ESTIMATING THE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT LOAD IN RESERVOIRS1

ABSTRACT: The total suspended sediment loads of four north Mississippi reservoirs were determined from measurements of concentrations of suspended sediment in a vertical profile at several locations on each reservoir made during the year. These data were combined with the stage-height and known stage-volume relationships for each reservoir in a numerical integration to determine the total suspended sediment in the water body. Total suspended sediments were estimated using the product of the suspended sediment concentration in the surface water by the appropriate reservoir volume. The averaged ratios of the estimated to measured suspended sediment loads for each reservoir exceeded 0.90. Since the concentration of suspended sediments in surface waters of north Mississippi reservoirs has been shown as highly correlated with spectral reflectance, estimating the total suspended sediment of these reservoirs using remotely sensed spectral reflectance data is possible.     

The stable isotope signature of methane emitted from plant material under UV irradiation

Recent experiments have shown that dry and fresh leaves, other plant matter, as well as several structural plant components, emit methane upon irradiation with UV light. Here we present the source isotope signatures of the methane emitted from a range of dry natural plant leaves and structural compounds. UV-induced methane from organic matter is strongly depleted in both ¹³C and D compared to the bulk biomass. The isotopic content of plant methoxyl groups, which have been identified as important precursors of aerobic methane formation in plants, falls roughly halfway between the bulk and CH₄ isotopic composition. C3 and C4/CAM plants show the well-established isotope difference in bulk ¹³C content. Our results show that they also emit CH₄ with different δ¹³C value. Furthermore, δ¹³C of methoxyl groups in the plant material, and ester methoxyl groups only, show a similar difference between C3 and C4/CAM plants. The correlation between the δ¹³C of emitted CH₄ and methoxyl groups implies that methoxyl groups are not the only source substrate of CH₄.Interestingly, δD values of the emitted CH₄ are also found to be different for C3 and C4 plants, although there is no significant difference in the bulk material. Bulk δD analyses may be compromised by a large reservoir of exchangeable hydrogen, but no significant δD difference is found either for the methoxyl groups, which do not contain exchangeable hydrogen. The δD difference in CH₄ between C3 and C4 plants indicates that at least two different reservoirs are involved in CH₄ emission. One of them is the OCH₃ group, the other one must be significantly depleted, and contribute more to the emissions of C3 plants compared to C4 plants. In qualitative agreement with this hypothesis, CH₄ emission rates are higher for C3 plants than for C4 plants.     

Risk assessment and binding mechanisms of potentially toxic metals in sediments from different water levels in a coastal wetland

The excessive accumulation of potentially toxic metals (Pb and Cd) in coastal wetlands is among the main factors threatening wetland ecosystems. However, the effects of water table depth (WTD) on the risk and binding mechanisms of potentially toxic metals in sediments remain unclear. Here, sediments from different WTD obtained from a typical coastal wetland were evaluated using a newly developed strategy based on chemical extraction methods coupled with high-resolution spectroscopy. Our findings indicated that the WTD of the coastal wetland fluctuates frequently and the average enrichment factor for Pb was categorized as minor, whereas Cd enrichment was categorized as moderate. High-resolution spectroscopy techniques also demonstrated that organic functional groups and partly inorganic compounds (e.g., Fe-O/Si-O) played a vital role in the binding of Pb and Cd to surface sediments. Additionally, mineral components rather than organic groups were mainly bound to these metals in the bottom sediments. Collectively, our findings provide key insights into the potential health effects and binding characteristics of potentially toxic metals in sediments, as well as their dynamic behavior under varying sediment depths at a microscale.     

Insights into metals in individual fine particles from municipal solid waste using synchrotron radiation-based micro-analytical techniques

Excessive inter-contamination with heavy metals hampers the application of biological treatment products derived from mixed or mechanically-sorted municipal solid waste (MSW). In this study, we investigated fine particles of < 2 mm, which are small fractions in MSW but constitute a significant component of the total heavy metal content, using bulk detection techniques. A total of 17 individual fine particles were evaluated using synchrotron radiation-based micro-X-ray fluorescence and micro-X-ray diffraction. We also discussed the association, speciation and source apportionment of heavy metals. Metals were found to exist in a diffuse distribution with heterogeneous intensities and intense hot-spots of < 10 μm within the fine particles. Zn-Cu, Pb-Fe and Fe-Mn-Cr had significant correlations in terms of spatial distribution. The overlapped enrichment, spatial association, and the mineral phases of metals revealed the potential sources of fine particles from size-reduced waste fractions (such as scraps of organic wastes or ceramics) or from the importation of other particles. The diverse sources of heavy metal pollutants within the fine particles suggested that separate collection and treatment of the biodegradable waste fraction (such as food waste) is a preferable means of facilitating the beneficial utilization of the stabilized products.     

Synergistic effect of ozonation and ionizing radiation for PVA decomposition

Ozonation and ionizing radiation are both advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) without chemical addition and secondary pollution. Also, the two processes'' efficiency is determined by different pH conditions, which creates more possibilities for their combination. Importantly, the combined process of ozonation and ionizing radiation could be suitable for treating wastewaters with extreme pH values, i.e., textile wastewater. To find synergistic effects, the combined process of ozonation and ionizing radiation mineralization was investigated for degradation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at different pH levels. A synergistic effect was found at initial pH in the range 3.0–9.4. When the initial pH was 3.0, the combined process of ozonation and ionizing radiation gave a PVA mineralization degree of 17%. This was 2.7 times the sum achieved by the two individual processes, and factors of 2.1 and 1.7 were achieved at initial pH of 7.0 and 9.4, respectively. The combined process of ozonation and ionizing radiation was demonstrated to be a feasible strategy for treatment of PVA-containing wastewater.     

固定化微生物对低温河水脱氮效果的中试研究

利用微生物净化受污染河水是目前常用的地表水体修复方法,但低温条件下微生物代谢缓慢,酶活性下降,在寒冷季节难以维持对河水的净化效果.本研究采用固定化的方法提高微生物的低温耐受性,通过中试试验考察自然挂膜的固定化微生物、经低温驯化的预挂膜固定化微生物及预挂膜固定化微生物耦合生物促生剂这3种方法对低温河水中COD及氮素类污染物的去除效果.结果表明,在低温条件下3种方法均能有效提升河水的净化效果,静止条件下,河水中COD、NH₄⁺-N、NO₃^--N和TN的去除率由分别由21.3%、37.2%、8.5%和6.9%提升至72.3%~77.9%、48.6%~62.7%、35.3%~42.3%和26.2%~31.9%.COD去除率在2~3 cm·s^-1流速下明显优于静止条件,总氮去除率在2 cm·s^-1流速下最高.自然挂膜和预挂膜微生物对河水中污染的去除无明显差别,添加促生剂对固定化微生物的净化作用没有进一步的提升,但功能菌群的微生物群落结构有所不同.促生剂的添加提高了河水中的微生物活性与群落多样性,但对固定化载体上的微生物无明显影响.固定化载体上的优势菌群均为低温下具有脱氮功能的Proteobacteria.此外,具有低温适应性的脱氮功能菌属Rhodoferax、Pedobacter及Pseudomonas在3组固定化载体上均有较高丰度,而自然挂膜的载体上及其河水中分别对Malikia属及hgcI_clade属具有显著特异性的富集（p<0.05）,这两种菌属均具有低温脱氮功能.     

热沉技术在高低温低气压试验箱中的应用

在高低温低气压试验中,由于空气稀薄,其温度均匀性试验已经无法用空气对流来实现了,只能通过的辐射和传导来实现和达到试验温度的均匀。在这种试验状况下,往往试验所得的温度、湿度的均匀性偏差很大。要实现较好的温度均匀性十分困难。我们将高真空领域中的热沉技术即辐射换热方式,运用到高(低)温低气压试验箱中,通过多个几何平面的辐射和传导,达到较为理想的试验参数。     

GSM移动通信基站电磁辐射环境影响分析

本文阐述了电磁辐射的相关理论、电磁辐射环境的评价标准以及基站的工作原理,对电磁环境进行了理论预测,对不同的天线增益下的电磁辐射功率密度值进行了计算,得到了在天线增益15dBi、17dBi和18dBi三种情况下与天线不同直线距离的预测点的功率密度预测值,并对功率密度预测值进行了分析。     

对定标用标准紫外辐射光源性能指标的探讨

紫外辐射是模拟环境条件测试的重要组成部分,对紫外辐射强度、剂量等的定标对于老化耐久实验数据的准确性和可靠性具有重要意义。本文通过实验手段对目前常见的定标用紫外标准光源的技术指标进行分析,同时对该类光源的性能指标未来的改进方向进行探讨,并提出了改进设计方案。