Air Pollution and Watershed Research in the Central Sierra Nevada of California: Nitrogen and Ozone

Maintaining healthy forests is the major objective for the Forest Service scientists and managers working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Air pollution, specifically ozone (O3) and nitrogenous (N) air pollutants, may severely affect the health of forest ecosystems in the western U.S. Thus, the monitoring of air pollution concentration and deposition levels, as well as studies focused on understanding effects mechanisms, are essential for evaluation of risks associated with their presence. Such information is essential for development of proper management strategies for maintaining clean air, clean water, and healthy ecosystems on land managed by the Forest Service. We report on two years of research in the central Sierra Nevada of California, a semi-arid forest at elevations of 1100–2700 m. Information on O3and N air pollutants is obtained from a network of 18 passive samplers. We relate the atmospheric N concentration to N concentrations in streams, shallow soil water, and bulk deposition collectors within the Kings River Experimental Watershed. This watershed also contains an intensive site that is part of a recent Forest Service effort to calculate critical loads for N, sulfur, and acidity to forest ecosystems. The passive sampler design allows for extensive spatial measurements while the watershed experiment provides intensive spatial data for future analysis of ecosystem processes.

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Air pollution load and stand nutrition in the Forest District Jablunkov, part Nýdek

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/797-jfs ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (No. 2) ◽

pp. 49-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

R. Novotný ◽

Z. Lachmanová ◽

V. Šrámek ◽

L. Vortelová

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Forest Decline ◽

Nutrient Content ◽

Passive Samplers ◽

Pollution Load ◽

Spruce Stands ◽

Forest Vitality ◽

Forest District ◽

Main Factor

Concentrations of air pollutants measured by passive samplers, atmospheric deposition to forest ecosystems, soil water chemistry, nutrient content in the soil and foliage were all measured within a study of the causes of forest decline in Nýdek Forest Range, Jablunkov Forest District (Silesian Beskids). Declining Norway spruce stands are situated in a region of historically high air pollution load, mainly from the Třinec and Ostrava agglomeration. Air pollution significantly decreased in the second half of the 1990s. Forest soils showing the insufficiency of main nutrients remain today as the main factor affecting the forest vitality. The situation in the soil is subsequently reflected in the nutrition level of the assimilation tissues. Simultaneous effects of other stressors (e.g. biotic, meteorological ones) can support a sudden worsening of the stand health and cause serious damage.

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Influence of Meteorological Variables on Ambient Air Pollutants of a Coastal District in Eastern India

Oriental Journal Of Chemistry ◽

10.13005/ojc/370127 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 194-203

Author(s):

SS Kalikinkar Mahanta ◽

Sharada Shrinivas Patil ◽

Bhagirathi Mahanta ◽

Kushalindu Biswas ◽

Rojalin Sahu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Meteorological Parameters ◽

Winter Season ◽

Pollution Index ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Data Sets ◽

Air Pollution Index ◽

Clean Air ◽

Pm2.5 Concentration

The study of various air pollutants and meteorological parameters are very important for all the researchers. Baleswar was known to be a seaside Districts of Odisha which is the economic and cultural heart of Northern Odisha. The aim of this study is to measure the air pollutants, meteorological parameters and to enumerate the air pollution index at three specific sites (Sahadevkhunta, Mallikashpur, Rasalpur) according to CPCB procedures. The air pollutants analysed by supplying through specific absorbing reagents and the pollutants were analysed up to 3 year (2017, 2018 and 2019) with a regularity of thrice per week. Analyses of our data sets showing that SO2 and NO2 concentration during summer, rainy and winter season are within the prescribe standard of NAAQS by CPCB but PM10 and PM2.5 are above the prescribed standard except PM2.5 concentration of rainy season in year 2019. Air pollution index is remaining in the condition between clean air (CA) to moderate air pollution (MAP) and it shows that the pollution index in all the sites are reducing from the year 2017 to 2019 may be due to enhancing technologies to reduce the pollutant concentration in air.

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BIOMONITORING OF ATHMOSPHERE AIR POLLUTION IN THE FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND ECO-TONE ZONE

AGROFOR ◽

10.7251/agreng1702065b ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Adam BEGU

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Current Level ◽

Annual Average ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Clean Air ◽

The Republic ◽

Harmful Effects

Within our research, the air quality of 62 forest ecosystems from Republic ofMoldova was assessed, taking into consideration the lichens indicator speciesspecific diversity, abundance and toxitolerance. It was established that theMoldavian forest ecosystems do not contain reserves concerning critical loads forSO2 pollution, the annual average for the vegetation season for dendrologicalspecies being 0,02 mg/m3 air, and for communities of lichens and cyanobacteria,organisms sensitive to pollution, represented only 0,01 mg/m3. Lichen indicationdemonstrated that the current level of pollution is between 0,05 and 0,5 mg/m3 SO2air, thus long-term harmful effects are manifested in all 62 studied forestecosystems and the ecosystems from the eco-tone zone. We believe that for theRepublic of Moldova lichen, indicator species can provide a scale of 6 levels: 5levels characterized by species with different toxitolerance degree and the last stepbeing an area in which lichens are completely missing, thus the most polluted area.Within the Republic of Moldova territory, there were reported 3 forest ecosystemsin which the air is evaluated as clean air, 11- low polluted air, 31- moderatepolluted air, 12- polluted air, 3- high polluted air and those with critical polluted airwas missing.

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Urban Vegetation and Air Pollution Mitigation: Some Issues from India

Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies ◽

10.1142/s2345748116500019 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 04 (01) ◽

pp. 1650001 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Avni ANAMIKA ◽

Chaudhry PRADEEP

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Urban Forestry ◽

Sustainable Urban Development ◽

Urban Vegetation ◽

Urban Greenery ◽

Pollution Removal ◽

Future Management

Urban greenery generates significant ecosystem services and contributes to improving environmental quality, quality of life, and sustainable urban development. Research on various aspects of urban forestry such as carbon sequestration, removing air pollutants, reducing noise, providing recreational amenity benefits is in infancy stage in India. This paper reviews some significant studies in the field of air pollution removal by urban vegetation in developed and developing countries including India. Some issues related to development and research in the field of urban greenery and future management strategies to be adopted in India have been discussed in the paper.

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Air pollutants reinforce autism–like behavior in the VPA-Induced – rat model of autism

10.21203/rs.3.rs-21729/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Baharan Emam ◽

ABBAS SHAHSAVANI ◽

Fariba Khodagholi ◽

Philip K. Hopke ◽

Mohammad Amin Abdollahifar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Valproic Acid ◽

Rat Model ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Low Dose ◽

Gaseous Pollutants ◽

Control Group ◽

High Dose ◽

Simultaneous Exposure ◽

Clean Air

Abstract Background: Studies reporting associations between ambient air pollution exposure and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased. Additionally, the effects of valproic acid (VPA) on ASD have been investigated. Pregnant women may have been simultaneously exposed to air pollution and antiepileptic drugs especially VPA. Thus, we hypothesized that simultaneous exposure to air pollution and valproic acid could reinforce ASD ̉s behaviors in male rats. The current in-vivo study investigated the dual effects of air pollution on the VPA-induced rat model of autism using molecular and behavioral experiments.Results: Seven exposure groups of rats included: 1) particulate matter and gaseous pollutants exposed - high dose of VPA (PGE-high), 2) particulate matter and gaseous pollutants exposed - low dose of VPA (PGE-low), 3) gaseous pollutants only exposed – high dose of VPA (GE-high), 4) gaseous pollutants only exposed –low dose of VPA (GE-low), 5) clean air exposed – high dose of VPA (CAE-high), 6) clean air exposed – low dose of VPA (CAE-low), 7) clean air exposed with no VPA injection (CAE). Rats were exposed to ambient PM2.5/gaseous pollutants from embryonic day (E0) to postnatal day (PND42). Exposures to air pollutants in PGE-high, PGE-low, GE-high and GE-low groups of rat increased the ASD behaviors including: poor locomotor activity, weaker exploration activity, impaired social interaction, communication, and repetitive/restricted behavior as well as decreased oxidative stress biomarkers like catalase (CAT) activity and GSH, and decreased level of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) compared to the negative control group (CAE) and the other two control group (CAE-low and CAE-high).Conclusions: This study suggested that simultaneous exposure to both air pollution and valproic acid contributed to ASD, and air pollution reinforces the mechanism of inducing ASD ̉s in VPA-induced –rat model of autism, and it has provided a future field of studies on the synergistic effects of air pollution

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Satellite Retrieval of Air Pollution Changes in Central and Eastern China during COVID-19 Lockdown Based on a Machine Learning Model

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13132525 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 2525

Author(s):

Zigeng Song ◽

Yan Bai ◽

Difeng Wang ◽

Teng Li ◽

Xianqiang He

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Action Plan ◽

Eastern China ◽

Validation Dataset ◽

Machine Learning Model ◽

Clean Air ◽

Pollution Emissions ◽

Air Pollution Emissions

With the implementation of the 2018–2020 Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) the and impact from COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, air pollution emissions in central and eastern China have decreased markedly. Here, by combining satellite remote sensing, re-analysis, and ground-based observational data, we established a machine learning (ML) model to analyze annual and seasonal changes in primary air pollutants in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019 over central and eastern China. The root mean squared errors (RMSE) for the PM2.5, PM10, O3, and CO validation dataset were 9.027 μg/m3, 20.312 μg/m3, 10.436 μg/m3, and 0.097 mg/m3, respectively. The geographical random forest (RF) model demonstrated good performance for four main air pollutants. Notably, PM2.5, PM10, and CO decreased by 44.1%, 43.2%, and 35.9% in February 2020, which was likely influenced by the COVID-19 lockdown and primarily lasted until May 2020. Furthermore, PM2.5, PM10, O3, and CO decreased by 16.4%, 24.2%, 2.7%, and 19.8% in 2020 relative to the average values in 2018 and 2019. Moreover, the reduction in O3 emissions was not universal, with a significant increase (~20–40%) observed in uncontaminated areas.

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Environmental Effective Assessment of Control Measures Implemented by Clean Air Action Plan (2013–2017) in Beijing, China

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11020189 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 189 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yifeng Xue ◽

Shihao Zhang ◽

Teng Nie ◽

Xizi Cao ◽

Aijun Shi

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Action Plan ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Control Measures ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Total Reduction ◽

Clean Air ◽

Pm2.5 Concentration

The Beijing government initiated the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) in 2013. Through a series of actions to control air pollution, the emissions of major atmospheric pollutants are reduced to improve urban air quality. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of control measures taken to mitigate atmospheric pollution, we investigated and analyzed the implementation of the CAAP in Beijing from 2013 to 2017, estimating the corresponding reduction in emissions of major air pollutants. The contribution of different control measures to the improvement of air quality was quantified and the experiences of managing air pollution were summarized, which provided references for the continuous improvement of air quality in Beijing and the surrounding areas. The results showed that the emission of SO2, NOX, PM10, PM2.5, and VOCs from air pollution source have been decreased by 119,924, 116,091, 116,810, 46,652, and 97,267 tons after the implementation of the CAAP. The sum of these five air pollutants emissions have been reduced by 39% in 2017 compared with 2013, the largest decrease in SO2 emissions was 87%, which was related to the vigorous control on coal-fired combustion. The control measure with the greatest contribution to decreasing the ambient PM2.5 concentration was the clean energy transformation of coal-fired power plants, which contributed 27% of the total reduced concentration and 6.1 μg/m3 of the average PM2.5 concentration reduction in Beijing. Clean Residential coal use also significantly decreased the PM2.5 concentration by 5.4 μg/m3, which was 23% of the total reduction. In addition, the industrial restructuring and the management of automotive vehicle use and dust could also contribute to efficiently reducing the PM2.5 concentration by 4.0, 3.2, and 2.3 μg/m3, or 17%, 14%, and 10% of the total reduction, respectively. Due to the implementation of control measures of Clean Air Action Plan, the energy and industrial structure of Beijing have been adjusted and optimized, leading to the reduction of pollutant emissions, which is the secret of urban long-term air quality improvement.

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Smoke measurements during Gestosa-2002 experimental field fires

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf04069 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 107 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

A. I. Miranda ◽

J. Ferreira ◽

J. Valente ◽

P. Santos ◽

J. H. Amorim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Passive Samplers ◽

Team Members ◽

Volatile Organic ◽

Combustion Phase ◽

Central Portugal ◽

Volatile Organic Compound Emissions

Currently, there is a growing awareness that smoke produced during forest fires can expose individuals and populations to hazardous concentrations of air pollutants. Aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the air pollution phenomenon associated with forest fires, this paper presents and analyses the atmospheric emissions and air quality concentration measurements performed in the 2002 fire experiments at Gestosa, Central Portugal. Two vehicles were equipped with a meteorological station and air quality analysers that were turned on continuously to acquire concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Nitrogen and sulfur dioxides were measured using a grid of fixed passive samplers. Also, firefighters and research-team members used passive samplers during the experiments in order to estimate the human exposure to these pollutants. Measurements of volatile organic compound emissions, using Tedlar bags, were carried out. Results were analysed taking into account not only the concentration values but also the variables involved, such as the combustion phase and the meteorology, and identifying possible relationships between them. Despite the small size of the burning plots when compared to wildfires, the measured levels of pollutants were however considerable, indicating the effect of these experiments on the local air quality and stressing the serious levels of air pollution that can be expected during wildfires.

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