Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

高级氧化技术机理及在水处理中的应用进展

综述了近年来发展迅速的高级氧化技术，主要包括Fenton法、臭氧氧化法、湿式氧化技术、超临界水氧化法、纳米光催化氧化法电化学催化降解法及超声降解法等。介绍了各种高级氧化技术的基本原理及在废水处理中的应用进展，并对其特点进行了评述。     

加压活性炭生物膜法处理DSD有机废水

采用加压活性炭生物膜法处理以对硝基甲苯磺酸盐为主的难降解的有机废水的研究,是在活性炭生物膜法处理有机废水基础上发展起来的新技术。本实验结果表明,在加压9.8×10~4Pa(1kgt/cm~2)的条件下,COD_(Cr)去除率为62％～70％,比常压活性炭生物膜法高20％～25％;其容积负荷Nv=1.7～2.9kgCOD/m~3·d,比一般活性污泥法高3～6倍。     

Long-term nitrogen and phosphorus removal,shifts of functional bacteria and fate of resistance genes in bioretention systems under sulfamethoxazole stress

To understand the long-term performance of bioretention systems under sulfamethoxazole (SMX) stress, an unplanted bioretention system (BRS) and two modified BRSs with coconut-shell activated carbon (CAC) and CAC/zero-valent-iron (Fe0) granules (CAC-BRS and Fe/CAC-BRS) were established. Both CAC-BRS and Fe/CAC-BRS significantly outperformed BRS in removing total nitrogen (TN)(CAC-BRS:82.48%; Fe/CAC-BRS:78.08%; BRS:47.51%), total phosphorous (TP)(CAC-BRS:79.36%; Fe/CAC-BRS:98.26%; BRS:41.99%),and...     

多目标灰色关联度决策模型分析

本文针对多目标决策的复杂性,运用灰色系统分析方法和物元分析理论,建立了决策方案的评价体系并对评价指标进行规范化处理。以决策方案的灰色关联度作为评判准则,建立了一种目标灰色关联度决策模型。     

Rapid amino acid cycling in arctic and antarctic soils

Amino acids constitute one of the largest inputs of organic nitrogen (N) to most polar soils and have been hypothesized to be important in regulating vegetational succession and productivity in Arctic ecosystems. Our understanding of amino acid cycling in these soils, however, is poor. The aim of this study was to investigate the size and rate of turnover of the amino acid pool in a range of Arctic and Antarctic soils. Our results indicate that in polar soils with either high or low ornithogenic inputs the amino acid pool is small in comparison to the inorganic N pool (NO^–₃ and NH⁺₄). The free amino acid pool constituted only a small proportion of the total dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) pool in these soils. Here we show that these low concentrations may be due to rapid use by the soil microbial community in both Arctic and Antarctic soils. The turnover of the amino acid pool in soil was extremely rapid, with a half-life ranging from 2 to 24 h, indicating that this N pool can be turned over many hundred times each summer when polar soils are frequently unfrozen. The implications of amino acids in N cycling and plant and microbial nutrition are discussed.     

The Ethical Contract as a Tool in Organic Animal Husbandry

This article explores what an ethicfor organic animal husbandry might look like,departing from the assumption that organicfarming is substantially based in ecocentricethics. We argue that farm animals arenecessary functional partners in sustainableagroecosystems. This opens up additional waysto argue for their moral standing. We suggestan ethical contract to be used as acomplementary to the ecocentric framework. Weexpound the content of the contract and end bysuggesting how to apply this contract inpractice. The contract enjoins us to share thewealth created in the agroecosystem (by ourjoint contributions) by enjoining us to carefor the welfare and needs of the individualanimal, and to protect them from exploitation(just as human co-workers should not beexploited). The contract makes promoting goodanimal welfare a necessary condition forbenefiting farm animals. Animals for their partare guaranteed coverage under the contract solong as they continue to contribute to thesystem with products and services.     

Trace Organic Matter in the Ria Formosa,Portugal

The Ria Formosa lagoon, Portugal, receives organic matter from many natural and anthropogenic sources. This paper presents an overview of the contribution these sources made through the use of lipid biomarkers. Sixty-one surface sediment samples were collected and analysed for a range of lipids. Sewage materials were confined to regions within 2 km of discharge points; phytoplankton biomarkers (sterols and fatty acids) suggest production was greatest in the inner parts of the lagoon that also have greatest inorganic nutrient enrichment; terrestrial organic matter was present in relatively low concentrations as shown by both sterol and fatty alcohols; bacteria were widespread although the Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRBs, shown by the presence of 3-OH fatty acids) were located near but not adjacent to sewage discharge points.     

森林新近凋落叶溶出DOM的性质及其对菲增溶作用的影响

凋落叶作为森林凋落物的主要组成部分,其溶出的大量有机质也是森林土壤可溶性有机质（DOM）的主要来源之一。研究森林凋落叶溶出DOM对PAHs增溶作用的影响有利于合理预测及评价森林土壤中PAHs的环境行为和生态风险。本研究采集了南亚热带常绿阔叶人工林的4种常见树种--尾叶桉（Eucalyptus urophylla）、木荷（Schima superba）、大叶相思（Acacia auriculiformis）和湿地松（Pinus elliottii）的新近凋落叶为试验材料,研究其DOM含量、组成与性质,对比分析了不同凋落叶DOM对菲的増溶作用及其与DOM性质的相关关系。结果表明,4种凋落叶的可溶性有机碳（DOC）质量分数在C 11.61~36.25 mg·g-1之间,其中尾叶桉的含量最大,湿地松最小。尾叶桉和木荷DOM的主要组分是可溶性糖（SS）和可溶性酚（SP）,两者总C量占DOC的比例超过47%,而大叶相思和湿地松中SS和SP两者总量所占比例均低于30%。另外,4种凋落叶DOM的质量分数（以C计）与其电导率的线性关系图中有明显转折点,说明它们均具有表面活性剂的性质。凋落叶DOM在临界胶束浓度（CMC）之上对菲具有不同程度的増溶作用,其与菲的结合系数（logKDOC）的大小顺序为尾叶桉（3.05 L·kg-1）＞木荷（3.02 L·kg-1）＞大叶相思（2.79 L·kg-1）＞湿地松（2.54 L·kg-1）,这表明尾叶桉和木荷DOM的增溶作用明显高于大叶相思和湿地松DOM。经分析表明,logKDOC与各DOM在254、280 nm处的特征紫外吸光度值（SUV-A254、SUV-A280）及其SS、SP的相对含量均呈显著正相关（p＜0.01）,与A240/A420、A254/A400比值呈显著负相关（p＜0.01）,说明DOM的芳香化程度越高,分子量越大, SS与SP所占比例越高,其对菲的増溶效果越明显。     

都江堰灵岩山3种人工林优势物种叶片的有机组分特征

叶片的有机组分特征不仅是植物光合产物分配策略和养分回收的重要参数,而且是衡量凋落叶分解难易程度的重要指标.为探究不同植物群落叶片间有机组分的差异,以华西雨屏区人工林的优势乔、灌、草植物作为对象,收集其成熟叶及凋落叶,研究其水溶性组分(water soluble component,WSC)、有机溶性组分(organic...