D. Wolfe; M. Schorr; M. Hanson; C.H. Nelson; S.M. Richards
Abstract
Widespread use of pharmaceuticals has resulted in mixture concentrations ranging from mg/L in effluent to µg/L concentrations in surface water. In a 2008 study, 13 pharmaceuticals, ranging in amounts from 0.0028 to 0.1757 µg/l, were identified in the Tennessee River, USA and its tributaries. ...
Read More
Widespread use of pharmaceuticals has resulted in mixture concentrations ranging from mg/L in effluent to µg/L concentrations in surface water. In a 2008 study, 13 pharmaceuticals, ranging in amounts from 0.0028 to 0.1757 µg/l, were identified in the Tennessee River, USA and its tributaries. In order to address the need for risk assessment of environmentally relevant pharmaceutical mixtures, Daphnia magna 21-d life cycle tests were performed on a mixture of 11 of the 13 pharmaceuticals as well as on the individual components of the mixture. Mixture exposures were based on the same initial ratios of individual compounds, up to 1000x the initial mixture concentrations. The endpoints of mortality, time to first brood, size, and fecundity were the assessed. The LOEC of the 11- pharmaceutical mixture was determined to be 100x greater than the measured mixture concentration detected in the Tennessee River, with the NOEC being 75x that of the measured mixture. Single concentrations of pharmaceuticals within the mixture up to the 100x LOEC were not statistically different from control for any of the assessed endpoints. Thus, no single pharmaceutical was deemed predominately responsible for the mixture toxicity at the concentrations tested. While mixtures of pharmaceuticals are common in many systems, based on the findings of the present study, they may not pose a significant acute or chronic hazard to aquatic invertebrates at current concentrations.
Environmental Science
V. K. Gupta; Suhas; I. Tyagi; S. Agarwal; R. Singh; M. Chaudhary; A. Harit; S. Kushwaha
Abstract
Fertilizer plant waste carbon slurry has been investigated after some processing as an adsorbent for the removal of dyes and phenols using columns. The results show that the carbonaceous adsorbent prepared from carbon slurry being porous and having appreciable surface area (380 m2/g) can remove dyes ...
Read More
Fertilizer plant waste carbon slurry has been investigated after some processing as an adsorbent for the removal of dyes and phenols using columns. The results show that the carbonaceous adsorbent prepared from carbon slurry being porous and having appreciable surface area (380 m2/g) can remove dyes both cationic (meldola blue, methylene blue, chrysoidine G, crystal violet) as well as anionic (ethyl orange, metanil yellow, acid blue 113), and phenols (phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol) fruitfully from water. The column type continuous flow operations were used to obtain the breakthrough curves. The breakthrough capacity, exhaustion capacity and degree of column utilization were evaluated from the plots. The results shows that the degree of column utilization for dyes lies in the range 60 to 76% while for phenols was in the range 53-58%. The exhaustion capacities were quite high as compared to the breakthrough capacities and were found to be 217, 211, 104, 126, 233, 248, 267 mg/g for meldola blue, crystal violet, chrysoidine G, methylene blue, ethyl orange, metanil yellow, acid blue 113, respectively and 25.6, 72.2, 82.2 and 197.3 mg/g for phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol, respectively
F.A. Olabemiwo; G.I. Danmaliki; T.A. Oyehan; B.S. Tawabini
Abstract
The Persian Gulf States (Bahrain. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate) have dominated the oil and gas sector since the discovery of oil in the region. They are the world largest producers of crude oil, producing about 35 and 25 percent of the world natural gas and crude oil ...
Read More
The Persian Gulf States (Bahrain. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate) have dominated the oil and gas sector since the discovery of oil in the region. They are the world largest producers of crude oil, producing about 35 and 25 percent of the world natural gas and crude oil respectively. The use of fossil fuels is directly linked to the release of CO2 into the environment. CO2 accounts for 58.8 percent of all greenhouse gases released via human activities, consequently, presenting a malign impact on the environment through climate change, global warming, biodiversity, acid rain and desertification among others. Due to its importance, the data on CO2 emission obtained from US EIA from 1980 – 2010 was regressed using least square techniques and projections were made to the year 2050. Results indicated that each country’s p-value was less than 0.05 which implies that the models can be used for predicting CO2 emissions into the future. The data shows the emission of CO2 by countries from the highest to the lowest in 2016 as: Iran (590.72 Mtonnes; 7.58 tonnes of CO2/person) > Saudi Arabia (471.82 Mtonnes; 18 tonnes of CO2/person) > UAE (218.58 Mtonnes; 41.31 tonnes of CO2/person) > Iraq (114.01 Mtonees; 3.71 tonnes of CO2/person) > Kuwait (92.58 Mtonnes; 36.31 tonnes of CO2/person) > Qatar (68.26 Mtonnes; 37 tonnes of CO2/person) > Bahrain (33.16 Mtonnes; 27.5 tonnes of CO2/person)". The sequence from the country with highest emission (Iran) to the country with lowest emission (Bahrain) will remain the same until 2050. A projection depicting a 7.7 percent yearly increase in CO2 emission in the Persian Gulf States.
F. Ince
Abstract
Environmental sustainability needs to use resources efficiently and effectively from macro to micro level with a systematic approach. The dualistic relationship between ecosystem and human beings require considering ecological and social systems as well as economic factors known as the three-legged approach. ...
Read More
Environmental sustainability needs to use resources efficiently and effectively from macro to micro level with a systematic approach. The dualistic relationship between ecosystem and human beings require considering ecological and social systems as well as economic factors known as the three-legged approach. Individuals and their perceptions are also important in this approach because of the need of environmental awareness and behaviors. From this point of view, this study assesses the perceptions of local mine workers in the Göksu Valley about the environmental sustainability to understand the relationship between environmental, personal and organizational factors. Extroversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness as the sub-dimensions of the personality have positive correlations with environmental sustainability. Also, working conditions and expert power of the leader have a significant relationship with environmental sustainability within the mine worker sample which has a high-level environmental sustainability mean. The perceptions of local workers or residents are important to gain specific information about areas which have a special ecosystem for agriculture and animals.
Environmental Management
M.B.T. Alivio; G.R. Puno; B.A.M. Talisay
Abstract
Increasing frequency and severity of flooding demands identification of flood hazard zones in Kalilangan, Bukidnon in response to the echoing need of better disaster preparedness via enhancing the understanding and awareness of the public on flood characteristics by integrating the use of two-dimensional ...
Read More
Increasing frequency and severity of flooding demands identification of flood hazard zones in Kalilangan, Bukidnon in response to the echoing need of better disaster preparedness via enhancing the understanding and awareness of the public on flood characteristics by integrating the use of two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling and remote sensing. Flood simulation was carried out in a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model using hydrologic engineering center-river analysis system to derive the flood inundation area and flood depth of Kalilangan, Bukidnon. Thus, it was preceded by pre-processing of the model using software packages of hydrologic engineering center-hydrologic modeling system and ArcGIS along with interferometric synthetic aperture radar–digital elevation model, Manning’s roughness coefficient and precipitation data. Five different rain return flooding scenarios were simulated using rainfall intensity duration frequency data. Three zones of flood hazard were then set as low, medium and high. The result shows that most areas of Kalilangan are within the zones of medium to high hazard with residential buildings as the most flooded type of built-up structures. Flood hazard zone areas could be mapped at an accuracy of 79.51%. Thus, harnessing this potential approach offers cost-effective way of flood preparedness viewing hazard-prone areas with special attention and utmost importance.
Environmental Engineering
A. Włodarczyk
Abstract
The tightening of the European Union climate and energy policy, directed to raising the resilience and effectiveness of the European Union Emissions Trading System, may influence on companies' economic performance. Polish energy companies, which mainly use coal in the energy production process, are particularly ...
Read More
The tightening of the European Union climate and energy policy, directed to raising the resilience and effectiveness of the European Union Emissions Trading System, may influence on companies' economic performance. Polish energy companies, which mainly use coal in the energy production process, are particularly worried about the potential negative consequences associated with the implementation of new CO2 emission reduction targets and their participation in the European Union Emissions Trading System. This paper analyzes the link between economic performance and environmental performance of Polish energy companies, covered by the European Union Emissions Trading System in the years 2013-2017. This analysis may focus the attention of the European Union’s and Polish institutions responsible for developing the climate and energy policies on positive and negative consequences concerning the low-carbon transformation of the Polish energy sector. Two indicators of environmental performance: carbon intensity and the ratio of carbon dioxide emissions over the allowances, as well as chosen financial ratios: return on assets, return on investment, return on sales, asset turnover ratio are calculated for these companies. A Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient is used in order to analyze the relationship between these environmental and financial variables. Presented empirical results highlight that the situation of Polish enterprises worsened in the 3rd trading period, as the number of allocated allowances in case of all energy companies was insufficient to cover their own CO2 emission. A negative direction of the correlation dependency can be observed in the years 2013-2017 only between asset turnover ratio and return on assets, and the CO2 emission intensity.
J.A. Araiza-Aguilar; M.N. Rojas-Valencia; R.A. Aguilar-Vera
Abstract
The objective of this study was to develop a forecast model to determine the rate of generation of municipal solid waste in the municipalities of the Cuenca del Cañón del Sumidero, Chiapas, Mexico. Multiple linear regression was used with social and demographic explanatory variables. The ...
Read More
The objective of this study was to develop a forecast model to determine the rate of generation of municipal solid waste in the municipalities of the Cuenca del Cañón del Sumidero, Chiapas, Mexico. Multiple linear regression was used with social and demographic explanatory variables. The compiled database consisted of 9 variables with 118 specific data per variable, which were analyzed using a multicollinearity test to select the most important ones. Initially, different regression models were generated, but only 2 of them were considered useful, because they used few predictors that were statistically significant. The most important variables to predict the rate of waste generation in the study area were the population of each municipality, the migration and the population density. Although other variables, such as daily per capita income and average schooling are very important, they do not seem to have an effect on the response variable in this study. The model with the highest parsimony resulted in an adjusted coefficient of 0.975, an average absolute percentage error of 7.70, an average absolute deviation of 0.16 and an average root square error of 0.19, showing a high influence on the phenomenon studied and a good predictive capacity.
Environmental Management
T.T. Tran; L.T. Pham; Q.X. Ngo
Abstract
Currently, the pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus, namely severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is one of the most serious issues worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 was first observed in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019; this disease has been rapidly spreading worldwide. Iran was the ...
Read More
Currently, the pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus, namely severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is one of the most serious issues worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 was first observed in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019; this disease has been rapidly spreading worldwide. Iran was the first Middle East country to report a coronavirus death, it has been severely affected. Therefore, it is crucial to forecast the pandemic spread in Iran. This study aims to develop a prediction model for the daily total confirmed cases, total confirmed new cases, total deaths, total new deaths, growth rate in confirmed cases, and growth rate in deaths. The model utilizes SARS-CoV-2 daily data, which are mainly collected from the official website of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control from February 20 to May 04, 2020 and other appropriated references. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) is employed to forecast the trend of the pandemic spread. The ARIMA model predicts that Iran can easily exhibit an increase in the daily total confirmed cases and the total deaths, while the daily total confirmed new cases, total new deaths, and growth rate in confirmed cases/deaths becomes stable in the near future. This study predicts that Iran can control the SARS-CoV-2 disease in the near future. The ARIMA model can rapidly aid in forecasting patients and rendering a better preparedness plan in Iran.
Environmental Engineering
G.R. Puno; R.A. Marin; R.C.C. Puno; A.G. Toledo-Bruno
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The study explored the capability of the geographic information system interface for the water erosion prediction project, a process-based model, to predict and visualize the specific location of soil erosion and sediment yield from the agricultural watershed of Taganibong.METHODS: ...
Read More
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The study explored the capability of the geographic information system interface for the water erosion prediction project, a process-based model, to predict and visualize the specific location of soil erosion and sediment yield from the agricultural watershed of Taganibong.METHODS: The method involved the preparation of the four input files corresponding to climate, slope, land management, and soil properties. Climate file processing was through the use of a breakpoint climate data generator. The team had calibrated and validated the model using the observed data from the three monitoring sites.FINDINGS: Model evaluation showed a statistically acceptable performance with coefficient of determination values of 0.64 (probability value = 0.042), 0.85 (probability value = 0.000), and 0.69 (probability value = 0.001) at 95% level, for monitoring sites 1, 2, and 3, respectively. A further test revealed a statistically satisfactory model performance with root mean square error-observations standard deviation ratio, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, and percent bias of 0.62, 0.61, and 44.30, respectively, for monitoring site 1; 0.65, 0.56, and 25.60, respectively, for monitoring site 2; and 0.60, 0.65, and 27.90, respectively, for monitoring site 3. At a watershed scale, the model predicted the erosion and sediment yield at 89 tons per hectare per year and 22 tons per hectare per year, respectively, which are far beyond the erosion tolerance of 10 tons per hectare per year. The sediment delivery ratio of 0.20 accounts for a total of 126,390 tons of sediments that accumulated downstream in a year.CONCLUSION: The model generated maps that visualize a site-specific hillslope, which is the source of erosion and sedimentation. The study enables the researchers to provide information helpful in the formulation of a sound policy statement for sustainable soil management in the agricultural watershed of Taganibong.
Environmental Management
J. Nouri
Abstract
Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management (GJESM) is an open access quarterly Publication. The title welcomes original, review, novel and high-impact contributions from the related Environmental science, engineering and management issues. The GJESM Journal ...
Read More
Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management (GJESM) is an open access quarterly Publication. The title welcomes original, review, novel and high-impact contributions from the related Environmental science, engineering and management issues. The GJESM Journal has been indexed in the well-known world databases mainly; Scopus (CiteScore = 3.9), Scimago Journal Rank (Q2), Web of Science (ESCI), JCI = 0.39. The title is also a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All submitted manuscripts are checked for similarity through a trustworthy software named iThenticate to be assured about its originality and then rigorously peer-reviewed by the international reviewers.
Environmental Management
W. Corredor-Santamaría; I.C. Calderón-Delgado; Z. Arbeli; J.M. Navas; Y.M. Velasco-Santamaría
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are present in all environmental matrices. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons-rich wastewater from the oil industry is discharged into natural water bodies. Detritivorous fish shown the effects of pollutants in water. Biomarkers of effect make ...
Read More
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are present in all environmental matrices. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons-rich wastewater from the oil industry is discharged into natural water bodies. Detritivorous fish shown the effects of pollutants in water. Biomarkers of effect make it possible to demonstrate exposure to xenobiotics such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the hepatic and erythrocyte response in Aequidens metae , a detritivorous fish, exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in terms of morphological, biochemical, and genotoxic changes. METHODS: Juveniles of Aequidens metaewere exposed to 50 microgram per gram body weight of beta-naphthoflavone, 100 microgram per gram of naphthalene, 50 microgram per gram of phenanthrene and 10 microgram per gram of benzo[a]pyrene, for 72 hours. Water quality variables, total protein content, 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity, liver histopathological changes and genotoxic alterations in peripheral blood were measured during the assay. FINDING:In polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons-exposed fish, analysis of liver tissue revealed parenchymal lesions and changes in the number and shape of hepatocyte nuclei. On the other hand, only fish exposed to benzo[a]pyrene shown significant increase in the 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity compared to solvent control. In peripheral blood erythrocytes, increased presence of nuclear abnormalities was higher in fish exposed to phenanthrene, followed by benzo[a]pyrene, beta-naphthoflavone, and naphthalene. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that Aequidens metae is a suitable bioindicator for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Phenanthrene reveals for the first time a greater genotoxic effect than benzo[a]pyrene at sublethal concentrations. Juveniles ofAequidens metae exposed to concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons close to those found in the environment showed health-compromising damage.
L. Trizio; L. Angiuli; M. Menegotto; F. Fedele; R. Giua; F. Mazzone; A.G.C. Carducci; R. Bellotti; G. Assennato
Abstract
During the last years, several exceedances of PM10 and benzo(a)pyrene limit values exceedances were recorded in Taranto, a city in southern Italy included in so-called areas at high risk of environmental crisis because of the presence of a heavy industrial district including the largest steel factory ...
Read More
During the last years, several exceedances of PM10 and benzo(a)pyrene limit values exceedances were recorded in Taranto, a city in southern Italy included in so-called areas at high risk of environmental crisis because of the presence of a heavy industrial district including the largest steel factory in Europe. A study of these critical pollution events showed a close correlation with the wind coming from the industrial site to the adjacent urban area. During 2011, at monitoring sites closes to the industrial area, at least the 65% of PM10 exceedances were related to wind day conditions (characterized by at least 3 consecutive hours of wind coming from 270-360±2deg with an associated speed higher than 7 m/s). For this reason, in 2012 an integrated environmental permit and a regional air quality plan were enacted to reduce pollutant emissions from industrial plants. A study of PM10 levels registered during windy days was performed during critical episodes of pollution highlighting that the difference between windy days and no windy days’ concentrations reduces from 2012 to 2014 in industrial site. False negative events (verified ex-post by observed meteorological data) not identified by the forecast model - did not show a significant influence on PM concentration: PM10 values were comparable and sometimes lower than windy days levels. It is reasonable that the new scenario with a relevant reduction emissions form Ilva plant reduced the pollutants contribution from industrial area, contributing to PM10 levels decrease, also in false negative events.
B. Sen; A.P. Dabir; V.B. Lanjekar; D.R. Ranade
Abstract
Glycerol is a promising feedstock for microbial cultivation and production of 1,3 propanediol (1,3 PDO). Here we report a newly isolated bacterial strain BA11 from soil, capable of fermenting glycerol to 1,3 PDO, and has been identified to be a strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Strain BA11 was fast growing ...
Read More
Glycerol is a promising feedstock for microbial cultivation and production of 1,3 propanediol (1,3 PDO). Here we report a newly isolated bacterial strain BA11 from soil, capable of fermenting glycerol to 1,3 PDO, and has been identified to be a strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Strain BA11 was fast growing showing peak 1,3 PDO production in 6 h of cultivation with productivity of 1.2 g/L-h without the addition of Vitamin B12. Based on the optimum glycerol utilization (75%) and 1,3 PDO production (8.3 g/L) and yield (0.56 mol/mol glycerol utilized), the most appropriate glycerol concentration for cultivation was 20 g/L. The strain BA11 could tolerate the pH range of 6 to 8.5 as no inhibitory effects were seen on growth as well as 1,3 PDO production. Strain BA11 was most active and could produce high 1,3 PDO in the incubation temperature range of 25 to 40 oC. The production of 1,3 PDO was maximum (9.3 g/L) under aerobic condition with 95.8% glycerol utilization. Addition of glucose to the glycerol fermentation led to increased cell mass but no improvement in the 1,3 PDO production.
B. Seng; T. Fujiwara; B. Seng
Abstract
Solid waste management is challenging in Phnom Penh city, Capital of Cambodia. The only one formal treatment taken is the final disposal of mixed waste into an open dumpsite. The current study analyses the physical and chemical characteristics of municipal solid waste disposed of in the dumpsite to assess ...
Read More
Solid waste management is challenging in Phnom Penh city, Capital of Cambodia. The only one formal treatment taken is the final disposal of mixed waste into an open dumpsite. The current study analyses the physical and chemical characteristics of municipal solid waste disposed of in the dumpsite to assess their suitable handling methods. The current study found that the major compositions of waste are food waste (49.18%) and plastic (21.13%), and recyclable waste shares about 17.28% of the total. On average, it contains 60.92% moisture, 35.89% combustible, 3.19% ash, 58.32% carbon and 1.05% nitrogen. High calorific value is 10.03 MJ/kg when the low calorific value is 7.77 MJ/kg. The moisture content is too high to meet the technology demands, especially in the rainy season. It seems workable for incineration without energy recovery. Gasification for melting and incineration with energy recovery are only suitable for the dry season. If the solid waste is well pre-separated, material recovery could be one of the suitable handling methods. Food waste, wood and leave could be digested in the one-stage continuous wet system and co-composted, and plastic is appropriate for refuse-derived fuel generation. The current study recommends that the waste pre-separation should be requisite for any handling methods.
J. Zhou; L. Sun; S.Y. Zang; K. Wang; J.Y. Zhao; Z.X. Li; X.M. Liu; X.R. Liu
Abstract
The impacts of land utilization change on the ecosystem service values in Daqing during 1995 to 2015 were analyzed based on unit area ecosystem service value of Chinese territorial ecosystem from Mr. Xie Gaodi and ecosystem service value calculation formula from Costanza. Results showed that the ecosystem ...
Read More
The impacts of land utilization change on the ecosystem service values in Daqing during 1995 to 2015 were analyzed based on unit area ecosystem service value of Chinese territorial ecosystem from Mr. Xie Gaodi and ecosystem service value calculation formula from Costanza. Results showed that the ecosystem service value of Daqing decreased from US $4343.1559m in 1995 to US $3824.327m in 2015, with the ecological value of US $518.8289 m decreased during the past 20 years. Wetland and water body were the two main land utilization types with the greatest contributions to the ecosystem service value. Ecosystem services value of per capita decreased 23.52%. The sensitivity coefficient of eco-service values of all types of land utilization to their value coefficients were all less than 1 in Daqing area. The sensitivity coefficients followed that wetland > water body > woodland > unutilized land > pasture land> cultivated land in 2015, which indicating that the changes of the land utilization are lack of flexibility to the changes of the ecosystem service value.
E.N. Hidayah; W.L. Lai; O.H. Cahyonugroho; F. Rizqa
Abstract
A combination of high performance size exclusion chromatography with organic carbon detector and ultraviolet detector coupled with peak-fitting technique and fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectrometry applied fluorescence regional integration method was conducted to determine the characteristics ...
Read More
A combination of high performance size exclusion chromatography with organic carbon detector and ultraviolet detector coupled with peak-fitting technique and fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectrometry applied fluorescence regional integration method was conducted to determine the characteristics of organic matter during nitrification. The batch scale of bionet nitrification without organic carbon substrate under aerobic conditions was operated for around 150 minutes. Bulk organic parameters and NH4+-N concentration were analyzed. Five different molecular weights of organic matter were identified by using chromatography, and five different groups of fluorophores organic fractions detected by fluorescence. According to chromatography with carbon and ultraviolet detector, the main characteristics of organic matter shifted from building blocks aromatic compounds with percentage peak area of carbon/ultraviolet detector: 31%/53% to 14%/27.5% to humic-like substances with percentage peak area of carbon/ultraviolet detector 21%/17% to 27%/46.5% during nitrification. Those former compounds are biodegradable as well as properties of microbial products released during substrate utilization and endogenous phase, which are mainly identified as humic-like substances, thus underwent further biodegradation. However, there was significant change in the fluorophores organic fractions, which exhibited humic acid-like with percentage fluorescence regional index area 53% into 68%, as shown by fluorescence excitation-emission matrix analysis. A combination of these methods indicated that the organic matter released during nitrification mainly consists of humic compounds. These results conjecture that a combination of high performance size exclusion chromatography with carbon and ultraviolet detector and fluorescence excitation-emission matrix can be used to determine the characteristic of organic matter and water quality change during nitrification.
Environmental Management
B.A.M. Talisay; G.R. Puno; R.A.L. Amper
Abstract
Flooding is one of the most occurring natural hazards every year risking the lives and properties of the affected communities, especially in Philippine context. To visualize the extent and mitigate the impacts of flood hazard in Malingon River in Valencia City, Bukidnon, this paper presents the combination ...
Read More
Flooding is one of the most occurring natural hazards every year risking the lives and properties of the affected communities, especially in Philippine context. To visualize the extent and mitigate the impacts of flood hazard in Malingon River in Valencia City, Bukidnon, this paper presents the combination of Geographic Information System, high-resolution Digital Elevation Model, land cover, soil, observed hydro-meteorological data; and the combined Hydrologic Engineering Center-Hydrologic Modeling System and River Analysis System models. The hydrologic model determines the precipitation-runoff relationships of the watershed and the hydraulic model calculates the flood depth and flow pattern in the floodplain area. The overall performance of hydrologic model during calibration was “very good fit” based on the criterion of Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient of Model Efficiency, Percentage Bias and Root Mean Square Error – Observations Standard Deviation Ratio with the values of 0.87, -8.62 and 0.46, respectively. On the other hand, the performance of hydraulic model during error computation was “intermediate fit” using F measure analysis with a value of 0.56, using confusion matrix with 80.5% accuracy and the Root Mean Square Error of 0.47 meters. Flood hazard maps in 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100-year return periods were generated as well as the number of flooded buildings in each flood hazard level and in different return periods were determined. The output of the study served as an important basis for a more informed decision and science-based recommendations in formulating local and regional policies for more effective and cost-efficient strategies relative to flood hazards.
Environmental Management
V. G. Shcherbak; I. Gryshchenko; L. Ganushchak-Yefimenko; O. Nifatova; V. Tkachuk; T. Kostiuk; V. Hotra
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A new wave of Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the epidemiological situation in Ukraine. This caused the need to tighten quarantine measures that have been introduced since 31.08.2020. The conducted analysis showed that there are 3 groups of technologies for digital contact tracing: ...
Read More
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A new wave of Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the epidemiological situation in Ukraine. This caused the need to tighten quarantine measures that have been introduced since 31.08.2020. The conducted analysis showed that there are 3 groups of technologies for digital contact tracing: from maximum (25%) to minimum (20%). Objective of the study is to develop an exchange platform to track the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas.METHODS: Factor analysis identified key factors of COVID-19 virus spread. Cluster analysis identified clusters of COVID-19 spread. Taxonomy method established the limits of using contact tracing methods. Discriminatory method makes it possible to change the applied contact tracing method.FINDINGS: The results showed that the identified factors (medico-demographic special features of Covid-19 virus spread; rural infrastructure to counteract the infection) describe in total 83.24% of the data processed. Specified 4 clusters differ in the level of susceptibility of the population to COVID-19 and infrastructure development: from minimum (33% of the united territorial communities) to maximum - 13% of the united territorial communities. The value of the integral indicator calculated provides means for establishing the maximum (8.5) and the minimum (2) limit of changes in the method of digital contact tracing.CONCLUSION: The developed methodology was implemented on the basis of the united territorial communities of Sumy region. Monitoring of changes in the epidemiological situation made it possible to justify the need to change the contact tracing model, which will reduce the epidemiological level in the region as a whole by 30%.
Environmental Science
T.R. Soeprobowti; N.D. Takarina; P.S. Komala; L. Subehi; M. Wojewódka-Przybył; J. Jumari; R. Nastuti
Volume 9, Issue 2 , April 2023, , Pages 173-192
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The lakeside has an enormous sediment carbon storage potential; however, it is susceptible to various environmental changes and can easily become a source of carbon emissions. Understanding the amount of carbon storage in lakeside sediments and organic matter sources may provide ...
Read More
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The lakeside has an enormous sediment carbon storage potential; however, it is susceptible to various environmental changes and can easily become a source of carbon emissions. Understanding the amount of carbon storage in lakeside sediments and organic matter sources may provide information about the potential of lakeside zones in climate change mitigation, particularly for sustainable lake management. This study aims to estimate sediment organic carbon stock and the sources of organic matter in the Maninjau Lakeside-West Sumatera, Indonesia.METHODS: Sediment sampling was performed at five research sites, with a depth of 0–100 centimeters. Sediment samples were divided into 4 subsamples: 0–15; 15–30; 30–50; and 50–100 centimeters. Bulk density and total nitrogen content were analyzed, and the percentage of organic carbon was calculated from the loss of ignition. The sediment organic carbon stock was calculated based on the bulk density and organic carbon content. Carbon per nitrogen ratio was also calculated to determine temporal changes in the sources of organic matter in the lake.FINDINGS: This study demonstrated that Maninjau Lakeside has an enormous potential sedimentary organic carbon stock range between 284.23–442.59 megagrams per carbon per hectare. The highest total sediment carbon stock was found in Duo Koto (442.59 megagrams per carbon per hectare), with the lowest in Koto Kaciak (284.23 megagrams per carbon per hectare). In addition, the study’s results also exhibited significant differences in sediment organic carbon stocks at each location with different land use and cover; in this case, the forest area has a higher carbon stock value than the agricultural and settlement areas. Therefore, it is essential to take initiatives for the restoration and conservation of lakeside areas because of their essential role in mitigating the climate change. The mean ratio of organic carbon and total nitrogen was between 9.96 to 16.91, indicating that phytoplankton, a mixture of floating macrophytes, and submerged vegetation were the sources of organic matter.CONCLUSION: In general, the value of sediment organic carbon stocks tends to be lower in locations with intensive agricultural settlements than in forest areas. This study emphasizes that restoring lakeside wetland is vital in increasing sediment organic carbon stocks and maintaining lake sustainability.
B.D. Smith; S.B.H. Bach
Abstract
There is no single standard technique or methodology to characterize the size, structure, number, and chemical composition of airborne carbon nanotubes. Existing analytical instruments and analytical techniques for evaluating nanoparticle concentrations cannot simultaneously provide morphology, ...
Read More
There is no single standard technique or methodology to characterize the size, structure, number, and chemical composition of airborne carbon nanotubes. Existing analytical instruments and analytical techniques for evaluating nanoparticle concentrations cannot simultaneously provide morphology, state of agglomeration, surface area, mass, size distribution and chemical composition data critical to making occupational health assessments. This research utilized scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis to assess the morphology and mass of carbon nanotubes collected using various commercial sample filters. It illustrated carbon nanotube agglomeration, deposition and distribution in commonly used sample filter media. It also illustrated that a sufficient mass for carbon nanotube analysis by thermogravimetric analysis is uncommon under most current research and production uses of carbon nanotubes. Individual carbon nanotubes were found to readily agglomerate with diameters ranging from 1 – 63 µm. They were collected at the face of or within the filter. They were not evenly distributed across the face of the filters.
Environmental Science
N.T. Abdel-Ghani; G.A. El-Chaghaby; F.S. Helal
Abstract
In the present study, different activated carbons were prepared from carbonized African beech wood sawdust by potassium hydroxide activation. The activated carbons were characterized by brunauer–emmett–teller, scanning electron microscope, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric ...
Read More
In the present study, different activated carbons were prepared from carbonized African beech wood sawdust by potassium hydroxide activation. The activated carbons were characterized by brunauer–emmett–teller, scanning electron microscope, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analyzer. The phenol adsorption capacity of the prepared carbons was evaluated. The different factors affecting phenol’s removal were studied including: contact time, solution pH and initial phenol concentration. The optimum phenol removal was obtained after a contact time of 300 min. and at an initial phenol solution pH 7. The maximum removal percentages were determined at 5mg/l initial phenol concentration as 79, 93, 94 and 98% for AC0, AC1, AC2 and AC3; respectively. The adsorption of phenol on African beech sawdust activated carbons was found to follow the Lagergren first order kinetics and the intraparticle diffusion mechanism gave a good fit to the experimental data. The isothermal models applied fitted the experimental data in the order: Langmuir> Dubinin–Radushkevich> Freundlich and Temkin.
Environmental Management
S. Ali; S. Patnaik; O. Madguni
Abstract
Urbanization brings biophysical changes in the composition of the landscape. Such change has an impact on the thermal environment locally. The urban mosaic of land use and land cover is thus characteristically composed of local climate zones. The spatial variation in the land surface temperature across ...
Read More
Urbanization brings biophysical changes in the composition of the landscape. Such change has an impact on the thermal environment locally. The urban mosaic of land use and land cover is thus characteristically composed of local climate zones. The spatial variation in the land surface temperature across specific zone is studied for Bhopal city. The objective of the study was to understand how the surface temperature varies with the spatial characteristics of the landscape. The green spaces had the lowest surface temperature that reaches to about 30.5 °C in parks with dense tree cover and highest mean normalized difference vegetation index value of about 0.5. The surface temperature was 36.1 °C for built up/barren areas. The study documents the correlation that exists between surface vegetation and surface temperature across the landscape of Bhopal city. The extent of tree cover and land surface temperature exhibited a strong negative correlation. A decrease in vegetation cover and successive increase in urban built up area were found to be related with high surface temperature. This implies that land surface temperature is an effective tool and may help city planners to make appropriate strategies for improving the tree resources of the urban landscape.
D. Pham Van; M.G. Hoang; S.T. Pham Phu; T. Fujiwara
Abstract
Coming out from the growth kinetics, the Gompertz model has been developed and considered as the best one for simulating the biogas production from anaerobic digestion. However, the model has failed to describe the starting point of the process, and no-sense of lag phase constant has been pointed out. ...
Read More
Coming out from the growth kinetics, the Gompertz model has been developed and considered as the best one for simulating the biogas production from anaerobic digestion. However, the model has failed to describe the starting point of the process, and no-sense of lag phase constant has been pointed out. Thus, the goal of this study is to develop a new kinetic model of biogas production with meaningful constants that can alternate the Gompertz model. The kinetic constants of the model were determined by applying the least squares fitting method for experimental data. The experimental data were taken from running seven batch reactors of co-digestion of vegetable, sludge and horse manure under 37oC, pH of 6.7, and total solids of 2.5%. The result of the high coefficient of determination (0.9611-0.9906) demonstrated that the new biogas production kinetic model was feasible to simulate the biogas generation process. This finding has opened a new choice that can deal with simulation of the biogas production. Moreover, co-digestion of vegetable, horse manure, and sludge was also evaluated under strong attention. The biogas potential was in the range of 183-648 Nml/g-VS with the best carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 16. Vegetable waste played a major role in producing the biogas yield while horse manure and sludge contributed to balancing nutrient of the digestion process. Also, the strong correlation between carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and kinetic constants confirmed that the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio was the key factor that influenced biogas generation.
F. Howari
Abstract
Geothermal investors need to be confident with the methods and results of exploration programs. Also cutting the upfront cost of geothermal exploration will further encourage investors to consider investment in this emerging clean energy field. Hence, it is of paramount importance to improve prospecting ...
Read More
Geothermal investors need to be confident with the methods and results of exploration programs. Also cutting the upfront cost of geothermal exploration will further encourage investors to consider investment in this emerging clean energy field. Hence, it is of paramount importance to improve prospecting techniques in order to explore where economic concentrations of geothermal energy are to be expected. The current study evaluates different approaches for downscaling thermal data from remote sensing images together with factors in surface and subsurface environment. The paper discusses case studies, the challenge and the way forward for geothermal prospecting as well as practical solutions to discrepancy that faces the mapping and documentation of spatial geothermal anomalies. It also discusses main criteria that should be considered while prospecting for geothermal energy.
I. Kayes; S.A. Shahriar; K. Hasan; M. Akhter; M.M. Kabir; M.A. Salam
Abstract
Meteorological parameters play a significant role in affecting ambient air quality of an urban environment. As Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the air pollution hotspot among the megacities in the world, however the potential meteorological influences on criteria air pollutants for this ...
Read More
Meteorological parameters play a significant role in affecting ambient air quality of an urban environment. As Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the air pollution hotspot among the megacities in the world, however the potential meteorological influences on criteria air pollutants for this megacity are remained less studied. The objectives of this research were to examine the relationships between meteorological parameters such as daily mean temperature (o C), relative humidity (%) and rainfall (mm) and, the concentration of criteria air pollutants (SO2, CO, NOx, O3, PM2.5 and PM10) from January, 2013 to December, 2017. This study also focused on the trend analysis of the air pollutants concentration over the period. Spearman correlation was applied to illustrate the relationships between air pollutants concentration and temperature, relative humidity and rainfall. Multiple linear and non-linear regressions were compared to explore potential role of meteorological parameters on air pollutants' concentrations. Trend analysis resulted that concentration of SO2 is increasing in the air of Dhaka while others are decreasing. Most of the pollutants resulted negative correlation with atmospheric temperature and relative humidity, however, they showed variable response to seasonal variation of meteorological parameters. Regression analysis resulted that both the multiple non-linear and linear model performed similar for predicting concentrations of particulate matters but for gaseous pollutants both model performances were poor. This research is expected to contribute in improving the forecast accuracy of air pollution under variable meteorological parameters considering seasonal fluctuations.
EndNote