coast (NAEC) region experienced significant climate and land‐use changes in the past century. To explore how these changes have affected land water cycling, the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM 2.0) was used to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of runoff and river discharge during 1901‐2010 in the study area. Annual runoff over the NAEC was 420 ± 61 mm/yr (average ± standard deviation). Runoff increased in parts of the northern NAEC but decreased in some areas of the southern NAEC. Annual freshwater discharge from the study area was 378 ± 61 km³/yr (average ± standard deviation). Factorial simulation experiments suggested that climate change and variability explained 97.5% of the interannual variability of runoff and also resulted in the opposite changes in runoff in northern and southern regions of the NAEC. Land‐use change reduced runoff by 5‐22 mm/yr from 1931 to 2010, but the impacts were divergent over the Piedmont region and Coastal Plain areas of the southern NAEC. Land‐use change impacts were more significant at local and watershed spatial scales rather than at regional scales. Different responses of runoff to changing climate and land‐use should be noted in future water resource management. Hydrological impacts of afforestation and deforestation as well as urbanization should also be noted by land‐use policy makers.     

Development and Evaluation of Bankfull Hydraulic Geometry Relationships for the Physiographic Regions of the United States

Bankfull hydraulic geometry relationships are used to estimate channel dimensions for streamflow simulation models, which require channel geometry data as input parameters. Often, one nationwide curve is used across the entire United States (U.S.) (e.g., in Soil and Water Assessment Tool), even though studies have shown that the use of regional curves can improve the reliability of predictions considerably. In this study, regional regression equations predicting bankfull width, depth, and cross‐sectional area as a function of drainage area are developed for the Physiographic Divisions and Provinces of the U.S. and compared to a nationwide equation. Results show that the regional curves at division level are more reliable than the nationwide curve. Reliability of the curves depends largely on the number of observations per region and how well the sample represents the population. Regional regression equations at province level yield even better results than the division‐level models, but because of small sample sizes, the development of meaningful regression models is not possible in some provinces. Results also show that drainage area is a less reliable predictor of bankfull channel dimensions than bankfull discharge. It is likely that the regional curves can be improved using multiple regression models to incorporate additional explanatory variables.     

Interaction between Cu2+ and different types of surface-modified nanoscale zero-valent iron during their transport in porous media

This study investigated the interaction between Cu²⁺ and nano zero-valent iron (NZVI) coated with three types of stabilizers (i.e., polyacrylic acid [PAA], Tween-20 and starch) by examining the Cu²⁺ uptake, colloidal stability and mobility of surface-modified NZVI (SM-NZVI) in the presence of Cu²⁺. The uptake of Cu²⁺ by SM-NZVI and the colloidal stability of the Cu-bearing SM-NZVI were examined in batch tests. The results showed that NZVI coated with different modifiers exhibited different affinities for Cu²⁺, which resulted in varying colloidal stability of different SM-NZVI in the presence of Cu²⁺. The presence of Cu²⁺ exerted a slight influence on the aggregation and settling of NZVI modified with PAA or Tween-20. However, the presence of Cu²⁺ caused significant aggregation and sedimentation of starch-modified NZVI, which is due to Cu²⁺ complexation with the starch molecules coated on the surface of the particles. Column experiments were conducted to investigate the co-transport of Cu²⁺ in association with SM-NZVI in water-saturated quartz sand. It was presumed that a physical straining mechanism accounted for the retention of Cu-bearing SM-NZVI in the porous media. Moreover, the enhanced aggregation of SM-NZVI in the presence of Cu²⁺ may be contributing to this straining effect.     

Resource conservation strategies for rice‐wheat cropping systems on partially reclaimed sodic soils of the Indo‐Gangetic region,and their effects on soil carbon

The Indo‐Gangetic plain is characterized by intensive agriculture, largely by resource‐poor small and marginal farmers. Vast swathes of salt‐affected areas in the region provide both challenges and opportunities to bolster food security and sequester carbon after reclamation. Sustainable management of reclaimed soils via resource conservation strategies, such as residue retention, is key to the prosperity of the farmer, as well as increases the efficiency of expensive initiatives to further reclaim sodic land areas, which currently lay barren. After five years of experimentation on resource conservation strategies for rice‐wheat systems on partially reclaimed sodic soils of the Indo‐Gangetic region, we evaluated changes in different soil carbon pools and crop yield. Out of all resource conservation techniques which were tested, rice‐wheat crop residue addition (30% of total production) was most effective in increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). In rice, without crop residue addition (WCR), soils under zero‐tillage with transplanting, summer ploughing with transplanting and direct seeding with brown manuring showed a significant increase in SOC over the control (puddling in rice, conventional tillage in wheat). In these treatments relatively higher levels of carbon were attained in all aggregate fractions compared to the control. Soil aggregate sizes in meso (0.25‐2.0 mm) and macro (2‐8 mm) ranges increased, whereas micro (< 0.25 mm) fractions decreased in soils under zero‐till practices, both with and without crop residue addition. Direct seeding with brown manuring and zero tillage with transplanting also showed an increase of 135% and 95%, respectively, over the control in microbial biomass carbon, without crop residue incorporation. In zero tillage with transplanting treatment, both with and without crop residue showed significant increase in soil carbon sequestration potential. Though the changes in accrued soil carbon did not bring about significant differences in terms of grain yield, overall synthesis in terms of balance between yield and carbon sequestration indicated that summer ploughing with transplanting and zero tillage with transplanting sequestered significantly higher rates of carbon, yet yielded on par with conventional practices. These could be appropriate alternatives to immediately replace conventional tillage and planting practices for rice‐wheat cropping systems in the sodic soils of the Indo‐Gangetic region.     

湿式电除尘器极配改进及性能测定

极配形式作为电除尘器的核心组成部分,对电晕放电特性的影响十分重要。电除尘器极配系统电晕放电性能可用伏安特性曲线来描述和判断。通过实验研究了电场风速、雾滴粒径和喷水量对湿式电除尘器电晕放电特性的影响。结果表明:电场风速对起晕电压和火花放电电压的影响不大;在相同的试验条件下,随着电场风速的增大,伏安特性曲线向下偏移;在相同的电压下,雾滴粒径越大,电晕电流越大,但火花放电电压却降低;在一定的电场风速下,随着喷水量的增大,伏安特性曲线有向上偏移的趋势,但火花放电电压比不喷水时要低得多。     

Decomposition of trifluoromethane in a dielectric barrier discharge non-thermal plasma reactor

The decomposition of trifluoromethane (CHF₃) was carried out using non-thermal plasma generated in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor. The effects of reactor temperature, electric power, initial concentration and oxygen content were examined. The DBD reactor was able to completely destroy CHF₃ with alumina beads as a packing material. The decomposition efficiency increased with increasing electric power and reactor temperature. The destruction of CHF₃ gradually increased with the addition of O₂ up to 2%, but further increase in the oxygen content led to a decrease in the decomposition efficiency. The degradation pathways were explained with the identified by-products. The main by-products from CHF₃ were found to be COF₂, CF₄, CO₂ and CO although the COF₂ and CF₄ disappeared when the plasma were combined with alumina catalyst.     

Synergistic effects of non-thermal plasma-assisted catalyst and ultrasound on toluene removal

A wire-mesh catalyst coated by La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ was combined with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor for toluene removal at atmospheric pressure. It was found that toluene removal efficiency and carbon dioxide selectivity were enhanced in the catalytic packed-bed reactor. In addition, ozone and nitrogen monoxide from the gas effluent byproducts decreased. This is the first time that ultrasound combined with plasma has been used for toluene removal. A synergistic effect on toluene removal was observed in the plasma-assisted ultrasound system. At the same time, the system increased toluene conversion and reduced ozone emission.     

催化氧化法处理循环水排污水

用催化氧化法处理循环水排污水,探索了催化氧化反应的规律,得到了较佳的反应条件。实验结果表明,采用催化氧化法处理循环水排污水可大幅降低废水的COD,使处理后污水的COD<60 mg/L,满足达标排放的水质要求。     

感潮河流的排污规划与管理模型研究

根据河流水质的差分模型,推导出一个感潮河流的排污规划与管理模型,它表现了河段上各排口允排量Ｐｊ与各排口单独排放时的允排量Ｙｊ的关系：ΣＰｊ／Ｙｊ＝１。文中用实例阐述了该模型的应用与验证情况,结果显示：该模型结构简单,容易计算,能方便地用于排污规划、管理与实时控制工作中。     

排污许可证制度在环境管理中发挥重要作用

围绕我国近年来排放大气污染物许可证制度试点工作的实践经验,阐述了排污许可证制度在环境管理中的重要作用,提出了2000年前,在我国大气环境管理中推行排污许可证制度的设想,进而说明试点上作的实践,为将排污许可证制度纳入新修订的《中华人民共和国大气污染防治法》中,提供了宝贵的经验。