scholarly journals Phthalates, non-phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls and phenyl phosphates in atmospheric suspended particulate matter of Dhahran City, Saudi Arabia: Levels and seasonal variation

Author(s):  
Ahmed I Rushdi ◽  
Bernd R. T. Simoneit ◽  
Luis Lijotra ◽  
Abdulqader Y. Bazeyad ◽  
Ramil Dumenden ◽  
...  

Abstract This work describes the seasonal variations, levels, and possible health effects of groups of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as phthalates (Ps), non-phthalates (NPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and phenyl phosphates (PhePhs) in ambient total suspended particles (TSP) from the city of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The mass concentrations of TSP ranged from 88±32 µg m−3 in winter to 350±320 µg m−3 in summer. The total concentrations of these compounds varied from 337±266 ng m−3 in summer to 469±403 ng m−3 in winter. The major compounds were Ps (235±199 ng m−3 in summer to 389±335 ng m−3 in winter), PCBs (30.7±19.3 ng m−3 in autumn to 65.6±61.2 ng m−3 in summer), NPs (4.9±2.3 ng m−3 in summer to 11.9±12.5 ng m−3 in winter), and PhePhs (4.1±4.0 ng m−3 in spring to 13.3±3.2 ng m−3 in summer). The proportional fractions of these POPs relative to natural biogenic sources and petroleum-related emissions were extremely high ranging from 17% in winter to 47% in autumn. Significant correlations were found among these different POP groups and total concentrations, suggesting that they were from local sources. Principal component analysis indicated that Ps and NPs were from the same initial sources, and the PhePhs as well as PCBs were from different regional sources, where the latter were dependent on the TSP levels. In the long term, the elevated levels of these POPs in the TSP of these urban areas will affect human health by eventually developing a range of illnesses.

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1059-1068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoyo Hoshi ◽  
◽  
Osamu Murao ◽  
Kunihiko Yoshino ◽  
Fumio Yamazaki ◽  
...  

Pisco was the area most damaged by the 2007 Peru earthquake. The purpose of this research is to develop possibilities of using satellite imagery to monitor postdisaster urban recovery processes, focusing on the urban change in Pisco between 2007 and 2011. To this end, the authors carried out field surveys in the city in 2012 and 2013 and also examined previous surveys to determine that building reconstruction peaked between 2008 and 2009. After analyzing the five-year recovery process, the authors compared its reconstruction conditions by visual interpretation with those by image analysis using satellite image. An accuracy of 71.2% was achieved for the visual interpretation results in congested urban areas, and that for developed districts was about 60%. The result shows that satellite imagery can be a useful tool for monitoring and understanding post-disaster urban recovery processes in the areas in which conducting long-term field survey is difficult.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Erjon Troja ◽  
Luljeta Pinguli ◽  
Rozana Troja ◽  
Eltion Dhamo ◽  
Elena Muça

The described experimental study, performed over the years, includes the quantitative and qualitative monitoring of the presence of microorganisms of air in outdoor and indoor environments of the Albanian Capital, Tirana, during a time when large demographic movements, accompanied by important urban interventions and infrastructural changes, have been part of our lives. A project, part of the National Program in Biotechnology (R & D—the year 2000), was the first support to obtain a database on microbiological air pollution in selected urban areas in Tirana and isolate and identify specific air microbial pollutants. The results obtained were an incentive to continue further with additional scientific evaluation monitoring research, which included the years 2011 to 2015 and then those of 2016–2020. Over the years, there has been a significant reduction in pollutant microbial loads (for selected outdoor areas of the center of Tirana, the total discovered loads decreased from values of the order 105–106, to currently about 102, for the same areas). A fluctuation in indoor microbial loads was observed in many cases. Additionally, a prominent presence of typical environmental fungi pollutants such as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, as well as bacterial pollutants, cocci, and bacilli (typical Bacillus megatherium) was identified during a Total Viable Count (TVC) and other microbiological tests of identification.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-66
Author(s):  
I Gusti Bagus Rai Utama

The model of the development of an integrated city tourism urgently to be done for the short- term and long-term. Develop urban area is an attempt to increase revenue through taxes hotels, restaurants, and simultaneously increase the economic activity in urban areas. The good management of the city tourism will realize the satisfaction of all parties. Some of the cities in Indonesia deserves to be developed as a city tourism when viewed from multiple components as tourism attractions. These components are like: the town hall, roads that meaningful myth, historical monuments, culinary, college or university, shopping malls, traditional markets, squares, parks, museums, fairs, and other attractions. To be able to make it as a tourist product, the necessary integration related aspects comprising aspects of the attraction of the city, the transportation aspect, the aspect of main and supporting facilities, and institutional aspects such as the attributes of human resources, systems, and other related institutions. The city of Denpasar as as a business center of the activity in case the tourists both domestic and foreign tourists, require restructuring. Structuring urgent to do is structuring the local community business centers, the arrangement of lodges or hotels, and the area attractions management.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-139
Author(s):  
Jeannette Zambrano Nájera ◽  
Victor Delgado ◽  
Jorge Julian Vélez Upegui

The climatic variability in the Tropical Andes area is high, both spatially and temporally, and its analysis must be carried out both in the short and long term depending on the available information. This type of spatial-temporal analysis provides tools for planning and environmental management in urban areas, given its high complexity. This investigation focuses on a diagnosis of the diurnal cycle and the analysis of the monthly temperature structure in 13 stations located in the city of Manizales, Caldas (Colombia). This applied research aims to understand the behavior of the temperature in a tropical Andes city in Colombia, where the spatial-temporal complexity of this variable improve the urban and hydrological planning strategies. Results correspond to what has been previously defined by other authors for the Andean zone: city temperature shows very stable patrons, yet important variations in temperature range across the city are appreciated during the day.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Delphine Bernadette Ouédraogo ◽  
Delwendé Innocent Kiba ◽  
Zacharia Gnankambary ◽  
Sheick K. Sangaré ◽  
Diakouba Sirima ◽  
...  

The advantages of urban and peri-urban agriculture in West African cities, namely its contribution to food production, income generation and resorbing unemployment are well reported. In the peri-urban areas, cropping systems and practices are various and may affect differently soil properties. Those systems and practices may be driven by farms socio-economic conditions. Here we conducted a study in 133 peri-urban farms located at the vicinity of the city of Ouagadougou. Farmers were questioned on their cropping practices and soil samples were taken and analyzed for their total organic C, available P and K contents. Principal component analysis allowed to study the variability of the farms considering cropping systems, the cropping practices and the farms socio-economic conditions. We found that in the studied cropping systems up to 60% of the farms variability was explained. Monoculture led to low soil organic carbon while polyculture led to low soil available K. The studied socio-economic conditions of the farms explained up to 60% of the variability in cropping practices.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Olchowik ◽  
Marzena Suchocka ◽  
Paweł Jankowski ◽  
Tadeusz Malewski ◽  
Dorota Hilszczańska

The linden tree ( Tilia  spp.) is a popular tree for landscaping and urban environments in central and northwest European countries, and it is one of the most popular in cities in Poland. Ectomycorrhizal fungi form a symbiosis with many urban tree species and protect the host plant from heavy metals and against salinity. The aim of this study was to characterize the ECM fungal community of urban linden trees along the tree damage gradient. The study was performed on two homogeneous sites located in the centre of the city of Gdańsk, in northern Poland. The vitality assessment of urban linden trees was made according to Roloff’s classification. Tree damage classes were related to soil characteristics using principal component analysis. The five ectomycorrhizal fungal species were shared among all four tree damage classes, and  Cenococcum geophilum  was found to be the most abundant and frequent ectomycorrhizal fungal species in each class. Park soil had significantly lower pH and Na, Cl and Pb content than street soils. Our knowledge of ectomycorrhizal communities in urban areas is still limited, and these findings provide new insights into ectomycorrhizal distribution patterns in urban areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-208
Author(s):  
Wiktoria Loga-Księska ◽  
Justyna Sordyl ◽  
Artur Ryguła

AbstractIncreasing the number of vehicles on the road network and the growing popularity of sustainable development of urban areas have resulted in the need for implementing efficient and cost-effective traffic measurement methods. From the perspective of traffic management, up-to-date information about vehicle density and access to historical data are the key components of traffic variability analyses. Rapid technological development based on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) has popularised the wireless sensor networks (WSN) application. The solution enables continuous monitoring of selected area using multiple wireless and low-cost sensors connected within a network. Those systems are dynamically evolving tools for solving an effective traffic management issues in city centres and urban environments. In the study, authors have performed a traffic variability and its dynamics analysis in a selected area using a multi-sensor network for traffic volume monitoring. The article presents the results of research conducted between years 2015 - 2018 throughout the city of Bielsko-Biala with the support of OnDynamic multimodal system. Within the context of the analyses, basic traffic parameters have been determined and variability trends have been identified on selected road sections. Long-term research indicated the minor variation in a number of vehicle detections and relatively stable traffic volume in the city centre during the analysis period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1936) ◽  
pp. 20201754
Author(s):  
Maider Iglesias-Carrasco ◽  
Upama Aich ◽  
Michael D. Jennions ◽  
Megan L. Head

As cities continue to grow it is increasingly important to understand the long-term responses of wildlife to urban environments. There have been increased efforts to determine whether urbanization imposes chronic stress on wild animals, but empirical evidence is mixed. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis to test whether there is, on average, a detrimental effect of urbanization based on baseline and stress-induced glucocorticoid levels of wild vertebrates. We found no effect of urbanization on glucocorticoid levels, and none of sex, season, life stage, taxon, size of the city nor methodology accounted for variation in the observed effect sizes. At face value, our results suggest that urban areas are no more stressful for wildlife than rural or non-urban areas, but we offer a few reasons why this conclusion could be premature. We propose that refining methods of data collection will improve our understanding of how urbanization affects the health and survival of wildlife.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Allaoua Ansar ◽  
Azaiez Naima

Flooding is a natural phenomenon of the hydrological cycle, but it has become an urban concern in many cities around the world. Due to human intervention on the functioning of hydrosystems through infrastructure, the channelling of watercourses, the redirection of the flow and the inevitable extension of the urban landscape, floods have become a growing urban hazard. Several cities are currently facing very frequent flash floods. These floods are of various types and several factors are at the origin of their manifestation, which leaves its understanding and prevention for local stakeholders a long-term process that requires a colossal amount of work among several multidisciplinary researchers. Without denying the scientific consensus on the role of climate change, currently floods are largely caused by the senseless and irresponsible behaviour of humans. Among the cities in Saudi Arabia facing the risk of flooding is the city of Abha located in the southwest of the country, the focus of this research. It is subject to recurrent and devastating floods caused by several factors. Controversial topography, dissected orography, aggressive rainfall, accelerated and unregulated urban growth, and irresponsible human intervention are all factors that aggravate this problem. The resolution of this problem, or at least the minimization of its consequences, requires a rigorous and carefully studied approach. The appropriate knowledge by local stakeholders must be reinforced by a methodological and cartographic assessment of this phenomenon in order to mitigate its consequences. The main objective of this work is to make cartographic and methodological contributions to acquire additional knowledge on the flood hazard in the city of Abha through a statistical processing of rainfall data for the period 1978-2018, a mapping of the factors intervening on the runoff and its various behaviors and finally a synthetic analysis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1111-1126
Author(s):  
Florian Dietrich ◽  
Jia Chen ◽  
Benno Voggenreiter ◽  
Patrick Aigner ◽  
Nico Nachtigall ◽  
...  

Abstract. In order to mitigate climate change, it is crucial to understand urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions precisely, as more than two-thirds of the anthropogenic GHG emissions worldwide originate from cities. Nowadays, urban emission estimates are mainly based on bottom-up calculation approaches with high uncertainties. A reliable and long-term top-down measurement approach could reduce the uncertainty of these emission inventories significantly. We present the Munich Urban Carbon Column network (MUCCnet), the world's first urban sensor network, which has been permanently measuring GHGs, based on the principle of differential column measurements (DCMs), since summer 2019. These column measurements and column concentration differences are relatively insensitive to vertical redistribution of tracer masses and surface fluxes upwind of the city, making them a favorable input for an inversion framework and, therefore, a well-suited candidate for the quantification of GHG emissions. However, setting up such a stationary sensor network requires an automated measurement principle. We developed our own fully automated enclosure systems for measuring column-averaged CO2, CH4 and CO concentrations with a solar-tracking Fourier transform spectrometer (EM27/SUN) in a fully automated and long-term manner. This also includes software that starts and stops the measurements autonomously and can be used independently from the enclosure system. Furthermore, we demonstrate the novel applications of such a sensor network by presenting the measurement results of our five sensor systems that are deployed in and around Munich. These results include the seasonal cycle of CO2 since 2015, as well as concentration gradients between sites upwind and downwind of the city. Thanks to the automation, we were also able to continue taking measurements during the COVID-19 lockdown in spring 2020. By correlating the CO2 column concentration gradients to the traffic amount, we demonstrate that our network is capable of detecting variations in urban emissions. The measurements from our unique sensor network will be combined with an inverse modeling framework that we are currently developing in order to monitor urban GHG emissions over years, identify unknown emission sources and assess how effective the current mitigation strategies are. In summary, our achievements in automating column measurements of GHGs will allow researchers all over the world to establish this approach for long-term greenhouse gas monitoring in urban areas.


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