Comparing Costs of Onsite Best Management Practices to Nutrient Credits for Stormwater Management: A Case Study in Virginia

Best management practices (BMPs) are widely used to mitigate impacts of increased impervious surfaces on stormwater runoff. However, there is limited detailed and up‐to‐date information available on the cost of designing, constructing, and maintaining BMPs over their lifetime. The objective of this study is to analyze BMPs recently constructed by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to quantify their total cost per pound of phosphorus removed annually. A motivating factor for the study is recent changes to regulatory guidelines in Virginia which allow for full or partial substitution of purchased nutrient credits in lieu of constructing onsite BMPs to achieve compliance with stormwater quality regulations. Results of the analysis of nine BMPs found their cost ranged from $20,100 to $74,900, in 2014 dollars, per pound ($44,313‐$165,126 per kg) of phosphorus removed. Based on these results and assuming current credit prices procured by VDOT, purchasing nutrient credits is a cost‐effective option for the agency, especially when factoring in the cost of additional right of way for the BMP. Based on this finding, we expect compliance with stormwater quality regulations through credit purchases to become more widely used in Virginia. Moving forward, we suggest more direct tracking of BMP costs to support comparisons between BMP costs across a range of types and conditions to credit purchases for meeting stormwater regulations.     

Fertilizer Management in Watersheds of Two Ramsar Wetlands and Effects on Quality of Inflowing Water

Two field experiments were carried out in the watersheds of two Ramsar wetland areas, Lakes Koronia and Volvi (area A) and Lakes Mikri and Megali Prespa (area B), to study the effect of application of N fertilizer on wheat yields, the quality of runoff water, and the quality of stream water. The treatments were a combination of two methods of fertilizer application (total amount in fall, and 2/3 in fall + 1/3 in spring) at three rates (0, 100, and 200 kg N/ha) with four replications. Concentrations of NH₄ ⁺, NO₃ ⁻, NO₂ ⁻, P, and Cl⁻ and pH were determined in all water samples. Runoff water quality was not influenced by fertilizer application in either area. Chemical parameters for water did not differ along the selected watercourses in area B, while in area A they were higher in the samples taken near Lake Koronia than in the samples taken upstream, indicating that the watercourses are polluted downstream by nonagricultural sources. The differences in wheat yields between the 100 and 200 kg N/ha application rates were not high. These results call for better fertilizer management in order to achieve better yields and to diminish the possibility to have negative effects to the environment.     

HYDROLOGIC BEHAVIOR OF VEGETATED ROOFS1

ABSTRACT: Control of stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces is an important national goal because of disruptions to downstream ecosystems, water users, and property owners caused by increased flows and degraded quality. One method for reducing stormwater is the use of vegetated (green) roofs, which efficiently detain and retain stormwater when compared to conventional (black) roofs. A paired green roof‐black roof test plot was constructed at the University of Georgia and monitored between November 2003 and November 2004 for the green roof's effectiveness in reducing stormwater flows. Stormwater mitigation performance was monitored for 31 precipitation events, which ranged in depth from 0.28 to 8.43 cm. Green roof precipitation retention decreased with precipitation depth; ranging from just under 90 percent for small storms (< 2.54 cm) to slightly less than 50 percent for larger storms (> 7.62 cm). Runoff from the green roof was delayed; average runoff lag times increased from 17.0 minutes for the black roof to 34.9 minutes for the green roof, an average increase of 17.9 minutes. Precipitation and runoff data were used to estimate the green roof curve number, CN = 86. This information can be used in hydrologic models for developing stormwater mitigation programs.     

森林影响河川径流的流域因素

国内外所进行的小区或小流域试验表明,砍伐森林径流量增加,增加森林植被覆盖则径流量减少。但是,在大流域,砍伐森林并不一定能增加河川径流量。小面积试验得出的结论不适于推而广之到大的流域。其主要原因是流域因素——所处的自然气候地带、地质地貌特别是水文地质条件的不同。大面积种树种草或砍伐森林,对一个较大流域总水量的影响是比较复杂的。在什么样的条件下水量减少、增加或者变化不大,要对整个流域进行详细地调查和观测,只进行简单的小流域试验是不可能得出正确结论的。     

基于随机森林的南京市PM2.5和O3对减排的响应

自2013年《大气污染防治行动计划》实施后,南京市大气污染有所改善,但仍面临着细颗粒物(PM_2.5)和臭氧(O₃)污染问题.为探究污染物浓度对其前体物减排的响应,获得有效的减排策略,常利用大气化学模式进行多组基于排放扰动的敏感性试验,而这需要消耗大量计算时间和计算资源.应用随机森林算法对2015年大气化学传输模式(GEOS-Chem)模拟结果进行机器学习,高效地预测了南京2019年PM_2.5浓度日均值和日最大8 h臭氧(MDA8 O₃)浓度对不同人为源排放控制情景的响应.随机森林结果表明2019年中国人为排放每减少10%,南京ρ(PM_2.5)季节平均值下降2～4μg·m^-3.当2019年中国人为源减排比例高于20%时,南京ρ(PM_2.5)年均值将低于国家二级限值(35μg·m^-3).若仅对中国地区O₃前体物氮氧化物(NO_x)和挥发性有机污染物(VOCs)同比例减排,反而...     

扑救森林火灾时的安全事项

主要阐述了扑火人员在扑火中应具有的安全装备 ,扑火中的注意事项 ,火场上的自救方法及生活安全等。     

林业生产经营单位安全管理创新的几点思考

分析了当前安全生产管理现状,对林业生产经营单位安全生产管理创新进行探讨,旨在进一步提高安全管理水平。     

三峡库区社区水平乡村路网对森林景观变化的影响

人为扰动是短时空尺度内森林景观变化或用途转换的主要动力,而乡村路网则成为人为扰动拓展的主要通道。基于1992、2002、2014年三峡库区重庆市石柱县西沱镇3期遥感影像和实地调研数据,在ArcGIS平台支持下,研究社区水平乡村路网对森林景观变化的影响。结果表明：1）1992—2014年研究区乡村路网影响域内次生林、退化林地和耕地的动态变化较显著,集中分布在中西部平坦区。1992—2002年乡村路网缓冲区内森林景观整体呈退化趋势,退化类型以次生林→退化林地、次生林→耕地、退化林地→耕地为主,演化量达1 705.91 hm²;2002—2014年乡村路网缓冲区内森林景观主要呈恢复趋势,恢复类型以耕地→退化林地、耕地→次生林、退化林地→次生林和原始林→退化原始林为主,演化量达1 674.52 hm²。2）相比发现,前一时期研究区乡村路网长度的增加和路网材质的提升很大程度上驱动森林景观的退化,而后一时期低等级路段的消失、废弃或利用率的降低则有助于森林景观的恢复,消失路段恢复率近100%。3）研究有助于丰富人们对社区水平乡村路网影响森林景观变化的理解与认识,为生态文明建设中合理规划乡村路网提供科学依据。     

长白山温带森林挥发性有机物的排放通量

2010年夏季,在长白山温带森林开展了挥发性有机物(VOC)排放通量以及气象参数、PAR的综合测量.VOC排放通量采用松弛涡度积累(RelaxedEddyAccumulation)技术在森林冠层上进行测量.初步发现长白山阔叶林主要排放α-蒎烯、β-蒎烯、莰烯、香桧烯、月桂烯、蒈烯、柠檬烯、罗勒烯、松油烯、繖花烃、萜品油烯、三环烯等.研究表明,长白山阔叶混交林VOC排放有明显的日变化——早晚较低和中午前后较高.2010年夏季,单萜烯总排放通量的平均值为0.242mg·m·h-2-1,其变化范围为0.005～1.668mg·m·h-2-1;各成分排放通量的平均值(和最大值)分别为α-蒎烯0.072(0.234)、莰烯0.028(0.356)、月桂烯0.027(0.433)、蒈烯0.023(0.173)、柠檬烯0.037(0.197)、罗勒烯0.016(0.168)、萜品油烯0.053(0.320)、繖花烃0.067(0.755)mg·m·h-2-1.研究还发现VOC排放通量与气温之间存在一定的联系.     

基于随机森林模型的中国近地面NO2浓度估算

NH₃针对传统近地面NO₂浓度空间模拟过程中NO₂浓度与其影响要素之间关系的复杂非线性机制解释不充分的缺陷,本研究基于随机森林（RF）算法、融合多源地理要素开展了近地面NO₂浓度空间分布模拟研究.以卫星OMI对流层NO₂柱浓度数据和多源地理要素（道路交通、气象因子、土地利用/覆盖、地形高程、人口数量）为输入变量,近地面NO₂浓度为输出变量,利用RF算法构建近地面NO₂浓度反演模型.通过对比地面观测数据与传统土地利用回归模型（LUR）检验RF模型的有效性,基于所构建的最优RF模型在不同时间尺度下模拟分析中国大陆地区近地面NO₂浓度空间分布特征.结果表明：（1）集成多源地理要素的RF回归模型精度高,月均模型整体拟合度R² 0.85,RMSE 6.08μg/m³,交叉验证的R² 0.84,RMSE 6.33μg/m³,显著高于LUR模型（拟合R² 0.53,RMSE 10.48μg/m³,交叉验证的R² 0.53,RMSE 10.49μg/m³）; （2）地面NO₂浓度与预测变量呈现显著的复杂非线性与时间尺度依赖关系,卫星OMI柱浓度对模型影响程度最大,重要性指标IncMSE介于97.40%~116.54%,多源地理特征变量对RF模型同样具有不可忽视的贡献力（IncMSE在23.34%~47.53%之间）;（3）中国大陆地区NO₂污染程度较高,年均模拟浓度为24.67μg/m³,存在明显季节性空间差异,NO₂浓度冬季（31.85μg/m³） > 秋季（24.86μg/m³） > 春季（23.24μg/m³） > 夏季（18.75μg/m³）,呈现以华北平原为高值中心、向外围逐渐减轻的空间分布格局.较已有研究揭示对流层NO₂柱浓度宏观分布特征,本研究对近地面NO₂污染特征的研究成果对于合理制定污染防控策略、降低居民暴露健康损害具有指导意义.