EVALUATION OF PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IN FAST DEVELOPING NAGPUR CITY, INDIA

Pedestrian safety has become a major issue in most of the developing countries. Thousands of pedestrians are killed each year but still pedestrian safety remains the most ignored parameter in road design. Even after several studies, pedestrian behavior, which is a complex phenomenon remains poorly understood. Interaction and pedestrian response, especially at the intersections, is a serious concern in road safety. The primary objective of the study is to develop a Pedestrian Safety Index (PSI) by identifying the parameters on which pedestrian safety depends. These parameters have been classified as dependent parameters like pedestrian behavior, street infrastructure, and surrounding environment; and independent parameters like a signal break, crossing location, crossing type and crossing time. Pearson's correlation coefficient and ANOVA Analysis are performed to find the relationship between independent and dependent parameters. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) techniques have been used to prepare the PSI model. The model depicts safety indices at different intersections along the Ring Road which is the major transportation corridor of the city. The data for the analysis was extracted from actual video footages of CCTV installed at the intersections and high-resolution satellite images. The study concludes that the PSI is found to be less at all the intersections along Ring Road and very less in the western segments of the Ring Road Corridor. The values of Pedestrian safety indices are helpful in designing the infrastructure facility at the intersection considering pedestrian safety.

EVALUATION OF FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS IN URBAN HEAT ISLAND AND ITS NEIGHBORHOOD USING DYNAMICAL DOWNSCALING

According to IPCC reports, global climate change is likely to be accompanied by a greater frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves in urban areas. This is related to predicted and ongoing variation of atmospheric temperature and its association with the dynamical evolution of cities. Changes in the roughness pattern of the surface, wind intensity, soil available humidity and radiative properties compared to the natural surfaces characterize the formation of the Urban Heat Island (UHI). A dynamical downscaling of A2 and B1 SRES’s future scenarios from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were performed for Londrina, a medium-size city of Southern Brazil, using the Weather Research and Forecasting model. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of these scenarios on the UHI formation and intensity based on different input data, and its role and influence in the rural area. For this, an evaluation of the model and a comparison with the scenarios were done to mitigate the current trends. The results show a tendency in the current situation in following the pessimistic A2 scenario. Also, a drier rural area for the sustainable projection (B1) is found which implicates in a higher temperature and wind patterns modification for both sites, urban and rural region. Both future projections have a direct influence on the UHI intensity and formation, yielding effects in the agriculture and affecting conditions on human comfort over the region.

FUNCTIONALISM OF WIND RENEWABLE ENERGY IN VERNACULAR ELEMENTS OF WIND CATCHER AND MOSHABAK (CASE STUDY: QESHM ISLAND)

Qeshm, an island in southern Iran, has two significant elements of sustainable architecture—wind catcher and Latticework (Moshabak). So, it can be defined based on its performance-oriented vernacular architecture which results in the wind renewable energy. However, there are few studies on these sustainable elements. The present study attempted to analyze the performance and structure of these natural ventilation systems in the island. In our research methodology, we tried to use the qualitative approach. Initially, we used citation and library sources for gathering information. Later, we visited the site and the native architecture of the island was studied by analyzing and extracting architectural elements from 48 old buildings which are over 70 years old. Moreover, different types of wind energy and Moshabaks used in the island were thoroughly studied. Meanwhile, the temperature during different periods was compared and the height of the wind catchers and their influence on the rate of wind deflector, functional art, and ecology-oriented architecture of the island were evaluated. The results showed that in terms of function, these so-called sustainable native architectural elements have met the natural ventilation requirement appropriately.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CO2 EMISSIONS FROM CERAMIC BRICK AND PLASTER BLOCK VERTICAL SEALS

The objective of this study is to compare the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from materials used in the execution of internal building masonry for construction projects that use plaster blocks and those using ceramic bricks. A total of 20 projects in the city of Recife, Brazil, were analyzed, all of them belonging to a large construction company operating in the Northeast region. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions were estimated using indexes found in the literature and calculated based on the Energy Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA). The emissions from the transport of materials to the construction site were calculated based on the driving distances between the suppliers and the building sites, taking into account the fuel consumption of the transport vehicles. The construction sites using plaster blocks for the internal masonry seals obtained an average indicator of 19.21 kgCO2/m² of constructed area compared to 33.86 kgCO2/m² from those using ceramic bricks. Construction sites using plaster blocks for internal masonry had a 43.26% reduction in GHG emissions and there was a strong correlation between costs due to the execution of activities and material emissions.

A CASE-BASED URBAN MICROCLIMATE VARIETY CLASSIFICATION PROCEDURE: FINISHING MATERIALS AND SHADING IN URBAN DESIGN.

This research work focuses on the study of microclimate conditions of two squares of Madrid, a city with a considerable Urban Heat Island. The process includes field measurements of the surface and radiant temperatures of materials on buildings façades, pavements and urban furniture. Air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed and direction were also measured. A virtual 3D model was used for sun exposure and solar radiation simulations. The urban microclimate regulation capacity of the finishing materials and shading are numerically defined. Considering the results obtained from measurements and simulations, a procedure for open spaces’ microclimate variety classification and identification is proposed: An approach to describe the thermal level for open spaces, in order to help the urban designers and planners to provide high microclimate variety for the users to meet their difference thermal demand. This is a key element to identify environmental quality and to obtain thermal comfort.

DEVELOPING AND OPTIMISING AN URBAN INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT MODEL: EFFECT OF TRANSFER STATIONS

Solid waste management (SWM) is among the poorly rendered services in developing countries — limited resources, increasing population, rapid urbanisation and application of unscientific, outdated systems leads to inefficiency. Lack of proper planning and inadequate data regarding solid waste generation and collection compound the solid waste management problem. Given the large number of available waste management options and the inter-relationships among them, identifying SWM strategies that satisfy economic or environmental objectives is a complex task. The paper integrates the effects of transfer station(s) to a mathematical model developed for a municipal Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) system and focusses on the effect of inclusion of transfer stations on the overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness of an ISWM system. The model then serves as decision support tool to evaluate various waste management alternatives and identifies the least cost optimal combination of technologies for the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste. The constraints include those linking waste flows and mass balance, processing plants capacity, landfill capacity, transport vehicle capacity and number of trips. The linear programming model integrating different functional elements was solved by LINGO optimisation software and various possible waste management options were considered during analysis.

FLOOD DAMAGE ANALYSIS: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

Worldwide floods stand out as some of the most recurrent and potentially destructive phenomena. Risk reduction management must consider dynamics involving structural risk elements called indicators. The objective of this paper was to simulate an extreme flood event in the Pirapama river basin, Pernambuco State, Northeastern Brazil, and to analyze some risk components, focusing on the application of damage models in the Brazilian scenario. The hydrological model HEC-HMS (Hydrological Modeling System) was calibrated in order to generate streamflow for ungauged areas. The model was able to identify the highest flood peaks and the statistic criteria were consistent with daily simulation. The parameters calibrated for the HEC-HMS model allowed us to generate results used as input flow in HEC-RAS (River Analysis System). The hydrodynamic model HEC-RAS performed steady flow simulations for the peak flow that occurred in 2010. Remote sensing products with high spatial resolution were used successfully to identify and calculate dwellings surface in the municipality of Cabo de Santo Agostinho. Flood damage estimates were performed through transferred depth-damage curves which is a methodological option verified in the literature. The two main Brazilian studies on this field were selected. The difference between the functions is just over BRL$72 per square meter, and around BRL$85 million for the entire area in the 2010 event (BRL$234.58 and BRL$149.11 million). Those values were adjusted for inflation until 2019. A combination of different methodologies is a way to try to overcome the lack of information, but much remains to be done to validate damage analysis, especially in what concerns to prevention.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STORMWATER UTILITIES IN THE U.S.

Communities throughout the U.S. struggle to provide basic public services to their residents, including stormwater management services and recent regulations have only added to this challenge. Increasingly, stormwater utilities are being established to fund stormwater management programs. As of 2018, there were an estimated 1,800 to 2,000 stormwater utilities in the U.S., however the establishment of these utilities has varied both temporally and spatially across the country. This research examines the factors at the national, state, and local-levels that give rise to this variation. Overall, research findings indicate that a lack of clear legal authority, presence of stormwater regulations, and political and public opposition all influence the establishment of a stormwater utility, however the influence of these factors is more nuanced than shown by previous research. Moreover, this research identified several factors that influence the setup of utilities that had not been previously identified, including variations in state-level implementation and enforcement of stormwater regulations, general public attitudes, and the robustness of a community’s baseline stormwater management program. These different factors come into play to varying degrees in individual communities and whether a community succeeds or fails in setting up a utility depends on the final balance of these factors.

THE DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH TREND OF USING DSAS TOOL FOR SHORELINE CHANGE ANALYSIS: A SCIENTOMETRIC ANALYSIS

The sensitivity of research on shoreline monitoring of coastal erosion is justified due to high density population, climate changes impacts, and intensified development, which are squeezing the ecosystem of coastal zones around the world. The budding fields of optical remote sensing such source medium and high-resolution satellite imagery in conjunction with avenue programming of Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) are widely used extended tools for analyzing the rate of coastal erosion and deposition. Although, there is a geometric growth in the research published documents in the last decades after the start of DSAS in 1990, but its broad insight into global peer groups, its scientometrics, pattern and trends in research activities in monitoring coastal erosion or shoreline change is missing. To breach this gap, 99 bibliographic records published in the Web of Science core collection for the period of 1994–2019 were analyzed using the VOSviewer software. Further, the analysis about global insight of research activities using DSAS in shoreline change analysis focused on (i) general scientometric characteristics of published output, (ii) experts in research themes and their cooperation, (iii) publishable journal list, (iv) institutional distribution and international collaboration, and (v) potential hotspot areas. This systematic analysis of the theme, graphically using rigorous scientmetric tools, will help coastal researchers to visualize the current research trends and prospective guideline for future research. The output of the present study will provide a robust road map to early carrier researchers for their advance inquiry in these fields in coming days.

COMPACT SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS FOR RURAL SANITATION

The combination of anaerobic pre-treatment and conventional aerobic technologies in a single compact unit has the potential to afford practical, sustainable and low-cost systems for the decentralized treatment of sewage. The aims of the present study were (i) to determine the efficiencies of a single-family compact (SFC) and a multi-family compact (MFC) station in removing organic matter from domestic sewage, and (ii) to investigate the behavior of aerobic intermittent sand filters (ISFs) regarding nitrification. The SFC station consisted of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor, an anaerobic upflow bed filter and an aerobic ISF, while the MFC station comprised a septic tank and two ISFs. The mean efficiencies for the removal of total chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and total Kjeldahl nitrogen were, respectively, 90, 93 and 75% for the SFC and 87, 91% and 74% for the MFC with ISFs operated at hydraulic loading rates of 380 L.m-2.day-1. The sand filters produced helminth-free effluents that complied with World Health Organization recommendations for water intended for agricultural reuse, although the geometric mean of E. coli counts (104 CFU.100 mL-1) was somewhat high, implying that the treated water was appropriate for irrigation in low-tech agriculture.