Key Design Elements of Building Pressure Cycling for Evaluating Vapor Intrusion—A Literature Review

Building pressure cycling (BPC) is becoming an increasingly important tool for studying vapor intrusion. BPC has been used to distinguish subslab and indoor sources of vapor intrusion as well as to define reasonable worst case volatile organic compound mass discharge into a structure. Analyses have been performed both semi-quantitatively with concentration trends and quantitatively with more rigorous flux calculation and source attribution methods. This paper reviews and compares the protocols and outcomes from multiple published applications of this technology to define the key variables that control performance. Common lessons learned are identified, including those that help define the range of building size and type to which BPC is applicable. Differences in test protocols are discussed, recognizing that the complexity of the test protocol required depends on the particular objectives of each project. Research gaps are identified and tabulated for future validation studies and applications.     

Attributes and uncertainty of dissolved zinc data from a mined catchment

This study evaluated the attributes and uncertainty of non‐point source pollution data derived from synoptic surveys in a catchment affected by inactive metal mines in order to help to identify and select appropriate methods for data analysis/reporting and information use. Dissolved zinc data from the Upper Animas River Basin, Colorado, USA, were the focus of the study. Zinc was evaluated because concentrations were highest relative to national water quality criteria for brown trout, and zinc had the greatest frequency of criteria exceedances compared with other metals. Data attributes evaluated included measurement and model error, sample size, non‐normality, seasonality and uncertainty. The average measurement errors for discharges, concentrations and loadings were 0·15, 0·1 and 0·18, respectively. The 90 and 95% coefficients of confidence intervals for mean concentrations based on a sample size of four were 0·48 and 0·65, respectively, and ranged between 0·15 and 0·23 for sample sizes greater than 40. Aggregation of data from multiple stations decreased the confidence intervals significantly, but additional aggregation of all data increased them as a result of increasing spatial variability. Unit area loading data were approximately log‐normal. Concentration data were right‐skewed but not log‐normal. Differences in median concentrations were appreciable between snowmelt and both storm flow and baseflow, but not between storm flow and baseflow. Differences in unit area loadings between all flow events were large. It was determined that the average concentration and unit area loading values should be estimated for each flow event because of significant seasonality. Time weighted values generally should be computed if annual information is required. The confidence in average concentrations and unit area loadings is dependent on the computation method used. Both concentrations and loadings can be significantly underestimated on an annual basis when using data from synoptic surveys if the first flush of contaminants during the initial snowmelt runoff period is not sampled. The ambient standard for dissolved zinc for all events was estimated as 1600 μg l⁻¹ using the 85th percentile of observed concentration data, with a 90% confidence interval width of 200 μg l⁻¹. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Analysis Platform for Multiscale Hydrogeologic Modeling with Emphasis on Hybrid Multiscale Methods

One of the most significant challenges faced by hydrogeologic modelers is the disparity between the spatial and temporal scales at which fundamental flow, transport, and reaction processes can best be understood and quantified (e.g., microscopic to pore scales and seconds to days) and at which practical model predictions are needed (e.g., plume to aquifer scales and years to centuries). While the multiscale nature of hydrogeologic problems is widely recognized, technological limitations in computation and characterization restrict most practical modeling efforts to fairly coarse representations of heterogeneous properties and processes. For some modern problems, the necessary level of simplification is such that model parameters may lose physical meaning and model predictive ability is questionable for any conditions other than those to which the model was calibrated. Recently, there has been broad interest across a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines in simulation approaches that more rigorously account for the multiscale nature of systems of interest. In this article, we review a number of such approaches and propose a classification scheme for defining different types of multiscale simulation methods and those classes of problems to which they are most applicable. Our classification scheme is presented in terms of a flowchart (Multiscale Analysis Platform), and defines several different motifs of multiscale simulation. Within each motif, the member methods are reviewed and example applications are discussed. We focus attention on hybrid multiscale methods, in which two or more models with different physics described at fundamentally different scales are directly coupled within a single simulation. Very recently these methods have begun to be applied to groundwater flow and transport simulations, and we discuss these applications in the context of our classification scheme. As computational and characterization capabilities continue to improve, we envision that hybrid multiscale modeling will become more common and also a viable alternative to conventional single‐scale models in the near future.     

Hydro‐meteorological drivers and sources of suspended sediment flux in the pro‐glacial zone of the retreating Castle Creek Glacier,Cariboo Mountains,British Columbia,Canada

Glaciers are major agents of erosion that increase sediment load to the downstream fluvial system. The Castle Creek Glacier, British Columbia, Canada, has retreated ~1.0 km in the past 70 years. Suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and streamflow (Q) were monitored independently at five sites within its pro‐glacial zone over a 60 day period from July to September 2011, representing part of the ablation season. Meteorological data were collected from two automatic weather stations proximal to the glacier. The time‐series were divided into hydrologic days and the shape and magnitude of the SSC response to hydro‐meteorological conditions (‘cold and wet’, ‘hot and dry’, ‘warm and damp’, and ‘storm’) were categorized using principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). Suspended sediment load (SSL) was computed and summarized for the categories. The distribution of monitoring sites and results of the multivariate statistical analyses describe the temporal and spatial variability of suspended sediment flux and the relative importance of glacial and para‐glacial sediment sources in the pro‐glacial zone. During the 2011 study period, ~ 60% of the total SSL was derived from the glacial stream and sediment deposits proximal to the terminus of the glacier; during ‘storm’ events, that contribution dropped to ~40% as the contribution from diffuse and point sources of sediment throughout the pro‐glacial zone and within the meltwater channels increased. While ‘storm’ events accounted for just 3% of the study period, SSL was ~600% higher than the average over the monitoring period, and ~20% of the total SSL was generated in that time. Determining how hydro‐meteorological conditions and sediment sources control sediment fluxes will assist attempts to predict how pro‐glacial zones respond to future climate changes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Statistical Framework for Calculating and Assessing Compositional Linear Trends Within Fault Zones: A Case Study of the NE Block of the Clark Segment,San Jacinto Fault,California, USA

Utilizing chemical data derived from the various fault zone architectural components of the Clark strand of the San Jacinto fault, southern California, USA, we apply for the first time non-central principal component analysis to calculate a compositional linear trend within molar A–CN–K space. In this procedure A–CN–K are calculated as the molar proportions of Al₂O₃ (A), CaO* + Na₂O (CN), and K₂O (K) in the sum of molar Al₂O₃, Na₂O, CaO*, and K₂O. CaO* is the molar CaO after correction for apatite. We then derive translational invariant chemical alteration intensity factors, t, for each architectural component through orthogonal projection of analyzed samples onto the compositional linear trend. The chemical alteration intensity factor t determines the relative change in composition compared to the original state (i.e., the composition of the altered wall rocks). It is dependent on the degree of intensity to which the process or processes responsible for the change in composition of each architectural component has been active. These processes include shearing, fragmentation, fluid flow, and generation of frictional heat. Non-central principal component analysis indicates that principal component 1 explains 99.7 % of the spread of A–CN–K data about the calculated compositional linear trend (i.e., the variance). The significance level for the overall one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is 0.0001. Such a result indicates that at least one significant difference across the group of means of t values is different at the 95 % confidence level. Following completion of the overall one-way ANOVA, the difference in means t test indicated that the mean of the t values for the fault core are different than the means obtained from the transition and damage zones. In contrast, at the 95 % confidence level, the means of the t values for the transition and damage zones are not statistically distinguishable. The results of XRD work completed during this study revealed that the <2 µm fraction is composed primarily of illite/smectite with ~15 % illite in the damage zone, of illite/smectite with ~30 % illite in the transition zone, and of discreet illite with very minor smectite in the fault core. These changes parallel the increasing values of the chemical alteration intensity factors (i.e., t). Based on the above results, it is speculated that when fault zones are derived from tonalitic wall rocks at depths of ~400 ± 100 m, the onset of the illite/smectite to illite conversion will occur when t values exceed 0.20 ± 0.12, the average chemical alteration intensity factor calculated for the transition zone. Under such conditions during repeated rupturing events, frictional heat is produced and acidic fluids with elevated temperatures (≥ ~125 °C) are flushed through the fault core. Over time, the combination of shearing, fragmentation, and frictionally elevated temperatures eventually overcomes the kinetic barrier for the illite/smectite to illite transition. Such settings and processes are unique to fault zones, and as a result, they represent an underappreciated setting for the development of illite from illite/smectite. The success of non-central principal component analysis in this environment offers the first statistically rigorous methodology for establishing the existence of compositional linear trends in fault zones. This method also derives quantifiable alteration intensity factors that could potentially be used to compare the intensity of alteration at different segments of a fault, as well as offer a foundation to interpret the potential driving forces for said alteration and differences therein.     

Ambient Changes in Tracer Concentrations from a Multilevel Monitoring System in Basalt

Starting in 2008, a 4‐year tracer study was conducted to evaluate ambient changes in groundwater concentrations of a 1,3,6‐naphthalene trisulfonate tracer that was added to drill water. Samples were collected under open borehole conditions and after installing a multilevel groundwater monitoring system completed with 11 discrete monitoring zones within dense and fractured basalt and sediment layers in the eastern Snake River aquifer. The study was done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy to test whether ambient fracture flow conditions were sufficient to remove the effects of injected drill water prior to sample collection. Results from thief samples indicated that the tracer was present in minor concentrations 28 days after coring, but was not present 6 months after coring or 7 days after reaming the borehole. Results from sampling the multilevel monitoring system indicated that small concentrations of the tracer remained in 5 of 10 zones during some period after installation. All concentrations were several orders of magnitude lower than the initial concentrations in the drill water. The ports that had remnant concentrations of the tracer were either located near sediment layers or were located in dense basalt, which suggests limited groundwater flow near these ports. The ports completed in well‐fractured and vesicular basalt had no detectable concentrations.     

The dayside magnetospheric boundary layer at Mercury

Magnetic field and plasma data from the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft on the outbound portions of the first (M1) and second (M2) flybys of Mercury reveal a region of depressed magnetic field magnitude and enhanced proton fluxes adjacent to but within the magnetopause, which we denote as a dayside boundary layer. The layer was present during both encounters despite the contrasting dayside magnetic reconnection, which was minimal during M1 and strong during M2. The overall width of the layer is estimated to be between 1000 and 1400 km, spanning most of the distance from the dayside planetary surface to the magnetopause in the mid-morning. During both flybys the magnetic pressure decrease was ∼1.6 nPa, and the width of the inner edge was comparable to proton gyro-kinetic scales. The maximum variance in the magnetic field across the inner edge was aligned with the magnetic field vector, and the magnetic field direction did not change markedly, indicating that the change in field intensity was consistent with an outward plasma-pressure gradient perpendicular to the magnetic field. Proton pressures in the layer inferred from reduced distribution observations were 0.4 nPa during M1 and 1.0 nPa during M2, indicating either that the proton pressure estimates are low or that heavy ions contribute substantially to the boundary-layer plasma pressure. If the layer is formed by protons drifting westward from the cusp, there should be a strong morning–afternoon asymmetry that is independent of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction. Conversely, if heavy ions play a major role, the layer should be strong in the morning (afternoon) for northward (southward) IMF. Future MESSENGER observations from orbit about Mercury should distinguish between these two possibilities.     

A Snapshot of the Sun Near Solar Minimum: The Whole Heliosphere Interval

We present an overview of the data and models collected for the Whole Heliosphere Interval, an international campaign to study the three-dimensional solar?Cheliospheric?Cplanetary connected system near solar minimum. The data and models correspond to solar Carrington Rotation 2068 (20 March??C?16 April 2008) extending from below the solar photosphere, through interplanetary space, and down to Earth??s mesosphere. Nearly 200 people participated in aspects of WHI studies, analyzing and interpreting data from nearly 100 instruments and models in order to elucidate the physics of fundamental heliophysical processes. The solar and inner heliospheric data showed structure consistent with the declining phase of the solar cycle. A closely spaced cluster of low-latitude active regions was responsible for an increased level of magnetic activity, while a highly warped current sheet dominated heliospheric structure. The geospace data revealed an unusually high level of activity, driven primarily by the periodic impingement of high-speed streams. The WHI studies traced the solar activity and structure into the heliosphere and geospace, and provided new insight into the nature of the interconnected heliophysical system near solar minimum.     

Summer light‐trap catches of adult Trichoptera in hill‐country catchments of contrasting land use,Waikato, New Zealand

The distribution of adult Trichoptera in light traps was investigated alongside nine streams draining catchments under native forest, pine forest, or pasture near Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between abundance, taxonomic richness, and community composition with respect to land use during summer, and to evaluate the use of adult Trichoptera compared with benthic invertebrates as potential bio‐indicators of the effectiveness of land‐management changes. Adult Trichoptera faunas alongside the native streams were dominated by Hydrobiosidae, Conoesucidae, and Helicopsychidae (each >10% of total Trichoptera numbers for at least two of the three sites), whereas Leptoceridae, Oeconescidae, and Hydrobiosidae were relatively abundant alongside at least two of the pine sites. Adult Trichoptera faunas at the pasture sites were strongly dominated by Hydroptilidae which made up 47–85% of numbers caught at all sites. The mean number of individuals and taxa caught in light traps increased from November to January and then declined in February for all land‐use types. Overall, total numbers and taxonomic richness of adult Trichoptera were significantly lower at the pine sites compared to the pasture or native sites. TWINSPAN classification of benthic invertebrates collected in November clearly differentiated sites based on land use for presence/absence and percentage abundance data. A similar pattern was evident for most sites when adult Trichoptera faunas were used for the four sampling dates combined, suggesting that light trapping has potential as a tool for bio‐monitoring.