Atmospheric Levels of Nitrogen Oxides at a Greek Oil Refinery Compared with the Urban Measurements in Athens

Oil refining is among the industrial activities that emit considerable amounts of air pollutants into the atmosphere. Nitrogen oxides are important air pollutants that are emitted by oil refineries as products of combustion processes. The ambient air concentrations of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) were monitored continuously at a site close to an oil refinery, near the city of Corinth in Greece, during autumn 1997 together with the main meteorological parameters. The contribution of the oil refinery to the measured atmospheric levels of nitrogen oxides was estimated. The ambient air concentration of nitrogen oxides in the area surrounding the oil refinery were generally lower than the ambient air concentrations in the urban area of Athens in Greece, and the NO₂ levels were always below the existing air quality standards. The influence of the refinery emitted NO_x in the photochemical production of ozone seems to be more important in terms of human and vegetation exposure given the high ozone backgrounds measured in the area.     

The impact of handpump corrosion on water quality in rural areas of West African sub-region

Water, even in its natural environment, contains some level of impurities. Water is nearly a universal solvent. It contains dissolved solids and gases, and hosts a number of micro-organisms. The exploitation of groundwater by means of boreholes for supplying small user groups and rural communities with water has been widely applied in certain parts of the world for several decades. In recent years this practice has spread all over the globe, and hundred of thousands of boreholes have beendrilled to tap low-yield aquifers. It is evident that such boreholes require pumps for lifting thewater. In developing countries these are usually handpumps, butsolar as well as other systems with submersible pumps are also used, depending upon the energy sources available and the financial means of the beneficiaries. This article gives a general overview of groundwater quality with regard to itsphysico-chemical composition. The results presented originatefrom the experience gained from handpump equipped boreholes within the UNICEF through German Centre for Technical EducationTransfer executed inter-regional UNDP-Handpumps Project inWest African Regions. Particular attention is paid to presenting corrosion onthe water quality of wells in terms of iron concentrationand other parameters. Furthermore, the corrosion attack ongalvanised iron, the effect of biofilms on the corrosionrate, and the difference between internal and externalcorrosion of rising mains are shown.     

Being Good at Doing Good? Quality and Accountability of Humanitarian NGOs

Quality enhancement of humanitarian assistance is far from a technical task. It is interwoven with debates on politics of principles and people are intensely committed to the various outcomes these debates might have. It is a field of strongly competing truths, each with their own rationale and appeal. The last few years have seen a rapid increase in discussions, policy paper and organisational initiatives regarding the quality of humanitarian assistance. This paper takes stock of the present initiatives and of the questions raised with regard to the quality of humanitarian assistance.     

Visual Aesthetic Quality of Northern Ontario's Forested Shorelines

Only a few empirical studies on forest aesthetics have adopted a water-based perspective for observers and have investigated the perceived visual quality of forested shorelines. In forested environments with many lakes, such as the boreal forest in the Canadian Shield, individuals have greater exposure to forests from water-based rather than in-stand vantage points. This study employed the psychophysical research direction to explore the relationships between scenic beauty and biophysical characteristics of the forested shorelines in the boreal forests. Two model forms were tested. One model related the variation of shoreline forest aesthetic evaluations of near-vista views (140 m offshore) to a set of forest mensuration data. Tree size, tree mortality, conifer shrubs, tree density, amount of hardwood, and slope explained 60.2% of the variance in scenic beauty between the study sites. A second model was calibrated to test the relationship between an already existing ecosystem vegetation classification system and the aesthetic evaluations of the same forested shorelines. When the ecosystem classification was simplified to eight groups, the model explained 48.5% of variance. These models suggest that the psychophysical approach to studying aesthetics can be applied successfully to near-vista evaluations of scenic beauty. The finding that a forest ecosystem classification system is highly related to scenic beauty suggests that, at least in the boreal forest, managers can reasonably estimate the scenic beauty of forested shoreline environments from an ecosystem classification, with little need for intensive data on these sites.     

岷江流域地表水水质的模糊综合评价

岷江是长江上游的一个重要支流，其水质安全对维持成都平原正常的生产生活起着至关重要的作用。采用模糊综合评价的方法，对岷江流域14个地表水监测断面的水质状况进行了综合评价。结果表明：在14个监测断面中，处于清洁和未污染程度的断面占50％，主要位于岷江流域的上游和下游，其水质状况较好；处于重污染的断面占29％，主要位于岷江流域的中游，水质状况较差。因此，需要加强流域综合治理尤其是对岷江中游的治理，以确保岷江流域的水质安全。     

山东省城市空气自动监测监控系统数据的应用设计和使用方法

山东省城市空气自动监测监控系统的主要功能是将全省城市自动监测站数据利用计算机网络、数据仓库等技术导入到环境监测数据仓库中，实现全省城市空气质量自动监测的统一监控和监测信息的自动管理和发布。本文简单介绍了系统控制中心端监测数据统计应用部分的功能设计和实现方法。     

Exposure Programme on Atmospheric Corrosion Effects of Acidifying Pollutants in Tropical and Subtropical Climates

Many national exposure programmes have been performed in tropical and subtropical climates during the last 50 years. However, ambitious programmes involving more than a few countries are scarce. In this paper a recently formed network of test sites is described involving 12 test sites in Asia (India, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and China including Hong Kong) and four test sites in Africa (South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe). This effort is part of the 2001–2004 Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) funded Programme on Regional Air Pollution in Developing Countries (RAPIDC). Corrosion attack after one (2002–2003) year of exposure (carbon steel, zinc, copper, limestone and paint coated steel) are presented together with environmental data (SO₂, NO₂, HNO₃, O₃, particles, amount and pH of precipitation, temperature and relative humidity) for all the test sites. The obtained corrosion values are substantially higher than expected for limestone, higher than expected for carbon steel and lower than expected for zinc compared to values calculated using the best available dose–response functions.     

催化湿式氧化法处理吡虫啉农药废水

自制了Cu／Mn，Cu／Ce，Cu／Ni，Ce／Mn，Ce／Ag等催化剂，经过性能比较，选择催化活性较高且金属溶出量较小的Cu／Ni作催化剂。用催化湿式氧化法处理吡虫啉农药废水，考察了各种因素对处理效果的影响。实验结果表明：在进水pH为6．93、Cu／Ni加入量为4．0g、反应温度为190oC、氧分压为1．6MPa、反应时间为120min的条件下，COD去除率为95％；处理后废水的BOD5／COD从0．093增至0．590，可生化性明显改善。     

模糊聚类法在大气环境质量评价中的应用

通过对2004年甘肃省5个有代表性城市的大气质量监测数据进行分析,较为详细地介绍了将模糊聚类法应用于大气环境质量综合评价的过程,从而展示了模糊聚类在环境评价和管理中的积极作用和重要意义.     

工科学生工程安全素质培养的探索与实践

高等学校工科学生的社会职业定位是工程师,工程师的主要工作是从事工程的规划、设计、实施、运行和管理,其工程行为对工程安全具有至关重要的影响。随着现代工程向大型化、综合化和复杂化方向发展,工程安全已成为人类社会面临的重大问题,解决工程安全问题的根本途径之一是加强和改进高等工程教育,致力于提高工科学生的工程安全素质培养。对工科学生的工程安全素质培养,各高校可根据自己的专业优势和服务需求面而独具特色,以适应社会对工程安全人才多样性要求。湖南科技大学在工科学生的培养中,从培养目标的改革中加强了对工程安全素质的要求;从培养内容的改革中加强了对工程安全知识的传授;从培养方法的改革中加强了对工程安全技能的训练;各项改革中的措施在实践中取得令人满意的效果。