Study of Meteorological Aspects and Urban Concentration of SO2 in Atmospheric Environment of La Plata, Argentina

This article presents and discusses SO₂ (ppbv) concentration measurements combined with meteorological data (mainly wind speed and direction) for a five-year campaign (1996 to 2000), in a site near an oil refinery plant close to the city of La Plata and surroundings (aprox. 740.000 inh.), considered one of the six most affected cities by air pollution in the country. Since there is no monitoring network in the area, the obtained results should be considered as medium term accumulated data that enables to determine trends by analyzing together gas concentrations and meteorological parameters. Preliminary characterization of the behaviour of the predominant winds of the region in relation with potential atmospheric gas pollutants from seasonal wind roses is possible to carry out from the data. These results are complemented with monthly averaged SO₂ measurements. In particular, for year 2000, pollutant roses were determined which enable predictions about contamination emission sources. As a general result we can state that there is a clear increase in annual SO₂ concentration and that the selected site should be considered as a key site for future survey monitoring network deployment. Annual SO₂ average concentration and prevailing seasonal winds determined in this work, together with the potential health impact of SO₂ reveals the need for a comprehensive and systematic study involving particulate matter an other basic pollutant gases.     

An Analysis of Secondary Pollutants in Buenos Aires City

Air pollutant concentrations from a monitoring campaign in Buenos Aires City, Argentina, are used to investigate the relationships between ambient levels of ozone (O₃), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) as a function of NO _x (=NO + NO₂). This campaign undertaken by the electricity sector was aimed at elucidating the apportionment of thermal power plants to air quality deterioration. Concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) were also registered. Photo stationary state (PSS) of the NO, NO₂, O₃ and peroxy radicals species has been analysed. The ‘oxidant’ level concept has been introduced, OX (=O₃ + NO₂), which varies with the level of NO _x . It is shown that this level is made up of NO _x -independent and NO _x -dependent contributions. The former is a regional contribution that equates the background O₃ level, whereas the latter is a local contribution that correlates with the level of primary pollution. Furthermore, the anticorrelation between NO₂ and O₃ levels, which is a characteristic of the atmospheric photo stationary cycle has been verified.The analysis of the concentration of the primary pollutants CO and NO strongly suggests that the vehicle traffic is the principal source of them. Levels of continuous measurements of SO₂ for Buenos Aires City are reported in this work as a complement of previously published results.     

Characterization and Identification of the Sources of Chromium, Zinc, Lead, Cadmium, Nickel, Manganese and Iron in Pm10 Particulates at the Two Sites of Kolkata, India

Monitoring of ambient PM₁₀ (particulate matter which passes through a size selective impactor inlet with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 10 μm aerodynamic diameter) has been done at residential (Kasba) and industrial (Cossipore) sites of an urban region of Kolkata during November 2003 to November 2004. These sites were selected depending on the dominant anthropogenic activities. Metal constituents of atmospheric PM₁₀ deposited on glass fibre filter paper were estimated using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). Chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) are the seven toxic trace metals quantified from the measured PM₁₀ concentrations. The 24 h average concentrations of Cr, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, Mn and Fe from ninety PM₁₀ particulate samples of Kolkata were found to be 6.9, 506.1, 79.1, 3.3, 7.4, 2.4 and 103.6 ng/m³, respectively. The 24 h average PM₁₀ concentration exceeded national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) as specified by central pollution control board, India at both residential (Kasba) and industrial (Cossipore) areas with mean concentration of 140.1 and 196.6 μg/m³, respectively. A simultaneous meteorology study was performed to assess the influence of air masses by wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, relative humidity and temperature. The measured toxic trace metals generally showed inverse relationship with wind speed, relative humidity and temperature. Factor analysis, a receptor modeling technique has been used for identification of the possible sources contributing to the PM₁₀. Varimax rotated factor analysis identified four possible sources of measured trace metals comprising solid waste dumping, vehicular traffic with the influence of road dust, road dust and soil dust at residential site (Kasba), while vehicular traffic with the influence of soil dust, road dust, galvanizing and electroplating industry, and tanning industry at industrial site (Cossipore).     

An Analogy on Assessment of Urban Air Pollution in Turkey Over the Turn of the Millennium (1992–2001)

Rapid industrialization and urbanization in Turkey, especially over the last twenty five years, has provided better living standards to its residents, but it also caused a decrease in environmental quality. In late 1970's, air quality monitoring activities were started in some major cities by individual researchers in Turkey. It was just around the 1990's that a countrywide program on continuous air pollution monitoring in major province centers and selected large towns was launched. The impact of air pollution on people depend on various factors, such as existence and magnitude of coal powered energy generation plants, type of urban heating and their efficiency, and the numbers and specifications of vehicles. In this study, current Turkish urban air quality over the turn of the Millennium (1992–2001) is studied in the light of the country's worst cities in terms of outdoor air quality, the number of upper respiratory diseases, sinusitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia cases in these provinces reported by the state medical treatment facilities in 2001. The population that is under outdoor urban air pollution hazard was computed. A comparative analysis between the provinces that use natural gas and others that use fossil fuels was also completed in order to project monetary gains if the studied provinces will transform their indoor heating and industrial operations to be run by natural gas or other cleaner energy sources. If natural gas use in air polluted urban centers could be realized in the near future, approximately 212 to 350 million US dollars per annum could to be saved just by reducing health related problems caused by outdoor air pollution.     

Development and Use of Integrated Air Quality Management Tools in Urban Areas with the Aid of Environmental Telematics

Contemporary urban air quality management requires the use of appropriate systems which include air quality models, a Geographical Information System (GIS) and a combination of expert systems and decision support tools, while at the same time possessing the capability to receive information from in situ measurements. Until recently, the relation between Information Technology capabilities and the system's design and architecture were poorly addressed, mainly due to technological limitations posed. Moreover, air quality management scenario design issues were partially considered, because of the difficulty in aggregating complex, air quality related issues, in a comprehensive and effective manner, from the end users point of view. In the present paper the use of Environmental Telematics is discussed as a framework for the development of urban air quality management systems, while a comprehensive approach for the application and evaluation of relevant scenarios is presented.     

Influence of Building Density and Roof Shape on the Wind and Dispersion Characteristics in an Urban Area: A Numerical Study

The Computational Fluid Dynamics code CFX-TASCflow is used for simulating the wind flow and pollutant concentration patterns in two-dimensional wind-tunnel models of an urban area. Several two-dimensional multiple street canyon configurations are studied corresponding to different areal densities and roof shapes. A line source of a tracer gas is placed at the bottom of one street canyon for modelling street-level traffic emissions. The flow fields resulting from the simulations correspond to the patterns observed in street canyons. In particular and in good agreement with observations, a dual vortex system is predicted for a deep flat-roof street canyon configuration, while an even more complex vortex system is evidenced in the case of slanted-roof square street canyons. In agreement with measurement data, high pollutant concentration levels are predicted either on the leeward or the windward side of the street canyon, depending on the geometrical details of the surrounding buildings.     

安庆市对外服务能力发展分析——基于城市经济活动基本部分扩展的视角

城市的全部经济活动可分为基本活动部分和非基本活动部分.城市的基本活动部分是城市对外服务部分,也是城市发展的主要内部驱动力.以安庆市为例,以2001-2007年城市经济活动基本部分的扩展为切入点,用城市经济活动基本部门从业人数的扩展描述城市外向功能量的发展,再用城市流强度量化城市对外服务功能.结果表明,安庆市近几年对外服务能力呈明显增长态势,城市经济活动基本部分的扩展决定了城市对外服务能力的增长,并且城市第二产业的对外服务能力较强.     

城市土地储备制度绩效评价研究——以武汉市为例

城市土地储备制度绩效评价对保障土地储备制度健康发展有重要意义.在对城市土地储备制度绩效评价内涵界定的基础上,构建绩效评价指标体系,运用层次分析法和综合指数法.以武汉市为例,对城市土地储备制度绩效进行评价研究.结果表明,武汉市城市土地储备制度绩效评价综合得分为78.89,取得了良好制度绩效.其中,城市经济发展和土地利用配置效益明显提高,综合指数分别为80.50和83.16,而公平配置效益得分较低,为70.18.依据评价结果,提出了兼顾"效益"和"公平"的政策建议.     

秦皇岛市城镇水土保持工作主要做法及成效分析

随着城镇建设的迅猛发展,项目开发建设占用大量具有生态功能的地表,人为造成的水土流失日趋严重,因此做好城镇水土保持工作至关重要。秦皇岛市从2004年起通过制定规划、建立工作体系、强化预防监督、加强宣传等措施,水土保持工作取得了显著成效:提高了全民水保法制观念,规范了城镇建设项目管理工作,城郊水土流失治理度达90%以上,城区碧水工程已基本完成,实施了城市雨水资源利用试点工程,城市区人均绿地面积达到12 m2,森林覆盖率达40%以上。     

城市老工业区整体搬迁规划环评的关键问题

城市老工业区搬迁规划环评具有层次多、涉及面广的特点。评价首先要分清规划的层次,理清3个层面规划内容,分析所涉及到的主要环境问题,按照规划、区域和项目环评3个层次分别开展评价工作。在规划层面上应重点解决好产业发展政策的符合性和选址合理性论证;区域环评层面重点进行区域布局、结构、基础设施的支撑能力和环境的承载力评价;项目层次重点弄清污染特征、污染源和污染控制措施,评价其环境影响。