The influence of radiopharmaceutical isotope production on the global radioxenon background

Radioxenon isotopes play a major role in confirming whether or not an underground explosion was nuclear in nature. It is then of key importance to understand the sources of environmental radioxenon to be able to distinguish them from those of a nuclear explosion.     

White clover clones as a cost-effective indicator of phytotoxic ozone: 10 years of experience from central Italy

Data collected at one site in central Italy using the NC-S/NC-R clover (Trifolium repens) biotype system during 1997-2007 were analysed in order to assess: (a) its performance under Mediterranean conditions; (b) variations of ozone damage linked with meteorological conditions; (c) if critical level approach is a good predictor of ozone risk on vegetation. NC-S dry biomasses were systematically lower than those of NC-R, the mean ratio being 0.7. Relevant relationship between ozone visible injury and cumulated values of AOT40 were also reported. Temperature and number of rainy days were the most important factors associated with ozone presence and, as a consequence, with leaf injury index. Photosynthetic gas exchange properties indicate that NC-S has higher values of stomatal conductance.     

Assessment of present and future risk to Italian forests and human health: Modelling and mapping

A review of ozone pollution in Italy shows levels largely above the thresholds established by EU regulation for vegetation and human health protection. The Italian air quality monitoring network appears quantitatively inadequate to cover all the territorial surface, because of scarcity and unequal distribution of monitoring sites. By applying the integrated assessment model RAINS-Italy to the year 2000, the whole of Italy exceeds the AOT40 critical level for forest, while Northern and central areas show strong potential of O₃ impact on human health with ∼11% of territory >10 O₃-induced premature deaths. Two scenarios for the year 2020, the Current Legislation and the Maximum Technical Feasible Reduction, show a reduction of AOT40Forest by 29% and 44%, SOMO35 by 31% and 47%, and O₃-induced premature deaths by 32% and 48%, compared to 2000. RAINS-Italy can be used to improve the map quality and cover areas not reached by the national monitoring network.     

Substance-related environmental monitoring

Background  Due to the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive and other legal regulations (e.g., national laws like the German Federal Soil Protection Act), but also due to the implementation of the new EU chemicals management system REACH, environmental monitoring will gain increasing importance for the surveillance of environmental quality as well as for the assessment of chemicals. Against this background, the Work Group on ‘Environmental Monitoring’ of the Division of ‘Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology’ within the German Chemical Society has compiled a position paper on substance-related environmental monitoring. Scope  Core elements of this position paper are the definitions of important terms like monitoring, exposure monitoring, effect monitoring, and integrated monitoring. Moreover, temporal and spatial aspects (monitoring of spatial distributions, trend monitoring, and retrospective monitoring) and their applications are discussed. The main focus of this position paper is the coverage of aspects which have to be observed for the preparation and implementation of a monitoring program. Essential is the clear specification of the targets of the monitoring which determine the development of the monitoring concept and its realization, e.g., if environmental media (compartments) or organisms are most appropriate as samples for the aim of the study. Of course, also the properties of the target substances are important (e.g., lipophilicity/bioaccumulation as pre-requisite for an exposure monitoring with organisms). Finally, the monitoring phases of sample planning, sampling, storage and transport of samples, selection of analytical methods, quality assurance measures as well as reporting are discussed. Perspectives  An important issue for the future is to link the quantification of chemicals in environmental compartments (exposure and pollution monitoring) more closely to the study of biological effects (effect monitoring) than has been the case up to now. Furthermore, by inclusion of a spatial differentiation, a comprehensive evaluation of the state of an ecosystem can be obtained and the relevance of the results improved. Practical examples of monitoring studies which illustrate various aspects covered in this position paper will be presented in a series of publications by members of the Work Group in the following issues of this journal.

Analysis of long-term changes in the dates of seasonal phenomena in plants and insects of the Il’men Reserve as related to climatic factors

The results of monitoring the dates of the onset of flowering and leaf budding in eight herbaceous and woody plant species and the first appearance of three insect species in the Il’men Reserve (1972–2005) were processed by means of regression and correlation analyses. No significant changes in test parameters were revealed in the majority of these species. Only two early spring plants, coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara L.) and goat willow (Salix caprea L.), showed a weak tendency toward earlier flowering in the 1980s and 1990s. This is explained primarily by the absence of any significant trends in spring and summer air temperatures in the study region over the observation period. On the other hand, interannual fluctuations in the dates of plant flowering and insect appearance were well manifested not only in early spring but also in late-spring species. These fluctuations proved to depend largely on spring temperatures: in years with early and warm springs, flowering and leaf budding in plants and the appearance of first individuals in insects were recorded on significantly earlier dates.     

Influence of temporally variable groundwater flow conditions on point measurements and contaminant mass flux estimations

Monitoring of contaminant concentrations, e.g., for the estimation of mass discharge or contaminant degradation rates, often is based on point measurements at observation wells. In addition to the problem, that point measurements may not be spatially representative, a further complication may arise due to the temporal dynamics of groundwater flow, which may cause a concentration measurement to be not temporally representative. This paper presents results from a numerical modeling study focusing on temporal variations of the groundwater flow direction. “Measurements” are obtained from point information representing observation wells installed along control planes using different well frequencies and configurations. Results of the scenario simulations show that temporally variable flow conditions can lead to significant temporal fluctuations of the concentration and thus are a substantial source of uncertainty for point measurements. Temporal variation of point concentration measurements may be as high as the average concentration determined, especially near the plume fringe, even when assuming a homogeneous distribution of the hydraulic conductivity. If a heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity field is present, the concentration variability due to a fluctuating groundwater flow direction varies significantly within the control plane and between the different realizations. Determination of contaminant mass fluxes is also influenced by the temporal variability of the concentration measurement, especially for large spacings of the observation wells. Passive dosimeter sampling is found to be appropriate for evaluating the stationarity of contaminant plumes as well as for estimating average concentrations over time when the plume has fully developed. Representative sampling has to be performed over several periods of groundwater flow fluctuation. For the determination of mass fluxes at heterogeneous sites, however, local fluxes, which may vary considerably along a control plane, have to be accounted for. Here, dosimeter sampling in combination with time integrated local water flux measurements can improve mass flux estimates under dynamic flow conditions.     

Flood monitoring in a semi-arid environment using spatially high resolution radar and optical data

The geographic term "Niger Inland Delta" stands for a vast plain of approximately 40,000 km(2), which is situated in the western Sahel (Republic of Mali). The Inland Delta is affected by yearly inundation through the variable water levels of the Niger-Bani river system. Due to a good availability of (surface) water, the ecosystem at the Niger Inland Delta serves as resting place stop-over for many migrating birds and other wildlife species as well as economic base for farmers and pastoral people. To foster the sustainable usage of its natural resources and to protect this natural heritage, the entire Niger Inland Delta became RAMSAR site in 2004. This paper aims to test to which extent texture analysis can improve the quality of flood monitoring in a semi-arid environment using spatially high resolution ASAR imaging mode data. We found the Gray Level Dependence Method (GLDM) was most suitable proceeding for our data. Several statistical parameters were calculated via co-occurrence matrices and were used to classify the images in different gradation of soil moisture classes. In a second step we used additional information from spatially high resolution optical data (ASTER) to improve the separability of open water areas from moisture/vegetated areas.     

建设项目竣工环境保护验收监测在环境管理中的任务与对策

建设项目竣工环境保护验收监测对于落实“三同时”制度、实现总量控制目标、为环境监督管理提供重要技术支持具有重要意义与作用。目前,验收监测在管理体制、收费标准、成果应用等方面存在的突出问题,可通过创新管理机制、健全管理制度、提高管理水平等具体措施解决。     

工业企业厂界环境噪声监测中背景噪声监测及修正探讨

针对测量结果修正的相关要求,本文对新颁布的《工业企业厂界环境噪声排放标准》（GB12348-2008）和旧标准《工业企业厂界噪声测量方法》（GB／T12349-1990）在实际工作中的运用进行了比对、分析和探讨,并根据实际工作经验,提出了在背景噪声难以测量的一些特殊情况下的几种解决途径,主要提出噪声源声值与背景声值相差小于3dB（A）时的解决方案。     

危险品运输实时监控及应急救援服务平台构建

针对我国危险品运输监管及应急救援现状,提出构建"危险品运输实时监控及应急救援服务平台"的技术方案。设计了平台系统的技术框架,介绍装载于危险品运输车辆之上的"监控终端"以及应急救援车辆之上的"智能终端"的基本功能,并以环保部门为例阐述了服务平台与危险废物监管政务平台之间的数据交换及功能耦合,以及利用服务平台开展危险品运输事故应急救援联动流程。该平台可望解决"危险品运输多部门监管数据不一致以及多部门联动应急救援调度困难"这一实际问题。