Effects of Light Zenith Angle Variation on Spectral Responses of a Water Body’s Environmental Quality

The effect of light source zenith angle (θ_z) variation on the spectral reflectance measurement from sediment-laden water was studied in the laboratory using a spectroradiometer. Light source zenith angle in addition to sediment characteristics and concentration play a dominant role in affecting the reflectance characteristics of a suspension. With an increase in θ_z values, an increase in spectral reflectance is observed. The spectral reflectance characteristics of a water body also increase with the sediment concentration for all soil types and at all wavelengths. Empirical relationships between the spectral reflectance, suspended sediment concentration, and the light source zenith angle have been developed. Such a remote sensing technique for monitoring the concentration of the suspended sediment and their characteristics is a useful tool for economical estimation of a large water body’s quality related parameters vis-a-vis its environmental quality.Retd. Professor of Environmental Engineering & Pollution Control, Presently Residing at Makkhan Kutir, Bhargava Lane, Devpura, Haridwar-249401, India.Former Ph.D. student.     

A stochastic-advective transport model for NAPL dissolution and degradation in non-uniform flows in porous media

Remediation schemes for contaminated sites are often evaluated to assess their potential for source zone reduction of mass, or treatment of the contaminant between the source and a control plane (CP) to achieve regulatory limits. In this study, we utilize a stochastic stream tube model to explain the behavior of breakthrough curves (BTCs) across a CP. At the local scale, mass dissolution at the source is combined with an advection model with first-order decay for the dissolved plume. Field-scale averaging is then employed to account for spatial variation in mass within the source zone, and variation in the velocity field. Under the assumption of instantaneous mass transfer from the source to the moving liquid, semi-analytical expressions for the BTC and temporal moments are developed, followed by derivation of expressions for effective velocity, dispersion, and degradation coefficients using the method of moments. It is found that degradation strongly influences the behavior of moments and the effective parameters. While increased heterogeneity in the velocity field results in increased dispersion, degradation causes the center of mass of the plume to shift to earlier times, and reduces the dispersion of the BTC by lowering the concentrations in the tail. Modified definitions of effective parameters are presented for degrading solutes to account for the normalization constant (zeroth moment) that keeps changing with time or distance to the CP. It is shown that anomalous dispersion can result for high degradation rates combined with wide variation in velocity fluctuations. Implications of model results on estimating cleanup times and fulfillment of regulatory limits are discussed. Relating mass removal at the source to flux reductions past a control plane is confounded by many factors. Increased heterogeneity in velocity fields causes mass fluxes past a control plane to persist, however, aggressive remediation between the source and CP can reduce these fluxes.     

影响街区峡谷浓度扩散的因素

对街区峡谷内污染扩散规律的研究是城市空气质量预测的主要内容之一。应用现代流体力学数值模拟方法进行大量算例的计算和分析,研究了城市街区峡谷污染物二维扩散的规律。在分析二维街区峡谷内浓度扩散的规律时,发现对街区峡谷浓度扩散的两个影响因素,其中定量分析了湍流脉动对浓度扩散的影响,与层流时得到的浓度扩散进行了通量积分的比较;此外,定性分析了不同类型的街区峡谷对扩散的影响。     

突发性大气污染事件数字化动态应急预案系统及其应用

针对近些年频繁发生的突发性大气污染事件,构建了数字化动态应急预案系统。该系统由基础信息数据库、气象环境模式与健康风险评估系统、数字化动态应急预案三部分组成,并利用地理信息系统将三者有机结合,将事故基本信息、事故发展预测及救援状况直观、动态地展现在系统界面,使应急行动得以及时、高效地展开。实地外场综合应急演习证明,该系统技术路线稳定畅通,运行高效,功能强大,具有较好的可行性和实效性。     

含硫天然气净化厂硫化氢泄漏分析及对策

以川东北某含硫天然气净化厂为对象,通过分析该净化厂的处理工艺及可能造成泄漏的各种原因,确定了硫化氢泄漏危险较高的生产单元。通过工艺压力、流量、物料组分的比对,选取了脱硫单元原料气和硫磺回收单元酸性气作为模拟泄漏物料。对该厂所在地的气象条件和厂区的地形地貌进行了调查,净化厂当地近5年风速、云量统计表明低风速和多云为主导天气,将D1.5m/s作为模拟硫化氢泄漏扩散的典型气象条件。采用了美国石油学会(API)推荐地面粗糙度长度。运用PHAST软件计算了在典型气象条件下通过3种不同孔径泄漏1 min,5min和30min,形成的立即危及生命或健康(IDLH)范围。在典型气象条件下IDLH的下风向边界距离在41m至1190m范围内,以硫磺回收单元的大孔径泄漏为最远。以小孔泄漏为例模拟并讨论了风速、大气稳定度对硫化氢扩散的影响。为降低H2S泄漏风险提出了在线监测及联锁系统设置的要求,对避免和减少硫化氢中毒伤亡事故具有指导意义。     

Deriving heart rate variability indices from cardiac monitoring—An indicator of driver sleepiness

Objective: Driver fatigue is considered to be a major contributor to road traffic crashes. Cardiac monitoring and heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is a candidate method for early and accurate detection of driver sleepiness. This study has 2 objectives: to evaluate the (1) suitability of different preprocessing strategies for detecting and removing outlier heartbeats and spectral transformation of HRV signals and their impact of driver sleepiness assessment and (2) relation between common HRV indices and subjective sleepiness reported by a large number of drivers in real driving situations, for the first time.

Methods: The study analyzed >3,500 5-min driving epochs from 76 drivers on a public motorway in Sweden. The electrocardiograph (ECG) data were recorded in 3 studies designed to evaluate the physiological differences between awake and sleepy drivers. The drivers reported their perceived level of sleepiness according to the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) every 5?min. Two standard methods were used for identifying outlier heartbeats: (1) percentage change (PC), where outliers were defined as interbeat intervals deviating >30% from the mean of the four previous intervals and (2) standard deviation (SD), where outliers were defined as interbeat interval deviating >4 SD from the mean interval duration in the current epoch. Three standard methods were used for spectral transformation, which is needed for deriving HRV indices in the frequency domain: (1) Fourier transform; (2) autoregressive model; and (3) Lomb-Scargle periodogram. Different preprocessing strategies were compared regarding their impact on derivation of common HRV indices and their relation to KSS data distribution, using box plots and statistical tests such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student’s t test.

Results: The ability of HRV indices to discriminate between alert and sleepy drivers does not differ significantly depending on which outlier detection and spectral transformation methods are used. As expected, with increasing sleepiness, the heart rate decreased, whereas heart rate variability overall increased. Furthermore, HRV parameters representing the parasympathetic branch of the autonomous nervous system increased. An unexpected finding was that parameters representing the sympathetic branch of the autonomous nervous system also increased with increasing KSS level. We hypothesize that this increment was due to stress induced by trying to avoid an incident, because the drivers were in real driving situations.

Conclusions: The association of HRV indices to KSS did not depend on the preprocessing strategy. No preprocessing method showed superiority for HRV association to driver sleepiness. This was also true for combinations of methods for frequency domain HRV indices. The results prove clear relationships between HRV indices and perceived sleepiness. Thus, HRV analysis shows promise for driver sleepiness detection.     

Disentangling horizontal pay dispersion: Experimental evidence

Although horizontal pay dispersion has been explored extensively using cross‐sectional field methods, it has received little attention using the control available through experimental designs. Many of the questions relevant to pay dispersion research can be addressed by taking an individual‐level experimental approach because this allows for clean separation of pay policies and individual effects. In this paper, we hypothesize both the motivation‐based and affect‐based effects of pay dispersion policies and test our hypotheses with a sample of over 400 participants in a real‐pay, real‐effort experiment. Results of the experiment provide support that two pay dispersion‐related pay policies, performance‐based pay dispersion and allocation criteria, have unique effects. Whereas motivation and performance effects are direct, pay satisfaction and interest in continuing work effects are the result of interactions, incorporating the performance level of workers. In follow‐up analyses, we find evidence that the temporal nature of responses to pay dispersion should be incorporated into future studies of pay dispersion.     

Wave Enhancement of Diffusivities within Surficial Sediments

The enhancement of solute diffusivities within coastal surficial sediments as a result of wave action is examined. Fluctuating pressure gradients associated with passing waves cause interstitial water motions leading to enhanced diffusivities through the mechanism of shear dispersion. Wave amplification of diffusivities is likely to be greatest for waves of period 10 s, in shallow water, over a bottom of coarse grain. Diffusivity enhancement of hundreds of times molecular diffusivity is achievable. The mechanism is distinct from, but complements, the mechanism of rotational dispersion which has been previously described. Other mechanisms that enhance solute transport within surficial sediments rely on the interaction between wave-driven or steady flow over bottom obstructions such as biogenic structures or sand ripples. It is suggested that while the resulting advective flows may dominate solute transport within the top few 10 s of centimeters of the sediment column, shear dispersion may be more important deeper within the sediment. In any event, in contrast to these other mechanisms, shear dispersion is operative even when the seabed is flat. Application of the theory to sediments of the South Atlantic Bight would suggest that shear dispersion is capable of explaining a major part of the interstitial transport inferred from measurements.     

巢湖水体悬浮物含量与光谱反射率的关系

利用高光谱地物光谱仪在巢湖进行了反射光谱测量和同步水质采样分析，在分析巢湖水体反射光谱特征的基础上，分别研究了悬浮物浓度与水体光谱反射率和光谱反射率的一阶微分之间的关系，结果表明在近红外波段范围，单波段反射率和一阶微分光谱反射率都与悬浮物的浓度有较好的相关性，而且利用微分光谱估算内陆水体悬浮物浓度有较大潜力。     

丝栗栲种群生命过程及谱分析

以种群生命表及生存分析理论为基础，编制丝栗栲种群静态生命表，绘制存活曲线，死亡率曲线，亏损度曲线，死亡密度函数曲线。积累死亡函数曲线和危险率函数曲线，分析种群生命过程。结果表明，丝栗栲有2个死亡高峰，存活曲线趋于Deevey-Ⅱ型。并应用谱分析方法研究丝栗栲种群动态，结果表明，在丝栗栲种群自然更新过程中存在着明显的周期性。