Spatial character of the gaseous and particulate state compound correlation of urban atmospheric pollution in winter and summer

The spatial/temporal variation information of atmospheric dynamic-chemical processes at observation site points of the "canopy" boundary of Beijing urban building ensemble and over urban area "surface", as well as the seasonal correlation structure of the gaseous and particulate states of urban atmospheric pollution (UAP) and its seasonal conversion feature at observation points are investigated, using the comprehensive observation data of the Beijing City Air Pollution Observation Experiment (BECAPEX) in winter and summer 2003 with a "point-surface" combined research approach. By using "one dimension spatial empirical orthogonal function (EOF)" principal component analysis (PCA) mode, the seasonal change of gaseous and particulate states of atmospheric aerosols and the association feature of pollutant species under the background of the complicated structure of urban boundary layer (UBL) are analyzed. The comprehensive analyses of the principal components of particle concentrations,gaseous pollutant species, and meteorological conditions reveal the seasonal changes of the complex constituent and structure features of the gaseous and particulate states of UAP to further trace the impact feature of urban aerosol pollution surface sources and the seasonal difference of the component structure of UAP. Research results suggest that in the temporal evolution of the gaseous and particulate states of winter/summer UAP, NOx, CO, and SO2 showed an "in-phase" evolution feature, however, O3 showed an "inverse-phase" relation with other species,all possessing distinctive dependent feature. On the whole, summer concentrations of gaseous pollutants CO, SO2, and NOx were obviously lower than winter ones, especially, the reduction in CO concentration was most distinctive, and ones in SO2 and NOx were next. However, the summer O3 concentration was more than twice winter one. Winter/summer differences in PM10and PM2.5 particle concentrations were relatively not obvious, which indicates that responses of PM10 and PM2.5 particle concentrations to the difference of winter/summer heating period emission sources are far less distinctive than those of NOx, SO2, and CO. The correlation feature of winter/summer gaseous and particulate states depicts that both PM10 and PM2.5 particles were significantly correlated with NOx, and their correlations with NOx are more significant than those with other pollutants. Through PCA, it is found that there was a distinctive difference in the principal component combination structure of winter/summer PM10 and PM2.5 particles: SO2 and NOx dominated in the principal component of winter PM10 and PM2.5 particles; while CO and NOx played the major role in the principal component of summer PM10 and PM2.5 particles. For winter/summer PM10 and PM2.5 particles, there might exist the gaseous and particulate states correlation structures of different "combinations" of such dependent pollutant species. Research results also uncover that the interaction processes of gaseous and particulate states were also related with the vertical structure of UBL, that is to say, the low value layer of UBL O3 concentration was associated with the collocation of atmospheric vertical structures of the low level inversion,inverse humidity, and small wind, which depicts summer boundary layer atmospheric character, i.e.the compound impact of the dependent factor "combination" of wind, temperature, and humidity elements and their collocation structure on the variations of different gaseous pollutant concentrations. Such a depth structure of the extremely low value of O3 concentration in the UBL accords with its "inverse-phase" relation with other gaseous pollutant species. The PCA of meteorological factors associated with PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations also reveals the sensitivity of PM10 and PM2.5 concentration to the combinatory feature of local meteorological conditions.     

Chemical forms of heavy metal contaminants in sediments of Miyun reservoir

The chemical forms, spatial distribution and sources of As, Hg, Cd, Pb and Zn in sediments of the Miyun reservoir were studied. The results of sequential extraction demonstrate that most of As, Pb and Zn were bound to the residual fraction, Hg was associated with the sulfide fraction while Cd was associated with the carbonate fraction and the residual fraction. On the vertical profiles the concentrations of the heavy metals in total and each fractions mostly decreased with increasing depths in sediments, suggesting that the heavy metals input from the upstream watershed increases yearly. Summation of the residual fraction, the sulfide fraction and the carbonate fraction accounts for 60.03%―85.60% of the total heavy metal contents in the sediments, which represent the geochemical background values of the elements and relate closely to soil erosion. Results of the main factor analysis show that most sediments of the reservoir come from the upstream soil erosion, the point source pollution and domestic waste. Moreover, the microbial activities taking place on the sediment-water interface are also one of the major factors to cause the increasing content of the organic matter fraction and the iron-manganese oxide fraction. Environmental change of the reservoir water could make the removability of the heavy metals increase, leading to the increase of their concentrations in pore water in sediments, and imperiling water quality of the reservoir.     

The role of the seismic trigger in the Calitri landslide (Italy): historical reconstruction and dynamic analysis

The study covered by this paper was focused on the historical case of the Calitri landslide, which was repeatedly reactivated by earthquakes, as reported since 1694. The town of Calitri (Southern Italy) is located on a ridge whose southern slope, from its top to the Ofanto river valley floor, has been historically affected by major landsliding. The last record of recurrence of the Calitri landslide leads back to the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, which caused significant damage to the town and had pervasive and visible ground effects. Based on a detailed historical reconstruction of landsliding and seismicity at Calitri, the study analysed the current static and dynamic stability of the landsliding slope by means of a finite-difference numerical analysis, taking into account the various factors of landslide initiation and kinematics. The results of the numerical analysis: (i) were consistent with the roto-translational mechanism observed upon the latest reactivation of the landslide; (ii) demonstrated that excess pore pressure redistribution caused a lag between the seismic trigger and the initiation of landsliding; and (iii) showed the impact of seismic input frequency on propagation and depth of slope instability.     

Use of time series analysis for the identification of tidal effect on groundwater in the coastal area of Kimje, Korea

The purpose of this study is to apply time series analysis to investigate whether the groundwater quality in the coastal area is affected by the tide. Continuous and regular in situ monitoring data of electrical conductivity (EC) and groundwater level, and tidal level data measured by the National Oceanographic Research Institute were used for the time series analysis. Through the time series analysis, it is known that EC and groundwater level conspicuously fluctuate with two periodicities (15.4 and 0.52-day), which is very similar to those of the tide. Also the behaviors of their fluctuations vary in accordance with the tidal period. These indicate that the groundwater quality has been mainly controlled by the tidal level, and the strength of tidal effect on the groundwater quality is different according to the tidal period.     

Low-Frequency Plasma Waves in the Outer Polar CUSP: A Review of Observations from Prognoz 8, Interball 1, Magion 4, and Cluster

This paper presents a review of the most interesting observations of low-frequency plasma waves together with plasma particles which were made by the Interball 1, Magion 4 and Prognoz 8 satellites in the outer polar cusp. Accelerated plasma particles, hot electron populations and very strong wave activity, particularly at low frequencies, are observed. A detailed study of the wave spectra together with the distribution function for electrons indicate the correlation between the presence of lower-hybrid waves and the population of the particles with higher energy than in the surrounding space. These experimental facts suggest that strong coupling between waves and particles is responsible for plasma heating. During polar cusp crossings by Interball 1 and Prognoz 8, FFT analysis of the wave form indicates many bursts of ULF emissions in both electric and magnetic components. These waves have highly non-stationary characteristics. To study the dynamics of changes in the spectral characteristics of the waves wavelet analysis has been used. Nonlinear interactions are studied using bispectral methods of analysis. This presentation gives the results of such an analysis for selected cusp crossings at different altitudes. An example of wave activity registered by the STAFF instrument onboard the CLUSTER spacecraft in the polar cusp is also presented.     

Application of Characteristics of Seismogenic Structures in the Determination of Parameter of Potential Seismic Source Areas

INTRODUCTIONThe method of probabilistic seismic risk analysis was proposed by Cornell in1968(Cornell,1968).After more than30years development,it has become the main method for seismic riskassessment of engineering sites and seismic zonation,and has been u…     

Characteristics of Energy Accumulation and Release of Seismogenic Tectonics and Seismic Risk Analysis in Some Areas in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang1

INTRODUCTIONHowtocombinethestudyofseismogenictectonicswithearthquakepredictionisanurgentscientificdifficulty .Thereexistbiggapsbetweenstudymethodsandcurrentknowledgeonseismogenitectonics ,earthquakeprediction ,seismogenesisandthephysicsofearthquakeoccurre…     

A comparative study of concentrated plasticity models in dynamic analysis of building structures

Concentrated plasticity (CP) models are frequently used in static and dynamic building analysis and have been implemented in available commercial software. This investigation deals with three different CP‐models, a simplified macroelement model (SEM) for a complete building story, a frame element with elasto‐plastic interaction hinges (PH), and a frame element with fiber hinges (FB). The objectives of this work are to evaluate the quality of the earthquake responses predicted by these models and to identify important aspects of their implementation and limitations for their use in dynamic analysis. The three elements are tested in a single‐story asymmetric plan building and in a three‐story steel building. Results show that base shear and global response values are usually computed with better accuracy than interstory deformations and local responses. Besides, the main limitation of elasto‐plastic CP models is to control the displacement offsets that result from perfect elasto‐plastic behavior. On the other hand, calibration of the SEM‐model shows that global responses in steel structures may be computed within 20% error in the mean at a computational cost two orders of magnitude smaller than that of the other CP elements considered. However, the three element models considered lead to increasing levels of accuracy in the dynamic response and their use depends on the refinement of the analysis performed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing efficient scalar and vector intensity measures for IDA capacity estimation by incorporating elastic spectral shape information

Scalar and vector intensity measures are developed for the efficient estimation of limit‐state capacities through incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) by exploiting the elastic spectral shape of individual records. IDA is a powerful analysis method that involves subjecting a structural model to several ground motion records, each scaled to multiple levels of intensity (measured by the intensity measure or IM), thus producing curves of structural response parameterized by the IM on top of which limit‐states can be defined and corresponding capacities can be calculated. When traditional IMs are used, such as the peak ground acceleration or the first‐mode spectral acceleration, the IM‐values of the capacities can display large record‐to‐record variability, forcing the use of many records to achieve reliable results. By using single optimal spectral values as well as vectors and scalar combinations of them on three multistorey buildings significant dispersion reductions are realized. Furthermore, IDA is extended to vector IMs, resulting in intricate fractile IDA surfaces. The results reveal the most influential spectral regions/periods for each limit‐state and building, illustrating the evolution of such periods as the seismic intensity and the structural response increase towards global collapse. The ordinates of the elastic spectrum and the spectral shape of each individual record are found to significantly influence the seismic performance and they are shown to provide promising candidates for highly efficient IMs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of epistemic uncertainty on an earthquake loss model

Models capable of estimating losses in future earthquakes are of fundamental importance for emergency planners, for the insurance and reinsurance industries, and for code drafters. Constructing a loss model for a city, region or country involves compiling databases of earthquake activity, ground conditions, attenuation equations, building stock and infrastructure exposure, and vulnerability characteristics of the exposed inventory, all of which have large associated uncertainties. Many of these uncertainties can be classified as epistemic, implying—at least in theory—that they can be reduced by acquiring additional data or improved understanding of the physical processes. The effort and cost involved in refining the definition of each component of a loss model can be very large, for which reason it is useful to identify the relative impact on the calculated losses due to variations in these components. A mechanically sound displacement‐based approach to loss estimation is applied to a test case of buildings along the northern side of the Sea of Marmara in Turkey. Systematic variations of the parameters defining the demand (ground motion) and the capacity (vulnerability) are used to identify the relative impacts on the resulting losses, from which it is found that the influence of the epistemic uncertainty in the capacity is larger than that of the demand for a single earthquake scenario. Thus, the importance of earthquake loss models which allow the capacity parameters to be customized to the study area under consideration is highlighted. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.