An integrated fuzzy-stochastic modeling approach for risk assessment of groundwater contamination

An integrated fuzzy-stochastic risk assessment (IFSRA) approach was developed in this study to systematically quantify both probabilistic and fuzzy uncertainties associated with site conditions, environmental guidelines, and health impact criteria. The contaminant concentrations in groundwater predicted from a numerical model were associated with probabilistic uncertainties due to the randomness in modeling input parameters, while the consequences of contaminant concentrations violating relevant environmental quality guidelines and health evaluation criteria were linked with fuzzy uncertainties. The contaminant of interest in this study was xylene. The environmental quality guideline was divided into three different strictness categories: "loose", "medium" and "strict". The environmental-guideline-based risk (ER) and health risk (HR) due to xylene ingestion were systematically examined to obtain the general risk levels through a fuzzy rule base. The ER and HR risk levels were divided into five categories of "low", "low-to-medium", "medium", "medium-to-high" and "high", respectively. The general risk levels included six categories ranging from "low" to "very high". The fuzzy membership functions of the related fuzzy events and the fuzzy rule base were established based on a questionnaire survey. Thus the IFSRA integrated fuzzy logic, expert involvement, and stochastic simulation within a general framework. The robustness of the modeling processes was enhanced through the effective reflection of the two types of uncertainties as compared with the conventional risk assessment approaches. The developed IFSRA was applied to a petroleum-contaminated groundwater system in western Canada. Three scenarios with different environmental quality guidelines were analyzed, and reasonable results were obtained. The risk assessment approach developed in this study offers a unique tool for systematically quantifying various uncertainties in contaminated site management, and it also provides more realistic support for remediation-related decisions.     

深圳市工业区VOCs污染特征与臭氧生成敏感性

于2020年9~10月在深圳北部典型工业区开展在线观测以分析该地VOCs污染状况,并使用基于观测的模型(OBM)研究臭氧生成敏感性.观测期间VOCs的总浓度为48.5×10^-9,浓度水平上烷烃>含氧有机物(OVOCs)>卤代烃>芳香烃>烯烃>乙炔>乙腈.臭氧生成潜势(OFP)为320μg/m³,其中芳香烃、OVOCs以及烷烃贡献最大,这3类物种OFP贡献总和超过90%.乙烯与苯呈现“两峰一谷”的日变化特征,主要受到机动车排放的贡献.相对增量反应性(RIR)分析表明,削减人为源VOCs对控制当地臭氧生成最为有效,当中又应优先控制芳香烃;经典动力学曲线(EKMA)分析表明该片区臭氧生成处于过渡区,在开展VOCs区域联防联控的同时,需要在当地进行有力的NOx控制以强化该地区臭氧污染长期管控.     

Uncertainty Models for Estimates of Physical Characteristics of River Segments Over Large Areas

Spatially comprehensive estimates of the physical characteristics of river segments over large areas are required in many large‐scale analyses of river systems and for the management of multiple basins. Remote sensing and modeling are often used to estimate river characteristics over large areas, but the uncertainties associated with these estimates and their dependence on the physical characteristics of the segments and their catchments are seldom quantified. Using test data with varying degrees of independence, we derived analytical models of the uncertainty associated with estimates of upstream catchment area (CA), segment slope, and mean annual discharge for all river segments of a digital representation of the hydrographic network of France. Although there were strong relationships between our test data and estimates at the scale of France, there were also large relative local uncertainties, which varied with the physical characteristics of the segments and their catchments. Discharge and CA were relatively uncertain where discharge was low and catchments were small. Discharge uncertainty also increased in catchments with large rainfall events and low minimum temperature. The uncertainty of segment slope was strongly related to segment length. Our uncertainty models were consistent across large regions of France, suggesting some degree of generality. Their analytical formulation should facilitate their use in large‐scale ecological studies and simulation models.     

Assessing the Risk of Ships Striking Large Whales in Marine Spatial Planning

Marine spatial planning provides a comprehensive framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment and has the potential to minimize environmental impacts and reduce conflicts among users. Spatially explicit assessments of the risks to key marine species from human activities are a requirement of marine spatial planning. We assessed the risk of ships striking humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), and fin (Balaenoptera physalus) whales in alternative shipping routes derived from patterns of shipping traffic off Southern California (U.S.A.). Specifically, we developed whale‐habitat models and assumed ship‐strike risk for the alternative shipping routes was proportional to the number of whales predicted by the models to occur within each route. This definition of risk assumes all ships travel within a single route. We also calculated risk assuming ships travel via multiple routes. We estimated the potential for conflict between shipping and other uses (military training and fishing) due to overlap with the routes. We also estimated the overlap between shipping routes and protected areas. The route with the lowest risk for humpback whales had the highest risk for fin whales and vice versa. Risk to both species may be ameliorated by creating a new route south of the northern Channel Islands and spreading traffic between this new route and the existing route in the Santa Barbara Channel. Creating a longer route may reduce the overlap between shipping and other uses by concentrating shipping traffic. Blue whales are distributed more evenly across our study area than humpback and fin whales; thus, risk could not be ameliorated by concentrating shipping traffic in any of the routes we considered. Reducing ship‐strike risk for blue whales may be necessary because our estimate of the potential number of strikes suggests that they are likely to exceed allowable levels of anthropogenic impacts established under U.S. laws. Evaluación del Riesgo de Colisiones de Barcos y Ballenas en la Planificación Marina Espacial     

Watershed management and the Web

Watershed analysis and watershed management are developing as tools of integrated ecological and economic study. They also assist decision-making at the regional scale. The new technology and thinking offered by the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web is highly complementary to some of the goals of watershed analysis. Services delivered by the Web are open, interactive, fast, spatially distributed, hierarchical and flexible. The Web offers the ability to display information creatively, to interact with that information and to change and modify it remotely. In this way the Internet provides a much-needed opportunity to deliver scientific findings and information to stakeholders and to link stakeholders together providing for collective decision-making. The benefits fall into two major categories: methodological and educational. Methodologically the approach furthers the watershed management concept, offering an avenue for practical implementation of watershed management principles. For educational purposes the Web is a source of data and insight serving a variety of needs at all levels. We use the Patuxent River case study to illustrate the web-based approach to watershed management. A watershed scale simulation model is built for the Patuxent area and it serves as a core for watershed management design based on web applications. It integrates the knowledge available for the Patuxent area in a comprehensive and systematic format, and provides a conceptual basis for understanding the performance of the watershed as a system. Moreover, the extensive data collection and conceptualisation required within the framework of the modeling effort stimulates close contact with the environmental management community. This is further enhanced by offering access to the modeling results and the data sets over the Web. Additional web applications and links are provided to increase awareness and involvement of stakeholders in the watershed management process. We argue that it is not the amount and quality of information that is crucial for the success of watershed management, but how well the information is disseminated, shared and used by the stakeholders. In this respect the Web offers a wealth of opportunities for the decision-making process, but still to be answered are the questions at what scale and how widely will the Web be accepted as a management tool, and how can watershed management benefit from web applications.     

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.     

滑行车类游乐设施动力学建模与仿真

根据滑行车类游乐设施运行速度高、加速度大、载荷工况复杂,发生事故后果非常严重的现状,认为深入的动力学分析、结构强度校核和寿命分析预测对保证其安全性尤为必要。因而分析滑行车的结构原理,提出其多体系统拓扑构型,包括轮轨关系模型、各零部件之间约束模型。运用图形学方法研究了滑行车轨道建模参数提取和坐标变换技术。通过仿真分析,在设计阶段就可获得滑行车在不同工况下运行时各部件的速度、加速度及载荷时间历程,为结构设计、安全性评估提供可靠依据。实例表明,分析结果与实测数据非常接近,所提出的建模方法是可行的。     

FLOW PERSISTENCE AS A MODIFIER OF SEASONAL RUNOFF PATTERNS1

ABSTRACT: The effect of flow persistence on seasonal patterns of watershed runoff was modeled by using runoff of the immediate antecedent month as an index. Monthly runoff was expressed as a function of monthly rainfall, season of the year, and runoff of the antecedent month. The three independent variables were expressed functionally as sliding polynomials, thus producing a piece-wise, form-free, three-dimensional causative structure. A model form allowing complete interactivity of the three independent variables could not be optimized because of insufficient data with high values of both antecedent runoff and monthly rainfall. A model with reduced interactivity was successfully optimized. Data sets from five watersheds ranging from 0.14 to 398 square miles were analyzed. Results were presented as a series of contour maps that showed contours of monthly runoff in the data space of season and monthly rain. In the series of maps, the patterns of the runoff contours changed with changing values of antecedent runoff. During the wet season of the year the contours changed significantly with antecedent runoff, but changes in the dry season were minimal. The quantitative change of runoff was more readily portrayed with cross-sections through the contoured surfaces.     

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.