Assessment of anthropogenic pollution by monitoring occurrence and distribution of chemicals in the river Liffey in Dublin

AbstractThis paper evaluates for the first time the spatial distribution of a wide group of organic (phthalates, nitro, aliphatic, halogen, aromatic, phenol and amino compounds) and inorganic pollutants along the Liffey river in Dublin city. The work takes into account the effect of short-term weather conditions on the occurrence of these contaminants. The results showed that rainfall conditions affect the levels of pollutants along the river in the days following a rainfall event. In addition, the tributaries entering the river Liffey were not found to impact its water quality. In relation to organic pollutants, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2-nitrophenol and phthalate compounds were found in many water samples between concentrations of 0.21 and 2.17 μg L−1. On the other hand, dimethyl phthalate was present in certain samples at levels around 100 μg L−1. The levels of these contaminants in the river were lower than the toxicity values reported in the literature. Regarding inorganic pollutants, nitrates were detected from 0.59 to 6.81 mg L−1 increasing from upstream to downstream. Based on the chemical nature and applications of detected pollutants, the river contamination can be mainly related to agricultural, industrial activities as well as diffuse urban contributions. These vary with location within a short distance and have the potential to impact aquatic biodiversity as the chemical composition changes with rainfall events.

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Performance Evaluation of Neural Network-Based Short-Term Solar Irradiation Forecasts

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14113030 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (11) ◽

pp. 3030

Author(s):

Simon Liebermann ◽

Jung-Sup Um ◽

YoungSeok Hwang ◽

Stephan Schlüter

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Goodness Of Fit ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Weather Data ◽

Short Term ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Lstm Network ◽

The Time Domain

Due to the globally increasing share of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, precise forecasts for weather data are becoming more and more important. To compute such forecasts numerous authors apply neural networks (NN), whereby models became ever more complex recently. Using solar irradiation as an example, we verify if this additional complexity is required in terms of forecasting precision. Different NN models, namely the long-short term (LSTM) neural network, a convolutional neural network (CNN), and combinations of both are benchmarked against each other. The naive forecast is included as a baseline. Various locations across Europe are tested to analyze the models’ performance under different climate conditions. Forecasts up to 24 h in advance are generated and compared using different goodness of fit (GoF) measures. Besides, errors are analyzed in the time domain. As expected, the error of all models increases with rising forecasting horizon. Over all test stations it shows that combining an LSTM network with a CNN yields the best performance. However, regarding the chosen GoF measures, differences to the alternative approaches are fairly small. The hybrid model’s advantage lies not in the improved GoF but in its versatility: contrary to an LSTM or a CNN, it produces good results under all tested weather conditions.

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Cloud icing by mineral dust and impacts to aviation safety

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85566-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Slobodan Nickovic ◽

Bojan Cvetkovic ◽

Slavko Petković ◽

Vassilis Amiridis ◽

Goran Pejanović ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mineral Dust ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Ice Nucleation ◽

Aircraft Accidents ◽

Ice Nuclei ◽

Loss And Damage ◽

Cloud Ice ◽

Convective Weather ◽

First Time ◽

Engine Power

AbstractIce particles in high-altitude cold clouds can obstruct aircraft functioning. Over the last 20 years, there have been more than 150 recorded cases with engine power-loss and damage caused by tiny cloud ice crystals, which are difficult to detect with aircraft radars. Herein, we examine two aircraft accidents for which icing linked to convective weather conditions has been officially reported as the most likely reason for catastrophic consequences. We analyze whether desert mineral dust, known to be very efficient ice nuclei and present along both aircraft routes, could further augment the icing process. Using numerical simulations performed by a coupled atmosphere-dust model with an included parameterization for ice nucleation triggered by dust aerosols, we show that the predicted ice particle number sharply increases at approximate locations and times of accidents where desert dust was brought by convective circulation to the upper troposphere. We propose a new icing parameter which, unlike existing icing indices, for the first time includes in its calculation the predicted dust concentration. This study opens up the opportunity to use integrated atmospheric-dust forecasts as warnings for ice formation enhanced by mineral dust presence.

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To bee or not to beet with neonicotinoids

Environmental Law Review ◽

10.1177/14614529211021194 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 103-109

Author(s):

Lynda M. Warren

Keyword(s):

Sugar Beet ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

The European Union ◽

Environmental Standards ◽

Economic Interests ◽

Precautionary Approach ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Commercial Sugar ◽

The Uk ◽

First Time

In January 2021 the UK government granted an application for authorisation to use thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid pesticide, to protect commercial sugar beet crops from attack by viruses transmitted by aphids. This was the first time such an authorisation had been granted in the United Kingdom (UK) and there were concerns that it signalled a weakening of environmental standards now that the UK was no longer part of the European Union. In fact, similar authorisations had been granted by several European Member States in the last 2 years, despite the ban on the use of neonicotinoids introduced in 2018. Nevertheless, the reasons for granting the authorisation do suggest that the balance between adopting a precautionary approach to environmental protection and taking emergency action to protect economic interests may have shifted. It was acknowledged that the proposed mitigation to safeguard bees and other wildlife was not entirely satisfactory. In the end, due to unforeseen weather conditions it meant that the pesticide is not necessary, which in itself demonstrates that short-term emergency measures are unsuitable for dealing with the problem. If the sugar beet industry is to continue to prosper in the UK, it will need to be managed in a way that provides resistance to virus infection without the use of controversial chemicals.

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Regulating short-term rentals: Joined cases C-724/18 and C-727/18 Cali Apartments

Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law ◽

10.1177/1023263x211014688 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1023263X2110146

Author(s):

Tania Pantazi

Keyword(s):

Consumer Protection ◽

European Court Of Justice ◽

Short Term ◽

European Regulation ◽

Future Developments ◽

Online Platforms ◽

Court Of Justice ◽

European Court ◽

Tourist Accommodation ◽

First Time

The increase in short-term rentals via online platforms has captured the attention of scholars and regulators. Short-term letting is now considered a considerable alternative to traditional tourist accommodation contracts, challenging matters such as conditions in the housing market and consumer protection. Online platforms, such as Airbnb, Booking.com , Expedia and Tripadvisor, now provide offers for short-term accommodation contracts along with traditional accommodation options (hotels, hostels, apartments). The recent decision of the European Court of Justice in Joined cases C-724/18 and C-727/18 addresses for the first time the issue of regulation of short-term rentals in Member States and evaluates a national authorization scheme in light of the Services Directive. The present paper provides a brief background of European regulation affecting short-term rentals and discusses the judgment and its implications for future developments.

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Short-term scheduling problem in smart grid considering reliability improvement in bad weather conditions

IET Generation Transmission & Distribution ◽

10.1049/iet-gtd.2016.1261 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 2521-2533 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Babak Yousefi-khangah ◽

Saeid Ghassemzadeh ◽

Seyed Hossein Hosseini ◽

Behnam Mohammadi-Ivatloo

Keyword(s):

Smart Grid ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Scheduling Problem ◽

Short Term ◽

Reliability Improvement ◽

Bad Weather

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The role of short-term weather conditions in temporal dynamics of fire regime features in mainland Spain

Journal of Environmental Management ◽

10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.09.107 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 241 ◽

pp. 575-586 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Adrián Jiménez-Ruano ◽

Marcos Rodrigues Mimbrero ◽

W. Matt Jolly ◽

Juan de la Riva Fernández

Keyword(s):

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Short Term

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Rainfall and weather conditions inducing intense landslide activity in northern Spain (Deba, Guipúzcoa)

10.5194/nhess-2019-416 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Victoria Rivas ◽

Juan Remondo ◽

Jaime Bonachea ◽

Javier Sánchez-Espeso

Keyword(s):

Weather Conditions ◽

Rainfall Threshold ◽

Large Network ◽

Antecedent Rainfall ◽

Northern Spain ◽

Rainfall Events ◽

Landslide Activity ◽

Long Time ◽

Span 60

Abstract. The Deba area is intensely affected by frequent shallow landslides triggered by rainfall. Relationships between rainfall and landslides in northern Spain, particularly for rainfall events driving multiple movements simultaneously, have not been explored in depth so far. This contribution explores the role of rainfall in landslide activity during a quite long time span, (60 years), from a large network of rainfall gauges and a complete inventory of landslides, and utilizing three different strategies of analysis. 1,180 landslides have been inventoried, and 3,241 rainfall episodes automatically recognized and characterized in terms of rainfall amount, duration and intensity. Antecedent rainfall has also been considered. Six episodes of intense rainfall, which have produced multiple landslides (> 50 % of the recent past occurrences) have been identified. The analysis provides different results: the extraordinary character of the triggering rainfall has been assessed, the meteorological conditions associated to those extreme episodes have been recognized and empirical rainfall threshold producing multiple landslides has been found (I = 7.7D-0.428) and compared with others described in literature. Results show that multiple landslide occurrences are triggered by extreme convective rainfall, intense, short and with limited horizontal extent, as well as a marked summer-autumn seasonality, characteristic of Mediterranean climate.

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The degree analysis of hydrobionts response to the content of chemicals in the water of the upper and middle reaches of the Belaya River (Republic of Bashkortostan)

Samara Journal of Science ◽

10.17816/snv201874125 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 144-152

Author(s):

Boris Yuryevich Chaus

Keyword(s):

Natural Waters ◽

Anthropogenic Pollution ◽

Hydrochemical Parameters ◽

Republic Of Bashkortostan ◽

Invertebrate Animals ◽

State Water ◽

The Republic ◽

First Time ◽

Reliable Correlation ◽

Water Vegetation

The paper deals with the analysis of bioindicator opportunities of hydrobionts of various systematic categories that helps to assess and forecast anthropogenic pollution of the Belaya River (the top and average currents) during environmental monitoring of natural waters of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Hydrobionts were collected and the occurrence analysis (in unit shares) of 30 species of invertebrate animals from groups Pyramidelloida, Littorinimorpha, Pulmonata, Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and 12 species of the highest water vegetation was carried out from 2005 to 2017 in regions of 10 state water posts on the Belaya River. The data from annual State reports on the average annual content of compounds of manganese, nickel and iron, oil products, phenols, nitrogen ammoniyny, copper and zincum were used as hydrochemical parameters during the research. The reliable correlation between some water organisms with chemicals and their connections was defined in the water of the Belaya River. The author also constructs for the first time an indicator range of hydrobionts on decrease extent in their response to the chemicals content in the studied water. Similar approach can be used for recommendations development about the use of biological analyses while identifying the chemicals influencing water fauna and flora.

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A SLR Pre-Processing Algorithm Based on Satellite Signature Effect

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11198880 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (19) ◽

pp. 8880

Author(s):

Bowen Guan ◽

Cunbo Fan ◽

Ning An ◽

Ricardo Cesar Podesta ◽

Dra Ana Pacheco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mean Value ◽

Observation Data ◽

Short Term ◽

Error Sources ◽

Effect Model ◽

The Mean ◽

The Stability ◽

First Time ◽

Satellite Signature Effect

As one of the major error sources, satellite signature effect should be reduced or even erased from the distribution of the post-fit residuals to improve the ranging precision. A simulation of satellite signature effect removal process for normal point algorithm is conducted based on a revised model of satellite response, which fully considers the structural and distribution characteristics of retroreflectors. In order to eliminate both long-term and short-term satellite signature effect, a clipping method for SLR data processing is proposed by defining the clipping location as 5.6 mm away from the mean value of the long-term fit residuals to select effective returns for normal points. The results indicate that, compared to normal points algorithm, the RMS per NP of LAGEOS-1 observation data processed by the clipping method is reduced from 62.90 ± 9.9 mm to 56.07 ± 4.69 mm, and the stability of RMS is improved 53%. This study improves the satellite signature effect model and simulates the fluctuation of normal points caused by satellite signature effect for the first time. The new method based on the simulation of satellite signature effect has stronger robustness and applicability, which can further minimize the influence of satellite signature effect on the SLR production and significantly improve the data property.

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Dynamics of the abundance of cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) in the conditions of the altitudinal-belt heterogeneity of the North Caucasus

BIO Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/bioconf/20213500023 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 35 ◽

pp. 00023

Author(s):

Nikolay Vinokurov

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

New Species ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Nature Management ◽

North Caucasus ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Altitudinal Belt ◽

The North ◽

Short Period ◽

First Time

The work provides data on the dynamics of the abundance of 205 taxa from 19 genera: Cleptes, Colpopyga, Elampus, Omalus, Philoctetes, Pseudomalus, Hedychridium, Hedychrum, Holopyga, Chrysidea, Chrysis, Euchroeus, Chrysura, Pseudochrysis, Spinolia, Spinolia, including species rare and new for the fauna of the North Caucasus and Russia. By the nature of the population dynamics, five groups of cuckoo wasps were identified: spring – represented by 7 species from 4 genera; spring-summer – 76 species from 10 genera; summer – 113 species from 16 genera; summer-autumn – 4 species from 2 genera and spring-summer-autumn – 5 species from 3 genus. According to the duration of flight, eurychronous species of cuckoo wasps were identified, which are found throughout the season from spring to autumn; mesochronous – the years of which affect the end of May and summer months and stenochronous – confined to a short period of time. Eurychronic accounted for 2.4%, mesochronous 24.9%, stenochronic 72.7%. The number of generations of cuckoo wasps is related to the dynamics of the number of the host. In the mountains, the peaks of activity shift towards the middle of summer, most species have one peak of activity; due to the frequent changes in weather conditions in the mountains, the phenological characteristics of the cuckoo wasps and their hosts do not coincide in terms with the lowland populations and the periods of activity can be extended in time. Phenological characteristics of rare and new species for the fauna of the North Caucasus and Russia are presented for the first time. The data obtained expand the understanding of the biodiversity and dynamics of the abundance of cuckoo wasps in the North Caucasus and can be used for environmental protection measures and rational nature management in the south of Russia.

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