Hydrochemical Approach to Groundwater in the Environment of the Public Discharge of Lake Mbeubeuss (Dakar, Senegal)

To determine the origin and the processes of groundwater mineralization in the Mbeubeuss lake area, the major ion concentrations of the groundwater were compared to those of the rainwaters which constitute the input function of the aquifer of the Quaternary sands in the area of lake Mbeubeuss. The physico-chemistry of groundwater near the public discharge and its surroundings, has shown that the true value of the electrical conductivity of waters are around 2000 µS/cm. Values of electrical conductivity greater than 2000 µS/cm would represent the particular mineralization of ground waters by the public discharge of lake Mbeubeuss. The chemical facies of ground waters are dominated by the sodium and potassium chloride and calcium chloride facies. The study of the relationship between the major chemical elements and the chloride ion and the representation in the modified Chadha diagram of the chemical analyzes of ground waters from the campaigns of July 1998, July 2002 and March 2003, made it possible to highlight the different sources and processes controlling the mineralization of ground waters in the Mbeubeuss Lake area. Despite the proximity to the sea which suggests a considerable contribution of salts by aerosols and sea spray, the mineralization of ground waters in the area of lake Mbeubeuss is largely due to leachate from household waste and the influence of old sediments of the dry lake Mbeubeuss. The main processes controlling the mineralization of ground waters are marine contributions (aerosols and sea spray), dissolution-precipitation of minerals from the aquifer matrix, atmospheric CO2 diffusion, base exchanges, dilution-concentration and anthropogenic pollution.

Scientometric Study of The Research Performance on Biodiversity: The Global Perspective

This paper examines on scientometric study of the research performance on biodiversity with the data that have been collected from Web of Science database. The study period was chosen from 2011 to 2020 and retrieved 11902 records for the study. This study was planned to find out year-wise publications on biodiversity research from 2011 to 2020, to examine authorship patterns, to find out the top twenty authors contributions, to find out top twenty institutions that contributed to biodiversity research, to find top twenty sources contributions and to identify top twenty countries contributed on biodiversity research. It was found that the year-wise biodiversity research publications show an increase trend. Among the 17 different document types, in the form of research articles have 9102 papers. Out of the 40843 authors, Schmidt B has occupied the first position with 56 contributed papers. 97.46% papers were contributed by collaborative authors, and very least number of papers published by single authors’. Totally 178 countries were contributed on biodiversity research publications, amongst India is the fifteenth place with 407 publications.

Utilization of Agro-based Adsorbents in Binary Wastewater Treatment

The application of agro-based adsorbents is growing in the tertiary stage of the wastewater treatment process during the presence of hazardous pollutants. Dye and coffee industries are among the major wastewater pollutant sources negatively affect aquatic ecosystems and human health. The current study attempts to treat a binary mixture of crystal violet (CV) and coffee wastewater using agro-based adsorbents such as peanut hull and onion peel. The performance and efficacy of low-cost adsorbents were evaluated using parameters, including transmittance and non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC). Batch adsorption studies were conducted to optimize both the adsorbent size and dosage that affect the treatment process. The experimental data obtained from the experiment were analyzed to understand whether Langmuir or Freundlich best fits the treatment process's experimental data. It was observed that Langmuir isotherm seems to fit experimental data using peanut hull and Freundlich isotherm using onion peel. The kinetics of the adsorption process appears to follow the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The regression coefficient value of onion peel was 0.91, and uptake was 58.14 mg/g. Similarly, using the peanut hull, the regression coefficient was 0.99, and uptake was 57.47 mg/g. It seems that peanut hull appears to perform better as a low-cost adsorbent compared to onion peel. The adsorption capacity increased with the increasing dosage of low-cost adsorbent (peanut hull) until the adsorbent size of 0.6-0.425 mm and steadily decreased after that.

Potential Water Balance using Rainwater: An Analysis of Delhi, Megacity in India

Delhi is one of the most water stressed cities in the world. This study aimed to explore the potential of Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) as an alternative source of the water supply for Delhi. Mass curve method has been used to understand the feasibility of RWH, indicating that an average roof of 60 m2 in Delhi will collect 3,64,800 L of water in a year for an average family size of five people. The present study assumed that financial constraints, erratic rainfall, unclear legal guidelines, poor public perception, and a lack of commitment from the politicians are possible challenges.

Association of Air Pollution Levels to Atmospheric Weather Regimes over Europe

The ability to link air pollution to weather regimes may help municipalities to activate in advance plans to protect citizens from severe episodes of air pollution. The aim of this work was to associate the atmospheric circulation patterns and air pollution over Berlin using observational data from three air quality monitoring stations (Urban, Suburban and Traffic stations) during the period January 1990 to December 2002, with weather type’s classifications issued in the frame of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology project (COST733). Results obtained in this work shows similar higher ozone (O3) concentrations and weather regime type during the summer season for both the three stations and the two cluster methods used viz. Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and cluster analysis of principal components (CAP). The highest concentration level of ozone was observed in the suburban station. High pollution that occurred from the particulate matter (PM10) was observed in the urban station during the winter season. The highest nitrogen dioxide (NO2) value was observed in the traffic station during the spring season. However, the traffic station is probably not a very good indicator of the sensitivity of air quality in meteorology, because it is too much affected by local sources.

Effects of Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) Application on Oil Palm Yield, Soil Properties and Cost-Benefits Analysis

Due to limited area for dumping empty fruit bunch (EFB), an environmentally sustainable approach of EFB utilization is needed in oil palm plantations. The estimated production of EFB generated from 100 tons of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) is about 20%, which is equivalent to 20 tons. A study was conducted in 2015 at an 8-year-old oil palm estate owned by Ladang Rakyat Trengganu Sdn. Bhd. (LRTSB), located in Cheneh, Terengganu. It is estimated that the LRTSB palm oil mill’s annual production is about 240 000 – 250 000 tons of FFB that will produce about 48 000 – 50 000 tons of EFB. In this research, the application of EFB at different rates of 60 t/ha (T1), 80 t/ha (T2) and 0 t/ha (T3) were conducted from 2015-2019. The EFB was applied along the frond heap (alternate row), once a year. The data collected consisted of oil palm yield, soil chemical properties and cost benefit analysis. Results showed that after 6 years of EFB application, the oil palm yield increased when compared to the plot without EFB application. In addition, the EFB helped in increasing soil nutrient content, moisture and reduced soil compaction. In short, application of EFB increased soil fertility and improved oil palm yield.

Air Quality Assessment over Sudan using NASA Remote Sensing Satellites Data and MERRA-2 Model

Satellite remote detecting instruments have been to a great extent used to evaluate air pollutants on the ground and their impacts on human wellbeing. These instruments play an essential job by assessing emanations and air quality models yield. The study concentrated on the analysis of monthly data for the period January 2003 -December 2016 using remote sensing technology and via satellite data products for NASA's Earth navigation satellite. The tools used are Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrophotometer (MODIS), Multi-angle Imaging Spectrophotometer (MISR), the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and the Retrospective Analysis of Modern Times for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2). Sudan is influenced by airborne particles because of its diverse climate systems, which differ from the desert in the north to poor savanna in the center and to rich savanna in the south. The impact of air pollution is obvious during these years in Sudan. Likewise, OMI trace gas vertical column observations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) watched higher convergences of tropospheric column NO2 in 2016 than in 2005 over Khartoum that recommends NOx emissions have increased in the city over this time period. The most elevated grouping of dust, a particulate matter (PM2.5), observed in March 2012 over Khartoum state. The highest concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) saw by MERRA-2 over Kuwait and South Sudan during December 2015. Noteworthy centralization concentration of black carbon observed over Iraq, Egypt, Central Africa, and South Sudan in December 2015. The most contamination from carbon monoxide watched by MERRA-2 over Iraq and north of Uganda during December 2014.

Fabrication of Composite-Based Electrospun Nanofiber Adsorbent and Application in Dye Removal

The improvement of processes for maintaining our ecosystem amidst rapidly developing and sustaining pollution is the ever-growing demand. This current research work is aimed at developing useful nanomaterials, such as silica nanoparticles and graphene oxide nanoparticles from solid agro-waste, coconut husk. The nanoparticles obtained were then blended with two other polymers, namely polyhydroxyalkanotes, a microbial biopolymer and polyvinylpyrrolidone, a synthetic biodegradable polymer to form nanocomposites, which are used as the base for nanofiber fabrication through electrospinning. The nanocomposites were characterized through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and the nanofibers under scanning electron microscope. The nanofibers were subjected to analyze the ability to function as adsorbents. The composite nanofibers developed were able to remove 62% of methylene blue dye in the test solution in a span of 12 hours with additional benefits of easy removal of used adsorbents and adsorbates.