Monitoring efficiency of urban stormwater treatment devices: discrete-sampling vs. diffusive gradient in a thin film technique

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Trowsdale ◽  
G. C. Arnold

Monitoring the hydrochemical efficiency of urban stormwater treatment devices is not straightforward as the traditional, automated, discrete-sample approach is time-consuming and logistically expensive. An alternative monitoring technique, diffusive gradient in thin film (DGT), was tested alongside the traditional approach at an urban stormwater treatment basin. Pb concentrations in runoff were low to negligible, and the basin had little measurable effect. Using log-transformed Event Mean Concentration (EMC) the basin was calculated to reduce the Cu and Zn concentration by 39 and 51% respectively, but high variability meant there was no statistical evidence of a reduction. The DGT measurements not only suggested a higher efficiency for the basin (77% for Cu, 72% for Zn), but were also less variable providing confidence in the result. Simple modelling implied that the concentration in baseflow fluctuated. The cost effectiveness and low variability of the DGT technique may make it suited to the monitoring requirements of the stormwater industry.

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1464
Author(s):  
Leon Katona ◽  
Yvonne Vadeboncoeur ◽  
Christopher T. Nietch ◽  
Katie Hossler

Recent studies suggest that photophysiological parameters for intact substrates with depth (e.g., periphytic biofilms, microphytobenthos) are overestimated by pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry. This overestimation results from depth-integration effects, following the activation of deeper photosynthesizing layers by an attenuated light signal. To mitigate this error, we propose a novel slide-based thin-film technique in which fluorescence is measured on a vertically representative subsample of the biofilm, spread evenly on a microscope slide. We compared bias and precision for photosynthetic parameters estimated through conventional PAM fluorometry on intact biofilms and through our novel slide-based technique, both theoretically and empirically. Numerical simulations confirmed the consistent overestimation of key parameters for intact biofilms, with relative errors up to 145%, compared to, at most, 52% on thin films. Paired empirical observations likewise demonstrated that estimates based on intact biofilms were consistently higher (up to 248%, p<0.001) than estimates from thin films. Numerical simulation suggested greater precision with the slide-based technique for homogeneous biofilms, but potentially less precision for heterogeneous biofilms with improper subsampling. Our empirical comparison, however, demonstrated some improvement in precision with the slide-based technique (e.g., the coefficient of variation for the maximum electron transport rate was reduced 30%, p=0.009). We recommend the use of the slide-based technique, particularly for biofilms that are thick or have small light attenuation coefficients. Care should be taken, however, to obtain vertically representative subsamples of the biofilm for measurement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexsandro Oliveira Alexandrino ◽  
Carla Negri Lintzmayer ◽  
Zanoni Dias

One of the main problems in Computational Biology is to find the evolutionary distance among species. In most approaches, such distance only involves rearrangements, which are mutations that alter large pieces of the species’ genome. When we represent genomes as permutations, the problem of transforming one genome into another is equivalent to the problem of Sorting Permutations by Rearrangement Operations. The traditional approach is to consider that any rearrangement has the same probability to happen, and so, the goal is to find a minimum sequence of operations which sorts the permutation. However, studies have shown that some rearrangements are more likely to happen than others, and so a weighted approach is more realistic. In a weighted approach, the goal is to find a sequence which sorts the permutations, such that the cost of that sequence is minimum. This work introduces a new type of cost function, which is related to the amount of fragmentation caused by a rearrangement. We present some results about the lower and upper bounds for the fragmentation-weighted problems and the relation between the unweighted and the fragmentation-weighted approach. Our main results are 2-approximation algorithms for five versions of this problem involving reversals and transpositions. We also give bounds for the diameters concerning these problems and provide an improved approximation factor for simple permutations considering transpositions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7193
Author(s):  
Jiyeon Choi ◽  
Baekyung Park ◽  
Jinsun Kim ◽  
Soyoung Lee ◽  
Jichul Ryu ◽  
...  

This study aimed to estimate pollutant unit loads for different landuses and pollutants that reflected long-term runoff characteristics of nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants and recent environmental changes. During 2008–2014, 2026 rainfall events were monitored. The average values of antecedent dry days, total rainfall, rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, runoff duration, and runoff coefficient for each landuse were 3.8–5.9 d, 35.2–65.0 mm, 2.9–4.1 mm/h, 12.5–20.4 h, 12.4–27.9 h, and 0.24–0.45, respectively. Uplands (UL) exhibited high suspended solids (SS, 606.2 mg/L), total nitrogen (TN, 7.38 mg/L), and total phosphorous (TP, 2.27 mg/L) levels, whereas the runoff coefficient was high in the building sites (BS), with a high impervious surface ratio. The event mean concentration (EMC) for biological oxygen demand (BOD) was the highest in BS (8.0 mg/L), while the EMC was the highest in BS (in the rainfall range <10 mm) and UL and forest land (in the rainfall range >50 mm). The unit loads for BOD (1.49–17.76 kg/km2·d), TN (1.462–10.147 kg/km2·d), TP (0.094–1.435 kg/km2·d), and SS (15.20–327.70 kg/km2·d) were calculated. The findings can be used to manage NPS pollutants and watershed environments and implement relevant associated management systems.


Author(s):  
Volodymyr Kotsyuruba ◽  
Ruslan Cherevko

At the current stage of the reformation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the context of the operation of the United Nations (Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO)), there was a need to increase the effectiveness of the use of troops without increasing the cost of the resource. In the context of increasing capabilities of the armies of the leading countries in the world to investigate and defeat the forces of the opposite side, the problem of maintaining and restoring combat capability in the course of hostilities is very acute. One of the important components that determines combat capability is the maneuverability of the control points (PU). In the course of the defense, the problem of increasing the survivability of the PU system is important because the forces of the opposite side, with the onset of aggression, will try, first of all, to dismantle the PU using modern means of defeat and the massive use of high-precision weapons (WTZ), as well as aircraft and artillery strikes, electronic information and information fight, the use of sabotage and reconnaissance groups and tactical airborne troops to disrupt the control of defending troops. Important importance of the ability to timely carry out maneuver (organized movement) of PU and its elements into a new area in the preparation and in the course of military operations. The traditional approach to ensuring the survivability of PU does not allow to ensure the proper stability of their functioning. There is an objective necessity in the development of such a mathematical model of maneuverability, which in its characteristics would meet the dynamically increasing requirements of the control system of troops in the difficult conditions of projected operations. To ensure the quality management of military units, various measures to ensure the survivability of PU are considered. The article outlines approaches to the definition of indicators of estimation of maneuverability of PU and methods of their calculation. The research is carried out in modern conditions of combat operations, taking into account the movement of the line of the combat collision of the parties and the disclosure of the PU to the enemy's intelligence.


1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 307-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Y. G. Andoh ◽  
C. Declerck

Rapid urbanisation and its consequent increase in impermeable surface areas and changes in land use has generally resulted in problems of flooding and heavy pollution of urban streams and other receiving waters. This has often been coupled with ground water depletion and a threat to water resources. The first part of this paper presents an alternative drainage philosophy and strategy which mimics nature's way by slowing down (attenuating) the movement of urban runoff. This approach results in cost-effective, affordable and sustainable drainage schemes. The alternative strategy can be described as one of prevention rather than cure by effecting controls closer to source rather than the traditional approach which results in the transfer of problems downstream, resulting in its cumulation and the need for large scale, centralised control. The second part describes a research project which has been launched in order to quantify the cost and operational benefits of source control and distributed storage. Details of the methodology of the modelling and simulation processes which are being followed to achieve this target are presented.


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