Observed Spatial and Temporal Distributions of CVOCs at Colorado and New York Vapor Intrusion Sites

The vapor intrusion impacts associated with the presence of chlorinated volatile organic contaminant plumes in the ground water beneath residential areas in Colorado and New York have been the subject of extensive site investigations and structure sampling efforts. Large data sets of ground water and indoor air monitoring data collected over a decade-long monitoring program at the Redfield, Colorado, site and monthly ground water and structure monitoring data collected over a 19-month period from structures in New York State are analyzed to illustrate the temporal and spatial distributions in the concentration of volatile organic compounds that one may encounter when evaluating the potential for exposures due to vapor intrusion. The analysis of these data demonstrates that although the areal extent of structures impacted by vapor intrusion mirrors the areal extent of chlorinated volatile organic compounds in the ground water, not all structures above the plume will be impacted. It also highlights the fact that measured concentrations of volatile organic compounds in the indoor air and subslab vapor can vary considerably from month to month and season to season. Sampling results from any one location at any given point in time cannot be expected to represent the range of conditions that may exist at neighboring locations or at other times. Recognition of this variability is important when designing sampling plans and risk management programs to address the vapor intrusion pathway.     

The Evolution of HII Regions

Here we review some recent results on the observed properties of UCH IIregions, and on the new class of Super-ultra-compact H II regions, and describe the theoretical scheme for H II region expansion, from star-forming cloud cores to the more diffuse external medium. High-pressure cores can stop the expansion on relatively short time scales, of the order of 3× 10⁴ yr, and the resulting pressure equilibrium UCH II regions have small sizes and large ion densities. If the ionization front enters into the decreasing density gradient of the cloud core, the expansion is accelerated and the H II region“pops” out of the core and becomes a “blister”-like region. The properties of the outflows depend on the cloud density structure, and a variety of different shocks can be formed. Density inhomogeneities inside photoionized regions are smoothed out on short time scales, but new clumps are continuously created at the cool shell generated by the shock front. Instabilities in both the ionization and shock fronts cause the fragmentation of the shell, maintaining the presence of clumps during the whole evolution. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bioremediation perspective of historically contaminated sediment with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The purpose of the current study is to compare the influence of different aerobic conditions(biostimulation(BS),bioaugmentation(BA),and a combination of biostimulation and bioaugmentation(BB))on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH)degradation and compare the degraded amount with single step XAD-4 extraction as a new tool for bioavailability assessment for chronically contaminated sediment samples obtained from territory of Autonomous Province Vojvodina of Serbia(S1,S2,and S3).A great number of papers dealing with biodegradation of PAHs in spiked sediment or soil have been published,but to the authors’knowledge,a limited number of papers studied aged,historically polluted sediment and a sum of chosen U.S.Environmental Protection Agency(USEPA)PAHs.A significant reduction(up to67%)in PAH concentration was observed,while the percentage of reduction varied depending on the sediment sample and treatment used.BS treatment successfully stimulated growth of indigenous bacteria.Further,PAH-degrading strain Sphingomonas paucimobilis F8 inoculated in BA and BB treatment survived for up to 7 weeks after it was suppressed by unfavorable conditions or native microbes.Degraded amounts generally showed good correlation with results obtained from XAD-4 extraction.Results obtained in the current study represent a good start for standardizing a XAD-4 extraction technique as a simplified,easier,and lower cost method for bioavailability assessment.     

Extended emission associated with young H ii regions

We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to make observations of a sample of eight young ultra-compact H  ii regions, selected on the basis that they have associated class II methanol maser emission. We have made observations sensitive to both compact and extended structures and find both to be present in most sources. The scale of the extended emission in our sample is in general less than that observed towards samples based on IRAS properties, or large single-dish flux densities. Our observations are consistent with a scenario where extended and compact radio continuum emission co-exists within H  ii regions for a significant period of time.
We suggest that these observations are consistent with a model where H  ii evolution takes place within hierarchically structured molecular clouds. This model, which is the subject of an upcoming companion paper by Shabala et al., addresses both the association between compact and extended emission and the ultra-compact H  ii region lifetime problem.     

Returns from a speculation

A reply to a recent paper by Setten.     

Fine-Scale Measurements Of Turbulence In The Lower Troposphere: An Intercomparison Between A Kite- And Balloon-Borne, And A Helicopter-Borne Measurement System

Two state-of-the-art, high-resolution, in situ turbulence measurement systems, which can be deployed at altitudes well above the atmospheric surface layer, are compared: the Tethered Lifting System (TLS) of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, and the helicopter-borneturbulence measurement system HELIPOD of the Technical UniversityBraunschweig, Germany, and the University of Hanover, Germany. Whilethe CIRES TLS is a fixed-point platform, HELIPOD is a moving platform.On the basis of data taken with the two systems in separate field campaigns,the system capabilities are quantified and discussed. Criteria for instrumentalrequirements are presented. It is shown that both the CIRES TLS and HELIPODare well suited for measuring fine-scale turbulence that is characterized by very small temperature structure parameters 10⁶ K² m^–2/3 and smaller) and very small energy dissipation rates (10^-7 m² s^-3 and smaller). The authors are not aware of any other turbulence measurement systems that have similar capabilities and can be deployed at altitudes of up to several kilometres. The HELIPOD is ideal for high-resolution horizontal measurements while the TLS is ideal for high-resolution vertical measurements using multiple sensors attached to a suspended line.     

Migration velocity analysis using a genetic algorithm

Migration velocity analysis, a method for determining long wavelength velocity structure, is a critical step in prestack imaging. Solution of this inverse problem is made difficult by a multimodal objective function; a parameter space often vast in extent; and an evaluation procedure for candidate solutions, involving the calculation of depth-migrated image gathers, that can be prohibitively expensive. Recognizing the global nature of the problem, we employ a genetic algorithm (GA) in the search for the optimum velocity model. In order to describe a model efficiently, regions of smooth variation are identified and sparsely parametrized. Region boundaries are obtained via map migration of events picked on the zero-offset time section. Within a region, which may contain several reflectors, separate components describe long and short wavelength variations, eliminating from the parameter space, models with large velocity fluctuations. Vital to the success of the method is rapid model evaluation, achieved by generating image gathers only in the neighbourhood of specific reflectors. Probability of a model, which we seek to maximize, is derived from the flatness of imaged events. Except for an initial interpretation of the zero-offset time section, our method is automatic in that it requires no picking of residual moveout on migrated gathers. Using an example data set from the North Sea, we show that it is feasible to solve for all velocity parameters in the model simultaneously: the method is global in this respect also.