RESEARCH: Optimizing the Mix of Strategies for Control of Vehicular Emissions

/ A number of strategies for the control of vehicular emissions are being considered by the Philippine government to address Metropolitan Manila's air quality problem. An analytical tool is needed for optimizing criteria pollutant reductions given the budgetary constraints. The simplest approach is to take costs and pollutant removals to be linear with each strategy's scale of activity, and this is readily solved as a linear programming problem. Another approach is to use a dynamic system of weights which shift with progressive improvements in pollutant emissions. The two approaches yield somewhat different results, suggesting the sensitivity of the solution to the assumed weights. The study also illustrates the importance of a sound methodology for evaluating priorities given to different air quality goals. One such methodology may involve a polling of expert panels and the public to gain insight into the relative importance given to competing emissions reduction goals. An informal polling of resource agency staff was conducted and discussed in this paper. The authors take the position that proper planning involves tracing intermediate steps to the final outcome and not just focusing on the latter.KEY WORDS: Vehicular emissions; Urban air quality; Emissions control; Optimization; Manila; Environmental systems analysis     

Parameterization of Albedo over Heterogeneous Surfaces in Coupled Land-Atmosphere Schemes for Environmental Modeling. Part I: Theoretical Background

In grid-based environmental models, the underlying surface consists of patches of solid and liquid parts and different plant communities, creating a very heterogeneous picture in the grid cell. In these cases, numerical modelers usually use a simple arithmetic average to determine the grid-cell albedo, a key variable in the parameterization of the land-surface radiative transfer over the grid cell. The object of this paper is to consider the assumptions for aggregating the albedo over a very heterogeneous surface where various surfaces occur at different heights, and, then propose a method for deriving a general expression for it. The suggested expression for the albedo is compared with the conventional approach, for the two-patches grid-cell with a simple geometrical distribution and different heights of its components. A numerical test is performed to compare the two approaches by numerical simulation of the evolution of the surface temperature over the particular grid-cell. Specifically, a one-dimensional land-surface model was applied to an isolated rocky grid-cell with a hole in the center; the model was forced with meteorological observations taken on July 17, 1999 in Philadelphia, PA.     

飞灰螯合剂中挥发性污染物的释放

采集了4个市售飞灰螯合剂样品，分析其在20，40℃下挥发性污染物的释放规律.结果表明，释放的挥发性污染物主要有甲醛、乙醛、苯、异戊醛/异丙醇、甲硫醇、乙硫醇等；其中3个螯合剂样品甲醛的释放浓度在20℃为748~1325 μg/L-螯合剂，占释放的易挥发污染物的68%~96%（质量比），在40℃为4282~6822 μg/L-螯合剂，占释放的易挥发污染物的87%~95%（质量比）.随着温度升高，释放的挥发性污染物种类变多，部分污染物浓度增加，40℃时，4个螯合剂样品释放的易挥发污染物浓度比20℃时增加了142%~444%.元素分析、拉曼光谱和热重分析结果表明，4个螯合剂的主要有效成分相似，为二硫代氨基甲酸盐类物质.因此，推测这种飞灰螯合剂在稀释和飞灰稳定化过程中，对工作人员的健康可能有潜在的危害风险，应收集释放的气体并进行处理；且在飞灰填埋过程中，可能会导致渗滤液中NH₄⁺-N等物质的浓度升高，增加渗滤液的处理难度.     

Analysis and Modeling on the Spatial Structure of Urban Land Use: A Case of Jinan, China

Based on the data of urban land use obtained by remote sensing interpretation from aero images in 1986 and 2004, the spatial structure of Jinan is studied in this paper with the method of Geographic Information System (GIS). According to the proportion of land for residence, industry and commerce, the urban district can be distinguished into three rings. Compared with the traditional theory of the ring structure in Western coun- tries, they have many distinctive characteristics. The main func- tions of the inner ring include residence, business and banking, but the proportion of residential land (more than 50%) is considerably higher than that of the cities in Western countries. The land proportion for residence and industry in the intermediate ring is equal on the whole. The main land of the outside ring is for industrial use. From 1986 to 2004, great changes have taken place on the land proportion of different types of use. In the inner ring, the land for residential and industrial use has shrunk much while the land for commercial use has increased. In the intermediate ring, the changes of the three types of land use were not very much and the temporal variation was relatively stable. On the contrary, the structure in the outside ring varies acutely. Though most of it is also for industrial use, the proportion of residential land has in- creased much. The three rings can also be divided into several sectors respectively, according to the function of land use clusters. New trends and mechanisms of the changes of land use impacting the urban structure were proposed in the end of the paper.     

我国居室内空气中甲醛污染现状分析及对策研究

介绍了我国目前居室空气中甲醛污染现状,分析了居室空气中甲醛的来源及污染的成因。在实际工作中,摸索、总结了一套以在房间布局中设立衣帽间为核心的、防止因装修引起的居室空气中甲醛污染的具体办法。该办法简单、经济、适用面广,效果明显, 值得提倡和普及。     

从山东省部分行业看工业节水潜力

本文采用万元产值取水量和水重复利用率作为节水指标,通过对山东省主要工业行业用水节水现状进行调查研究,阐述了各行业节水水平和节水经验,分析并预测了节水潜力,总结提出了各行业应采取的主要节水措施和建议。     

长江三角洲城市旅游与城市发展协调性及影响因素

城市旅游业作为城市服务业的重要部门,是推动城市发展的后续动力。运用信息熵赋权法和TOPSIS法相结合,从经济水平、社会发展、公共交通、城市绿化、环境保护、旅游发展6个方面对长江三角洲2003年和2008年的城市旅游与城市发展的协调性进行分析,借助ArcGIS软件的空间聚类法分析了城市旅游与城市发展协调水平的空间格局及演变,最后探讨影响因素。结果表明:长江三角洲16城市的城市旅游协调水平在研究期间相对稳定,具体可被划分为4个等级,第一、二等级城市数量较少,得分显著高于第三、四等级城市。城市旅游协调水平空间上存在较大差异,北部城市得分高于南部城市,基本格局保持稳定,呈现以上海、南京、杭州三个城市为核心向外围边缘城市的空间衰减。产业发展、城市旅游发展模式、城市旅游重大项目投资、区位条件是长江三角洲城市旅游协调水平产生空间分化的主要影响因素,可制定以城市旅游发展为手段的方式推动城市发展,促进区域均衡发展。     

Measurement of air exchange rates in different indoor environments using continuous CO2 sensors

A new air exchange rate (AER) monitoring method using continuous CO₂ sensors was developed and validated through both laboratory experiments and field studies. Controlled laboratory simulation tests were conducted in a 1-m³ environmental chamber at different AERs (0.1-10.0 hr^-1). AERs were determined using the decay method based on box model assumptions. Field tests were conducted in classrooms, dormitories, meeting rooms and apartments during 2-5 weekdays using CO₂ sensors coupled with data loggers. Indoor temperature, relative humidity (RH), and CO₂ concentrations were continuously monitored while outdoor parameters combined with on-site climate conditions were recorded. Statistical results indicated that good laboratory performance was achieved: duplicate precision was within 10%, and the measured AERs were 90%-120% of the real AERs. Average AERs were 1.22, 1.37, 1.10, 1.91 and 0.73 hr^-1 in dormitories, air-conditioned classrooms, classrooms with an air circulation cooling system, reading rooms, and meeting rooms, respectively. In an elderly particulate matter exposure study, all the homes had AER values ranging from 0.29 to 3.46 hr??1 in fall, and 0.12 to 1.39 hr^-1 in winter with a median AER of 1.15.     

An air quality forecasting system in Beijing - Application to the study of dust storm events in China in May 2008

An air pollution forecast system, ARIA Regional, was implemented in 2007-2008 at the Beijing Municipality Environmental Monitoring Center, providing daily forecast of main pollutant concentrations. The chemistry-transport model CHIMERE was coupled with the dust emission model MB95 for restituting dust storm events in springtime so as to improve forecast results. Dust storm events were sporadic but could be extremely intense and then control air quality indexes close to the source areas but also far in the Beijing area. A dust episode having occurred at the end of May 2008 was analyzed in this article, and its impact of particulate matter on the Chinese air pollution index (API) was evaluated. Following our estimation, about 23 Tg of dust were emitted from source areas in Mongolia and in the Inner Mongolia of China, transporting towards southeast. This episode of dust storm influenced a large part of North China and East China, and also South Korea. The model result was then evaluated using satellite observations and in situ data. The simulated daily concentrations of total suspended particulate at 6:00 UTC had a similar spatial pattern with respect to OMI satellite aerosol index. Temporal evolution of dust plume was evaluated by comparing dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) calculated from the simulations with AOD derived from MODIS satellite products. Finally, the comparison of reported Chinese API in Beijing with API calculated from the simulation including dust emissions had showed the significant improvement of the model results taking into account mineral dust correctly.     

Seasonal trend of ambient PCDD/Fs in Tianjin City, northern China using active sampling strategy

The spatial concentrations, seasonal trends, profiles and congener pairs of ambient polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were investigated within a seasonally active sampling scheme during Jun 2008 and Jan 2009 in Tianjin City, northern China. The PCDD/F concentrations ranged 14.2-172 fg I-TEQ/m³ (average 69.3 fg I-TEQ/m³) in summer and (89.8-1.01) × 10³ fg I-TEQ/m³ (average 509 fg I-TEQ/m³) in winter, respectively, except for the E-waste dismantling site where much higher values were observed (1.04 × 10³ fg I-TEQ/m³ in summer and 7.123 × 10³ fg I-TEQ/m³ in winter). The results indicated a significantly seasonal trend with higher TEQ values in winter as compared with summer, which could be related to increased emission sources and seasonal variations of the atmospheric boundary layer height. 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF was the dominant contributor to the total PCDD/F toxic equivalents, and 2,3,7,8-TCDD was detected at almost all the sampling sites in winter. Most of the similarly substituted PCDD/F congener pairs exhibited high correlations, suggesting that they might have similar environmental fate or sources. But different seasonal and spatial distributions of PCDD/F concentrations indicated that the emission sources might be intermittent.