Evaluation of Traffic Noise Pollution in Amman, Jordan

The City of Amman, Jordan, has been subjected to persistent increase in road traffic due to overall increase in prosperity, fast development and expansion of economy, travel and tourism. This study investigates traffic noise pollution in Amman. Road traffic noise index L ₁₀(1 h) was measured at 28 locations that cover most of the City of Amman. Noise measurements were carried out at these 28 locations two times a day for a period of one hour during the early morning and early evening rush hours, in the presence and absence of a barrier. The Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN) prediction model was employed to predict noise levels at the locations chosen for the study. Data required for the model include traffic volume, speed, percentage of heavy vehicles, road surface, gradient, obstructions, distance, noise path, intervening ground, effect of shielding, and angle of view. The results of the investigation showed that the minimum and the maximum noise levels are 46 dB(A) and 81 dB(A) during day-time and 58 dB(A) and 71 dB(A) during night-time. The measured noise level exceeded the 62 dB(A) acceptable limit at most of the locations. The CTRN prediction model was successful in predicting noise levels at most of the locations chosen for this investigation, with more accurate predictions for night-time measurements.     

杭州快速路、主次干道植物群落降噪功能比较研究

城市绿地是城市生态系统的重要组成部分,在改善城市生态系统方面有重要作用。现今交通是城市环境中的主要噪声来源,城市道路绿地是交通噪声治理的有效方式之一。本文选取杭州市西湖区不同等级的三条道路(紫金港路、天目山路和丰潭路)作为研究对象,利用手持噪声测量仪测量实时噪声对不同道路等级和距离的绿地降噪效果进行分析。研究发现,杭州市三条道路存在以下问题:(1)噪声距离道路越远越低,且噪声平均衰减率表明绿地降噪效果为主干道次干道快速路;(2)配置模式为乔木+灌木+地被的绿地植物群落的降噪效果最佳,且乔木和灌木交错的种植形式在降噪效果上优于灌木在前、乔木在后的排列式种植;(3)当道路绿地宽达到15m时,植物群落降噪效果会有大幅度提升,且快速路与次干道在距离为15m处,植物群落降噪能力最佳。     

混合振动试验在汽车电子装备中的应用和要点

环境试验方法国家标准试验Fi：振动 混合模式（GB/T2423.58-2008）已经发布。彩混合振动试验的《道路车辆电气及电子设备的环境条件和试验》国家标准（制订征求意见稿）已经公示。文内介绍了混合模式振动试验在汽车电子装备中的应用,以及混合模式振动试验的过程要素和试验的技术要点。     

道路车辆电气和电子设备样品在振动冲击等动力学试验中的安装

在试验方法和要求标准化后,振动冲击等动力学试验中的安装问题是决定试验是否合理和试验成败的关键要素。道路车辆电子元件和设备型样品的动力学试验是考核样品安装在车辆上使用条件下的适用性。振动试验还叠加了温度和温度变化环境,条件尤为复杂严酷。文内介绍了动力学试验中的安装需要考虑的技术要素,为试验实施中妥善合理地进行样品安装提供支持.     

Ecosystem Consequences of Contrasting Flow Regimes in an Urban Effects Stream Mesocosm Study1

Abstract: A stream mesocosm experiment was conducted to study the ecosystem‐wide effects of two replicated flow hydrograph treatments programmed in an attempt to compare a simulated predevelopment condition to the theoretical changes that new development brings, while accounting for engineering design criteria for urban stormwater management. Accordingly, the treatments (three replicates each) differed in base flow between events and in the rise to, fall from, and duration of peak flow during simulated storm hydrographs, which were triggered by real rain events occurring outside over a 96‐day period from summer to fall, 2005. Incident irradiance, initial substrate quality, and water quality were similar between treatments. Sampling was designed to study the interactions among the treatment flow dynamics, sediment transport processes, streambed nutrients, and biotic structure and function. What appeared most important to the overall structure and function of the mesocosm ecosystems beyond those changes resulting from natural seasonality were (1) the initial mass of fines that infiltrated into the gravel bed, which had a persistent effect on nitrogen biogeochemistry and (2) the subsequent fine sediment accumulation rate, which was unexpectedly similar between treatments, and affected the structure of the macroinvertebrate community equally as the experiment progressed. Invertebrate taxa preferring soft beds dominated when the gravel was comprised of 5‐10% fines. The dominant invertebrate algal grazer had vacated the channels when fines exceeded 15%, but this effect could not be separated from what appeared to be a seasonal decline in insect densities over the course of the study. Neither hydrograph treatment allowed for scour or other potential for flushing of fines. This demonstrated the potential importance of interactions between hydrology and fine sediment loading dynamics on stream ecosystems in the absence of flows that would act to mobilize gravel beds.     

A field experiment with variable-suction multi-compartment samplers to measure the spatio-temporal distribution of solute leaching in an agricultural soil

Solutes spread out in time and space as they move downwards from the soil surface with infiltrating water. Solute monitoring in the field is often limited to observations of resident concentrations, while flux concentrations govern the movement of solutes in soils. A recently developed multi-compartment sampler is capable of measuring fluxes at a high spatial resolution with minimal disturbance of the local pressure head field. The objective of this paper is to use this sampler to quantify the spatial and temporal variation of solute leaching below the root zone in an agricultural field under natural rainfall in winter and spring. We placed two samplers at 31 and 25 cm depth in an agricultural field, leaving the soil above undisturbed. Each sampler contained 100 separate cells of 31 × 31 mm. Water fluxes were measured every 5 min for each cell. We monitored leaching of a chloride pulse under natural rainfall by frequently extracting the collected leachate while leaving the samplers buried in situ. This experiment was followed by a dye tracer experiment. This setting yielded information that widely surpassed the information that can be provided by separate anionic and dye tracer trials, and solute transport monitoring by coring or suction cups. The detailed information provided by the samplers showed that percolation at the sampling depth started much faster (approximately 3 h after the start of rainfall) in initially wet soil (pressure head above − 65 cm) than in drier soil (more than 14 h at pressure heads below − 80 cm). At any time, 25% of the drainage passed through 5–6% of the sampled area, reflecting the effect of heterogeneity on the flow paths. The amount of solute carried by individual cells varied over four orders of magnitude. The lateral concentration differences were limited though. This suggests a convective–dispersive regime despite the short vertical travel distance. On the other hand, the dilution index indicates a slight tendency towards stochastic–convective transport at this depth. There was no evidence in the observed drainage patterns and dye stained profiles of significant disturbance of the flow field by the samplers.     

Estimating the relevance of engineered carbonaceous nanoparticle facilitated transport of hydrophobic organic contaminants in porous media

Naturally occurring nanoparticles (NP) enhance the transport of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) in porous media. In addition, the debate on the environmental impact of engineered nanoparticles (ENP) has become increasingly important. HOC bind strongly to carbonaceous ENP. Thus, carbonaceous ENP may also act as carriers for contaminant transport and might be important when compared to existing transport processes. ENP bound transport is strongly linked to the sorption behavior, and other carbonaceous ENP-specific properties. In our analysis the HOC-ENP sorption mechanism, as well as ENP size and ENP residence time, was of major importance. Our results show that depending on ENP size, sorption kinetics and residence time in the system, the ENP bound transport can be estimated either as (1) negligible, (2) enhancing contaminant transport, or (3) should be assessed by reactive transport modeling. One major challenge to this field is the current lack of data for HOC-ENP desorption kinetics.     

A GIS model-based screening of potential contamination of soil and water by pyrethroids in Europe

The paper presents a geographic information system (GIS) model-based approach for analysis of potential contamination of soil and water by pyrethroids for the European continent. Pyrethroids are widely used pesticides and their chemical and toxicological characteristics suggest there may be concerns about human health and ecosystems, although so far there is no strong evidence indicating actual risk. However, little monitoring has been conducted and limited experimental information is available. We perform an assessment exercise that demonstrates how accessible information and GIS-based modeling allow to estimate the spatial distribution of chemical concentrations and fluxes at a screening level. The assessment highlights potential hot spots and the main environmental transport pathways, in a quick and simple way. By combining information on pesticide use, crop distribution and landscape and climate parameters we identify potential problem areas to help focusing monitoring campaigns. The approach presented here is simple and fast, and can be applied to virtually all pesticide classes used over a large domain, and is therefore suitable for the screening of large quantities of chemicals, of which the majority has not undergone any systematic environmental monitoring program. The method has been tested through benchmarking with other well-established models. However, further research is needed to evaluate it against experimental observations.     

Optimal water quality monitoring network design for river systems

Typical tasks of a river monitoring network design include the selection of the water quality parameters, selection of sampling and measurement methods for these parameters, identification of the locations of sampling stations and determination of the sampling frequencies. These primary design considerations may require a variety of objectives, constraints and solutions. In this study we focus on the optimal river water quality monitoring network design aspect of the overall monitoring program and propose a novel methodology for the analysis of this problem. In the proposed analysis, the locations of sampling sites are determined such that the contaminant detection time is minimized for the river network while achieving maximum reliability for the monitoring system performance. Altamaha river system in the State of Georgia, USA is chosen as an example to demonstrate the proposed methodology. The results show that the proposed model can be effectively used for the optimal design of monitoring networks in river systems.     

内蒙古沙尘气溶胶浓度及其输送特性——朱日和春季情形的个例研究

利用WPS宽范围粒径谱仪对朱日和春季0.01～10μm的沙尘气溶胶观测资料,以及20m梯度塔气象要素资料,对沙尘天气日和非沙尘天气日的气溶胶浓度、谱分布以及输送特性进行了个例研究.结果表明:沙尘气溶胶浓度有明显的日变化特征,不同粒径段粒子的变化特征有所不同;沙尘气溶胶浓度在沙尘天气和非沙尘天气存在较大差别,粒径越大,这种差别越明显;气象要素对沙尘气溶胶浓度的分布有较大的影响,风速、气温、相对湿度与不同粒径段粒子的相关性不同;沙尘暴过程对不同粒径段粒子的输送特性不同,不同粒径段对应的输送距离和输送量有较大差别.