Water for the cities - The outlook

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schneider, William Joseph; Spieker, Andrew Maute

1969-01-01

Rapid expansion of urban areas, particularly in the large metropolitan complexes of the United States, is placing urban political entities in ever closer juxtaposition to each other. The large demand for water for each entity is resulting in competition for available sources and is rapidly reaching critical proportions. Increasing awareness of the role of water in our society further complicates this competition. Pollution abatement, recreation, wildlife conservation, and aesthetics are demands now recognized by both rural and urban areas. Future development of water resources must consider regional demands and resources. Only in this way can our reasonably abundant water resources meet the severe demands imposed by our rapidly expanding urban areas.

Carbon Storage in Urban Areas in the USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churkina, G.; Brown, D.; Keoleian, G.

2007-12-01

It is widely accepted that human settlements occupy a small proportion of the landmass and therefore play a relatively small role in the dynamics of the global carbon cycle. Most modeling studies focusing on the land carbon cycle use models of varying complexity to estimate carbon fluxes through forests, grasses, and croplands, but completely omit urban areas from their scope. Here, we estimate carbon storage in urban areas within the United States, defined to encompass a range of observed settlement densities, and its changes from 1950 to 2000. We show that this storage is not negligible and has been continuously increasing. We include natural- and human-related components of urban areas in our estimates. The natural component includes carbon storage in urban soil and vegetation. The human related component encompasses carbon stored long term in buildings, furniture, cars, and waste. The study suggests that urban areas should receive continued attention in efforts to accurately account for carbon uptake and storage in terrestrial systems.

THE INFLUENCE OF A TALL BUILDING ON STREET-CANYON FLOW IN AN URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD

EPA Science Inventory

This study presents a velocity comparison between meteorological wind tunnel results and results from the Quick Urban & Industrial Complex model (QUIC, version 3.9) for a simplified urban area, representing a regular array of city blocks composed of row houses in Brooklyn, New Yo...

"Urban" Schooling and "Urban" Families: The Role of Context and Place

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gadsden, Vivian L.; Dixon-Román, Ezekiel J.

2017-01-01

Conceptualizations of urban context and place in research, practice, and policy are relational, ranging from spatial dimensions to cultural practices of children, families, and communities in metropolitan areas. In this article, we focus on the inherent complexity of these conceptualizations and long-standing debates in education and social…

THE INFLUENCE OF A TALL BUILDING ON STREET CANYON FLOW IN AN URBAN NEIGBORHOOD

EPA Science Inventory

This study presents a velocity comparison between meteorological wind tunnel results and results from the Quick Urban & Industrial Complex model (QUIC, version 3.9) for a simplified urban area, representing a regular array of city blocks composed of row houses in Brooklyn, New Yo...

Watershed features and stream water quality: Gaining insight through path analysis in a Midwest urban landscape, USA

Treesearch

Jiayu Wu; Timothy W. Stewart; Janette R. Thompson; Randy Kolka; Kristie J. Franz

2015-01-01

Urban stream condition is often degraded by human activities in the surrounding watershed. Given the complexity of urban areas, relationships among variables that cause stream degradation can be difficult to isolate. We examined factors affecting stream condition by evaluating social, terrestrial, stream hydrology and water quality variables from 20 urban stream...

Beyond urban legends: an emerging framework of urban ecology, as illustrated by the Baltimore Ecosystem Study

Treesearch

Steward T.A. Pickett; Mary L. Cadenasso; J. Morgan Grove; Peter M. Groffman; Lawrence E. Band; Christopher G. Boone; William R., Jr. Burch; Susan B. Grimmond; John Hom; Jennifer C. Jenkins; Neely L. Law; Charles H. Nilon; Richard V. Pouyat; Katalin Szlavecz; Paige S. Warren; Matthew A. Wilson

2008-01-01

The emerging discipline of urban ecology is shifting focus from ecological processes embedded within cities to integrative studies of large urban areas as biophysical-social complexes. Yet this discipline lacks a theory. Results from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network, expose new assumptions and test existing assumptions...

A new framework for modeling urban land expansion in peri-urban area by combining multi-source datasets and data assimilation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Z.; Xiao, R.; Li, X.

2015-12-01

Peri-urban area is a new type region under the impacts of both rural Industrialization and the radiation of metropolitan during rapid urbanization. Due to its complex natural and social characteristics and unique development patterns, many problems such as environmental pollution and land use waste emerged, which became an urgent issue to be addressed. Study area in this paper covers three typical peri-urban districts (Pudong, Fengxian and Jinshan), which around the Shanghai inner city. By coupling cellular automata and multi-agent system model as the basic tools, this research focus on modelling the urban land expansion and driving mechanism in peri-urban area. The big data is aslo combined with the Bayesian maximum entropy method (BME) for spatiotemporal prediction of multi-source data, which expand the dataset of urban expansion models. Data assimilation method is used to optimize the parameters of the coupling model and minimize the uncertainty of observations, improving the precision of future simulation in peri-urban area. By setting quantitative parameters, the coupling model can effectively improve the simulation of the process of urban land expansion under different policies and management schemes, in order to provide scientificimplications for new urbanization strategy. In this research, we precise the urban land expansion simulation and prediction for peri-urban area, expand the scopes and selections of data acquisition measurements and methods, develop the new applications of the data assimilation method in geographical science, provide a new idea for understanding the inherent rules of urban land expansion, and give theoretical and practical support for the peri-urban area in urban planning and decision making.

Development of river flood model in lower reach of urbanized river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshimura, Kouhei; Tajima, Yoshimitsu; Sanuki, Hiroshi; Shibuo, Yoshihiro; Sato, Shinji; Lee, SungAe; Furumai, Hiroaki; Koike, Toshio

2014-05-01

Japan, with its natural mountainous landscape, has demographic feature that population is concentrated in lower reach of elevation close to the coast, and therefore flood damage with large socio-economic value tends to occur in low-lying region. Modeling of river flood in such low-lying urbanized river basin is complex due to the following reasons. In upstream it has been experienced urbanization, which changed land covers from natural forest or agricultural fields to residential or industrial area. Hence rate of infiltration and runoff are quite different from natural hydrological settings. In downstream, paved covers and construct of sewerage system in urbanized areas affect direct discharges and it enhances higher and faster flood peak arrival. Also tidal effect from river mouth strongly affects water levels in rivers, which must be taken into account. We develop an integrated river flood model in lower reach of urbanized areas to be able to address above described complex feature, by integrating model components: LSM coupled distributed hydrological model that models anthropogenic influence on river discharges to downstream; urban hydrological model that simulates run off response in urbanized areas; Saint Venant's equation approximated river model that integrates upstream and urban hydrological models with considering tidal effect from downstream. These features are integrated in a common modeling framework so that model interaction can be directly performed. The model is applied to the Tsurumi river basin, urbanized low-lying river basin in Yokohama and model results show that it can simulate water levels in rivers with acceptable model errors. Furthermore the model is able to install miscellaneous water planning constructs, such as runoff reduction pond in urbanized area, flood control field along the river channel, levee, etc. This can be a useful tool to investigate cost performance of hypothetical water management plan against impact of climate change in the region.

Estimation of sediments in urban drainage areas and relation analysis between sediments and inundation risk using GIS.

PubMed

Moojong, Park; Hwandon, Jun; Minchul, Shin

2008-01-01

Sediments entering the sewer in urban areas reduce the conveyance in sewer pipes, which increases inundation risk. To estimate sediment yields, individual landuse areas in each sub-basin should be obtained. However, because of the complex nature of an urban area, this is almost impossible to obtain manually. Thus, a methodology to obtain individual landuse areas for each sub-basin has been suggested for estimating sediment yields. Using GIS, an urban area is divided into sub-basins with respect to the sewer layout, with the area of individual landuse estimated for each sub-basin. The sediment yield per unit area for each sub-basin is then calculated. The suggested method was applied to the GunJa basin in Seoul. For a relation analysis between sediments and inundation risk, sub-basins were ordered by the sediment yields per unit area and compared with historical inundation areas. From this analysis, sub-basins with higher order were found to match the historical inundation areas. Copyright IWA Publishing 2008.

Demography: a tool for understanding the wildland-urban interface fire problems

Treesearch

James B. Davis

1989-01-01

Fire managers across the nation are confronting the rapidly developing problem created by movement of people into wildland areas, increasing what has been termed the wildland-urban interface. The problem is very complex from the standpoint of fire planning and management. To plan and manage more effectively, fire managers should identify three types of interface areas...

Characterizing ozone pollution in a petrochemical industrial area in Beijing, China: a case study using a chemical reaction model.

PubMed

Wei, Wei; Lv, Zhaofeng; Cheng, Shuiyuan; Wang, Lili; Ji, Dongsheng; Zhou, Ying; Han, Lihui; Wang, Litao

2015-06-01

This study selected a petrochemical industrial complex in Beijing, China, to understand the characteristics of surface ozone (O3) in this industrial area through the on-site measurement campaign during the July-August of 2010 and 2011, and to reveal the response of local O3 to its precursors' emissions through the NCAR-Master Mechanism model (NCAR-MM) simulation. Measurement results showed that the O3 concentration in this industrial area was significantly higher, with the mean daily average of 124.6 μg/m(3) and mean daily maximum of 236.8 μg/m(3), which are, respectively, 90.9 and 50.6 % higher than those in Beijing urban area. Moreover, the diurnal O3 peak generally started up early in 11:00-12:00 and usually remained for 5-6 h, greatly different with the normal diurnal pattern of urban O3. Then, we used NCAR-MM to simulate the average diurnal variation of photochemical O3 in sunny days of August 2010 in both industrial and urban areas. A good agreement in O3 diurnal variation pattern and in O3 relative level was obtained for both areas. For example of O3 daily maximum, the calculated value in the industrial area was about 51 % higher than in the urban area, while measured value in the industrial area was approximately 60 % higher than in the urban area. Finally, the sensitivity analysis of photochemical O3 to its precursors was conducted based on a set of VOCs/NOx emissions cases. Simulation results implied that in the industrial area, the response of O3 to VOCs was negative and to NOx was positive under the current conditions, with the sensitivity coefficients of -0.16~-0.43 and +0.04~+0.06, respectively. By contrast, the urban area was within the VOCs-limitation regime, where ozone enhancement in response to increasing VOCs emissions and to decreasing NOx emission. So, we think that the VOCs emissions control for this petrochemical industrial complex will increase the potential risk of local ozone pollution aggravation, but will be helpful to inhibit the ozone formation in Beijing urban area through reducing the VOCs transport from the industrial area to the urban area.

Flow and Dispersion in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Britter, R. E.

Increasing urbanization and concern about sustainability and quality of life issues have produced considerable interest in flow and dispersion in urban areas. We address this subject at four scales: regional, city, neighborhood, and street. The flow is one over and through a complex array of structures. Most of the local fluid mechanical processes are understood; how these combine and what is the most appropriate framework to study and quantify the result is less clear. Extensive and structured experimental databases have been compiled recently in several laboratories. A number of major field experiments in urban areas have been completed very recently and more are planned. These have aided understanding as well as model development and evaluation.

Disaster preparedness in a complex urban system: the case of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

PubMed

Carpenter, Samuel; Grünewald, François

2016-07-01

The city is a growing centre of humanitarian concern. Yet, aid agencies, governments and donors are only beginning to comprehend the scale and, importantly, the complexity of the humanitarian challenge in urban areas. Using the case study of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, this paper examines the analytical utility of recent research on complex urban systems in strengthening scholarly understanding of urban disaster risk management, and outlines its operational relevance to disaster preparedness. Drawing on a literature review and 26 interviews with actors from across the Government of Nepal, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, non-governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, and at-risk communities, the study argues that complexity can be seen as a defining feature of urban systems and the risks that confront them. To manage risk in these systems effectively, preparedness efforts must be based on adaptive and agile approaches, incorporating the use of network analysis, partnerships, and new technologies. © 2016 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2016.

Lidar ceilometer observations and modeling of a fireworks plume in Vancouver, British Columbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Kamp, Derek; McKendry, Ian; Wong, May; Stull, Roland

Observations of a plume emanating from a 30-min duration pyrotechnic display with a lidar ceilometer are described for an urban setting in complex, coastal terrain. Advection of the plume across the ceilometer occurred at a mean height of 250 m AGL. The plume traveled downwind at ˜3 m s -1, and at a distance of 8 km downwind, was ˜100 m in vertical thickness with particulate matter (PM) concentrations of order 30-40 μg m -3. Surface PM observations from surrounding urban monitoring stations suggest that the plume was not mixed to ground over the urban area. Plume trajectories at ˜250 m simulated by three numerical models all traveled to the northeast of the ceilometer location. Horizontal plume dispersion estimates suggest that the model trajectories were too far north to accommodate the likely lateral plume spread necessary to explain the ceilometer observations. This poor agreement between near surface observations and model output is consistent with previous mesoscale model validations in this region of complex urbanized terrain, and suggests that despite improvements in mesoscale model resolution, there remains an urgent need to improve upstream initial conditions over the Pacific Ocean, data assimilation over complex terrain, the representation of urban areas in mesoscale models, and to further validate such models for nocturnal applications in complex settings.

Management adaptation to fires in the wildland-urban risk areas in Spain

Treesearch

Gema Herrero-Corral

2013-01-01

Forest fires not only cause damage to ecosystems but also result in major socio-economic losses and in the worst cases loss of human life. Specifically, the incidence of fires in the overlapping areas between building structures and forest vegetation (wildland-urban interface, WUI) generates highly-complex emergencies due to the presence of people and goods....

Learning from HIV: exploring migration and health in South Africa.

PubMed

Vearey, Joanna

2012-01-01

Southern Africa is associated with high HIV prevalence and diverse population movements, including temporary, circular movements between rural and urban areas within countries (internal migration), and movements across borders (international migration). Whilst most migration in southern Africa is associated with the search for improved livelihood opportunities in urban areas a small--but significant--number of people are forced to migrate to escape persecution or civil war. This paper utilises recent empirical studies conducted in South Africa to explore linkages between migration into urban areas and health, focusing on HIV. It is shown that the relationship between migration and HIV is complex; that both internal and international migrants move to urban areas for reasons other than healthcare seeking; and that most migratory movements into urban areas involve the positive selection of healthy individuals. Whilst healthy migration has economic benefits for rural sending households, the data uncovers an important process of return migration (internally or across borders) in times of sickness, with the burden of care placed on the rural, sending household. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive response that maintains the health of migrants in urban areas, and provides support to rural areas in times of sickness.

Urban bioclimatology.

PubMed

Mayer, H

1993-11-15

This article deals with the part of urban climatology which is of particular relevance to human beings. Presented first is a summary of all human biometerologically effective complexes, as well as other factors which are relevant to urban planning and which depend on atmospheric conditions in urban structures in a direct or indirect manner. Later, methods for human biometerologically significant assessment of thermal and air pollution components of the urban climate are discussed in detail, because these components can be strongly influenced by urban planning. The application of these methods is illustrated by some results of appropriate investigations in urban areas.

"It's Kind of a Dichotomy": Thoughts Related to Calling and Purpose from Pastors Working and Counseling in Urban Resource-Poor Communities.

PubMed

Payne, Jennifer Shepard

2017-08-01

Pastors serving low-income urban areas are first-responders to emotional issues by default, since fewer mental health resources are available. Thus, it is important to understand how pastors serving urban resource-poor areas reflect on their counseling role. Forty-eight Black, Hispanic, and White pastors with urban congregations in Los Angeles or Chicago reflect on their pastoral calling and its relation to their counseling role. Through phenomenology, the pastors' lived experiences as they counseled in an urban context were explored. Analysis revealed complex feelings about their counseling role in light of their resource-poor environments. Recommendations are provided based on the findings.

Mesoscale features of urban rainfall enhancement

Treesearch

F. A. Huff

1977-01-01

Analyses of data from the first 4 years of a 5-year research project at St. Louis indicate a substantial enhancement of summer rainfall downwind of the urban-industrial complex. This anomaly appears to be caused primarily by the intensification of naturally occurring storm systems through the addition of heat and raindrop nuclei from the urban area. Most of the...

Avoiding Decline: Fostering Resilience and Sustainability in Midsize Cities

EPA Science Inventory

Eighty-five percent of United States citizens live in urban areas. However, research surrounding the resilience and sustainability of complex urban systems focuses largely on coastal megacities (>1 million people). Midsize cities differ from their larger counterparts due to tight...

Turbulent Dispersion Modelling in a Complex Urban Environment - Data Analysis and Model Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is used as a benchmark for comparison. Comparisons are also made with some more practically oriented computational fluid dynamics...predictions. To achieve clarity in the range of approaches available for practical models of con- taminant dispersion in urban areas, an overview of...complexity of those methods is simplified to a degree that allows straightforward practical implementation and application. Using these results as a

What's working on working rivers: a handbook for improving urban rivers: examples from Chicago area rivers.

Treesearch

Naomi Cohn

1998-01-01

What's been done on Chicago Area Rivers is truly an inspiration. People's ability to improve these rivers shows what can be improved anywhere, even in a highly developed and complex urban setting like Chicago. A veteran staffer with the Friends of the Chicago River recently concluded: "People look at what's being accomplished on the Chicago River...

A COMPARISON OF AIRFLOW PATTERNS FROM THE QUIC MODEL AND AN ATMOSPHERIC WIND TUNNEL FOR A TWO-DIMENSIONAL BUILDING ARRAY AND A MULTI-CITY BLOCK REGION NEAR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE

EPA Science Inventory

Dispersion of pollutants in densely populated urban areas is a research area of clear importance. Currently, few numerical tools exist capable of describing airflow and dispersion patterns in these complex regions in a time efficient manner. (QUIC), Quick Urban & Industrial C...

Urban gray vs. urban green vs. soil protection — Development of a systemic solution to soil sealing management on the example of Germany

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Artmann, Martina, E-mail: m.artmann@ioer.de

Managing urban soil sealing is a difficult venture due to its spatial heterogeneity and embedding in a socio-ecological system. A systemic solution is needed to tackle its spatial, ecological and social sub-systems. This study develops a guideline for urban actors to find a systemic solution to soil sealing management based on two case studies in Germany: Munich and Leipzig. Legal-planning, informal-planning, economic-fiscal, co-operative and informational responses were evaluated by indicators to proof which strategy considers the spatial complexity of urban soil sealing (systemic spatial efficiency) and, while considering spatial complexity, to assess what the key management areas for action aremore » to reduce the ecological impacts by urban soil sealing (ecological impact efficiency) and to support an efficient implementation by urban actors (social implementation efficiency). Results suggest framing the systemic solution to soil sealing management through a cross-scale, legal-planning development strategy embedded in higher European policies. Within the socio-ecological system, the key management area for action should focus on the protection of green infrastructure being of high value for actors from the European to local scales. Further efforts are necessary to establish a systemic monitoring concept to optimize socio-ecological benefits and avoid trade-offs such as between urban infill development and urban green protection. This place-based study can be regarded as a stepping stone on how to develop systemic strategies by considering different spatial sub-targets and socio-ecological systems. - Highlights: • Urban soil sealing management is spatially complex. • The legal-planning strategy supports a systemic sealing management. • Urban green infrastructure protection should be in the management focus. • Soil protection requires policies from higher levels of government. • A systemic urban soil sealing monitoring concept is needed.« less

Energy performance of areas for urban development (Arkhangelsk is given as example)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, Olga; Glebova, Yulia

2017-01-01

The present research provides an overview and analysis of the legal framework and the technology to increase energy save and energy efficiency. The challenges of the mentioned activities implementation in urban areas are revealed in the paper. A comparison was made of the principal methods of increasing energy efficiency that is based on payback period. The basic shortcomings of the methods used are found. The way of capital reproducing assets acquisition is proposed with consideration of the rate of wear and tear and upgrading of urban residential development. The present research aims at characterizing energy sustainability of urban areas for forming the information basis that identifies capital construction projects together within the urban area. A new concept - area energy sustainability is introduced in the study to use system-structural approach to energy saving and energy efficiency. Energy sustainability of the area as an integral indicator of the static characteristics of the territory is considered as a complex involving the following terms: energy security, energy intensity and energy efficiency dynamic indicators of all the components of the power system of the area. Dimensions and parameters of energy sustainability of the area are determined. Arkhangelsk is given as example.

Maternal mobility across the rural-urban divide: empirical data from coastal Kenya

PubMed Central

Molyneux, C S; Mung’ala-Odera, V; Harpham, T; Snow, R W

2013-01-01

This paper describes the mobility patterns, rural-urban linkages and household structures for a low-income neighbourhood on the outskirts of Mombasa, Kenya’s main port, and a rural settlement 60 kilometres away. Drawing on interviews with a sample of mothers resident in each location, it documents their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of rural and urban life, and shows the continuous interchange between the two areas. It also highlights how most rural to urban migrants are familiar with urban environments before moving and how, having moved, many maintain strong rural ties. The ways in which households are split across rural and urban areas is influenced by intra-household relations and by household efforts to balance the income-earning opportunities in town, the relatively low cost of living in rural areas and future family security. This produces dramatic differences between and among rural and urban mothers and suggests a need for policy makers and planners to recognize diversity and to build upon complex livelihood strategies that span the rural-urban divide. PMID:23814409

Automatic Coregistration for Multiview SAR Images in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Y.; Kang, W.; Wang, F.; You, H.

2017-09-01

Due to the high resolution property and the side-looking mechanism of SAR sensors, complex buildings structures make the registration of SAR images in urban areas becomes very hard. In order to solve the problem, an automatic and robust coregistration approach for multiview high resolution SAR images is proposed in the paper, which consists of three main modules. First, both the reference image and the sensed image are segmented into two parts, urban areas and nonurban areas. Urban areas caused by double or multiple scattering in a SAR image have a tendency to show higher local mean and local variance values compared with general homogeneous regions due to the complex structural information. Based on this criterion, building areas are extracted. After obtaining the target regions, L-shape structures are detected using the SAR phase congruency model and Hough transform. The double bounce scatterings formed by wall and ground are shown as strong L- or T-shapes, which are usually taken as the most reliable indicator for building detection. According to the assumption that buildings are rectangular and flat models, planimetric buildings are delineated using the L-shapes, then the reconstructed target areas are obtained. For the orignal areas and the reconstructed target areas, the SAR-SIFT matching algorithm is implemented. Finally, correct corresponding points are extracted by the fast sample consensus (FSC) and the transformation model is also derived. The experimental results on a pair of multiview TerraSAR images with 1-m resolution show that the proposed approach gives a robust and precise registration performance, compared with the orignal SAR-SIFT method.

Mean and turbulent mass flux measurements in an idealised street network.

PubMed

Carpentieri, Matteo; Robins, Alan G; Hayden, Paul; Santi, Edoardo

2018-03-01

Pollutant mass fluxes are rarely measured in the laboratory, especially their turbulent component. They play a major role in the dispersion of gases in urban areas and modern mathematical models often attempt some sort of parametrisation. An experimental technique to measure mean and turbulent fluxes in an idealised urban array was developed and applied to improve our understanding of how the fluxes are distributed in a dense street canyon network. As expected, horizontal advective scalar fluxes were found to be dominant compared with the turbulent components. This is an important result because it reduces the complexity in developing parametrisations for street network models. On the other hand, vertical mean and turbulent fluxes appear to be approximately of the same order of magnitude. Building height variability does not appear to affect the exchange process significantly, while the presence of isolated taller buildings upwind of the area of interest does. One of the most interesting results, again, is the fact that even very simple and regular geometries lead to complex advective patterns at intersections: parametrisations derived from measurements in simpler geometries are unlikely to capture the full complexity of a real urban area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the topological characteristics and flow complexity of urban traffic congestion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Tzai-Hung; Chin, Wei-Chien-Benny; Lai, Pei-Chun

2017-05-01

For a growing number of developing cities, the capacities of streets cannot meet the rapidly growing demand of cars, causing traffic congestion. Understanding the spatial-temporal process of traffic flow and detecting traffic congestion are important issues associated with developing sustainable urban policies to resolve congestion. Therefore, the objective of this study is to propose a flow-based ranking algorithm for investigating traffic demands in terms of the attractiveness of street segments and flow complexity of the street network based on turning probability. Our results show that, by analyzing the topological characteristics of streets and volume data for a small fraction of street segments in Taipei City, the most congested segments of the city were identified successfully. The identified congested segments are significantly close to the potential congestion zones, including the officially announced most congested streets, the segments with slow moving speeds at rush hours, and the areas near significant landmarks. The identified congested segments also captured congestion-prone areas concentrated in the business districts and industrial areas of the city. Identifying the topological characteristics and flow complexity of traffic congestion provides network topological insights for sustainable urban planning, and these characteristics can be used to further understand congestion propagation.

Temporal Consistency Between Gross Primary Production and Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence in the Ten Most Populous Megacity Areas over Years

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cui, Yaoping; Xiao, Xiangmin; Zhang, Yao; Dong, Jinwei; Qin, Yuanwei; Doughty, Russell B.; Zhang, Geli; Wang, Jie; Wu, Xiaocui; Qin, Yaochen;

An Integrated Approach for Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Düzgün, H. S.; Yücemen, M. S.; Kalaycioglu, H. S.

2009-04-01

The earthquake risk for an urban area has increased over the years due to the increasing complexities in urban environments. The main reasons are the location of major cities in hazard prone areas, growth in urbanization and population and rising wealth measures. In recent years physical examples of these factors are observed through the growing costs of major disasters in urban areas which have stimulated a demand for in-depth evaluation of possible strategies to manage the large scale damaging effects of earthquakes. Understanding and formulation of urban earthquake risk requires consideration of a wide range of risk aspects, which can be handled by developing an integrated approach. In such an integrated approach, an interdisciplinary view should be incorporated into the risk assessment. Risk assessment for an urban area requires prediction of vulnerabilities related to elements at risk in the urban area and integration of individual vulnerability assessments. However, due to complex nature of an urban environment, estimating vulnerabilities and integrating them necessities development of integrated approaches in which vulnerabilities of social, economical, structural (building stock and infrastructure), cultural and historical heritage are estimated for a given urban area over a given time period. In this study an integrated urban earthquake vulnerability assessment framework, which considers vulnerability of urban environment in a holistic manner and performs the vulnerability assessment for the smallest administrative unit, namely at neighborhood scale, is proposed. The main motivation behind this approach is the inability to implement existing vulnerability assessment methodologies for countries like Turkey, where the required data are usually missing or inadequate and decision makers seek for prioritization of their limited resources in risk reduction in the administrative districts from which they are responsible. The methodology integrates socio-economical, structural, coastal, ground condition, organizational vulnerabilities, as well as accessibility to critical services within the framework. The proposed framework has the following eight components: Seismic hazard analysis, soil response analysis, tsunami inundation analysis, structural vulnerability analysis, socio-economic vulnerability analysis, accessibility to critical services, GIS-based integrated vulnerability assessment, and visualization of vulnerabilities in 3D virtual city model The integrated model for various vulnerabilities obtained for the urban area is developed in GIS environment by using individual vulnerability assessments for considered elements at risk and serve for establishing the backbone of the spatial decision support system. The stages followed in the model are: Determination of a common mapping unit for each aspect of urban earthquake vulnerability, formation of a geo-database for the vulnerabilities, evaluation of urban vulnerability based on multi attribute utility theory with various weighting algorithms, mapping of the evaluated integrated earthquake risk in geographic information systems (GIS) in the neighborhood scale. The framework is also applicable to larger geographical mapping scales, for example, the building scale. When illustrating the results in building scale, 3-D visualizations with remote sensing data is used so that decision-makers can easily interpret the outputs. The proposed vulnerability assessment framework is flexible and can easily be applied to urban environments at various geographical scales with different mapping units. The obtained total vulnerability maps for the urban area provide a baseline for the development of risk reduction strategies for the decision makers. Moreover, as several aspects of elements at risk for an urban area is considered through vulnerability analyses, effect on changes in vulnerability conditions on the total can easily be determined. The developed approach also enables decision makers to monitor temporal and spatial changes in the urban environment due to implementation of risk reduction strategies.

Assessing surface albedo change and its induced radiation budget under rapid urbanization with Landsat and GLASS data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yonghong; Jia, Gensuo; Pohl, Christine; Zhang, Xiaoxuan; van Genderen, John

2016-02-01

Radiative forcing (RF) induced by land use (mainly surface albedo) change is still not well understood in climate change science, especially the effects of changes in urban albedo due to rapid urbanization on the urban radiation budget. In this study, a modified RF derivation approach based on Landsat images was used to quantify changes in the solar radiation budget induced by variations in surface albedo in Beijing from 2001 to 2009. Field radiation records from a Beijing meteorological station were used to identify changes in RF at the local level. There has been rapid urban expansion over the last decade, with the urban land area increasing at about 3.3 % annually from 2001 to 2009. This has modified three-dimensional urban surface properties, resulting in lower albedo due to complex building configurations of urban centers and higher albedo on flat surfaces of suburban areas and cropland. There was greater solar radiation (6.93 × 108 W) in the urban center in 2009 than in 2001. However, large cropland and urban fringe areas caused less solar radiation absorption. RF increased with distance from the urban center (less than 14 km) and with greater urbanization, with the greatest value being 0.41 W/m2. The solar radiation budget in urban areas was believed to be mainly influenced by urban structural changes in the horizontal and vertical directions. Overall, the results presented herein indicate that cumulative urbanization impacts on the natural radiation budget could evolve into an important driver of local climate change.

Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress.

PubMed

Pickett, S T A; Cadenasso, M L; Grove, J M; Boone, Christopher G; Groffman, Peter M; Irwin, Elena; Kaushal, Sujay S; Marshall, Victoria; McGrath, Brian P; Nilon, C H; Pouyat, R V; Szlavecz, Katalin; Troy, Austin; Warren, Paige

2011-03-01

Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducing nonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Issues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previously developed urban environments. A diverse assortment of resource management tools, or

Photogrammetric Point Clouds Generation in Urban Areas from Integrated Image Matching and Segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, L.; Wu, B.

2017-09-01

High-resolution imagery is an attractive option for surveying and mapping applications due to the advantages of high quality imaging, short revisit time, and lower cost. Automated reliable and dense image matching is essential for photogrammetric 3D data derivation. Such matching, in urban areas, however, is extremely difficult, owing to the complexity of urban textures and severe occlusion problems on the images caused by tall buildings. Aimed at exploiting high-resolution imagery for 3D urban modelling applications, this paper presents an integrated image matching and segmentation approach for reliable dense matching of high-resolution imagery in urban areas. The approach is based on the framework of our existing self-adaptive triangulation constrained image matching (SATM), but incorporates three novel aspects to tackle the image matching difficulties in urban areas: 1) occlusion filtering based on image segmentation, 2) segment-adaptive similarity correlation to reduce the similarity ambiguity, 3) improved dense matching propagation to provide more reliable matches in urban areas. Experimental analyses were conducted using aerial images of Vaihingen, Germany and high-resolution satellite images in Hong Kong. The photogrammetric point clouds were generated, from which digital surface models (DSMs) were derived. They were compared with the corresponding airborne laser scanning data and the DSMs generated from the Semi-Global matching (SGM) method. The experimental results show that the proposed approach is able to produce dense and reliable matches comparable to SGM in flat areas, while for densely built-up areas, the proposed method performs better than SGM. The proposed method offers an alternative solution for 3D surface reconstruction in urban areas.

Placing the pieces: Reconstructing the original property mosaic in a warrant and patent watershed

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bain, D.J.; Brush, G.S.

2005-01-01

Recent research shows that land use history is an important determinant of current ecosystem function. In the United States, characterization of land use change following European settlement requires reconstruction of the original property mosaic. However, this task is difficult in unsystematically surveyed areas east of the Appalachian Mountains. The Gwynns Falls watershed (Baltimore, MD) was originally surveyed in the 1600-1700s under a system of warrants and patents (commonly known as 'metes and bounds'). A method for the reconstruction and mapping of warrant and patent properties is presented and used to map the original property mosaic in the Gwynns Falls watershed. Using the mapped mosaic, the persistence of properties and property lines in the current Gwynns Falls landscape is considered. The results of this research indicate that as in agricultural areas, the original property lines in the Gwynns Falls watershed are persistent. At the same time, the results suggest that the property mosaic in heavily urbanized/suburbanized areas is generally 'reset.' Further, trends in surveying technique, parcel size, and settlement patterns cause property line density and property shape complexity to increase in the less urbanized upper watershed. The persistence of original patterns may be damping expression of heterogeneity gradients in this urban landscape. This spatial pattern of complexity in the original mosaic is directly opposite of hypothesized patterns of landscape heterogeneity arising from urbanization. The technique reported here and the resulting observations are important for landscape pattern studies in areas settled under unsystematic survey systems, especially the heavily urbanized areas of the eastern United States. ?? 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Analysis of the methods for assessing socio-economic development level of urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, Olga; Bogacheva, Elena

2017-01-01

The present paper provides a targeted analysis of current approaches (ratings) in the assessment of socio-economic development of urban areas. The survey focuses on identifying standardized methodologies to area assessment techniques formation that will result in developing the system of intelligent monitoring, dispatching, building management, scheduling and effective management of an administrative-territorial unit. This system is characterized by complex hierarchical structure, including tangible and intangible properties (parameters, attributes). Investigating the abovementioned methods should increase the administrative-territorial unit's attractiveness for investors and residence. The research aims at studying methods for evaluating socio-economic development level of the Russian Federation territories. Experimental and theoretical territory estimating methods were revealed. Complex analysis of the characteristics of the areas was carried out and evaluation parameters were determined. Integral indicators (resulting rating criteria values) as well as the overall rankings (parameters, characteristics) were analyzed. The inventory of the most widely used partial indicators (parameters, characteristics) of urban areas was revealed. The resulting criteria of rating values homogeneity were verified and confirmed by determining the root mean square deviation, i.e. divergence of indices. The principal shortcomings of assessment methodologies were revealed. The assessment methods with enhanced effectiveness and homogeneity were proposed.

Air quality: from observation to applied studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Christiane H.; Wania, Annett; Hirsch, Jacky; Bruse, Michael

2004-10-01

Air qualities studies in urban areas embrace several directions that are strongly associated with urban complexity. In the last centuries cities evolution implied changes in urbanization trends: urban sprawl has modified the relationship between cities and surroundings settlements. The existence and protection of urban green and open areas is promoted as a mean to improve the quality of life of their citizens and increase the satisfactory level of the inhabitants against pollution and noise adverse effects. This paper outlines the methods and approaches used in the EU research project Benefits of Urban Green Space (BUGS). The main target of BUGS is to assess the role of urban green spaces in alleviating the adverse effects of urbanization trends by developing an integrative methodology, ranging from participatory planning tools to numerical simulation models. The influence of urban structures on atmospheric pollutants distribution is investigated as a multi-scale problem ranging from micro to macro/regional scale. Traditionally, air quality models are applied on a single scale, seldom considering the joint effects of traffic network and urban development together. In BUGS, several numerical models are applied to cope with urban complexity and to provide quantitative and qualitative results. The differing input data requirements for the various models demanded a methodology which ensures a coherent data extraction and application procedure. In this paper, the stepwise procedure used for BUGS is presented after a general presentation of the research project and the models implied. A discussion part will highlight the statements induced by the choices made and a conclusive part bring to the stage some insights for future investigations.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: PROCEEDINGS, CHICAGO, IL, FEBRUARY 9-12, 1998

EPA Science Inventory

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducing nonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Issues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previo...

CD ROM: NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: PROCEEDINGS, CHICAGO, IL, FEBRUARY 9-12, 1998

EPA Science Inventory

Water resource managers have been successful in developing approaches for reducingnonpoint source pollution in newly developing urban areas. Isssues become increasingly complex, however, when managers are faced with the challenge of reducing nonpoint source impacts within previou...

Emerging Technologies and MOUT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

YONAS,GEROLD; MOY,TIMOTHY DAVID

Operating in a potentially hostile city is every soldier's nightmare. The staggering complexity of the urban environment means that deadly threats--or non-combatants-may lurk behind every corner, doorway, or window. Urban operations present an almost unparalleled challenge to the modern professional military. The complexity of urban operations is further amplified by the diversity of missions that the military will be called upon to conduct in urban terrain. Peace-making and peace-keeping missions, urban raids to seize airports or WMD sites or to rescue hostages, and extended urban combat operations all present different sorts of challenges for planners and troops on the ground.more » Technology almost never serves as a magic bullet, and past predictions of technological miracles pile high on the ash heap of history. At the same time, it is a vital element of planning in the modern age to consider and, if possible, take advantage of emerging technologies. We believe that technologies can assist military operations in urbanized terrain (MOUT) in three primary areas, which are discussed.« less

Analysis of The Surface Radiative Budget Using ATLAS Data for San Juan, Puerto Rico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Rickman, D. L.; Gonzalez, J.; Comarazamy, Daniel; Picon, Ana

2007-01-01

The additional beating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. The NASA Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) operates in the visual and IR bands was used in February 2004 to collect data from San Juan, Puerto Rico with the main objective of investigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI) in tropical cities.

Urbanization and the Resulting Peripheralization in Solo Raya, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pradoto, W.; Mardiansjah, F. H.; Manullang, O. R.; Putra, A. A.

2018-02-01

Dynamic urbanization in Solo Raya, a local term for Surakarta Metropolitan, amongst rapid regional based-urbanization in Indonesia, shows the unbalance pattern of growth. A number of Surakarta City’s peripherals become the newly growing area which is characterized by a well-facilitated region, while the former urbanized areas next to the city center present the declining process. Different socioeconomic development triggers a unique mosaic of socio-spatial pattern, on which the phenomena of peripheralization could be investigated. Urban investment that boosted by the political will of both the national and local government has led to a shift in demographic condition. A relatively massive in-migration has been attracted to the peripheral and creates the new landscape of urban-rural society. Complex dynamic of metropolitan growth and the resulting peripheralization reminds that socio-spatial pattern calls the challenges for managing the rapid change of land use and space use. The pattern of urbanization that differs upon the surrounding areas of Surakarta City would be interesting to be explored. This paper will discuss the conceptual framework of peripheral urbanization and the methodological approach. It is actually the part of ongoing research on peripheralisation in Solo Raya.

The Use of ATLAS Data to Quantify Surface Radiative Budgets in Four US Cities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey; Gonzalez, Jorge; Rickman, Douglas; Quattrochi, Dale; Schiller, Steve; Comarazamy, Daniel; Estes, Maury

2011-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other manmade materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and non-vegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to. The use of remotely sensed data from airborne scanners is ideal to characterize the complexity of urban albedo and radiant surface temperatures. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) operates in the visual and IR bands was used to collect data from Salt Lake City, UT, Sacramento, CA, Baton Rouge, LA. And San Juan, Puerto Rico with the main objective of investigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI). In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect.

Integrating seasonal optical and thermal infrared spectra to characterize urban impervious surfaces with extreme spectral complexity: a Shanghai case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei; Yao, Xinfeng; Ji, Minhe

2016-01-01

Despite recent rapid advancement in remote sensing technology, accurate mapping of the urban landscape in China still faces a great challenge due to unusually high spectral complexity in many big cities. Much of this complication comes from severe spectral confusion of impervious surfaces with polluted water bodies and bright bare soils. This paper proposes a two-step land cover decomposition method, which combines optical and thermal spectra from different seasons to cope with the issue of urban spectral complexity. First, a linear spectral mixture analysis was employed to generate fraction images for three preliminary endmembers (high albedo, low albedo, and vegetation). Seasonal change analysis on land surface temperature induced from thermal infrared spectra and coarse component fractions obtained from the first step was then used to reduce the confusion between impervious surfaces and nonimpervious materials. This method was tested with two-date Landsat multispectral data in Shanghai, one of China's megacities. The results showed that the method was capable of consistently estimating impervious surfaces in highly complex urban environments with an accuracy of R2 greater than 0.70 and both root mean square error and mean average error less than 0.20 for all test sites. This strategy seemed very promising for landscape mapping of complex urban areas.

A research agenda for a people-centred approach to energy access in the urbanizing global south

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broto, Vanesa Castán; Stevens, Lucy; Ackom, Emmanuel; Tomei, Julia; Parikh, Priti; Bisaga, Iwona; To, Long Seng; Kirshner, Joshua; Mulugetta, Yacob

2017-10-01

Energy access is typically viewed as a problem for rural areas, but people living in urban settings also face energy challenges that have not received sufficient attention. A revised agenda in research and practice that puts the user and local planning complexities centre stage is needed to change the way we look at energy access in urban areas, to understand the implications of the concentration of vulnerable people in slums and to identify opportunities for planned management and innovation that can deliver urban energy transitions while leaving no one behind. Here, we propose a research agenda focused on three key issues: understanding the needs of urban energy users; enabling the use of context-specific, disaggregated data; and engaging with effective modes of energy and urban governance. This agenda requires interdisciplinary scholarship across the social and physical sciences to support local action and deliver large-scale, inclusive transformations.

Insectivorous bats respond to vegetation complexity in urban green spaces.

PubMed

Suarez-Rubio, Marcela; Ille, Christina; Bruckner, Alexander

2018-03-01

Structural complexity is known to determine habitat quality for insectivorous bats, but how bats respond to habitat complexity in highly modified areas such as urban green spaces has been little explored. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether a recently developed measure of structural complexity is as effective as field-based surveys when applied to urban environments. We assessed whether image-derived structural complexity (MIG) was as/more effective than field-based descriptors in this environment and evaluated the response of insectivorous bats to structural complexity in urban green spaces. Bat activity and species richness were assessed with ultrasonic devices at 180 locations within green spaces in Vienna, Austria. Vegetation complexity was assessed using 17 field-based descriptors and by calculating the mean information gain (MIG) using digital images. Total bat activity and species richness decreased with increasing structural complexity of canopy cover, suggesting maneuverability and echolocation (sensorial) challenges for bat species using the canopy for flight and foraging. The negative response of functional groups to increased complexity was stronger for open-space foragers than for edge-space foragers. Nyctalus noctula , a species foraging in open space, showed a negative response to structural complexity, whereas Pipistrellus pygmaeus , an edge-space forager, was positively influenced by the number of trees. Our results show that MIG is a useful, time- and cost-effective tool to measure habitat complexity that complemented field-based descriptors. Response of insectivorous bats to structural complexity was group- and species-specific, which highlights the need for manifold management strategies (e.g., increasing or reinstating the extent of ground vegetation cover) to fulfill different species' requirements and to conserve insectivorous bats in urban green spaces.

Quantifying annual changes in built-up area in complex urban-rural landscapes from analyses of PALSAR and Landsat images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Yuanwei; Xiao, Xiangming; Dong, Jinwei; Chen, Bangqian; Liu, Fang; Zhang, Geli; Zhang, Yao; Wang, Jie; Wu, Xiaocui

2017-02-01

Built-up area supports human settlements and activities, and its spatial distribution and temporal dynamics have significant impacts on ecosystem services and global environment change. To date, most of urban remote sensing has generated the maps of impervious surfaces, and limited effort has been made to explicitly identify the area, location and density of built-up in the complex and fragmented landscapes based on the freely available datasets. In this study, we took the lower Yangtze River Delta (Landsat Path/Row: 118/038), China, where extensive urbanization and industrialization have occurred, as a case study site. We analyzed the structure and optical features of typical land cover types from (1) the HH and HV gamma-naught imagery from the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), and (2) time series Landsat imagery. We proposed a pixel- and rule-based decision tree approach to identify and map built-up area at 30-m resolution from 2007 to 2010, using PALSAR HH gamma-naught and Landsat annual maximum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVImax). The accuracy assessment showed that the resultant annual maps of built-up had relatively high user (87-93%) and producer accuracies (91-95%) from 2007 to 2010. The built-up area was 2805 km2 in 2010, about 16% of the total land area of the study site. The annual maps of built-up in 2007-2010 show relatively small changes in the urban core regions, but large outward expansion along the peri-urban regions. The average annual increase of built-up areas was about 80 km2 per year from 2007 to 2010. Our annual maps of built-up in the lower Yangtze River Delta clearly complement the existing maps of impervious surfaces in the region. This study provides a promising new approach to identify and map built-up area, which is critical to investigate the interactions between human activities and ecosystem services in urban-rural systems.

Flood risks in urbanized areas - multi-sensoral approaches using remotely sensed data for risk assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taubenböck, H.; Wurm, M.; Netzband, M.; Zwenzner, H.; Roth, A.; Rahman, A.; Dech, S.

2011-02-01

Estimating flood risks and managing disasters combines knowledge in climatology, meteorology, hydrology, hydraulic engineering, statistics, planning and geography - thus a complex multi-faceted problem. This study focuses on the capabilities of multi-source remote sensing data to support decision-making before, during and after a flood event. With our focus on urbanized areas, sample methods and applications show multi-scale products from the hazard and vulnerability perspective of the risk framework. From the hazard side, we present capabilities with which to assess flood-prone areas before an expected disaster. Then we map the spatial impact during or after a flood and finally, we analyze damage grades after a flood disaster. From the vulnerability side, we monitor urbanization over time on an urban footprint level, classify urban structures on an individual building level, assess building stability and quantify probably affected people. The results show a large database for sustainable development and for developing mitigation strategies, ad-hoc coordination of relief measures and organizing rehabilitation.

Complex restoration challenges: weeds, seeds, and roads in a forested wildland urban interface

Treesearch

Michelle Buonopane; Gabrielle Snider; Becky K. Kerns; Paul S. Doescher

2013-01-01

Federal policies in the US strongly emphasize reducing hazardous fuels at the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). However, these areas present restoration challenges as they often have exotic weeds, frequent human disturbance, and the presence of roads. Understanding seed banks is important in planning for desirable post-disturbance community conditions, developing...

An Mobility Typology of US Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KC, B.; Stewart, R.; King, A. W.

2017-12-01

Urban mobility is a pressing problem and one growing with urbanization. Urban mobility, for example, accounts for 28 % of all CO2 emissions from road transport and restrictions in urban mobility have economic and social consequences. Occupational flow, movement to and from work, plays a vital role in shaping urban mobility patterns and is dependent on urban infrastructures as well as the geographical distribution of households and occupations. Urban mobility varies among different population subgroups such as race, age, and income in complex multivariate patterns. To explore and quantify these patterns, we use multivariate clustering to build a typology of urban mobility for the Metropolitan Statistical Areas of the United States using the occupational flow data from US Census Bureau's Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics- Origin-Destination Employment Statistics. We use characteristics such as work radius, connectivity, and number of jobs for different population subgroups such as income, age, and industry to define the typology, objectively classifying metropolitan areas with similar mobility patterns as belonging to the same mobility type. The mobility typology addresses whether urban areas with similar transportation infrastructure have similar mobility patterns. Additionally, similarities and differences in the mobility typology of the demographic groups provides valuable insights into overall mobility experience which can help transportation planners design equitable and sustainable transportation infrastructures.

Improvement of health risk factors after reduction of VOC concentrations in industrial and urban areas.

PubMed

Lerner, Jorge Esteban Colman; Kohajda, Tibor; Aguilar, Myriam Elisabeth; Massolo, Laura Andrea; Sánchez, Erica Yanina; Porta, Atilio Andrés; Opitz, Philipp; Wichmann, Gunnar; Herbarth, Olf; Mueller, Andrea

2014-01-01

After reductions of fugitive and diffuse emissions by an industrial complex, a follow-up study was performed to determine the time variability of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the lifetime cancer risk (LCR). Passive samplers (3 M monitors) were placed outdoors (n = 179) and indoors (n = 75) in industrial, urban, and control areas for 4 weeks. Twenty-five compounds including n-alkanes, cycloalkanes, aromatics, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and terpenes were determined by GC/MS. The results show a significant decrease of all VOCs, especially in the industrial area and to a lesser extent in the urban area. The median outdoor concentration of benzene in the industrial area declined compared to the former study, around 85% and about 50% in the urban area, which in the past was strongly influenced by industrial emissions. Other carcinogenic compounds like styrene and tetrachloroethylene were reduced to approximately 60%. VOC concentrations in control areas remained nearly unchanged. According to the determined BTEX ratios and interspecies correlations, in contrast to the previous study, traffic was identified as the main emission source in the urban and control areas and showed an increased influence in the industrial area. The LCR, calculated for benzene, styrene, and tetrachloroethylene, shows a decrease of one order of magnitude in accordance to the decreased total VOC concentrations and is now acceptable according to values proposed by the World Health Organization.

Past successes and future challenges: Improving the urban environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gade, M.

1994-12-31

The author discusses issues related to the Chicago urban environment from her perspective in the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Understanding of the ozone air pollution problem in the Chicago area has undergone significant changes in the past three years, and there is still more to be understood about the complex factors which contribute to ozone pollution over urban areas such as Chicago. Ability to address these problems to present clean air standards is not in hand at present. The author asserts that information, and the ability of governmental agencies to ingest and respond to that information in a timely mannermore » is a key to improvement of the environment in urban areas in reasonable time spans. In addition cost and price information on environmental control and protection needs to be more clearly presented to the people so they can understand the difficult choices which must be made in addressing these environmental problems.« less

Hyperspectral Sensor Data Capability for Retrieving Complex Urban Land Cover in Comparison with Multispectral Data: Venice City Case Study (Italy)

PubMed Central

Cavalli, Rosa Maria; Fusilli, Lorenzo; Pascucci, Simone; Pignatti, Stefano; Santini, Federico

2008-01-01

This study aims at comparing the capability of different sensors to detect land cover materials within an historical urban center. The main objective is to evaluate the added value of hyperspectral sensors in mapping a complex urban context. In this study we used: (a) the ALI and Hyperion satellite data, (b) the LANDSAT ETM+ satellite data, (c) MIVIS airborne data and (d) the high spatial resolution IKONOS imagery as reference. The Venice city center shows a complex urban land cover and therefore was chosen for testing the spectral and spatial characteristics of different sensors in mapping the urban tissue. For this purpose, an object-oriented approach and different common classification methods were used. Moreover, spectra of the main anthropogenic surfaces (i.e. roofing and paving materials) were collected during the field campaigns conducted on the study area. They were exploited for applying band-depth and sub-pixel analyses to subsets of Hyperion and MIVIS hyperspectral imagery. The results show that satellite data with a 30m spatial resolution (ALI, LANDSAT ETM+ and HYPERION) are able to identify only the main urban land cover materials. PMID:27879879

A conceptual framework for addressing complexity and unfolding transition dynamics when developing sustainable adaptation strategies in urban water management.

PubMed

Fratini, C F; Elle, M; Jensen, M B; Mikkelsen, P S

2012-01-01

To achieve a successful and sustainable adaptation to climate change we need to transform the way we think about change. Much water management research has focused on technical innovation with a range of new solutions developed to achieve a 'more sustainable and integrated urban water management cycle'. But Danish municipalities and utility companies are struggling to bring such solutions into practice. 'Green infrastructure', for example, requires the consideration of a larger range of aspects related to the urban context than the traditional urban water system optimization. There is the need for standardized methods and guidelines to organize transdisciplinary processes where different types of knowledge and perspectives are taken into account. On the basis of the macro-meso-micro pattern inspired by complexity science and transition theory, we developed a conceptual framework to organize processes addressing the complexity characterizing urban water management in the context of climate change. In this paper the framework is used to organize a research process aiming at understanding and unfolding urban dynamics for sustainable transition. The final goal is to enable local authorities and utilities to create the basis for managing and catalysing the technical and organizational innovation necessary for a sustainable transition towards climate change adaptation in urban areas.

Sea-town interactions over Marseille: 3D urban boundary layer and thermodynamic fields near the surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemonsu, A.; Pigeon, G.; Masson, V.; Moppert, C.

2006-02-01

3D numerical simulations with the Meso-NH atmospheric model including the Town Energy Balance urban parameterization, are conducted over the south-east of France and the one million inhabitants city of Marseille in the frameworks of the ESCOMPTE-UBL program. The geographic situation of the area is relatively complex, because of the proximity of the Mediterranean Sea and the presence of numerous massifs, inducing complex meteorological flows. The present work is focused on six days of the campaign, characterized by the development of strong summer sea-breeze circulations. A complete evaluation of the model is initially realized at both regional- and city-scales, by using the large available database. The regional evaluation shows a good behavior of the model, during the six days of simulation, either for the parameters near the surface or for the vertical profiles describing the structure of the atmosphere. The urban-scale evaluation indicates that the fine structure of the horizontal fields of air temperature above the city is correctly simulated by the model. A specific attention is then pointed to the 250-m horizontal resolution outputs, focused on the Marseille area, for two days of the campaign. From the study of the vertical structure of the Urban Boundary Layer and the thermodynamic fields near the surface, one underscores the important differences due to the regional and local flows, and the complex interactions that occur between the urban effects and the effects of sea breezes.

A step towards considering the spatial heterogeneity of urban key features in urban hydrology flood modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leandro, J.; Schumann, A.; Pfister, A.

2016-04-01

Some of the major challenges in modelling rainfall-runoff in urbanised areas are the complex interaction between the sewer system and the overland surface, and the spatial heterogeneity of the urban key features. The former requires the sewer network and the system of surface flow paths to be solved simultaneously. The latter is still an unresolved issue because the heterogeneity of runoff formation requires high detailed information and includes a large variety of feature specific rainfall-runoff dynamics. This paper discloses a methodology for considering the variability of building types and the spatial heterogeneity of land surfaces. The former is achieved by developing a specific conceptual rainfall-runoff model and the latter by defining a fully distributed approach for infiltration processes in urban areas with limited storage capacity dependent on OpenStreetMaps (OSM). The model complexity is increased stepwise by adding components to an existing 2D overland flow model. The different steps are defined as modelling levels. The methodology is applied in a German case study. Results highlight that: (a) spatial heterogeneity of urban features has a medium to high impact on the estimated overland flood-depths, (b) the addition of multiple urban features have a higher cumulative effect due to the dynamic effects simulated by the model, (c) connecting the runoff from buildings to the sewer contributes to the non-linear effects observed on the overland flood-depths, and (d) OSM data is useful in identifying pounding areas (for which infiltration plays a decisive role) and permeable natural surface flow paths (which delay the flood propagation).

Remote Sensing Characterization of the Urban Landscape for Improvement of Air Quality Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Estes, Maurice G., Jr.; Khan, Maudood

2005-01-01

The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured in air quality models, particularly the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model that is used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, primarily for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of the CMAQ model to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well the model predicts ozone pollutant levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban growth projections as improved inputs to the meteorology component of the CMAQ model focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. These growth projections include "business as usual" and "smart growth" scenarios out to 2030. The growth projections illustrate the effects of employing urban heat island mitigation strategies, such as increasing tree canopy and albedo across the Atlanta metro area, in moderating ground-level ozone and air temperature, compared to "business as usual" simulations in which heat island mitigation strategies are not applied. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the (CMAQ) modeling schemes. Use of these data has been found to better characterize low densityhburban development as compared with USGS 1 km land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for fiture scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the regional planning agency for the area. This allows the state Environmental Protection agency to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect fbture air quality.

Inhalation Cancer Risk Associated with Exposure to Complex Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures in an Electronic Waste and Urban Area in South China

PubMed Central

Wang, Jing; Chen, Shejun; Tian, Mi; Zheng, Xiaobo; Gonzales, Leah; Ohura, Takeshi; Mai, Bixian; Simonich, Staci L. Massey

2012-01-01

Atmospheric particulate matter samples were collected from May 2010 to April 2011 in a rural e-waste area and in Guangzhou, South China, to estimate the lifetime inhalation cancer risk from exposure to parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), high molecular weight PAHs (MW 302 PAHs), and halogenated PAHs (HPAHs). Seasonal variations in the PAH concentrations and profile within and between the e-waste and urban areas indicated different PAH sources in the two areas. Benzo[b]fluoranthene, BaP, dibenz[ah]anthracene, and dibenzo[al]pyrene made the most significant contribution to the inhalation cancer risk. MW 302 PAHs accounting for 18.0% of the total cancer risk in the e-waste area and 13.6% in the urban area, while HPAHs made a minor contribution (< 0.1%) in both the areas. The number of lifetime excess lung cancers due to exposure to parent PAHs, MW 302 PAHs, and HPAHs ranged from 15.1 to 1198 per million people in the e-waste area and from 9.3 to 737 per million people in Guangzhou. PAH exposure accounted for 0.02 to 1.94% of the total lung cancer cases in Guangzhou. On average, the inhalation cancer risk in the e-waste area was 1.6 times higher than in the urban area. The e-waste dismantling activities in South China led to higher inhalation cancer risk due to PAH exposure than the urban area. PMID:22913732

Coupling high-resolution hydraulic and hydrologic models for flash flood forecasting and inundation mapping in urban areas - A case study for the City of Fort Worth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazari, B.; Seo, D.; Cannon, A.

2013-12-01

With many diverse features such as channels, pipes, culverts, buildings, etc., hydraulic modeling in urban areas for inundation mapping poses significant challenges. Identifying the practical extent of the details to be modeled in order to obtain sufficiently accurate results in a timely manner for effective emergency management is one of them. In this study we assess the tradeoffs between model complexity vs. information content for decision making in applying high-resolution hydrologic and hydraulic models for real-time flash flood forecasting and inundation mapping in urban areas. In a large urban area such as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW), there exists very large spatial variability in imperviousness depending on the area of interest. As such, one may expect significant sensitivity of hydraulic model results to the resolution and accuracy of hydrologic models. In this work, we present the initial results from coupling of high-resolution hydrologic and hydraulic models for two 'hot spots' within the City of Fort Worth for real-time inundation mapping.

Occurrence and sources of natural and anthropogenic lipid tracers in surface soils from arid urban areas of Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Rushdi, Ahmed I; Al-Mutlaq, Khalid F; El-Mubarak, Aarif H; Al-Saleh, Mohammed A; El-Otaibi, Mubarak T; Ibrahim, Sami M M; Simoneit, Bernd R T

2016-01-01

Soil particles contain a variety of natural and anthropogenic organic components, and in urban areas can be considered as local collectors of pollutants. Surface soil samples were taken from ten urban areas in Riyadh during early winter of 2007. They were extracted with dichloromethane-methanol mixture and the extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major compounds were unresolved complex mixture (UCM), plasticizers, n-alkanes, carbohydrates, n-alkanoic acids, hopanes, n-alkanols, and sterols. Vegetation detritus was the major natural source of organic compounds (24.0 ± 15.7%) in samples from areas with less human activities and included n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids, n-alkanols, sterols and carbohydrates. Vehicular emission products and discarded plastics were the major anthropogenic sources in the soil particles (53.3 ± 21.3% and 22.7 ± 10.7%, respectively). The anthropogenic tracers were UCM, plasticizers, n-alkanes, hopanes and traces of steranes. Vegetation and human activities control the occurrence and distribution of natural and anthropogenic extractable organic matter in this arid urban area. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring complex causal pathways between urban renewal, health and health inequality using a theory-driven realist approach.

PubMed

Mehdipanah, Roshanak; Manzano, Ana; Borrell, Carme; Malmusi, Davide; Rodriguez-Sanz, Maica; Greenhalgh, Joanne; Muntaner, Carles; Pawson, Ray

2015-01-01

Urban populations are growing and to accommodate these numbers, cities are becoming more involved in urban renewal programs to improve the physical, social and economic conditions in different areas. This paper explores some of the complexities surrounding the link between urban renewal, health and health inequalities using a theory-driven approach. We focus on an urban renewal initiative implemented in Barcelona, the Neighbourhoods Law, targeting Barcelona's (Spain) most deprived neighbourhoods. We present evidence from two studies on the health evaluation of the Neighbourhoods Law, while drawing from recent urban renewal literature, to follow a four-step process to develop a program theory. We then use two specific urban renewal interventions, the construction of a large central plaza and the repair of streets and sidewalks, to further examine this link. In order for urban renewal programs to affect health and health inequality, neighbours must use and adapt to the changes produced by the intervention. However, there exist barriers that can result in negative outcomes including factors such as accessibility, safety and security. This paper provides a different perspective to the field that is largely dominated by traditional quantitative studies that are not always able to address the complexities such interventions provide. Furthermore, the framework and discussions serve as a guide for future research, policy development and evaluation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Green spaces are not all the same for the provision of air purification and climate regulation services: The case of urban parks.

PubMed

Vieira, Joana; Matos, Paula; Mexia, Teresa; Silva, Patrícia; Lopes, Nuno; Freitas, Catarina; Correia, Otília; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Branquinho, Cristina; Pinho, Pedro

2018-01-01

The growing human population concentrated in urban areas lead to the increase of road traffic and artificial areas, consequently enhancing air pollution and urban heat island effects, among others. These environmental changes affect citizen's health, causing a high number of premature deaths, with considerable social and economic costs. Nature-based solutions are essential to ameliorate those impacts in urban areas. While the mere presence of urban green spaces is pointed as an overarching solution, the relative importance of specific vegetation structure, composition and management to improve the ecosystem services of air purification and climate regulation are overlooked. This avoids the establishment of optimized planning and management procedures for urban green spaces with high spatial resolution and detail. Our aim was to understand the relative contribution of vegetation structure, composition and management for the provision of ecosystem services of air purification and climate regulation in urban green spaces, in particular the case of urban parks. This work was done in a large urban park with different types of vegetation surrounded by urban areas. As indicators of microclimatic effects and of air pollution levels we selected different metrics: lichen diversity and pollutants accumulation in lichens. Among lichen diversity, functional traits related to nutrient and water requirements were used as surrogates of the capacity of vegetation to filter air pollution and to regulate climate, and provide air purification and climate regulation ecosystem services, respectively. This was also obtained with very high spatial resolution which allows detailed spatial planning for optimization of ecosystem services. We found that vegetation type characterized by a more complex structure (trees, shrubs and herbaceous layers) and by the absence of management (pruning, irrigation and fertilization) had a higher capacity to provide the ecosystems services of air purification and climate regulation. By contrast, lawns, which have a less complex structure and are highly managed, were associated to a lower capacity to provide these services. Tree plantations showed an intermediate effect between the other two types of vegetation. Thus, vegetation structure, composition and management are important to optimize green spaces capacity to purify air and regulate climate. Taking this into account green spaces can be managed at high spatial resolutions to optimize these ecosystem services in urban areas and contribute to improve human well-being. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mesoscale simulations of atmospheric flow and tracer transport in Phoenix, Arizona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ge; Ostoja-Starzewski, Martin

2006-09-01

Large urban centres located within confining rugged or complex terrain can frequently experience episodes of high concentrations of lower atmospheric pollution. Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona (United States), is a good example, as the general population is occasionally subjected to high levels of lower atmospheric ozone, carbon monoxide and suspended particulate matter. As a result of dramatic but continuous increase in population, the accompanying environmental stresses and the local atmospheric circulation that dominates the background flow, an accurate simulation of the mesoscale pollutant transport across Phoenix and similar urban areas is becoming increasingly important. This is particularly the case in an airshed, such as that of Phoenix, where the local atmospheric circulation is complicated by the complex terrain of the area.

Environmental Assessment Base Civil Engineer Complex, Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-07-01

Mower at 3 ft. Diesel Truck at 50 ft. Noise Urban Daytime Gas Lawn Mower at 100 ft. Commercial Area Heavy Traffic at 300 ft. Quiet Urban Daytime Quiet...LEVELS FROM INDOOR AND OUTDOOR NOISE SOURCES NOISE LEVEL (dBA) COMMON INDOOR NOISE LEVELS COMMON OUTDOOR NOISE LEVELS Jet Flyover at 1000 ft. Gas Lawn

Different social drivers, including perceptions of urban wildlife, explain the ecological resources in residential landscapes

Treesearch

J. Amy Belaire; Lynne M. Westphal; Emily S. Minor

2016-01-01

The conservation value of residential landscapes is becoming increasingly apparent in our urbanizing world. The ecological characteristics of residential areas are largely determined by the decisions of many individual "managers." In these complex socio-ecological systems, it is important to understand the factors that motivate human decision-making. Our...

Analysis Thermal Comfort Condition in Complex Residential Building, Case Study: Chiangmai, Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juangjandee, Warangkana

2017-10-01

Due to the increasing need for complex residential buildings, it appears that people migrate into the high-density urban areas because the infrastructural facilities can be easily found in the modern metropolitan areas. Such rapid growth of urbanization creates congested residential buildings obstructing solar radiation and wind flow, whereas most urban residents spend 80-90% of their time indoor. Furthermore, the buildings were mostly built with average materials and construction detail. This causes high humidity condition for tenants that could promote mould growth. This study aims to analyse thermal comfort condition in complex residential building, Thailand for finding the passive solution to improve indoor air quality and respond to local conditions. The research methodology will be in two folds: 1) surveying on case study 2) analysis for finding the passive solution of reducing humidity indoor air The result of the survey indicated that the building need to find passive solution for solving humidity problem, that can be divided into two ways which raising ventilation and indoor temperature including increasing wind-flow ventilation and adjusting thermal temperature, for example; improving building design and stack driven ventilation. For raising indoor temperature or increasing mean radiant temperature, daylight can be passive solution for complex residential design for reducing humidity and enhance illumination indoor space simultaneous.

Urban Landscape Characterization Using Remote Sensing Data For Input into Air Quality Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Estes, Maurice G., Jr.; Crosson, William; Khan, Maudood

2005-01-01

The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured in air quality models that are used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, particularly for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of air quality models to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well these models predict ozone pollutant levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban growth projections as improved inputs to meteorological and air quality models focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling schemes. Use of these data have been found to better characterize low density/suburban development as compared with USGS 1 km land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for future scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission. This allows the State Environmental Protection agency to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect future air quality.

Urban landscapes can change virus gene flow and evolution in a fragmentation-sensitive carnivore

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fountain-Jones, Nicholas M.; Craft, Meggan E.; Funk, W. Chris; Kozakiewicz, Chris; Trumbo, Daryl; Boydston, Erin E.; Lyren, Lisa M.; Crooks, Kevin R.; Lee, Justin S.; VandeWoude, Sue; Carver, Scott

2017-01-01

Urban expansion has widespread impacts on wildlife species globally, including the transmission and emergence of infectious diseases. However, there is almost no information about how urban landscapes shape transmission dynamics in wildlife. Using an innovative phylodynamic approach combining host and pathogen molecular data with landscape characteristics and host traits, we untangle the complex factors that drive transmission networks of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) in bobcats (Lynx rufus). We found that the urban landscape played a significant role in shaping FIV transmission. Even though bobcats were often trapped within the urban matrix, FIV transmission events were more likely to occur in areas with more natural habitat elements. Urban fragmentation also resulted in lower rates of pathogen evolution, possibly owing to a narrower range of host genotypes in the fragmented area. Combined, our findings show that urban landscapes can have impacts on a pathogen and its evolution in a carnivore living in one of the most fragmented and urban systems in North America. The analytical approach used here can be broadly applied to other host-pathogen systems, including humans.

Multi-Scale Enviro-HIRLAM Forecasting of Weather and Atmospheric Composition over China and its Megacities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahura, Alexander; Amstrup, Bjarne; Nuterman, Roman; Yang, Xiaohua; Baklanov, Alexander

2017-04-01

Air pollution is a serious problem in different regions of China and its continuously growing megacities. Information on air quality, and especially, in urbanized areas is important for decision making, emergency response and population. In particular, the metropolitan areas of Shanghai, Beijing, and Pearl River Delta are well known as main regions having serious air pollution problems. The on-line integrated meteorology-chemistry-aerosols Enviro-HIRLAM (Environment - HIgh Resolution Limited Area Model) model adapted for China and selected megacities is applied for forecasting of weather and atmospheric composition (with focus on aerosols). The model system is running in downscaling chain from regional to urban scales at subsequent horizontal resolutions of 15-5-2.5 km. The model setup includes also the urban Building Effects Parameterization module, describing different types of urban districts (industrial commercial, city center, high density and residential) with its own morphological and aerodynamical characteristics. The effects of urbanization are important for atmospheric transport, dispersion, deposition, and chemical transformations, in addition to better quality emission inventories for China and selected urban areas. The Enviro-HIRLAM system provides meteorology and air quality forecasts at regional-subregional-urban scales (China - East China - selected megacities). In particular, such forecasting is important for metropolitan areas, where formation and development of meteorological and chemical/aerosol patterns are especially complex. It also provides information for evaluation impact on selected megacities of China as well as for investigation relationship between air pollution and meteorology.

Acknowledging trade-offs and understanding complexity: exurbanization issues in Macon County, North Carolina

Treesearch

Richard A. Vercoe; M. Welch-Devine; Dean Hardy; J.A. Demoss; S.N. Bonney; K. Allen; Peter Brosius; D. Charles; B. Crawford; S. Heisel; Nik Heynen; R.G. de Jesus-Crespo; N. Nibbelink; L. Parker; Cathy Pringle; A. Shaw; L. Van Sant

2014-01-01

We applied an integrative framework to illuminate and discuss the complexities of exurbanization in Macon County, North Carolina. The case of Macon County, North Carolina, highlights the complexity involved in addressing issues of exurbanization in the Southern Appalachian region. Exurbanization, the process by which urban residents move into rural areas in search of...

Cross-cultural differences for three visual memory tasks in Brazilian children.

PubMed

Santos, F H; Mello, C B; Bueno, O F A; Dellatolas, G

2005-10-01

Norms for three visual memory tasks, including Corsi's block tapping test and the BEM 144 complex figures and visual recognition, were developed for neuropsychological assessment in Brazilian children. The tasks were measured in 127 children ages 7 to 10 years from rural and urban areas of the States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Analysis indicated age-related but not sex-related differences. A cross-cultural effect was observed in relation to copying and recall of Complex pictures. Different performances between rural and urban children were noted.

Environmental Quality Assessment of Built Areas with High Vacancy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Y.; Yuan, Y.; Neale, A. C.

2015-12-01

Around the world, many urban areas are challenged by vacant and abandoned residential and business property. High vacancy areas have often been associated with increasing public safety problems and declining property values and subsequent tax base. High vacancy can lead to visible signs of city decline and significant barriers to the revitalization of cities. Addressing the problem of vacancy requires knowledge of vacancy patterns and their possible contributing factors. In this study, we evaluated the ten year (2005-2015) urban environmental changes for some high vacancy areas. Social and economic variables derived from U.S. census data such as non-white population, employment rate, housing price, and environmental variables derived from National Land Cover Data such as land cover and impervious area, were used as the basis for analysis. Correlation analysis and principle components analysis were performed at the Census Block Group level. Three components were identified and interpreted as economic status, urbanness, and greenness. A synthetic Urban Environmental Quality (UEQ) index was developed by integrating the three principle components according to their weights. Comparisons of the UEQ indices between the 2005 and 2015 in the increasingly high vacancy area provided useful information for investigating the possible associations between social, economic, and environmental factors, and the vacancy status. This study could provide useful information for understanding the complex issues leading to vacancy and facilitating future rehabilitation of vacant urban area.

From leaves to landscape: A multiscale approach to assess fire hazard in wildland-urban interface areas.

PubMed

Ghermandi, Luciana; Beletzky, Natacha A; de Torres Curth, Mónica I; Oddi, Facundo J

2016-12-01

The overlapping zone between urbanization and wildland vegetation, known as the wildland urban interface (WUI), is often at high risk of wildfire. Human activities increase the likelihood of wildfires, which can have disastrous consequences for property and land use, and can pose a serious threat to lives. Fire hazard assessments depend strongly on the spatial scale of analysis. We assessed the fire hazard in a WUI area of a Patagonian city by working at three scales: landscape, community and species. Fire is a complex phenomenon, so we used a large number of variables that correlate a priori with the fire hazard. Consequently, we analyzed environmental variables together with fuel load and leaf flammability variables and integrated all the information in a fire hazard map with four fire hazard categories. The Nothofagus dombeyi forest had the highest fire hazard while grasslands had the lowest. Our work highlights the vulnerability of the wildland-urban interface to fire in this region and our suggested methodology could be applied in other wildland-urban interface areas. Particularly in high hazard areas, our work could help in spatial delimitation policies, urban planning and development of plans for the protection of human lives and assets. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Use of ATLAS Data to Quantify Surface Radiative Budget Alteration Through Urbanization for San Juan, Puerto Rico.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Rickman, Douglas L.; Gonzalez, Jorge; Schiller, Steve

2006-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other manmade materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 0 C higher than vegetated surfaces. Materials such as asphalt store much of the sun s energy and remains hot long after sunset. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. However, the use of remotely sensed thermal data from airborne scanners are ideal for the task. The NASA Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) operates in the visual and IR bands was used in February 2004 to collect data from San Juan, Puerto Rico with the main objective of investigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI) in tropical cities. In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect. Results from data collected from other US cities of Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Baton Rouge will be used to compare the "urban fabric" among the cities.

An inter-model comparison of urban canopy effects on climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halenka, Tomas; Karlicky, Jan; Huszar, Peter; Belda, Michal; Bardachova, Tatsiana

2017-04-01

The role of cities is increasing and will continue to increase in future, as the population within the urban areas is growing faster, with the estimate for Europe of about 84% living in urban areas in about mid of 21st century. To assess the impact of cities and, in general, urban surfaces on climate, using of modeling approach is well appropriate. Moreover, with higher resolution, urban areas becomes to be better resolved in the regional models and their relatively significant impacts should not be neglected. Model descriptions of urban canopy related meteorological effects can, however, differ largely given the odds in the driving models, the underlying surface models and the urban canopy parameterizations, representing a certain uncertainty. In this study we try to contribute to the estimation of this uncertainty by performing numerous experiments to assess the urban canopy meteorological forcing over central Europe on climate for the decade 2001-2010, using two driving models (RegCM4 and WRF) in 10 km resolution driven by ERA-Interim reanalyses, three surface schemes (BATS and CLM4.5 for RegCM4 and Noah for WRF) and five urban canopy parameterizations available: one bulk urban scheme, three single layer and a multilayer urban scheme. Actually, in RegCM4 we used our implementation of the Single Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM) in BATS scheme and CLM4.5 option with urban parameterization based on SLUCM concept as well, in WRF we used all the three options, i.e. bulk, SLUCM and more complex and sophisticated Building Environment Parameterization (BEP) connected with Building Energy Model (BEM). As a reference simulations, runs with no urban areas and with no urban parameterizations were performed. Effects of cities on urban and rural areas were evaluated. Effect of reducing diurnal temperature range in cities (around 2 °C in summer) is noticeable in all simulation, independent to urban parameterization type and model. Also well-known warmer summer city nights appear in all simulations. Further, winter boundary layer increase by 100-200 m, together with wind reduction, is visible in all simulations. The spatial distribution of the night-time temperature response of models to urban canopy forcing is rather similar in each set-up, showing temperature increases up to 3°C in summer. In general, much lower increase are modeled for day-time conditions, which can be even slightly negative due to dominance of shadowing in urban canyons, especially in the morning hours. The winter temperature response, driven mainly by anthropogenic heat (AH) is strong in urban schemes where the building-street energy exchange is more resolved and is smaller, where AH is simply prescribed as additive flux to the sensible heat. Somewhat larger differences between the models are encountered for the response of wind and the height of planetary boundary layer (ZPBL), with dominant increases from a few 10 m up to 250 m depending on the model. The comparison of observation of diurnal temperature amplitude from ECAD data with model results and hourly data from Prague with model hourly values show improvement when urban effects are considered. Larger spread encountered for wind and turbulence (as ZPBL) should be considered when choices of urban canopy schemes are made, especially in connection with modeling transport of pollutants within/from cities. Another conclusion is that choosing more complex urban schemes does not necessary improves model performance and using simpler and computationally less demanding (e.g. single layer) urban schemes, is often sufficient.

The Correlation of Geo-Ecological Environment and Mountain Urban planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chun; Zeng, Wei

2018-01-01

As a special area with the complex geological structure, mountain city is more prone to geological disasters. Due to air pollution, ground subsidence, serious water pollution, earthquakes and floods geo-ecological environment problems have become increasingly serious, mountain urban planning is facing more severe challenges. Therefore, this article bases on the correlation research of geo-ecological environment and mountain urban planning, and re-examins mountain urban planning from the perspective of geo-ecological, coordinates the relationship between the human and nature by geo-ecological thinking, raises the questions which urban planning need to pay attention. And advocates creating an integrated system of geo-ecological and mountain urban planning, analysis the status and dynamics of present mountain urban planning.

Modelling Mean Albedo of Individual Roofs in Complex Urban Areas Using Satellite Images and Airborne Laser Scanning Point Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalantar, B.; Mansor, S.; Khuzaimah, Z.; Sameen, M. Ibrahim; Pradhan, B.

2017-09-01

Knowledge of surface albedo at individual roof scale is important for mitigating urban heat islands and understanding urban climate change. This study presents a method for quantifying surface albedo of individual roofs in a complex urban area using the integration of Landsat 8 and airborne LiDAR data. First, individual roofs were extracted from airborne LiDAR data and orthophotos using optimized segmentation and supervised object based image analysis (OBIA). Support vector machine (SVM) was used as a classifier in OBIA process for extracting individual roofs. The user-defined parameters required in SVM classifier were selected using v-fold cross validation method. After that, surface albedo was calculated for each individual roof from Landsat images. Finally, thematic maps of mean surface albedo of individual roofs were generated in GIS and the results were discussed. Results showed that the study area is covered by 35% of buildings varying in roofing material types and conditions. The calculated surface albedo of buildings ranged from 0.16 to 0.65 in the study area. More importantly, the results indicated that the types and conditions of roofing materials significantly effect on the mean value of surface albedo. Mean albedo of new concrete, old concrete, new steel, and old steel were found to be equal to 0.38, 0.26, 0.51, and 0.44 respectively. Replacing old roofing materials with new ones should highly prioritized.

MODELING FLOW PATTERNS IN A SMALL VEGETATED AREA IN THE NORTHERN CHICHUAHUAN DESERT USING QUIC ( QUIC URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX )

EPA Science Inventory

Sandstorms are frequent in the northern Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico, an area characterized by open areas lacking vegetation, individual mesquite bushes, and mesquite coppice dunes. Field measurements of sand fluxes and wind velocities over a two year period provided a descri...

Integrating Infrastructure and Institutions for Water Security in Large Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padowski, J.; Jawitz, J. W.; Carrera, L.

2015-12-01

Urban growth has forced cities to procure more freshwater to meet demands; however the relationship between urban water security, water availability and water management is not well understood. This work quantifies the urban water security of 108 large cities in the United States (n=50) and Africa (n=58) based on their hydrologic, hydraulic and institutional settings. Using publicly available data, urban water availability was estimated as the volume of water available from local water resources and those captured via hydraulic infrastructure (e.g. reservoirs, wellfields, aqueducts) while urban water institutions were assessed according to their ability to deliver, supply and regulate water resources to cities. When assessing availability, cities relying on local water resources comprised a minority (37%) of those assessed. The majority of cities (55%) instead rely on captured water to meet urban demands, with African cities reaching farther and accessing a greater number and variety of sources for water supply than US cities. Cities using captured water generally had poorer access to local water resources and maintained significantly more complex strategies for water delivery, supply and regulatory management. Eight cities, all African, are identified in this work as having water insecurity issues. These cities lack sufficient infrastructure and institutional complexity to capture and deliver adequate amounts of water for urban use. Together, these findings highlight the important interconnection between infrastructure investments and management techniques for urban areas with a limited or dwindling natural abundance of water. Addressing water security challenges in the future will require that more attention be placed not only on increasing water availability, but on developing the institutional support to manage captured water supplies.

Changing and Differentiated Urban Landscape in China: Spatiotemporal Patterns and Driving Forces.

PubMed

Fang, Chuanglin; Li, Guangdong; Wang, Shaojian

2016-03-01

Urban landscape spatiotemporal change patterns and their driving mechanisms in China are poorly understood at the national level. Here we used remote sensing data, landscape metrics, and a spatial econometric model to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns of urban landscape change and investigate its driving forces in China between 1990 and 2005. The results showed that the urban landscape pattern has experienced drastic changes over the past 15 years. Total urban area has expanded approximately 1.61 times, with a 2.98% annual urban-growth rate. Compared to previous single-city studies, although urban areas are expanding rapidly, the overall fragmentation of the urban landscape is decreasing and is more irregular and complex at the national level. We also found a stair-stepping, urban-landscape changing pattern among eastern, central, and western counties. In addition, administrative level, urban size, and hierarchy have effects on the urban landscape pattern. We also found that a combination of landscape metrics can be used to supplement our understanding of the pattern of urbanization. The changes in these metrics are correlated with geographical indicators, socioeconomic factors, infrastructure variables, administrative level factors, policy factors, and historical factors. Our results indicate that the top priority should be strengthening the management of urban planning. A compact and congregate urban landscape may be a good choice of pattern for urban development in China.

The research on the buried public monumental complexes of Lupiae (Lecce) by geophysical prospecting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leucci, Giovanni; De Giorgi, Lara; Di Giacomo, Giacomo; Ditaranto, Imma; Miccoli, Ilaria; Scardozzi, Giuseppe

2017-10-01

Ongoing and extensive urbanisation may threaten important archaeological structures that are still buried in urban areas. The ground penetrating radar (GPR) method is the most promising alternative for resolving buried archaeological structures in urban territories. This paper presents a case study that involves a geophysical survey employing the surface three-dimensional (3D) GPR techniques, in order to archaeologically characterise the investigated areas. The site is located in the south-western sector of the historical centre of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), where the modern city overlaps the main public monuments of the Roman municipium of Lupiae, only partially preserved or excavated: the amphitheatre, the theatre, the baths and maybe also the Forum. GPR measurements, integrated with the results of archaeological excavations and the topographical surveys of the preserved remains, were carried out in several areas regarding sectors of the ancient roman city. The GPR data were collected along a dense network of parallel profiles. The GPR sections were processed applying specific filters to the data in order to enhance their information content. The GPR images significantly contributed in reconstructing the complex subsurface properties in these modern urban areas. Strong GPR reflections features were correlated with possible ancient structures and they were integrated in the digital archaeological map of the city.

Fusing terrain and goals: agent control in urban environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaptan, Varol; Gelenbe, Erol

2006-04-01

The changing face of contemporary military conflicts has forced a major shift of focus in tactical planning and evaluation from the classical Cold War battlefield to an asymmetric guerrilla-type warfare in densely populated urban areas. The new arena of conflict presents unique operational difficulties due to factors like complex mobility restrictions and the necessity to preserve civilian lives and infrastructure. In this paper we present a novel method for autonomous agent control in an urban environment. Our approach is based on fusing terrain information and agent goals for the purpose of transforming the problem of navigation in a complex environment with many obstacles into the easier problem of navigation in a virtual obstacle-free space. The main advantage of our approach is its ability to act as an adapter layer for a number of efficient agent control techniques which normally show poor performance when applied to an environment with many complex obstacles. Because of the very low computational and space complexity at runtime, our method is also particularly well suited for simulation or control of a huge number of agents (military as well as civilian) in a complex urban environment where traditional path-planning may be too expensive or where a just-in-time decision with hard real-time constraints is required.

STUDY USING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL SMOG FORMATION MODEL UNDER CONDITIONS OF COMPLEX FLOW

EPA Science Inventory

To clarify the photochemical smog formation mechanisms under conditions of complex flow, the SAI Urban Airshed Model was evaluated using a 1981 field observed data base. In the Tokyo Metropolitan Area higher O3 concentrations are usually observed near the shore in the morning. As...

Urban growth and the water regimen

USGS Publications Warehouse

Savini, John; Kammerer, J.C.

1961-01-01

The continuing growth and concentration of population and industry in urban and suburban areas in recent decades has caused a complex merging of social, economic, and physical problems, The interrelationships of man and his use and development of the land and water resources is a particularly significant aspect of urbanization, but there has been relatively little study to date of the effect of urban man upon natural hydrologic conditions. As urban man changes an area from one of field and forest to one of buildings and streets, he covers land where water once entered the soil, and thus creates or aggravates problems of drainage, including storm-water runoff. As he requires increasing amounts of water for home and factory, he drills deeper wells, and builds longer aqueducts and larger dams and reservoirs. As he disposes of un- wanted waste materials, he either treats them by using water or pollutes the receiving body of water. As he dredges and deepens coastal streams carrying salt water, and he pumps greater quantities of water from wells in coastal areas, he increases the likelihood of salt-water contamination. These and many other urban effects upon hydrology deserve increasing study if we are to provide for the best use of the water and land resources available to the Nation's urban centers.

Urban waterfowl population: Ecological evaluation of management and planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greer, David M.

1982-05-01

An urban population of ducks in Puyallup, Washington, USA was studied for 14 consecutive months beginning in November 1978. Observations were made weekly from four study sites where ducks would congregate at early morning hours. Factors contributing to the presence of waterfowl in Puyallyup included abundant food supplies and a creek corridor that connected fragmented habitats in the urban area to the larger rural populations of waterfowl. Mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos) were the most abundant of the 13 species observed and were the only ducks remaining during the nesting season. Habitat size and complexity were important factors influencing the species diversity of a particular site. Nesting success of mallards was poor due to limited distribution of nesting habitat, intraspecific aggression, and human disturbance. Both site-specific and more broad-based strategies are suggested for managing and planning for duck populations in urban areas.

Urban poverty and infant mortality rate disparities.

PubMed

Sims, Mario; Sims, Tammy L; Bruce, Marino A

2007-04-01

This study examined whether the relationship between high poverty and infant mortality rates (IMRs) varied across race- and ethnic-specific populations in large urban areas. Data were drawn from 1990 Census and 1992-1994 Vital Statistics for selected U.S. metropolitan areas. High-poverty areas were defined as neighborhoods in which > or = 40% of the families had incomes below the federal poverty threshold. Bivariate models showed that high poverty was a significant predictor of IMR for each group; however, multivariate analyses demonstrate that maternal health and regional factors explained most of the variance in the group-specific models of IMR. Additional analysis revealed that high poverty was significantly associated with minority-white IMR disparities, and country of origin is an important consideration for ethnic birth outcomes. Findings from this study provide a glimpse into the complexity associated with infant mortality in metropolitan areas because they suggest that the factors associated with infant mortality in urban areas vary by race and ethnicity.

Urban geomorphological heritage - A new field of research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynard, Emmanuel; Pica, Alessia; Coratza, Paola

2017-04-01

Urbanization is one of the major challenges that the world faces. In 2015, 54% of the world population was living in urban areas and in some countries this percentage is close to 100% (Singapore 100%; Qatar 99%; Belgium 98%). In several parts of the world annual urbanization rates exceed 5% (e.g. Oman 8.54%; Rwanda 6.43%; Burkina Faso 5.87%), which means that urban sprawl is a widespread phenomenon. Urbanization and correlated infrastructure building highly impact and sometimes completely destroy natural landforms. Geomorphological heritage research has traditionally focused on rural or natural regions, in particular protected areas (nature parks, geoparks). We consider that urban areas, which have been poorly investigated until now, are particularly interesting in a geomorphological heritage point of view for almost three reasons: (i) The geomorphological context (site) of some cities is part of their "image" and their fame (e.g. the sugarloaf of Rio de Janeiro); (ii) Urban sprawl often interacts with landforms, which addresses the challenge of geoheritage protection in fast urbanizing areas; (iii) Cities are often tourist destinations, which creates a potential for a geotourist promotion of their geomorphological heritage. This study addresses the main challenges research on geomorphological heritage is facing in urban contexts: (i) the complex interrelationships between natural landforms and urban forms; (ii) the partial or total invisibility of landforms and sediments that are covered or destroyed by urban infrastructures; (iii) man-made landforms as part of urban geomorphological heritage; (iv) the suitability of some landforms (valleys, gullies, mounts) for specific urban uses; (v) the geomorphic constraints of landforms on urban development; and (vi) the importance of some landforms for the urban landscape and the image of the cities. To address these challenges a methodological framework is proposed, which combines: (i) the geomorphological analysis of the urban landscape through geomorphological mapping (with use of a specific legend for man-made landforms) and geohistorical analysis of landscape evolution (historical maps processing); (ii) the selection, characterization and assessment of urban geomorphosites; (iii) proposals for the conservation and promotion (geotourism) of the urban geomorphological heritage.

A self-modifying cellular automaton model of historical urbanization in the San Francisco Bay area

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clarke, K.C.; Hoppen, S.; Gaydos, L.

1997-01-01

In this paper we describe a cellular automaton (CA) simulation model developed to predict urban growth as part of a project for estimating the regional and broader impact of urbanization on the San Francisco Bay area's climate. The rules of the model are more complex than those of a typical CA and involve the use of multiple data sources, including topography, road networks, and existing settlement distributions, and their modification over time. In addition, the control parameters of the model are allowed to self-modify: that is, the CA adapts itself to the circumstances it generates, in particular, during periods of rapid growth or stagnation. In addition, the model was written to allow the accumulation of probabilistic estimates based on Monte Carlo methods. Calibration of the model has been accomplished by the use of historical maps to compare model predictions of urbanization, based solely upon the distribution in year 1900, with observed data for years 1940, 1954, 1962, 1974, and 1990. The complexity of this model has made calibration a particularly demanding step. Lessons learned about the methods, measures, and strategies developed to calibrate the model may be of use in other environmental modeling contexts. With the calibration complete, the model is being used to generate a set of future scenarios for the San Francisco Bay area along with their probabilities based on the Monte Carlo version of the model. Animated dynamic mapping of the simulations will be used to allow visualization of the impact of future urban growth.

Creating and validating GIS measures of urban design for health research.

PubMed

Purciel, Marnie; Neckerman, Kathryn M; Lovasi, Gina S; Quinn, James W; Weiss, Christopher; Bader, Michael D M; Ewing, Reid; Rundle, Andrew

2009-12-01

Studies relating urban design to health have been impeded by the unfeasibility of conducting field observations across large areas and the lack of validated objective measures of urban design. This study describes measures for five dimensions of urban design - imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency, and complexity - created using public geographic information systems (GIS) data from the US Census and city and state government. GIS measures were validated for a sample of 588 New York City block faces using a well-documented field observation protocol. Correlations between GIS and observed measures ranged from 0.28 to 0.89. Results show valid urban design measures can be constructed from digital sources.

Creating and validating GIS measures of urban design for health research

PubMed Central

Purciel, Marnie; Neckerman, Kathryn M.; Lovasi, Gina S.; Quinn, James W.; Weiss, Christopher; Bader, Michael D.M.; Ewing, Reid; Rundle, Andrew

2012-01-01

Studies relating urban design to health have been impeded by the unfeasibility of conducting field observations across large areas and the lack of validated objective measures of urban design. This study describes measures for five dimensions of urban design – imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency, and complexity – created using public geographic information systems (GIS) data from the US Census and city and state government. GIS measures were validated for a sample of 588 New York City block faces using a well-documented field observation protocol. Correlations between GIS and observed measures ranged from 0.28 to 0.89. Results show valid urban design measures can be constructed from digital sources. PMID:22956856

A Framework for Flood Risk Analysis and Benefit Assessment of Flood Control Measures in Urban Areas

PubMed Central

Li, Chaochao; Cheng, Xiaotao; Li, Na; Du, Xiaohe; Yu, Qian; Kan, Guangyuan

2016-01-01

Flood risk analysis is more complex in urban areas than that in rural areas because of their closely packed buildings, different kinds of land uses, and large number of flood control works and drainage systems. The purpose of this paper is to propose a practical framework for flood risk analysis and benefit assessment of flood control measures in urban areas. Based on the concept of disaster risk triangle (hazard, vulnerability and exposure), a comprehensive analysis method and a general procedure were proposed for urban flood risk analysis. Urban Flood Simulation Model (UFSM) and Urban Flood Damage Assessment Model (UFDAM) were integrated to estimate the flood risk in the Pudong flood protection area (Shanghai, China). S-shaped functions were adopted to represent flood return period and damage (R-D) curves. The study results show that flood control works could significantly reduce the flood risk within the 66-year flood return period and the flood risk was reduced by 15.59%. However, the flood risk was only reduced by 7.06% when the flood return period exceeded 66-years. Hence, it is difficult to meet the increasing demands for flood control solely relying on structural measures. The R-D function is suitable to describe the changes of flood control capacity. This frame work can assess the flood risk reduction due to flood control measures, and provide crucial information for strategy development and planning adaptation. PMID:27527202

Quantification of groundwater recharge in urban environments.

PubMed

Tubau, Isabel; Vázquez-Suñé, Enric; Carrera, Jesús; Valhondo, Cristina; Criollo, Rotman

2017-08-15

Groundwater management in urban areas requires a detailed knowledge of the hydrogeological system as well as the adequate tools for predicting the amount of groundwater and water quality evolution. In that context, a key difference between urban and natural areas lies in recharge evaluation. A large number of studies have been published since the 1990s that evaluate recharge in urban areas, with no specific methodology. Most of these methods show that there are generally higher rates of recharge in urban settings than in natural settings. Methods such as mixing ratios or groundwater modeling can be used to better estimate the relative importance of different sources of recharge and may prove to be a good tool for total recharge evaluation. However, accurate evaluation of this input is difficult. The objective is to present a methodology to help overcome those difficulties, and which will allow us to quantify the variability in space and time of the recharge into aquifers in urban areas. Recharge calculations have been initially performed by defining and applying some analytical equations, and validation has been assessed based on groundwater flow and solute transport modeling. This methodology is applicable to complex systems by considering temporal variability of all water sources. This allows managers of urban groundwater to evaluate the relative contribution of different recharge sources at a city scale by considering quantity and quality factors. The methodology is applied to the assessment of recharge sources in the Barcelona city aquifers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast: A NOAA RISA Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenzweig, C.

2011-12-01

The Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast, or CCRUN, was funded in October 2010 under NOAA's Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program to serve stakeholder needs in assessing and managing risks from climate variability and change. It is currently also the only RISA team with a principal focus on climate change adaptation in urban settings. While CCRUN's initial focus is on the major cities of the urban Northeast corridor (Philadelphia, New York and Boston), its work will ultimately expand to cover small and medium-sized cities in the relevant portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well, so that local needs for targeted climate-risk information can be served in a coordinated way. CCRUN is designed to address the complex challenges that are associated with densely populated, highly interconnected urban areas, including such as urban heat island effects; poor air quality; intense coastal development, and multifunctional settlement along inland waterways; complex overlapping institutional jurisdictions; integrated infrastructure systems; and highly diverse, and in some cases, fragile socio-economic communities. These challenges can best be addressed by the stakeholder-driven interdisciplinary approach taken by the CCRUN RISA team. As an important added benefit, the research accomplishments and lessons learned through stakeholder engagement will provide a foundation for managing climate risks in other urban areas in the United States. CCRUN's initial projects are focused in three broad sectors: Water, Coasts, and Health. Research in each of these sectors is linked through the cross-cutting themes of climate change and community vulnerability, the latter of which is especially important in considerations of environmental justice and equity. CCRUN's stakeholder-driven approach to research can therefore support investigations of the impacts of a changing climate, population growth, and urban and economic policies on the social, racial and ethnic dimensions of livelihoods and of communities in the urban Northeast corridor. Disadvantaged socio-economic groups have been particularly underserved in the area of climate change, and one of CCRUN's long-term goals is the building of adaptive capacity among such groups to current and future climate extremes.

Computing Pathways for Urban Decarbonization.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cremades, R.; Sommer, P.

2016-12-01

Urban areas emit roughly three quarters of global carbon emissions. Cities are crucial elements for a decarbonized society. Urban expansion and related transportation needs lead to increased energy use, and to carbon-intensive lock-ins that create barriers for climate change mitigation globally. The authors present the Integrated Urban Complexity (IUC) model, based on self-organizing Cellular Automata (CA), and use it to produce a new kind of spatially explicit Transformation Pathways for Urban Decarbonization (TPUD). IUC is based on statistical evidence relating the energy needed for transportation with the spatial distribution of population, specifically IUC incorporates variables from complexity science related to urban form, like the slope of the rank-size rule or spatial entropy, which brings IUC a step beyond existing models. The CA starts its evolution with real-world urban land use and population distribution data from the Global Human Settlement Layer. Thus, the IUC model runs over existing urban settlements, transforming the spatial distribution of population so the energy consumption for transportation is minimized. The statistical evidence that governs the evolution of the CA departs from the database of the International Association of Public Transport. A selected case is presented using Stuttgart (Germany) as an example. The results show how IUC varies urban density in those places where it improves the performance of crucial parameters related to urban form, producing a TPUD that shows where the spatial distribution of population should be modified with a degree of detail of 250 meters of cell size. The TPUD shows how the urban complex system evolves over time to minimize energy consumption for transportation. The resulting dynamics or urban decarbonization show decreased energy per capita, although total energy increases for increasing population. The results provide innovative insights: by checking current urban planning against a TPUD, urban planners could understand where existing plans contradict the Agenda 2030, primarily the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Climate Action (SDG 13), and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11). For the first time, evidence-based transformation pathways are produced to decarbonize cities.

Mapping forest structure, species gradients and growth in an urban area using lidar and hyperspectral imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Huan

Urban forests play an important role in the urban ecosystem by providing a range of ecosystem services. Characterization of forest structure, species variation and growth in urban forests is critical for understanding the status, function and process of urban ecosystems, and helping maximize the benefits of urban ecosystems through management. The development of methods and applications to quantify urban forests using remote sensing data has lagged the study of natural forests due to the heterogeneity and complexity of urban ecosystems. In this dissertation, I quantify and map forest structure, species gradients and forest growth in an urban area using discrete-return lidar, airborne imaging spectroscopy and thermal infrared data. Specific objectives are: (1) to demonstrate the utility of leaf-off lidar originally collected for topographic mapping to characterize and map forest structure and associated uncertainties, including aboveground biomass, basal area, diameter, height and crown size; (2) to map species gradients using forest structural variables estimated from lidar and foliar functional traits, vegetation indices derived from AVIRIS hyperspectral imagery in conjunction with field-measured species data; and (3) to identify factors related to relative growth rates in aboveground biomass in the urban forests, and assess forest growth patterns across areas with varying degree of human interactions. The findings from this dissertation are: (1) leaf-off lidar originally acquired for topographic mapping provides a robust, potentially low-cost approach to quantify spatial patterns of forest structure and carbon stock in urban areas; (2) foliar functional traits and vegetation indices from hyperspectral data capture gradients of species distributions in the heterogeneous urban landscape; (3) species gradients, stand structure, foliar functional traits and temperature are strongly related to forest growth in the urban forests; and (4) high uncertainties in our ability to map forest structure, species gradient and growth rate occur in residential neighborhoods and along forest edges. Maps generated from this dissertation provide estimates of broad-scale spatial variations in forest structure, species distributions and growth to the city forest managers. The associated maps of uncertainty help managers understand the limitations of the maps and identify locations where the maps are more reliable and where more data are needed.

A New Automatic Method of Urban Areas Mapping in East Asia from LANDSAT Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

XU, R.; Jia, G.

2012-12-01

Cities, as places where human activities are concentrated, account for a small percent of global land cover but are frequently cited as the chief causes of, and solutions to, climate, biogeochemistry, and hydrology processes at local, regional, and global scales. Accompanying with uncontrolled economic growth, urban sprawl has been attributed to the accelerating integration of East Asia into the world economy and involved dramatic changes in its urban form and land use. To understand the impact of urban extent on biogeophysical processes, reliable mapping of built-up areas is particularly essential in eastern cities as a result of their characteristics of smaller patches, more fragile, and a lower fraction of the urban landscape which does not have natural than in the West. Segmentation of urban land from other land-cover types using remote sensing imagery can be done by standard classification processes as well as a logic rule calculation based on spectral indices and their derivations. Efforts to establish such a logic rule with no threshold for automatically mapping are highly worthwhile. Existing automatic methods are reviewed, and then a proposed approach is introduced including the calculation of the new index and the improved logic rule. Following this, existing automatic methods as well as the proposed approach are compared in a common context. Afterwards, the proposed approach is tested separately in cities of large, medium, and small scale in East Asia selected from different LANDSAT images. The results are promising as the approach can efficiently segment urban areas, even in the presence of more complex eastern cities. Key words: Urban extraction; Automatic Method; Logic Rule; LANDSAT images; East AisaThe Proposed Approach of Extraction of Urban Built-up Areas in Guangzhou, China

A deployment of fine-grained sensor network and empirical analysis of urban temperature.

PubMed

Thepvilojanapong, Niwat; Ono, Takahiro; Tobe, Yoshito

2010-01-01

Temperature in an urban area exhibits a complicated pattern due to complexity of infrastructure. Despite geographical proximity, structures of a group of buildings and streets affect changes in temperature. To investigate the pattern of fine-grained distribution of temperature, we installed a densely distributed sensor network called UScan. In this paper, we describe the system architecture of UScan as well as experience learned from installing 200 sensors in downtown Tokyo. The field experiment of UScan system operated for two months to collect long-term urban temperature data. To analyze the collected data in an efficient manner, we propose a lightweight clustering methodology to study the correlation between the pattern of temperature and various environmental factors including the amount of sunshine, the width of streets, and the existence of trees. The analysis reveals meaningful results and asserts the necessity of fine-grained deployment of sensors in an urban area.

Particulate matter over a seven year period in urban and rural areas within, proximal and far from mining and power station operations in Greece.

PubMed

Triantafyllou, A G; Zoras, S; Evagelopoulos, V

2006-11-01

Lignite mining operations and lignite-fired power stations result in major particulate pollution (fly ash and fugitive dust) problems in the areas surrounding these activities. The problem is more complicated, especially, for urban areas located not far from these activities, due to additional contribution from the urban pollution sources. Knowledge of the distribution of airborne particulate matter into size fraction has become an increasing area of focus when examining the effects of particulate pollution. On the other hand, airborne particle concentration measurements are useful in order to assess the air pollution levels based on national and international air quality standards. These measurements are also necessary for developing air pollutants control strategies or for evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies, especially, for long periods. In this study an attempt is made in order to investigate the particle size distribution of fly ash and fugitive dust in a heavy industrialized (mining and power stations operations) area with complex terrain in the northwestern part of Greece. Parallel total suspended particulates (TSP) and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microm (PM10) concentrations are analyzed. These measurements gathered from thirteen monitoring stations located in the greater area of interest. Spatial, temporal variation and trend are analyzed over the last seven years. Furthermore, the geographical variation of PM10 - TSP correlation and PM10/TSP ratio are investigated and compared to those in the literature. The analysis has indicated that a complex system of sources and meteorological conditions modulate the particulate pollution of the examined area.

Policy Document on Earth Observation for Urban Planning and Management: State of the Art and Recommendations for Application of Earth Observation in Urban Planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nichol, Janet; King, Bruce; Xiaoli, Ding; Dowman, Ian; Quattrochi, Dale; Ehlers, Manfred

2007-01-01

A policy document on earth observation for urban planning and management resulting from a workshop held in Hong Kong in November 2006 is presented. The aim of the workshop was to provide a forum for researchers and scientists specializing in earth observation to interact with practitioners working in different aspects of city planning, in a complex and dynamic city, Hong Kong. A summary of the current state of the art, limitations, and recommendations for the use of earth observation in urban areas is presented here as a policy document.

Impact of the Spatial Arrangement of Agricultural Land Use on Ecosystems Services and Peri-Urban Livelihoods at the Landscape Scale.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inkoom, J. N.; Fürst, C.

2014-12-01

The relationship between agricultural land uses (ALU) and their impact on ecosystems services (ES) including biodiversity conservation is complex. This complexity has been augmented by isolated research on the impact of ALU on the landscape's capacity to provide ES in most climatically vulnerable areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Though a considerable number of studies emphasise the nexus between specific land use types and their impact on ES, a sufficient modelling basis for an empirical consideration of spatial interactions between different agricultural land uses at the landscape scale within peri-urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa is consistently missing. The need to assess and address significant issues regarding size, shape, spatial location, and interactivity of different land use patches in assessing land use interactions and their impact on ecosystem service provision necessitated this investigation. To formulate a methodology to correspond to this complexity, ES obtained from a characteristically agricultural and urbanizing landscapes were mapped using analytical hierarchical processes and management expert approaches. Further, landscape metrics and mean enrichment factor approaches are explored as neighbourhood assessment tools aimed at assessing the mutual impact gradient of agricultural and adjacent urban land uses on ES provision. Implementation is undertaken in GISCAME using a 2012 rapideye image classification and primary data collected on selected ES from local farmers within the VEA catchment of Upper East, Ghana. The outcome aims to provide the understanding of expected trade-offs and synergies varying ALU could pose to current and potential ES provision within urbanizing landscapes. Policy implications for observed trade-offs and synergies of ALU interaction on ES, rural livelihoods, and food security are communicated to farmers and decision makers. Keywords: Agricultural land use, neighbourhood interaction, ecosystems services, livelihoods, GISCAME.

[Spatial scale effect of urban land use landscape pattern in Shanghai City].

PubMed

Xu, Li-Hua; Yue, Wen Ze; Cao, Yu

2007-12-01

Based on geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) techniques, the landscape classes of urban land use in Shanghai City were extracted from SPOT images with 5 m spatial resolution in 2002, and then, the classified data were applied to quantitatively explore the change patterns of several basic landscape metrics at different scales. The results indicated that landscape metrics were sensitive to grain- and extent variance. Urban landscape pattern was spatially dependent. In other words, different landscape metrics showed different responses to scale. The resolution of 40 m was an intrinsic observing scale for urban landscape in Shanghai City since landscape metrics showed random characteristics while the grain was less than 40 m. The extent of 24 km was a symbol scale in a series of extents, which was consistent with the boundary between urban built-up area and suburban area in Shanghai City. As a result, the extent of 12 km away from urban center would be an intrinsic handle scale for urban landscape in Shanghai City. However, due to the complexity of urban structure and asymmetry of urban spatial expansion, the intrinsic handle scale was not regular extent, and the square with size of 24 km was just an approximate intrinsic extent for Shanghai City.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neuscamman, Stephanie J.

This section describes ways in which an urban environment can affect the distribution of airborne radiological material. In an urban area, winds at street level are significantly more variable and complex than the prevailing winds above the buildings. Elevated winds may be uniform and representative of the general flow over the surrounding area, but buildings influence the local flow such that the winds below the building heights vary significantly in location and time (Hanna et al 2006). For a release of material near an individual building, the complex effect of the building on the airflow may locally enhance the airmore » concentration of released material in some regions near the building and reduce it in others compared to a release in open terrain. However, the overall effect of an individual building is to induce a rapid enlargement and dilution of an incident plume from an isolated source upwind of the building (Hosker 1984). A plume spreading through an urban environment of multiple buildings will experience enhanced mixing and greater spreading of the contaminant plume in both the vertical and horizontal directions, compared to the same release in open terrain.« less

Transplantation of epiphytic bioaccumulators (Tillandsia capillaris) for high spatial resolution biomonitoring of trace elements and point sources deconvolution in a complex mining/smelting urban context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goix, Sylvaine; Resongles, Eléonore; Point, David; Oliva, Priscia; Duprey, Jean Louis; de la Galvez, Erika; Ugarte, Lincy; Huayta, Carlos; Prunier, Jonathan; Zouiten, Cyril; Gardon, Jacques

2013-12-01

Monitoring atmospheric trace elements (TE) levels and tracing their source origin is essential for exposure assessment and human health studies. Epiphytic Tillandsia capillaris plants were used as bioaccumulator of TE in a complex polymetallic mining/smelting urban context (Oruro, Bolivia). Specimens collected from a pristine reference site were transplanted at a high spatial resolution (˜1 sample/km2) throughout the urban area. About twenty-seven elements were measured after a 4-month exposure, also providing new information values for reference material BCR482. Statistical power analysis for this biomonitoring mapping approach against classical aerosols surveys performed on the same site showed the better aptitude of T. Capillaris to detect geographical trend, and to deconvolute multiple contamination sources using geostatistical principal component analysis. Transplanted specimens in the vicinity of the mining and smelting areas were characterized by extreme TE accumulation (Sn > Ag > Sb > Pb > Cd > As > W > Cu > Zn). Three contamination sources were identified: mining (Ag, Pb, Sb), smelting (As, Sn) and road traffic (Zn) emissions, confirming results of previous aerosol survey.

Resilience and risk management in the urban project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veyron, Jessica; Becue, Vincent; El Meouche, Rani; Barroca, Bruno

2017-04-01

Our study focus on the recourse of resilience concept in an urban environment coupled with risk management concerns. The urban resilience is subject to interpretation according to the expertise fields and the using context. It brings underlying concepts of time and space out. For its part, the urban environment is complex because of the elements multitude which makes up it on a dense area as much humanly, structurally, materially as functionally. The resilience polysemy rediscovers within the risk management and is confronted with the operational expectation that she arouses in this field. Between absorption, recovery, adaptability or else effectiveness, the level of requirement of the urban area could be abundant and varied to a system to another and in front of a risk to another. The capability of the urban systems to integrate the outstanding risk scope could be reinforce through the use of spatialisation tools. The access to these knowledge more and more widespread makes the changing of spatial and temporal scales thought easier in the urban project approach along with the sharing of citizen and territorial actions and innovations. Our work gets into position between resilience and urban planning. Based on bibliography and urban planning feedback in front of risks, we envisage to study the achievement of the urban planning in the field of vulnerable districts or buildings. Our aim tends torwards characterise urban resilience in risk field through spatialisation tool setting up.

Complex assessment of urban housing energy sustainability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, Olga; Glebova, Julia; Karakozova, Irina

2018-03-01

The article presents the results of a complex experimental-analytical research of residential development energy parameters - survey of construction sites and determination of calculated energy parameters (resistance to heat transfer) considering their technical condition. The authors suggest a methodology for assessing residential development energy parameters on the basis of construction project's structural analysis with the use of advanced intelligent collection systems, processing (self-organizing maps - SOM) and data visualization (geo-informational systems - GIS). SOM clustering permitted to divide the housing stock (on the example of Arkhangelsk city) into groups with similar technical-operational and energy parameters. It is also possible to measure energy parameters of construction project of each cluster by comparing them with reference (normative) measures and also with each other. The authors propose mechanisms for increasing the area's energy stability level by implementing a set of reproduction activities for residential development of various groups. The analysis showed that modern multilevel and high-rise construction buildings have the least heat losses. At present, however, ow-rise wood buildings is the dominant styles of buildings of Arkhangelsk city. Data visualisation on the created heat map showed that such housing stock covers the largest urban area. The development strategies for depressed areas is in a high-rise building, which show the economic, social and environmental benefits of upward growth of the city. An urban regeneration programme for severely rundown urban housing estates is in a high-rise construction building, which show the economic, social and environmental benefits of upward growth of the city.

Critical scales to explain urban hydrological response: an application in Cranbrook, London

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristiano, Elena; ten Veldhuis, Marie-Claire; Gaitan, Santiago; Ochoa Rodriguez, Susana; van de Giesen, Nick

2018-04-01

Rainfall variability in space and time, in relation to catchment characteristics and model complexity, plays an important role in explaining the sensitivity of hydrological response in urban areas. In this work we present a new approach to classify rainfall variability in space and time and we use this classification to investigate rainfall aggregation effects on urban hydrological response. Nine rainfall events, measured with a dual polarimetric X-Band radar instrument at the CAESAR site (Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research, NL), were aggregated in time and space in order to obtain different resolution combinations. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence that rainfall and catchment scales have on hydrological response in urban areas. Three dimensionless scaling factors were introduced to investigate the interactions between rainfall and catchment scale and rainfall input resolution in relation to the performance of the model. Results showed that (1) rainfall classification based on cluster identification well represents the storm core, (2) aggregation effects are stronger for rainfall than flow, (3) model complexity does not have a strong influence compared to catchment and rainfall scales for this case study, and (4) scaling factors allow the adequate rainfall resolution to be selected to obtain a given level of accuracy in the calculation of hydrological response.

Relation of urbanization to stream habitat and geomorphic characteristics in nine metropolitan areas of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzpatrick, Faith A.; Peppler, Marie C.

2010-01-01

The relation of urbanization to stream habitat and geomorphic characteristics was examined collectively and individually for nine metropolitan areas of the United States?Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado; Dallas?Forth Worth, Texas; Milwaukee?Green Bay, Wisconsin; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Boston, Massachusetts. The study was part of a larger study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1999 to 2004 to examine the effects of urbanization on the physical, chemical, and biological components of stream ecosystems. The objectives of the current study were to determine how stream habitat and geomorphic characteristics relate to different aspects of urbanization across a variety of diverse environmental settings and spatial scales. A space-for-time rural-to-urban land-cover gradient approach was used. Reach-scale habitat data and geomorphic characteristic data were collected once during low flow and included indicators of potential habitat degradation such as measures of channel geometry and hydraulics, streambed substrate, low-flow reach volume (an estimate of base-flow conditions), habitat complexity, and riparian/bank conditions. Hydrologic metrics included in the analyses were those expected to be altered by increases in impervious surfaces, such as high-flow frequency and duration, flashiness, and low-flow duration. Other natural and human features, such as reach-scale channel engineering, geologic setting, and slope, were quantified to identify their possible confounding influences on habitat relations with watershed-scale urbanization indicators. Habitat and geomorphic characteristics were compared to several watershed-scale indicators of urbanization, natural landscape characteristics, and hydrologic metrics by use of correlation analyses and stepwise linear regression. Habitat and geomorphic characteristics were related to percentages of impervious surfaces only in some metropolitan areas and environmental settings. The relations between watershed-scale indicators of urbanization and stream habitat depended on physiography and climate, hydrology, pre-urban channel alterations, reach-scale slope and presence of bedrock, and amount of bank stabilization and grade control. Channels increased in size with increasing percentages of impervious surfaces in southeastern and midwestern metropolitan areas regardless of whether the pre-existing land use was forest or agriculture. The amount of enlargement depended on annual precipitation and frequency of high-flow events. The lack of a relation between channel enlargement and increasing impervious surfaces in other metropolitan areas was thought to be confounded by pre-urbanization hydrologic and channel alterations. Direct relations of channel shape and streambed substrate to urbanization were variable or lacking, probably because the type, amount, and source of sediment are dependent on the phase of urbanization. Reach-scale slope also was important for determining variations in streambed substrate and habitat complexity (percentage of riffles and runs). Urbanization-associated changes in reach-scale riparian vegetation varied geographically, partially depending on pre-existing riparian vegetation characteristics. Bank erosion increased in Milwaukee?Green Bay and Boston urban streams, and bank erosion also increased with an increase in a streamflow flashiness index. However, potential relations likely were confounded by the frequent use of channel stabilization and bank protection in urban settings. Low-flow reach volume did not decrease with increasing urbanization, but instead was related to natural landscape characteristics and possibly other unmeasured factors. The presence of intermittent bedrock in some sampled reaches likely limited some geomorphic responses to urbanization, such as channel bed erosion. Results from this study emphasize the importance of including a wide range of landscape variables at m

[Landscape pattern gradient dynamics and desakota features in rapid urbanization area: a case study in Panyu of Guangzhou].

PubMed

Yu, Long-Sheng; Fu, Yi-Fu; Yu, Huai-Yi; Li, Zhi-Qin

2011-01-01

In order to understand the landscape pattern gradient dynamics and desakota features in rapid urbanization area, this paper took the rapidly urbanizing Panyu District of Guangzhou City as a case, and analyzed its land use and land cover data, based on four Landsat TM images from 1990 to 2008. With the combination of gradient analysis and landscape pattern analysis, and by using the landscape indices in both class and landscape scales, the spatial dynamics and desakota feature of this rapidly urbanizing district were quantified. In the study district, there was a significant change in the landscape pattern, and a typical desakota feature presented along buffer gradient zones. Urban landscape increased and expanded annually, accompanied with serious fragmentation of agricultural landscape. The indices patch density, contagion, and landscape diversity, etc., changed regularly in the urbanization gradient, and the peak of landscape indices appeared in the gradient zone of 4-6 km away from the urban center. The landscape patterns at time series also reflected the differences among the dynamics in different gradient zones. The landscape pattern in desakota region was characterized by complex patch shape, high landscape diversity and fragmentation, and remarkable landscape dynamics. The peaks of landscape indices spread from the urban center to border areas, and desakota region was expanding gradually. The general trend of spatiotemporal dynamics in desakota region and its driving forces were discussed, which could be benefit to the regional land use policy-making and sustainable development planning.

Fractal analysis of urban catchments and their representation in semi-distributed models: imperviousness and sewer system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gires, Auguste; Tchiguirinskaia, Ioulia; Schertzer, Daniel; Ochoa-Rodriguez, Susana; Willems, Patrick; Ichiba, Abdellah; Wang, Lipen; Pina, Rui; Van Assel, Johan; Bruni, Guendalina; Murla Tuyls, Damian; ten Veldhuis, Marie-Claire

2017-04-01

Land use distribution and sewer system geometry exhibit complex scale dependent patterns in urban environment. This scale dependency is even more visible in a rasterized representation where only a unique class is affected to each pixel. Such features are well grasped with fractal tools, which are based scale invariance and intrinsically designed to characterise and quantify the space filled by a geometrical set exhibiting complex and tortuous patterns. Fractal tools have been widely used in hydrology but seldom in the specific context of urban hydrology. In this paper, they are used to analyse surface and sewer data from 10 urban or peri-urban catchments located in 5 European countries in the framework of the NWE Interreg RainGain project (www.raingain.eu). The aim was to characterise urban catchment properties accounting for the complexity and inhomogeneity typical of urban water systems. Sewer system density and imperviousness (roads or buildings), represented in rasterized maps of 2 m x 2 m pixels, were analysed to quantify their fractal dimension, characteristic of scaling invariance. It appears that both sewer density and imperviousness exhibit scale invariant features that can be characterized with the help of fractal dimensions ranging from 1.6 to 2, depending on the catchment. In a given area, consistent results were found for the two geometrical features, yielding a robust and innovative way of quantifying the level of urbanization. The representation of imperviousness in operational semi-distributed hydrological models for these catchments was also investigated by computing fractal dimensions of the geometrical sets made up of the sub-catchments with coefficients of imperviousness greater than a range of thresholds. It enables to quantify how well spatial structures of imperviousness are represented in the urban hydrological models.

38 CFR Appendix A to Part 200 - Categorical Exclusions

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... sustainable or “green” procurement) to support operations and infrastructure, including routine utility... existing adjacent or nearby buildings; and A.4(a)(4) There is no evidence of environmental controversy. A.4... complex, office building in downtown area, row house or vacant lot in an urban area). A.4(e) Demolition...

A framework for planning of sustainable water and sanitation systems in peri-urban areas.

PubMed

Törnqvist, R; Norström, A; Kärrman, E; Malmqvist, P-A

2008-01-01

There are billions of people around the world that lack access to safe water supply and basic sanitation, a situation which puts the affected in severe health conditions as well as economical and social despair. Many of those lacking adequate water supply and sanitation systems can be found at the fringe of the cities in so called peri-urban areas, especially in the developing world. Planning in these areas is highly complex due to challenging environmental and physical conditions, high population density and unclear institutional boundaries. This article presents a framework aiming to support the planning process for sustainable water and sanitation systems in peri-urban areas. The suggested framework is based on different available planning approaches from a review of literature and websites of organisations and companies. It consists of a recommendation of important steps in the planning process as well as supporting tools. Further, it incorporates a set of sustainability criteria important for the peri-urban context and allows for the development of site specific systems. The framework has the aim to be flexible for different planning situations, and for suiting planners with different perspectives and amount of resources. (c) IWA Publishing 2008.

Freeway bottleneck removals : workshop enhancement and technology transfer.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-12-01

As transportation improvement projects become increasingly costly and complex and as funding sources are not : keeping pace with needs in highly urbanized areas, it becomes critical that existing freeway systems be finetuned to : maximize capacity...

Influence of urbanization pattern on stream flow of a peri-urban catchment under Mediterranean climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Carla S. S.; Walsh, Rory P. D.; Ferreira, António J. D.; Steenhuis, Tammo S.; Coelho, Celeste A. O.

2015-04-01

The demand for better life quality and lower living costs created a great pressure on peri-urban areas, leading to significant land-use changes. The complexity of mixed land-use patterns, however, presents a challenge to understand the hydrological pathways and streamflow response involved in such changes. This study assesses the impact of a actively changing Portuguese peri-urban area on catchment hydrology. It focuses on quantifying streamflow delivery from contributing areas, of different land-use arrangement and the seasonal influence of the Mediterranean climate on stream discharge. The study focuses on Ribeira dos Covões a small (6 km2) peri-urban catchment on the outskirts of Coimbra, one of the main cities in central Portugal. Between 1958 and 2012 the urban area of the catchment expanded from 8% to 40%, mostly at the expense of agriculture (down from 48% to 4%), with woodland now accounting for the remaining 56% of the catchment area. The urban area comprises contrasting urban settings, associated with older discontinuous arrangement of buildings and urban structures and low population density (<25 inhabitants/km), and recent well-defined urban cores dominated by apartment blocks and high population density (9900 inhabitants/km). The hydrological response of the catchment has been monitored since 2007 by a flume installed at the outlet. In 2009, five rainfall gauges and eight additional water level recorders were installed upstream, to assess the hydrological response of different sub-catchments, characterized by distinct urban patterns and either limestone or sandstone lithologies. Annual runoff coefficients range between 14% and 22%. Changes in annual baseflow index (36-39% of annual rainfall) have been small with urbanization (from 34% to 40%) during the monitoring period itself. Annual runoff coefficients were lowest (14-7%) on catchments >80% woodland and highest (29% on sandstone; 18% on limestone) in the most urbanized (49-53% urban) sub-catchments. Percentage impermeable surface seems to control streamflow particularly during dry periods. Winter runoff was 2-4 times higher than total river flow in the summer dry season in highly urbanized areas, but was 21-fold higher in winter in the least urbanized sub-catchment, denoting greater flow connectivity enhanced by increased soil moisture. Although impermeable surfaces are prone to generate overland flow, the proximity to the stream network is an important parameter determining their hydrological impacts. During the monitoring period, the enlargement of 2% of the urban area at downslope locations in the Covões sub-catchment, led to a 6% increase in the runoff coefficient. In contrast, the urban area increase from 9 to 25% mainly in upslope parts of the Quinta sub-catchment did not increase the peak streamflow due to downslope infiltration and surface retention opportunities. Despite impermeable surfaces enhance overland flow, some urban features (e.g. walls and road embankments) promote surface water retention. The presence of artificial drainage systems, on the other hand, enhances flow connectivity, leading to increasing peak flow and quicker response times (~10 minutes versus 40-50 minutes) as in the Covões sub-catchment. Urbanization impact on streamflow responses may be minimized through planning the land-use mosaic so as to maximize infiltration opportunities. Knowledge of the influence of distinct urban mosaics on flow connectivity and stream discharge is therefore important to landscape managers and should guide urban planning in order to minimize flood hazards.

Modelling the effects of land use changes on the streamflow of a peri-urban catchment in central Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hävermark, Saga; Santos Ferreira, Carla Sofia; Kalantari, Zahra; Di Baldassarre, Giuliano

2016-04-01

Many river basis around the world are rapidly changing together with societal development. Such developments may involve changes in land use, which in turn affect the surrounding environment in various ways. Since the start of industrialisation, the urban areas have extended worldwide. Urbanization can influence hydrological processes by decreasing evapotranspiration, infiltration and groundwater recharge as well as increasing runoff and overland flow. It is therefore of uttermost importance to understand the relationship between land use and hydrology. Although several studies have been investigating the impacts of urbanization on streamflow over the last decades, less is known on how urbanization affects hydrological processes in peri-urban areas, characterized by a complex mosaic of different land uses. This study aimed to model the impact of land use changes, specifically urbanization and commercial forest plantation, on the hydrological responses of the small Ribeira dos Covões peri-urban catchment (6,2 km2) located in central Portugal. The catchment has undergone rapid land use changes between 1958 and 2012 associated with the conversion of agricultural fields (cover area decreased from 48% to 4%) into woodland and urban areas, which increased from 44% to 56% and from 8% to 40%, respectively. For the study, the fully-distributed, physically-based modelling system MIKE SHE was used. The model was designed to examine both how past land use changes might have affected the streamflow and to investigate the impacts on hydrology of possible future scenarios, including a 50 %, 60 % and 70 % urban cover. To this end, a variety of data including daily rainfall since 1958 and forward, daily potential evapotranspiration from 2009 to 2013, monthly temperature averages from 1971 to 2013, land use for the years 1958, 1973, 1979, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2007 and 2012, streamflow from the hydrological years 2008 to 2013, catchment topography and soil types were used. The model was calibrated for the hydrological years 2008 to 2010 and validated for the three following years using streamflow data. The impact of future land use changes was analysed by investigating the impact of the size and location of the urban areas within the catchment. Modelling results are expected to support the decision making process in planning and developing new urban areas.

Effect of urban design on microclimate and thermal comfort outdoors in warm-humid Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yahia, Moohammed Wasim; Johansson, Erik; Thorsson, Sofia; Lindberg, Fredrik; Rasmussen, Maria Isabel

2018-03-01

Due to the complexity of built environment, urban design patterns considerably affect the microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort in a given urban morphology. Variables such as building heights and orientations, spaces between buildings, plot coverage alter solar access, wind speed and direction at street level. To improve microclimate and comfort conditions urban design elements including vegetation and shading devices can be used. In warm-humid Dar es Salaam, the climate consideration in urban design has received little attention although the urban planning authorities try to develop the quality of planning and design. The main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between urban design, urban microclimate, and outdoor comfort in four built-up areas with different morphologies including low-, medium-, and high-rise buildings. The study mainly concentrates on the warm season but a comparison with the thermal comfort conditions in the cool season is made for one of the areas. Air temperature, wind speed, mean radiant temperature (MRT), and the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) are simulated using ENVI-met to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the existing urban design. An analysis of the distribution of MRT in the areas showed that the area with low-rise buildings had the highest frequency of high MRTs and the lowest frequency of low MRTs. The study illustrates that areas with low-rise buildings lead to more stressful urban spaces than areas with high-rise buildings. It is also shown that the use of dense trees helps to enhance the thermal comfort conditions, i.e., reduce heat stress. However, vegetation might negatively affect the wind ventilation. Nevertheless, a sensitivity analysis shows that the provision of shade is a more efficient way to reduce PET than increases in wind speed, given the prevailing sun and wind conditions in Dar es Salaam. To mitigate heat stress in Dar es Salaam, a set of recommendations and guidelines on how to develop the existing situation from microclimate and thermal comfort perspectives is outlined. Such recommendations will help architects and urban designers to increase the quality of the outdoor environment and demonstrate the need to create better urban spaces in harmony with microclimate and thermal comfort.

Effect of urban design on microclimate and thermal comfort outdoors in warm-humid Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

PubMed

Yahia, Moohammed Wasim; Johansson, Erik; Thorsson, Sofia; Lindberg, Fredrik; Rasmussen, Maria Isabel

2018-03-01

Due to the complexity of built environment, urban design patterns considerably affect the microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort in a given urban morphology. Variables such as building heights and orientations, spaces between buildings, plot coverage alter solar access, wind speed and direction at street level. To improve microclimate and comfort conditions urban design elements including vegetation and shading devices can be used. In warm-humid Dar es Salaam, the climate consideration in urban design has received little attention although the urban planning authorities try to develop the quality of planning and design. The main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between urban design, urban microclimate, and outdoor comfort in four built-up areas with different morphologies including low-, medium-, and high-rise buildings. The study mainly concentrates on the warm season but a comparison with the thermal comfort conditions in the cool season is made for one of the areas. Air temperature, wind speed, mean radiant temperature (MRT), and the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) are simulated using ENVI-met to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the existing urban design. An analysis of the distribution of MRT in the areas showed that the area with low-rise buildings had the highest frequency of high MRTs and the lowest frequency of low MRTs. The study illustrates that areas with low-rise buildings lead to more stressful urban spaces than areas with high-rise buildings. It is also shown that the use of dense trees helps to enhance the thermal comfort conditions, i.e., reduce heat stress. However, vegetation might negatively affect the wind ventilation. Nevertheless, a sensitivity analysis shows that the provision of shade is a more efficient way to reduce PET than increases in wind speed, given the prevailing sun and wind conditions in Dar es Salaam. To mitigate heat stress in Dar es Salaam, a set of recommendations and guidelines on how to develop the existing situation from microclimate and thermal comfort perspectives is outlined. Such recommendations will help architects and urban designers to increase the quality of the outdoor environment and demonstrate the need to create better urban spaces in harmony with microclimate and thermal comfort.

Aggressive crime, alcohol and drug use, and concentrated poverty in 24 U.S. urban areas.

PubMed

Valdez, Avelardo; Kaplan, Charles D; Curtis, Russell L

2007-01-01

The nexus between substance use and aggressive crime involves a complex interrelationship among mediating individual and community-level variables. Using multilevel logistic regression models, we investigate how community-level concentration of poverty variables mediate the predictive relationships among individual level social attachment variables and substance use on aggressive crime in a large national sample of male arrestees (N = 20,602) drawn from 24 U.S. urban areas. The findings support our hypothesis that individual social attachments to marriage and the labor force (education and employment) are the principal individual-level pathway mediating the substance abuse/aggression nexus. In the random intercept model, 3.17% of the variation not explained by the individual-level predictor variables is attributable to community-level variation in urban area female-headed households and households receiving welfare. This confirms our hypothesis that social structural conditions of an urban environment differentially expose persons to conditions that predict being arrested for an aggressive crime. Our findings tend to counter the cultural theorists who argue for an indigenous culture of violence in inner-city ghettos and barrios.

Developing a 1 km resolution daily air temperature dataset for urban and surrounding areas in the conterminous United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Xiaoma; Zhou, Yuyu; Asrar, Ghassem R.

High spatiotemporal resolution air temperature (Ta) datasets are increasingly needed for assessing the impact of temperature change on people, ecosystems, and energy system, especially in the urban domains. However, such datasets are not widely available because of the large spatiotemporal heterogeneity of Ta caused by complex biophysical and socioeconomic factors such as built infrastructure and human activities. In this study, we developed a 1-km gridded dataset of daily minimum Ta (Tmin) and maximum Ta (Tmax), and the associated uncertainties, in urban and surrounding areas in the conterminous U.S. for the 2003–2016 period. Daily geographically weighted regression (GWR) models were developedmore » and used to interpolate Ta using 1 km daily land surface temperature and elevation as explanatory variables. The leave-one-out cross-validation approach indicates that our method performs reasonably well, with root mean square errors of 2.1 °C and 1.9 °C, mean absolute errors of 1.5 °C and 1.3 °C, and R 2 of 0.95 and 0.97, for Tmin and Tmax, respectively. The resulting dataset captures reasonably the spatial heterogeneity of Ta in the urban areas, and also captures effectively the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon that Ta rises with the increase of urban development (i.e., impervious surface area). The new dataset is valuable for studying environmental impacts of urbanization such as UHI and other related effects (e.g., on building energy consumption and human health). The proposed methodology also shows a potential to build a long-term record of Ta worldwide, to fill the data gap that currently exists for studies of urban systems.« less

NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: South Carolina

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sutton, Michael A.

2004-01-01

The use of an appropriate relationship model is critical for reliable prediction of future urban growth. Identification of proper variables and mathematic functions and determination of the weights or coefficients are the key tasks for building such a model. Although the conventional logistic regression model is appropriate for handing land use problems, it appears insufficient to address the issue of interdependency of the predictor variables. This study used an alternative approach to simulation and modeling urban growth using artificial neural networks. It developed an operational neural network model trained using a robust backpropagation method. The model was applied in the Myrtle Beach region of South Carolina, and tested with both global datasets and areal datasets to examine the strength of both regional models and areal models. The results indicate that the neural network model not only has many theoretic advantages over other conventional mathematic models in representing the complex urban systems, but also is practically superior to the logistic model in its capability to predict urban growth with better - accuracy and less variation. The neural network model is particularly effective in terms of successfully identifying urban patterns in the rural areas where the logistic model often falls short. It was also found from the area-based tests that there are significant intra-regional differentiations in urban growth with different rules and rates. This suggests that the global modeling approach, or one model for the entire region, may not be adequate for simulation of a urban growth at the regional scale. Future research should develop methods for identification and subdivision of these areas and use a set of area-based models to address the issues of multi-centered, intra- regionally differentiated urban growth.

Measuring Thermal Characteristics of Urban Landscapes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Quattrochi, Dale A.; Rickman, Doug L.

1999-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. Materials such as asphalt store much of the sun's energy and remains hot long after sunset. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. However, the use of remotely sensed thermal data from airborne scanners are ideal for the task. In a study funded by NASA, a series of flights over Huntsville, Alabama were performed in September 1994 and over Atlanta, Georgia in May 1997. Analysis of thermal energy responses for specific or discrete surfaces typical of the urban landscape (e.g., asphalt, building rooftops, vegetation) requires measurements at a very fine spatial scale (i.e., <15 m) to adequately resolve these surfaces and their attendant thermal energy regimes. Additionally, very fine scale spatial resolution thermal infrared data, such as that obtained from aircraft, are very useful for demonstrating to planning officials, policy makers, and the general populace, what the benefits are of the urban forest in both mitigating the urban heat island effect, in making cities more aesthetically pleasing and more habitable environments, and in overall cooling of the community. In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect.

Blow flies as urban wildlife sensors.

PubMed

Hoffmann, Constanze; Merkel, Kevin; Sachse, Andreas; Rodríguez, Pablo; Leendertz, Fabian H; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien

2018-05-01

Wildlife detection in urban areas is very challenging. Conventional monitoring techniques such as direct observation are faced with the limitation that urban wildlife is extremely elusive. It was recently shown that invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) can be used to assess wildlife diversity in tropical rainforests. Flies, which are ubiquitous and very abundant in most cities, may also be used to detect wildlife in urban areas. In urban ecosystems, however, overwhelming quantities of domestic mammal DNA could completely mask the presence of wild mammal DNA. To test whether urban wild mammals can be detected using fly iDNA, we performed DNA metabarcoding of pools of flies captured in Berlin, Germany, using three combinations of blocking primers. Our results show that domestic animal sequences are, as expected, very dominant in urban environments. Nevertheless, wild mammal sequences can often be retrieved, although they usually only represent a minor fraction of the sequence reads. Fly iDNA metabarcoding is therefore a viable approach for quick scans of urban wildlife diversity. Interestingly, our study also shows that blocking primers can interact with each other in ways that affect the outcome of metabarcoding. We conclude that the use of complex combinations of blocking primers, although potentially powerful, should be carefully planned when designing experiments. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Concept Of Revitalization Of Selected Military Facilities Of Dragoons Barracks In Olsztyn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zagroba, Marek

2015-12-01

Revitalization is a complex program to restore the functioning of the neglected urban areas in terms of spatial, economic and social. Revitalization activities on post-military facilities are stopping negative phenomena, such as degradation of space, social pathology or lack of proper functioning of the area, adapted to modern needs. The object of the work is to present some aspects with the revitalization of former military facilities in the area of the Artyleryjska Street in Olsztyn. The presented design concept aims to revitalize a neglected area of the barracks, which will enable the activation site and include it in the city urban space. The method adopted in this work is the architectural project of adapting selected post-military facilities for new functions, affecting the economic development and social integration of people.

The prevalence and geographic distribution of complex co-occurring disorders: a population study.

PubMed

Somers, J M; Moniruzzaman, A; Rezansoff, S N; Brink, J; Russolillo, A

2016-06-01

A subset of people with co-occurring substance use and mental disorders require coordinated support from health, social welfare and justice agencies to achieve diversion from homelessness, criminal recidivism and further health and social harms. Integrated models of care are typically concentrated in large urban centres. The present study aimed to empirically measure the prevalence and distribution of complex co-occurring disorders (CCD) in a large geographic region that includes urban as well as rural and remote settings. Linked data were examined in a population of roughly 3.7 million adults. Inclusion criteria for the CCD subpopulation were: physician diagnosed substance use and mental disorders; psychiatric hospitalisation; shelter assistance; and criminal convictions. Prevalence per 100 000 was calculated in 91 small areas representing urban, rural and remote settings. 2202 individuals met our inclusion criteria for CCD. Participants had high rates of hospitalisation (8.2 admissions), criminal convictions (8.6 sentences) and social assistance payments (over $36 000 CDN) in the past 5 years. There was wide variability in the geographic distribution of people with CCD, with high prevalence rates in rural and remote settings. People with CCD are not restricted to areas with large populations or to urban settings. The highest per capita rates of CCD were observed in relatively remote locations, where mental health and substance use services are typically in limited supply. Empirically supported interventions must be adapted to meet the needs of people living outside of urban settings with high rates of CCD.

Effects of landscape composition and pattern on land surface temperature: An urban heat island study in the megacities of Southeast Asia.

PubMed

Estoque, Ronald C; Murayama, Yuji; Myint, Soe W

2017-01-15

Due to its adverse impacts on urban ecological environment and the overall livability of cities, the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon has become a major research focus in various interrelated fields, including urban climatology, urban ecology, urban planning, and urban geography. This study sought to examine the relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and the abundance and spatial pattern of impervious surface and green space in the metropolitan areas of Bangkok (Thailand), Jakarta (Indonesia), and Manila (Philippines). Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS data and various geospatial approaches, including urban-rural gradient, multiresolution grid-based, and spatial metrics-based techniques, were used to facilitate the analysis. We found a significant strong correlation between mean LST and the density of impervious surface (positive) and green space (negative) along the urban-rural gradients of the three cities, depicting a typical UHI profile. The correlation of impervious surface density with mean LST tends to increase in larger grids, whereas the correlation of green space density with mean LST tends to increase in smaller grids, indicating a stronger influence of impervious surface and green space on the variability of LST in larger and smaller areas, respectively. The size, shape complexity, and aggregation of the patches of impervious surface and green space also had significant relationships with mean LST, though aggregation had the most consistent strong correlation. On average, the mean LST of impervious surface is about 3°C higher than that of green space, highlighting the important role of green spaces in mitigating UHI effects, an important urban ecosystem service. We recommend that the density and spatial pattern of urban impervious surfaces and green spaces be considered in landscape and urban planning so that urban areas and cities can have healthier and more comfortable living urban environments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterizing the influence of transportation infrastructure on Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in urban area-A case study of Seoul, South Korea.

PubMed

Cho, Jungwoo; You, Myoungsoon; Yoon, Yoonjin

2017-01-01

In highly urbanized area where traffic condition fluctuates constantly, transportation infrastructure is one of the major contributing factors to Emergency Medical Service (EMS) availability and patient outcome. In this paper, we assess the impact of traffic fluctuation to the EMS first response availability in urban area, by evaluating the k-minute coverage under 21 traffic scenarios. The set of traffic scenarios represents the time-of-day and day-of-week effects, and is generated by combining road link speed information from multiple historical speed databases. In addition to the k-minute area coverage calculation, the k-minute population coverage is also evaluated for every 100m by 100m grid that partitions the case study area of Seoul, South Korea. In the baseline case of traveling at the speed limit, both the area and population coverage reached nearly 100% when compared to the five-minute travel time national target. Employing the proposed LoST (Loss of Serviceability due to Traffic) index, which measures coverage reduction in percentage compared to the baseline case, we find that the citywide average LoST for area and population coverage are similar at 34.2% and 33.8%. However, district-wise analysis reveals that such reduction varies significantly by district, and the magnitude of area and population coverage reduction is not always proportional. We conclude that the effect of traffic variation is significant to successful urban EMS first response performance, and regional variation is evident among local districts. Complexity in the urban environment requires a more adaptive approach in public health resource management and EMS performance target determination.

Pre-Columbian urbanism, anthropogenic landscapes, and the future of the Amazon.

PubMed

Heckenberger, Michael J; Russell, J Christian; Fausto, Carlos; Toney, Joshua R; Schmidt, Morgan J; Pereira, Edithe; Franchetto, Bruna; Kuikuro, Afukaka

2008-08-29

The archaeology of pre-Columbian polities in the Amazon River basin forces a reconsideration of early urbanism and long-term change in tropical forest landscapes. We describe settlement and land-use patterns of complex societies on the eve of European contact (after 1492) in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon. These societies were organized in articulated clusters, representing small independent polities, within a regional peer polity. These patterns constitute a "galactic" form of prehistoric urbanism, sharing features with small-scale urban polities in other areas. Understanding long-term change in coupled human-environment systems relating to these societies has implications for conservation and sustainable development, notably to control ecological degradation and maintain regional biodiversity.

A Comparison of Local Variance, Fractal Dimension, and Moran's I as Aids to Multispectral Image Classification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emerson, Charles W.; Sig-NganLam, Nina; Quattrochi, Dale A.

2004-01-01

The accuracy of traditional multispectral maximum-likelihood image classification is limited by the skewed statistical distributions of reflectances from the complex heterogenous mixture of land cover types in urban areas. This work examines the utility of local variance, fractal dimension and Moran's I index of spatial autocorrelation in segmenting multispectral satellite imagery. Tools available in the Image Characterization and Modeling System (ICAMS) were used to analyze Landsat 7 imagery of Atlanta, Georgia. Although segmentation of panchromatic images is possible using indicators of spatial complexity, different land covers often yield similar values of these indices. Better results are obtained when a surface of local fractal dimension or spatial autocorrelation is combined as an additional layer in a supervised maximum-likelihood multispectral classification. The addition of fractal dimension measures is particularly effective at resolving land cover classes within urbanized areas, as compared to per-pixel spectral classification techniques.

Tree species composition affects the abundance of rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.) in urban forests in Finland.

PubMed

Hamberg, Leena; Lehvävirta, Susanna; Kotze, D Johan; Heikkinen, Juha

2015-03-15

Recent studies have shown a considerable increase in the abundance of rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) saplings in urban forests in Finland, yet the reasons for this increase are not well understood. Here we investigated whether canopy cover or tree species composition, i.e., the basal areas of different tree species in Norway spruce dominated urban forests, affects the abundances of rowan seedlings, saplings and trees. Altogether 24 urban forest patches were investigated. We sampled the number of rowan and other saplings, and calculated the basal areas of trees. We showed that rowan abundance was affected by tree species composition. The basal area of rowan trees (≥ 5 cm in diameter at breast height, dbh) decreased with increasing basal area of Norway spruce, while the cover of rowan seedlings increased with an increase in Norway spruce basal area. However, a decrease in the abundance of birch (Betula pendula) and an increase in the broad-leaved tree group (Acer platanoides, Alnus glutinosa, Alnus incana, Amelanchier spicata, Prunus padus, Quercus robur, Rhamnus frangula and Salix caprea) coincided with a decreasing number of rowans. Furthermore, rowan saplings were scarce in the vicinity of mature rowan trees. Although it seems that tree species composition has an effect on rowan, the relationship between rowan saplings and mature trees is complex, and therefore we conclude that regulating tree species composition is not an easy way to keep rowan thickets under control in urban forests in Finland. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Invasive Shrub Mapping in an Urban Environment from Hyperspectral and LiDAR-Derived Attributes.

PubMed

Chance, Curtis M; Coops, Nicholas C; Plowright, Andrew A; Tooke, Thoreau R; Christen, Andreas; Aven, Neal

2016-01-01

Proactive management of invasive species in urban areas is critical to restricting their overall distribution. The objective of this work is to determine whether advanced remote sensing technologies can help to detect invasions effectively and efficiently in complex urban ecosystems such as parks. In Surrey, BC, Canada, Himalayan blackberry ( Rubus armeniacus ) and English ivy ( Hedera helix ) are two invasive shrub species that can negatively affect native ecosystems in cities and managed urban parks. Random forest (RF) models were created to detect these two species using a combination of hyperspectral imagery, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. LiDAR-derived predictor variables included irradiance models, canopy structural characteristics, and orographic variables. RF detection accuracy ranged from 77.8 to 87.8% for Himalayan blackberry and 81.9 to 82.1% for English ivy, with open areas classified more accurately than areas under canopy cover. English ivy was predicted to occur across a greater area than Himalayan blackberry both within parks and across the entire city. Both Himalayan blackberry and English ivy were mostly located in clusters according to a Local Moran's I analysis. The occurrence of both species decreased as the distance from roads increased. This study shows the feasibility of producing highly accurate detection maps of plant invasions in urban environments using a fusion of remotely sensed data, as well as the ability to use these products to guide management decisions.

Quality assessment of urban areas based on neural network modeling and GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, Olga; Glebova, Julia; Pustovgar, Andrey

2018-03-01

In this article the authors carry out the research of the urban development areas structure and propose the system of its characteristics on the basis of sector affiliation of the municipal economy. The authors have developed an algorithm for quality assessment of urban development areas. The results of the research are presented on the example of several central quarters of Arkhangelsk city. The city's residential development was formed in the periods from 1900-1950, 1950-1980 and from 2002 to date. It is currently presented by low-rise wooden, homestead type residential houses and barracks-type houses; mid-rise and high-rise brick and panel buildings of typical development, buildings of large-panel housing construction. Structural SOM-analysis compiled separate quarters of Arkhangelsk into 5 groups with a high level of characteristic similarity: "Commercial", "Prospective complex development", "Sustainable development", "Perspective renovation of residential development", "Investment-unattractive". Typical development strategies for each group of quarters are determined. Most developed areas characterized by upward height. The development strategies for depressed areas is in a high-rise building, which show the economic, social and environmental benefits of upward growth of the city. Using GIS allows to visually reflect the state and assess the quality of the urban development area by the aggregate of all parameters, and also to assess the quality of the quarters for each sector.

Observations of Urban Heat Island Mitigation in California Coastal Cities due to a Sea Breeze Induced Coastal-Cooling ``REVERSE-REACTION'' to Global Warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bornstein, R. D.; Lebassi, B.; Gonzalez, J.

2010-12-01

The study evaluated long-term (1948-2005) air temperatures at over 300 urban and rural sites in California (CA) during summer (June-August, JJA). The aggregate CA results showed asymmetric warming, as daily min temperatures increased faster than daily max temperatures. The spatial distributions of daily max temperatures in the heavily urbanized South Coast and San Francisco Bay Area air basins, however, exhibited a complex pattern, with cooling at low-elevation (mainly urban) coastal-areas and warming at (mainly rural) inland areas. Previous studies have suggested that cooling summer max temperatures in CA were due to increased irrigation, coastal upwelling, or cloud cover. The current hypothesis, however, is that this temperature pattern arises from a “reverse-reaction” to greenhouse gas (GHG) induced global-warming. In this hypothesis, the global warming of inland areas resulted in an increased (cooling) sea breeze activity in coastal areas. That daytime summer coastal cooling was seen in coastal urban areas implies that urban heat island (UHI) warming was weaker than the reverse-reaction sea breeze cooling; if there was no UHI effect, then the cooling would have been even stronger. Analysis of daytime summer max temperatures at four adjacent pairs of urban and rural sites near the inland cooling-warming boundary, however, showed that the rural sites experienced cooling, while the urban sites showed warming due to UHI development. The rate of heat island growth was estimated as the sum of each urban warming rate and the absolute magnitude of the concurrent adjacent rural cooling rate. Values ranged from 0.12 to 0.55 K decade-1, and were proportional to changes in urban population and urban extent. As Sacramento, Modesto, Stockton, and San José have grown in aerial extent (21 to 59%) and population (40 to 118%), part of the observed increased JJA max values could be due to increased daytime UHI-intensity. Without UHI effects, the currently observed JJA SFBA coastal-cooling area might have expanded to include these sites, as the first three are adjacent to rural airport sites that showed cooling max-values due to increased marine influences. In addition, all urbanized sites with decreasing max-values would probably show even larger cooling rates if UHI effects could be removed. Significant societal impacts may result from this observed reverse-reaction to GHG-warming. Possible beneficial effects (especially during periods of UHI growth) include decreased maximum: O3 levels, per-capita energy requirements for cooling, and human thermal-stress levels.

Urban regeneration and democratization of information access: CitiStat experience in Baltimore.

PubMed

Gullino, Silvia

2009-05-01

This article explores the potential of a GIS-based approach to city management - Baltimore's CitiStat e-government program - for meeting the goals of sustainable urban regeneration. The argument advocated here builds on the widely held recognition that the application of ICTs in general can lead to both new forms of inclusion and exclusion of citizens. Therefore attending to the 'digital divide' is a relevant issue because cities are complex environments where outcomes of interventions are uncertain and widening participative arenas to different actors can increase the possibilities to regenerate declining urban areas in a more democratic way.

Development of concepts for the management of shallow geothermal resources in urban areas - Experience gained from the Basel and Zaragoza case studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Gil, Alejandro; Epting, Jannis; Mueller, Matthias H.; Huggenberger, Peter; Vázquez-Suñé, Enric

2015-04-01

In urban areas the shallow subsurface often is used as a heat resource (shallow geothermal energy), i.e. for the installation and operation of a broad variety of geothermal systems. Increasingly, groundwater is used as a low-cost heat sink, e.g. for building acclimatization. Together with other shallow geothermal exploitation systems significantly increased groundwater temperatures have been observed in many urban areas (urban heat island effect). The experience obtained from two selected case study cities in Basel (CH) and Zaragoza (ES) has allowed developing concepts and methods for the management of thermal resources in urban areas. Both case study cities already have a comprehensive monitoring network operating (hydraulics and temperature) as well as calibrated high-resolution numerical groundwater flow and heat-transport models. The existing datasets and models have allowed to compile and compare the different hydraulic and thermal boundary conditions for both groundwater bodies, including: (1) River boundaries (River Rhine and Ebro), (2) Regional hydraulic and thermal settings, (3) Interaction with the atmosphere under consideration of urbanization and (4) Anthropogenic quantitative and thermal groundwater use. The potential natural states of the considered groundwater bodies also have been investigated for different urban settings and varying processes concerning groundwater flow and thermal regimes. Moreover, concepts for the management of thermal resources in urban areas and the transferability of the applied methods to other urban areas are discussed. The methods used provide an appropriate selection of parameters (spatiotemporal resolution) that have to be measured for representative interpretations of groundwater flow and thermal regimes of specific groundwater bodies. From the experience acquired from the case studies it is shown that understanding the variable influences of the specific geological and hydrogeological as well as hydraulic and thermal boundary conditions in urban settings is crucial. It also could be shown that good quality data are necessary to appropriately define and investigate thermal boundary conditions and the temperature development in urban systems. Groundwater temperatures in both investigated groundwater bodies are already over-heated and essentially impede further thermal groundwater use for cooling purposes. Current legislation approaches are not suitable to evaluate new concessions for thermal exploitation. Therefore, novel approaches for the assessment of new concessions which take into account the complex interaction of natural boundaries as well as existing shallow geothermal systems have to be developed.

The Influence of Roof Material on Diurnal Urban Canyon Breathing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abuhegazy, Mohamed; Yaghoobian, Neda

2017-11-01

Improvements in building energy use, air quality in urban canyons and in general urban microclimates require understanding the complex interaction between urban morphology, materials, climate, and inflow conditions. Review of the literature indicates that despite a long history of valuable urban microclimate studies, more comprehensive approaches are needed to address energy, and heat and flow transport in urban areas. In this study, a more comprehensive simulation of the diurnally varying street canyon flow and associated heat transport is numerically investigated, using Large-eddy Simulation (LES). We use computational modeling to examine the impact of diurnal variation of the heat fluxes from urban surfaces on the air flow and temperature distribution in street canyons with a focus on the role of roof materials and their temperature footprints. A detailed building energy model with a three-dimensional raster-type geometry provides urban surface heat fluxes as thermal boundary conditions for the LES to determine the key aero-thermodynamic factors that affect urban street ventilation.

Challenging urban health: towards an improved local government response to migration, informal settlements, and HIV in Johannesburg, South Africa

PubMed Central

Vearey, Joanna

2011-01-01

This article is a review of the PhD thesis undertaken by Joanna Vearey that explores local government responses to the urban health challenges of migration, informal settlements, and HIV in Johannesburg, South Africa. Urbanisation in South Africa is a result of natural urban growth and (to a lesser extent) in-migration from within the country and across borders. This has led to the development of informal settlements within and on the periphery of urban areas. The highest HIV prevalence nationally is found within urban informal settlements. South African local government has a ‘developmental mandate’ that calls for government to work with citizens to develop sustainable interventions to address their social, economic, and material needs. Through a mixed-methods approach, four studies were undertaken within inner-city Johannesburg and a peripheral urban informal settlement. Two cross-sectional surveys – one at a household level and one with migrant antiretroviral clients – were supplemented with semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders involved with urban health and HIV in Johannesburg, and participatory photography and film projects undertaken with urban migrant communities. The findings show that local government requires support in developing and implementing appropriate intersectoral responses to address urban health. Existing urban health frameworks do not deal adequately with the complex health and development challenges identified; it is essential that urban public health practitioners and other development professionals in South Africa engage with the complexities of the urban environment. A revised, participatory approach to urban health – ‘concept mapping’ – is suggested which requires a recommitment to intersectoral action, ‘healthy urban governance’ and public health advocacy. PMID:21686331

An emerging paradigm for managing protected areas with examples from Europe and the United States

Treesearch

James Absher; Carsten Mann

2010-01-01

Parks and Protected Areas (PPA) have become increasingly important for societal well-being in Europe and the United States. Urbanization, detachment from nature, and demographic changes are fostering discussions about strengthening the social and cultural dimensions of management. The complexities and subtleties of incorporating PPAs into existing government and...

Spatial and Temporal Mapping of the Evolution of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rochelo, Mark

Urbanization is a fundamental reality in the developed and developing countries around the world creating large concentrations of the population centering on cities and urban centers. Cities can offer many opportunities for those residing there, including infrastructure, health services, rescue services and more. The living space density of cities allows for the opportunity of more effective and environmentally friendly housing, transportation and resources. Cities play a vital role in generating economic production as entities by themselves and as a part of larger urban complex. The benefits can provide for extraordinary amount of people, but only if proper planning and consideration is undertaken. Global urbanization is a progressive evolution, unique in spatial location while consistent to an overall growth pattern and trend. Remotely sensing these patterns from the last forty years of space borne satellites to understand how urbanization has developed is important to understanding past growth as well as planning for the future. Imagery from the Landsat sensor program provides the temporal component, it was the first satellite launched in 1972, providing appropriate spatial resolution needed to cover a large metropolitan statistical area to monitor urban growth and change on a large scale. This research maps the urban spatial and population growth over the Miami - Fort Lauderdale - West Palm Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) covering Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in Southeast Florida from 1974 to 2010 using Landsat imagery. Supervised Maximum Likelihood classification was performed with a combination of spectral and textural training fields employed in ERDAS Image 2014 to classify the images into urban and non-urban areas. Dasymetric mapping of the classification results were combined with census tract data then created a coherent depiction of the Miami - Fort Lauderdale - West Palm Beach MSA. Static maps and animated files were created from the final datasets for enhanced visualizations and understanding of the MSA evolution from 60-meter resolution remotely sensed Landsat images. The simplified methodology will create a database for urban planning and population growth as well as future work in this area.

A Backward-Lagrangian-Stochastic Footprint Model for the Urban Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chenghao; Wang, Zhi-Hua; Yang, Jiachuan; Li, Qi

2018-02-01

Built terrains, with their complexity in morphology, high heterogeneity, and anthropogenic impact, impose substantial challenges in Earth-system modelling. In particular, estimation of the source areas and footprints of atmospheric measurements in cities requires realistic representation of the landscape characteristics and flow physics in urban areas, but has hitherto been heavily reliant on large-eddy simulations. In this study, we developed physical parametrization schemes for estimating urban footprints based on the backward-Lagrangian-stochastic algorithm, with the built environment represented by street canyons. The vertical profile of mean streamwise velocity is parametrized for the urban canopy and boundary layer. Flux footprints estimated by the proposed model show reasonable agreement with analytical predictions over flat surfaces without roughness elements, and with experimental observations over sparse plant canopies. Furthermore, comparisons of canyon flow and turbulence profiles and the subsequent footprints were made between the proposed model and large-eddy simulation data. The results suggest that the parametrized canyon wind and turbulence statistics, based on the simple similarity theory used, need to be further improved to yield more realistic urban footprint modelling.

Urban Flow and Pollutant Dispersion Simulation with Multi-scale coupling of Meteorological Model with Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yushi; Poh, Hee Joo

2014-11-01

The Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis has become increasingly important in modern urban planning in order to create highly livable city. This paper presents a multi-scale modeling methodology which couples Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model with open source CFD simulation tool, OpenFOAM. This coupling enables the simulation of the wind flow and pollutant dispersion in urban built-up area with high resolution mesh. In this methodology meso-scale model WRF provides the boundary condition for the micro-scale CFD model OpenFOAM. The advantage is that the realistic weather condition is taken into account in the CFD simulation and complexity of building layout can be handled with ease by meshing utility of OpenFOAM. The result is validated against the Joint Urban 2003 Tracer Field Tests in Oklahoma City and there is reasonably good agreement between the CFD simulation and field observation. The coupling of WRF- OpenFOAM provide urban planners with reliable environmental modeling tool in actual urban built-up area; and it can be further extended with consideration of future weather conditions for the scenario studies on climate change impact.

One-dimensional modelling of the interactions between heavy rainfall-runoff in an urban area and flooding flows from sewer networks and rivers.

PubMed

Kouyi, G Lipeme; Fraisse, D; Rivière, N; Guinot, V; Chocat, B

2009-01-01

Many investigations have been carried out in order to develop models which allow the linking of complex physical processes involved in urban flooding. The modelling of the interactions between overland flows on streets and flooding flows from rivers and sewer networks is one of the main objectives of recent and current research programs in hydraulics and urban hydrology. This paper outlines the original one-dimensional linking of heavy rainfall-runoff in urban areas and flooding flows from rivers and sewer networks under the RIVES project framework (Estimation of Scenario and Risks of Urban Floods). The first part of the paper highlights the capacity of Canoe software to simulate the street flows. In the second part, we show the original method of connection which enables the modelling of interactions between processes in urban flooding. Comparisons between simulated results and the results of Despotovic et al. or Gomez & Mur show a good agreement for the calibrated one-dimensional connection model. The connection operates likes a manhole with the orifice/weir coefficients used as calibration parameters. The influence of flooding flows from river was taken into account as a variable water depth boundary condition.

"The home infusion patient": patient profiles for the home infusion therapy market.

PubMed

Westbrook, K W; Powers, T

1999-01-01

The authors review the relevant literature regarding home health care patient profiles. An empirical analysis is provided from archival data for a home infusion company servicing patients in urban and rural areas. The results are provided as a 2 x 2 matrix for patients in urban and rural areas seeing either a specialist or primary care physicians. A series of moderated regressions indicate that type of treating physician, patient's gender, geographic residence and level of acuity are cogent in predicting the complexity of prescribed infusion therapies. Managerial implications are provided for the home care marketer in segmenting patient markets for infusion services.

Flood vulnerability evaluation in complex urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giosa, L.; Pascale, S.; Sdao, F.; Sole, A.; Cantisani, A.

2009-04-01

This paper deals the conception, the development and the subsequent validation of an integrated numerical model for the assessment of systemic vulnerability in complex and urbanized areas, subject to flood risk. The proposed methodology is based on the application of the concept of "systemic vulnerability", the model is a mathematician-decisional model action to estimate the vulnerability of complex a territorial system during a flood event. The model uses a group of "pressure pointers" in order to define, qualitatively and quantitatively, the influence exercised on the territorial system from factors like as those physicists, social, economic, etc.. The model evaluates the exposure to the flood risk of the elements that belong to a system. The proposed model, which is based on the studies of Tamura et al., 2000; Minciardi et al., 2004; Pascale et al., 2008; considers the vulnerability not as a characteristic of a particular element at risk, but as a peculiarity of a complex territorial system, in which the different elements are reciprocally linked in a functional way. The proposed model points out the elements with the major functional lost and that make the whole system critical. This characteristic makes the proposed model able to support a correct territorial planning and a suitable management of the emergency following natural disasters such as floods. The proposed approach was tested on the study area in the city of Potenza, southern Italy.

Environmental Inventory and Analysis for Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Volume I. Pine Bluff Metropolitan Area, Arkansas Urban Water Management Study.

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-10-03

surface water systems include bacteria which cause typhoid fever, gastro- intestinal disorders, diarrheal diseases, nausea, dehydration , and kidney...industrial activity, although natural seepage, runoff from residential areas and decomposition of aquatic organisms may also be contributors. Waters with...Study Area. The movement of pesticides, however, is complex and dependent upon biological and photo-degradation, chemical oxidation and hydrolysis

Urban Typologies: Towards an ORNL Urban Information System (UrbIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KC, B.; King, A. W.; Sorokine, A.; Crow, M. C.; Devarakonda, R.; Hilbert, N. L.; Karthik, R.; Patlolla, D.; Surendran Nair, S.

2016-12-01

Urban environments differ in a large number of key attributes; these include infrastructure, morphology, demography, and economic and social variables, among others. These attributes determine many urban properties such as energy and water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, public health, sustainability, and vulnerability and resilience to climate change. Characterization of urban environments by a single property such as population size does not sufficiently capture this complexity. In addressing this multivariate complexity one typically faces such problems as disparate and scattered data, challenges of big data management, spatial searching, insufficient computational capacity for data-driven analysis and modelling, and the lack of tools to quickly visualize the data and compare the analytical results across different cities and regions. We have begun the development of an Urban Information System (UrbIS) to address these issues, one that embraces the multivariate "big data" of urban areas and their environments across the United States utilizing the Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) concept. With technological roots in High-performance Computing (HPC), BDaaS is based on the idea of outsourcing computations to different computing paradigms, scalable to super-computers. UrbIS aims to incorporate federated metadata search, integrated modeling and analysis, and geovisualization into a single seamless workflow. The system includes web-based 2D/3D visualization with an iGlobe interface, fast cloud-based and server-side data processing and analysis, and a metadata search engine based on the Mercury data search system developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Results of analyses will be made available through web services. We are implementing UrbIS in ORNL's Compute and Data Environment for Science (CADES) and are leveraging ORNL experience in complex data and geospatial projects. The development of UrbIS is being guided by an investigation of urban heat islands (UHI) using high-dimensional clustering and statistics to define urban typologies (types of cities) in an investigation of how UHI vary with urban type across the United States.

Optimal capacity design of LID facility for conserving natural water cycle and its sensitivity analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, O.; Choi, J.; Lee, J.; Kim, S.

2017-12-01

Since the 20th century, urbanization has resulted in increased impermeable land surface and reduced infiltration capacity in catchment scale. Especially, when agriculture area or forest area would be developed into urban area, it can cause more runoff in the same climate condition. Such urbanization causes problems such as changes in hydrological cycle and ecosystem disturbance. Various methods have been proposed worldwide to reduce the impact of such urbanization. Among the various strategies, the low-impact development is a development strategy that aims to return to pre-development state by minimizing the change of the hydrological cycle due to urbanization. In this strategy, the infiltration and/or surface storage of stormwater runoff can be increased through the installation of various facilities. In this study, a facility capacity design strategy is proposed to return into the natural water cycle through the installation of various LID facilities. This is accomplished by determining the optimal LID facility design capacity through which flow duration curves remain the same before and after urban development. For this purpose, EPA-SWMM is constructed with a part of Busan Metropolitan City Noksan Industrial Complex as a virtual processing area. Under the various land-use scenarios, the optimum design capacity of various LID facilities capable of retaining the flow duration curve before and after development is determined. In addition, the sensitivity of the optimal design capacity of LID facilities is analyzed according to the design specifications of various LID facilities, the local rainfall characteristics, and the size of the treatment area. Acknowledgement This research was supported by a grant (2016000200002) from Public Welfare Technology Development Program funded by Ministry of Environment of Korean government.

The application of a Web-geographic information system for improving urban water cycle modelling.

PubMed

Mair, M; Mikovits, C; Sengthaler, M; Schöpf, M; Kinzel, H; Urich, C; Kleidorfer, M; Sitzenfrei, R; Rauch, W

2014-01-01

Research in urban water management has experienced a transition from traditional model applications to modelling water cycles as an integrated part of urban areas. This includes the interlinking of models of many research areas (e.g. urban development, socio-economy, urban water management). The integration and simulation is realized in newly developed frameworks (e.g. DynaMind and OpenMI) and often assumes a high knowledge in programming. This work presents a Web based urban water management modelling platform which simplifies the setup and usage of complex integrated models. The platform is demonstrated with a small application example on a case study within the Alpine region. The used model is a DynaMind model benchmarking the impact of newly connected catchments on the flooding behaviour of an existing combined sewer system. As a result the workflow of the user within a Web browser is demonstrated and benchmark results are shown. The presented platform hides implementation specific aspects behind Web services based technologies such that the user can focus on his main aim, which is urban water management modelling and benchmarking. Moreover, this platform offers a centralized data management, automatic software updates and access to high performance computers accessible with desktop computers and mobile devices.

Predicting the Effect of Changing Precipitation Extremes and Land Cover Change on Urban Water Quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

SUN, N.; Yearsley, J. R.; Lettenmaier, D. P.

2013-12-01

Recent research shows that precipitation extremes in many of the largest U.S. urban areas have increased over the last 60 years. These changes have important implications for stormwater runoff and water quality, which in urban areas are dominated by the most extreme precipitation events. We assess the potential implications of changes in extreme precipitation and changing land cover in urban and urbanizing watersheds at the regional scale using a combination of hydrology and water quality models. Specifically, we describe the integration of a spatially distributed hydrological model - the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM), the urban water quality model in EPA's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), the semi-Lagrangian stream temperature model RBM10, and dynamical and statistical downscaling methods applied to global climate predictions. Key output water quality parameters include total suspended solids (TSS), toal nitrogen, total phosphorous, fecal coliform bacteria and stream temperature. We have evaluated the performance of the modeling system in the highly urbanized Mercer Creek watershed in the rapidly growing Bellevue urban area in WA, USA. The results suggest that the model is able to (1) produce reasonable streamflow predictions at fine temporal and spatial scales; (2) provide spatially distributed water temperature predictions that mostly agree with observations throughout a complex stream network, and characterize impacts of climate, landscape, near-stream vegetation change on stream temperature at local and regional scales; and (3) capture plausibly the response of water quality constituents to varying magnitude of precipitation events in urban environments. Next we will extend the scope of the study from the Mercer Creek watershed to include the entire Puget Sound Basin, WA, USA.

Urban RoGeR: Merging process-based high-resolution flash flood model for urban areas with long-term water balance predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiler, M.

2016-12-01

Heavy rain induced flash floods are still a serious hazard and generate high damages in urban areas. In particular in the spatially complex urban areas, the temporal and spatial pattern of runoff generation processes at a wide spatial range during extreme rainfall events need to be predicted including the specific effects of green infrastructure and urban forests. In addition, the initial conditions (soil moisture pattern, water storage of green infrastructure) and the effect of lateral redistribution of water (run-on effects and re-infiltration) have to be included in order realistically predict flash flood generation. We further developed the distributed, process-based model RoGeR (Runoff Generation Research) to include the relevant features and processes in urban areas in order to test the effects of different settings, initial conditions and the lateral redistribution of water on the predicted flood response. The uncalibrated model RoGeR runs at a spatial resolution of 1*1m² (LiDAR, degree of sealing, landuse), soil properties and geology (1:50.000). In addition, different green infrastructures are included into the model as well as the effect of trees on interception and transpiration. A hydraulic model was included into RoGeR to predict surface runoff, water redistribution, and re-infiltration. During rainfall events, RoGeR predicts at 5 min temporal resolution, but the model also simulates evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge during rain-free periods at a longer time step. The model framework was applied to several case studies in Germany where intense rainfall events produced flash floods causing high damage in urban areas and to a long-term research catchment in an urban setting (Vauban, Freiburg), where a variety of green infrastructures dominates the hydrology. Urban-RoGeR allowed us to study the effects of different green infrastructures on reducing the flood peak, but also its effect on the water balance (evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge). We could also show that infiltration of surface runoff from areas with a low infiltration (lateral redistribution) reduce the flood peaks by over 90% in certain areas and situations. Finally, we also evaluated the model to long-term runoff observations (surface runoff, ET, roof runoff) and to flood marks in the selected case studies.

Evaluating the potential use of a high-resolution X-band polarimetric radar observations in Urban Hydrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anagnostou, Marios N.; Kalogiros, John; Marzano, Frank S.; Anagnostou, Emmanouil N.; Baldini, Luca; Nikolopoulos, EfThymios; Montopoli, Mario; Picciotti, Errico

2014-05-01

The Mediterranean area concentrates the major natural risks related to the water cycle, including heavy precipitation and flash-flooding during the fall season. Every year in central and south Europe we witness several fatal and economical disasters from severe storm rainfall triggering Flash Floods, and its impacts are increasing worldwide, but remain very difficult to manage. The spatial scale of flash flood occurrence is such that its vulnerability is often focused on dispersed urbanization, transportation and tourism infrastructures (De Marchi and Scolobig 2012). Urbanized and industrialized areas shows peculiar hydrodynamic and meteo-oceanographic features and they concentrate the highest rates of flash floods and fatal disasters. The main causes of disturbance being littoral urban development and harbor activities, the building of littoral rail- and highways, and the presence of several polluted discharges. All the above mentioned characteristics limit our ability to issue timely flood warnings. Precipitation estimates based on raingauge networks are usually associated with low coverage density, particularly at high altitudes. On the other hand, operational weather radar networks may provide valuable information of precipitation at these regimes but reliability of their estimates is often limited due to retrieval (e.g. variability in the reflectivity-to-rainfall relationship) and spatial extent constrains (e.g. blockage issues, overshooting effects). As a result, we currently lack accurate precipitation estimates over urban complex terrain areas, which essentially means that we lack accurate knowledge of the triggering factor for a number of hazards like flash floods and debris flows/landslides occurring in those areas. A potential solution to overcome sampling as well as retrieval uncertainty limitations of current observational networks might be the use of network of low-power dual-polarization X-band radars as complement to raingauges and gap-filling to operational, low-frequency (C-band or S-ban) and high-power weather radars. The above hypothesis is examined using data collected during the HyMEX 2012 Special Observation Period (Nov-Feb) the urban and sub-urban complex terrain area in the Central Italy (CI). The area is densely populated and it includes the high-density populated urban and industrial area of Rome. The orography of CI is quite complex, going from sea level to nearly 3000 m in less than 150 km. The CI area involves many rivers, including two major basins: the Aniene-Tiber basin (1000 km long) and the Aterno-Pescara basin (300 km long), respectively on the west and on the east side of the Apennines ridge. Data include observations from i) the National Observatory of Athens' X-band polarimetric weather radar (XPOL), ii) two X-band miniradars (WR25X located in CNR, WR10X located in Rome Sapienza), iii) a dense network of raingauges and disdrometers (i.e. Parsivel type and 2D-video type). In addition, the experimental area is also covered from the nearby the National Research Council (CNR)'s C-band dual-polarization weather radar (Polar55C), which were involved also in the analysis. A number of storm events are selected and compared with the nearby C-band radar to investigate the potential of using high-resolution and microphysically-derived rainfall based on X-band polarimetric radar observations. Events have been discriminated on the basis of rainfall intensity and hydrological response. Results reveal that in contrast with the other two rainfall sources (in situ and C-band radar), X-band radar rainfall estimates offer an improved representation of the local precipitation variability, which turns to have a significant impact in simulating the peak flows associated with these events.

Geophysical techniques applied to urban planning in complex near surface environments. Examples of Zaragoza, NE Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pueyo-Anchuela, Ó.; Casas-Sainz, A. M.; Soriano, M. A.; Pocoví-Juan, A.

Complex geological shallow subsurface environments represent an important handicap in urban and building projects. The geological features of the Central Ebro Basin, with sharp lateral changes in Quaternary deposits, alluvial karst phenomena and anthropic activity can preclude the characterization of future urban areas only from isolated geomechanical tests or from non-correctly dimensioned geophysical techniques. This complexity is here analyzed in two different test fields, (i) one of them linked to flat-bottomed valleys with irregular distribution of Quaternary deposits related to sharp lateral facies changes and irregular preconsolidated substratum position and (ii) a second one with similar complexities in the alluvial deposits and karst activity linked to solution of the underlying evaporite substratum. The results show that different geophysical techniques allow for similar geological models to be obtained in the first case (flat-bottomed valleys), whereas only the application of several geophysical techniques can permit to correctly evaluate the geological model complexities in the second case (alluvial karst). In this second case, the geological and superficial information permit to refine the sensitivity of the applied geophysical techniques to different indicators of karst activity. In both cases 3D models are needed to correctly distinguish alluvial lateral sedimentary changes from superimposed karstic activity.

Energy exchanges in a Central Business District - Interpretation of Eddy Covariance and radiation flux measurements (London UK)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotthaus, S.; Grimmond, S.

2013-12-01

Global urbanisation brings increasingly dense and complex urban structures. To manage cities sustainably and smartly, currently and into the future under changing climates, urban climate research needs to advance in areas such as Central Business Districts (CBD) where human interactions with the environment are particularly concentrated. Measurement and modelling approaches may be pushed to their limits in dense urban settings, but if urban climate research is to contribute to the challenges of real cities those limits have to be addressed. The climate of cities is strongly governed by surface-atmosphere exchanges of energy, moisture and momentum. Observations of the relevant fluxes provide important information for improvement and evaluation of modelling approaches. Due to the CBD's heterogeneity, a very careful analysis of observations is required to understand the relevant processes. Current approaches used to interpret observations and set them in a wider context may need to be adapted for use in these more complex areas. Here, we present long-term observations of the radiation balance components and turbulent fluxes of latent heat, sensible heat and momentum in the city centre of London. This is one of the first measurement studies in a CBD covering multiple years with analysis at temporal scales from days to seasons. Data gathered at two sites in close vicinity, but with different measurement heights, are analysed to investigate the influence of source area characteristics on long-term radiation and turbulent fluxes. Challenges of source area modelling and the critical aspect of siting in such a complex environment are considered. Outgoing long- and short-wave radiation are impacted by the anisotropic nature of the urban surface and the high reflectance materials increasingly being used as building materials. Results highlight the need to consider the source area of radiometers in terms of diffuse and direct irradiance. Sensible heat fluxes (QH) are positive all year round, even at night. QH systematically exceeds input from net all-wave radiation (Q*), probably sustained by a both storage and anthropogenic heat fluxes (QF). Model estimates suggest QF can exceed the Q* nearly all year round. The positive QH inhibits stable conditions, but the stability classification is determined predominantly by the pattern of friction velocity over the rough urban surface. Turbulent latent heat flux variations are controlled (beyond the available energy) by rainfall due to the small vegetation cover. The Bowen ratio is mostly larger than one. Analysis of the eddy covariance footprint surface controls for the different land cover types by flow patterns for measurements at the two heights suggests the spatial variations of the sensible heat flux observed are partly related to changes in surface roughness, even at the local scale. Where the source areas are most homogeneous, flow conditions are vertically consistent - even if initial morphometric parameters suggested the measurements may be below the blending height. Turbulence statistics and momentum flux patterns prove useful for the interpretation of turbulent heat exchanges observed.

The public health response to 'do-it-yourself' urbanism.

PubMed

Sibbald, Shannon L; Graham, Ross; Gilliland, Jason

2017-09-01

Greater understanding of the important and complex relationship between the built environment and human health has made 'healthy places' a focus of public health and health promotion. While current literature concentrates on creating healthy places through traditional decision-making pathways (namely, municipal land use planning and urban design processes), this paper explores do-it-yourself (DIY) urbanism: a movement circumventing traditional pathways to, arguably, create healthy places and advance social justice. Despite being aligned with several health promotion goals, DIY urbanism interventions are typically illegal and have been categorized as a type of civil disobedience. This is challenging for public health officials who may value DIY urbanism outcomes, but do not necessarily support the means by which it is achieved. Based on the literature, we present a preliminary approach to health promotion decision-making in this area. Public health officials can voice support for DIY urbanism interventions in some instances, but should proceed cautiously.

Dispersal and fallout simulations for urban consequences management (u)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grinstein, Fernando F; Wachtor, Adam J; Nelson, Matt

2010-01-01

Hazardous chemical, biological, or radioactive releases from leaks, spills, fires, or blasts, may occur (intentionally or accidentally) in urban environments during warfare or as part of terrorist attacks on military bases or other facilities. The associated contaminant dispersion is complex and semi-chaotic. Urban predictive simulation capabilities can have direct impact in many threat-reduction areas of interest, including, urban sensor placement and threat analysis, contaminant transport (CT) effects on surrounding civilian population (dosages, evacuation, shelter-in-place), education and training of rescue teams and services. Detailed simulations for the various processes involved are in principle possible, but generally not fast. Predicting urban airflowmore » accompanied by CT presents extremely challenging requirements. Crucial technical issues include, simulating turbulent fluid and particulate transport, initial and boundary condition modeling incorporating a consistent stratified urban boundary layer with realistic wind fluctuations, and post-processing of the simulation results for practical consequences management. Relevant fluid dynamic processes to be simulated include, detailed energetic and contaminant sources, complex building vortex shedding and flows in recirculation zones, and modeling of particle distributions, including particulate fallout, as well as deposition, re-suspension and evaporation. Other issues include, modeling building damage effects due to eventual blasts, addressing appropriate regional and atmospheric data reduction.« less

Comparison of Hourly PM2.5 Observations Between Urban and Suburban Areas in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Yao, Ling; Lu, Ning; Yue, Xiafang; Du, Jia; Yang, Cundong

2015-09-29

Hourly PM2.5 observations collected at 12 stations over a 1-year period are used to identify variations between urban and suburban areas in Beijing. The data demonstrates a unique monthly variation form, as compared with other major cities. Urban areas suffer higher PM2.5 concentration (about 92 μg/m³) than suburban areas (about 77 μg/m³), and the average PM2.5 concentration in cold season (about 105 μg/m³) is higher than warm season (about 78 μg/m³). Hourly PM2.5 observations exhibit distinct seasonal, diurnal and day-of-week variations. The diurnal variation of PM2.5 is observed with higher concentration at night and lower value at daytime, and the cumulative growth of nighttime (22:00 p.m. in winter) PM2.5 concentration maybe due to the atmospheric stability. Moreover, annual average PM2.5 concentrations are about 18 μg/m³ higher on weekends than weekdays, consistent with driving restrictions on weekdays. Additionally, the nighttime peak in weekdays (21:00 p.m.) is one hour later than weekends (20:00 p.m.) which also shows the evidence of human activity. These observed facts indicate that the variations of PM2.5 concentration between urban and suburban areas in Beijing are influenced by complex meteorological factors and human activities.

Comparison of Hourly PM2.5 Observations Between Urban and Suburban Areas in Beijing, China

PubMed Central

Yao, Ling; Lu, Ning; Yue, Xiafang; Du, Jia; Yang, Cundong

2015-01-01

Hourly PM2.5 observations collected at 12 stations over a 1-year period are used to identify variations between urban and suburban areas in Beijing. The data demonstrates a unique monthly variation form, as compared with other major cities. Urban areas suffer higher PM2.5 concentration (about 92 μg/m3) than suburban areas (about 77 μg/m3), and the average PM2.5 concentration in cold season (about 105 μg/m3) is higher than warm season (about 78 μg/m3). Hourly PM2.5 observations exhibit distinct seasonal, diurnal and day-of-week variations. The diurnal variation of PM2.5 is observed with higher concentration at night and lower value at daytime, and the cumulative growth of nighttime (22:00 p.m. in winter) PM2.5 concentration maybe due to the atmospheric stability. Moreover, annual average PM2.5 concentrations are about 18 μg/m3 higher on weekends than weekdays, consistent with driving restrictions on weekdays. Additionally, the nighttime peak in weekdays (21:00 p.m.) is one hour later than weekends (20:00 p.m.) which also shows the evidence of human activity. These observed facts indicate that the variations of PM2.5 concentration between urban and suburban areas in Beijing are influenced by complex meteorological factors and human activities. PMID:26426035

Street Level Hydrology: An Urban Application of the WRF-Hydro Framework in Denver, Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Read, L.; Hogue, T. S.; Salas, F. R.; Gochis, D.

2015-12-01

Urban flood modeling at the watershed scale carries unique challenges in routing complexity, data resolution, social and political issues, and land surface - infrastructure interactions. The ability to accurately trace and predict the flow of water through the urban landscape enables better emergency response management, floodplain mapping, and data for future urban infrastructure planning and development. These services are of growing importance as urban population is expected to continue increasing by 1.84% per year for the next 25 years, increasing the vulnerability of urban regions to damages and loss of life from floods. Although a range of watershed-scale models have been applied in specific urban areas to examine these issues, there is a trend towards national scale hydrologic modeling enabled by supercomputing resources to understand larger system-wide hydrologic impacts and feedbacks. As such it is important to address how urban landscapes can be represented in large scale modeling processes. The current project investigates how coupling terrain and infrastructure routing can improve flow prediction and flooding events over the urban landscape. We utilize the WRF-Hydro modeling framework and a high-resolution terrain routing grid with the goal of compiling standard data needs necessary for fine scale urban modeling and dynamic flood forecasting in the urban setting. The city of Denver is selected as a case study, as it has experienced several large flooding events in the last five years and has an urban annual population growth rate of 1.5%, one of the highest in the U.S. Our work highlights the hydro-informatic challenges associated with linking channel networks and drainage infrastructure in an urban area using the WRF-Hydro modeling framework and high resolution urban models for short-term flood prediction.

[Characteristics of CO2 flux before and in the heating period at urban complex underlying surface area].

PubMed

Jia, Qing-yu; Zhou, Guang-sheng; Wang, Yu; Liu, Xiao-mei

2010-04-01

Urban areas were significant contributors to global carbon dioxide emissions. The eddy covariance (EC) was used to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and flux data at urban area in Shenyang. This research analyzed the characteristics of atmospheric CO2 concentration and flux in October 2008 to November 2008 period before and in the heating period. The results showed that the daily variation of CO2 concentration was two-peak curve. The first peak time appeared as same as sunrise time, while the second peak time impacted by vehicles and heating. The result of CO2 flux showed that urban atmospheric CO2 was net emissions, vegetation photosynthesis absorbed CO2 of traffic, the CO2 flux peak appeared at 17:15-18:15 in the heating period, CO2 emission increased 29.37 g x (m2 x d)(-1) in the heating period than that before the heating period; there was corresponding relationship between CO2 flux and the time when temperature peak and sensible heating flux (Hc) turn positive. The results also indicated that atmospheric CO2 concentration and its flux were affected seriously by both wind direction and carbon sources.

Formal Home Care Utilization Patterns by Rural–Urban Community Residence

PubMed Central

Spector, William; Van Nostrand, Joan

2009-01-01

Background We examined formal home care utilization among civilian adults across metro and nonmetro residential categories before and after adjustment for predisposing, enabling, and need variables. Methods Two years of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) were combined to produce a nationally representative sample of adults who resided in the community for a calendar year. We established 6 rural–urban categories based upon Urban Influence Codes and examined 2 dependent variables: (a) likelihood of using any formal home care and (b) number of provider days received by users. The Area Resource File provided county-level information. Logistic and negative binomial regression analyses were employed, with adjustments for the MEPS complex sampling design and the combined years. Results Under controls for predisposing, enabling, and need variables, differences in likelihood of any formal home care use disappear, but differences in number of provider days received by users emerged, with fewer provider days in remote areas than in metro and several other nonmetro types. Conclusions It is important to fully account for predisposing, enabling, and need factors when assessing rural and urban home care utilization patterns. The limited provider days in remote counties under controls suggest a possible access problem for adults in these areas. PMID:19196690

Diversity and human perceptions of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in Southeast Asian megacities.

PubMed

Sing, Kong-Wah; Wang, Wen-Zhi; Wan, Tao; Lee, Ping-Shin; Li, Zong-Xu; Chen, Xing; Wang, Yun-Yu; Wilson, John-James

2016-10-01

Urbanization requires the conversion of natural land cover to cover with human-constructed elements and is considered a major threat to biodiversity. Bee populations, globally, are under threat; however, the effect of rapid urban expansion in Southeast Asia on bee diversity has not been investigated. Given the pressing issues of bee conservation and urbanization in Southeast Asia, coupled with complex factors surrounding human-bee coexistence, we investigated bee diversity and human perceptions of bees in four megacities. We sampled bees and conducted questionnaires at three different site types in each megacity: a botanical garden, central business district, and peripheral suburban areas. Overall, the mean species richness and abundance of bees were significantly higher in peripheral suburban areas than central business districts; however, there were no significant differences in the mean species richness and abundance between botanical gardens and peripheral suburban areas or botanical gardens and central business districts. Urban residents were unlikely to have seen bees but agreed that bees have a right to exist in their natural environment. Residents who did notice and interact with bees, even though being stung, were more likely to have positive opinions towards the presence of bees in cities.

Important factors of perceiving and memorizing the city during the process of vehicle and pedestrian traffic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alihodžić, Rifat; Butyrin, Andrey; Makhov, Dmitry

2017-10-01

Moving within the city, both by vehicle and pedestrian, is a prerequisite of creating visual sequences. A variety of factors should be taken into consideration when planning cities, not only of functional nature, but also of the aesthetic one. A particular problem lies in complex cities having a compound identification matrix as a consequence of a boisterous development during long period of time. Considering that the city follows the needs of its user, inevitably moving along it, one of the most important factors required is easy orientation in the complex urban area. Some research has been carried out on the condition of easy orientation and moving in the city, and on appearance of urban elements that provide remembering of the city. This work deals with defining important factors effecting perceiving and memorizing, by inhabitants and also of those visiting it for the first time, regardless they are walking or using a vehicle. Physical structures, topography and a climate and a range of other elements are implied to create a clear idea of some urban area. Many elements were considered - not only being of fixed nature (streets, squares, topography and morphology), but also elements that make the essence of the urban image - elements that can also be some specific public transportation means, such as double-deckers in London, bicycles in Amsterdam or Beijing or gondolas in Venice. The purpose of this work is to notice the rules helping the urban planning process and contribute to reading and memorizing the image of the city.

Hydrological Modeling of Storm Water Drainage System due to Frequent and Intense Precipitation of Dhaka city using Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossain, S., Jr.

2015-12-01

Rainfall induced flooding during rainy season is a regular phenomenon in Dhaka City. Almost every year a significant part of the city suffers badly with drainage congestion. There are some highly dense areas with lower ground elevation which submerge under water even with an intense precipitation of few hours. The higher areas also suffer with the drainage problem due to inadequate maintenance of the system and encroachment or illegal filling up of the drainage canals and lakes. Most part of the city suffered from long term urban flooding during historical extreme rainfall events in September 2004, 2007 and July 2009. The situation is likely to worsen in the future due to Climate Change, which may lead to more frequent and intense precipitation. To assess the major and minor drainage systems and elements of the urban basins using the hydrodynamic modelling and, through this, identifying the flooding events and areas, taking into account the current situation and future flood or drainage scenarios. Stormwater modeling has a major role in preventing issues such as flash floods and urban water-quality problems. Stormwater models of a lowered spatial resolution would thus appear valuable if only their ability to provide realistic results could be proved. The present scenario of urban morphology of Dhaka city and existing drainage system is complex for hydrological and hydrodynamic modeling. Furthermore limitations of background data and uncertain future urban scenarios may confine the potential outputs of a model. Although several studies were carried out including modeling for drainage master planning, a detail model for whole DAP (Detaile Area Plan) of Dhaka city area is not available. The model developed under this study is covering the existing drainage system in the study area as well as natural flows in the fringe area. A good number of models are available for hydrological and hydraulic analysis of urban areas. These are MIKE 11, MOUSE, HEC-RAS, HEC HMS and EPA SWMM. EPA-SWMM is used for the study area which is mostly developed and consists pipe networks, open channels and water bodies. This study proposes a methodology for rapid catchment delineation and stormwater management model (SWMM) set-up in a large urban area with model calibration and validation.

Invasive Shrub Mapping in an Urban Environment from Hyperspectral and LiDAR-Derived Attributes

PubMed Central

Chance, Curtis M.; Coops, Nicholas C.; Plowright, Andrew A.; Tooke, Thoreau R.; Christen, Andreas; Aven, Neal

2016-01-01

Proactive management of invasive species in urban areas is critical to restricting their overall distribution. The objective of this work is to determine whether advanced remote sensing technologies can help to detect invasions effectively and efficiently in complex urban ecosystems such as parks. In Surrey, BC, Canada, Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and English ivy (Hedera helix) are two invasive shrub species that can negatively affect native ecosystems in cities and managed urban parks. Random forest (RF) models were created to detect these two species using a combination of hyperspectral imagery, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. LiDAR-derived predictor variables included irradiance models, canopy structural characteristics, and orographic variables. RF detection accuracy ranged from 77.8 to 87.8% for Himalayan blackberry and 81.9 to 82.1% for English ivy, with open areas classified more accurately than areas under canopy cover. English ivy was predicted to occur across a greater area than Himalayan blackberry both within parks and across the entire city. Both Himalayan blackberry and English ivy were mostly located in clusters according to a Local Moran’s I analysis. The occurrence of both species decreased as the distance from roads increased. This study shows the feasibility of producing highly accurate detection maps of plant invasions in urban environments using a fusion of remotely sensed data, as well as the ability to use these products to guide management decisions. PMID:27818664

Urban flood return period assessment through rainfall-flood response modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murla Tuyls, Damian; Thorndahl, Søren

2017-04-01

Intense rainfall can often cause severe floods, especially in urbanized areas, where population density or large impermeable areas are found. In this context, floods can generate a direct impact in a social-environmental-economic viewpoint. Traditionally, in design of Urban Drainage Systems (UDS), correlation between return period (RP) of a given rainfall and RP of its consequent flood has been assumed to be linear (e.g. DS/EN752 (2008)). However, this is not always the case. Complex UDS, where diverse hydraulic infrastructures are often found, increase the heterogeneity of system response, which may cause an alteration of the mentioned correlation. Consequently, reliability on future urban planning, design and resilience against floods may be also affected by this misassumption. In this study, an assessment of surface flood RP across rainfall RP has been carried out at Lystrup, a urbanized catchment area of 440ha and 10.400inhab. located in Jutland (Denmark), which has received the impact of several pluvial flooding in the last recent years. A historical rainfall dataset from the last 35 years from two different rain gauges located at 2 and 10 km from the study area has been provided by the Danish Wastewater Pollution Committee and the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). The most extreme 25 rainfall events have been selected through a two-step multi-criteria procedure, ensuring an adequate variability of rainfall, from extreme high peak storms with a short duration to moderate rainfall with longer duration. In addition, a coupled 1D/2D surface and network UDS model of the catchment area developed in an integrated MIKE URBAN and MIKE Flood model (DHI 2014), considering both permeable and impermeable areas, in combination with a DTM (2x2m res.) has been used to study and assess in detail flood RP. Results show an ambiguous relation between rainfall RP and flood response. Local flood levels, flood area and volume RP estimates should therefore not be neglected in order to guarantee quality of the assessment, especially in design of complex UDS, where features as the main slope, hydraulic capacity, permeability, etc. can play an important role. In addition, a novel approach has been applied to map the response time (Tc) of the flood prone areas of the system under study. Together with the flood area and volume RP estimates this provides valuable knowledge suggesting to consider the different subareas of the UDS for design purposes and to establish a robust database that allows urban areas to be resilient against the severe impact of rainfall. Acknowledgement to ERA-NET Cofund Water Works 2014 (project MUFFIN) for the partial funding of this research; to the Danish Wastewater Pollution Committee and the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) for providing the rainfall dataset; to the Danish Geodata Agency for providing the DTM data and to DHI for providing license to MIKE software packages. The applied model has been made available for this study by Aarhus Water Utility Services. References DHI, 2014. MIKE by DHI software package 2014. Hørsholm, DK. DS/EN 752, 2008. Drain and sewer systems outside buildings.

Sub-kilometer Numerical Weather Prediction in complex urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leroyer, S.; Bélair, S.; Husain, S.; Vionnet, V.

2013-12-01

A Sub-kilometer atmospheric modeling system with grid-spacings of 2.5 km, 1 km and 250 m and including urban processes is currently being developed at the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) in order to provide more accurate weather forecasts at the city scale. Atmospheric lateral boundary conditions are provided with the 15-km Canadian Regional Deterministic Prediction System (RDPS). Surface physical processes are represented with the Town Energy Balance (TEB) model for the built-up covers and with the Interactions between the Surface, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface model for the natural covers. In this study, several research experiments over large metropolitan areas and using observational networks at the urban scale are presented, with a special emphasis on the representation of local atmospheric circulations and their impact on extreme weather forecasting. First, numerical simulations are performed over the Vancouver metropolitan area during a summertime Intense Observing Period (IOP of 14-15 August 2008) of the Environmental Prediction in Canadian Cities (EPiCC) observational network. The influence of the horizontal resolution on the fine-scale representation of the sea-breeze development over the city is highlighted (Leroyer et al., 2013). Then severe storms cases occurring in summertime within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are simulated. In view of supporting the 2015 PanAmerican and Para-Pan games to be hold in GTA, a dense observational network has been recently deployed over this region to support model evaluations at the urban and meso scales. In particular, simulations are conducted for the case of 8 July 2013 when exceptional rainfalls were recorded. Leroyer, S., S. Bélair, J. Mailhot, S.Z. Husain, 2013: Sub-kilometer Numerical Weather Prediction in an Urban Coastal Area: A case study over the Vancouver Metropolitan Area, submitted to Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

Earth Observations taken by the Expedition 10 crew

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-12-25

ISS010-E-12103 (25 December 2004) --- Seoul, South Korea is featured in this digital image photographed by an Expedition 10 crewmember on the International Space Station. This photograph illustrates the Seoul (originally known as Hanyang) urban area at night. Major roadways and river courses (such as the Han River) are clearly outlined by street lights, while the brightest lights indicate the downtown urban core (center of image) and large industrial complexes. Very dark regions in the image are mountains or large bodies of water.

Health Assessment Document for Vinylidene Chloride (Final Report, 1983)

EPA Science Inventory

Vinylidene chloride is a highly reactive, flammable, clear colorless liquid. In the absence of chemical inhibitors, it can produce violently explosive, complex peroxides. The estimated, ambient air level of vinylidene chloride in urban-suburban areas of the United States is 20 mi...

An observation on the quality of interfaces in order to understand the complexity and coherence of informal settlement: A study on Tamansari Kampung in Bandung

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawira, S.; Rahman, T.

2018-05-01

Self-organized settlements are formed within the limited capacity of the inhabitants with or without the Government’s interventions. This pattern is mostly found in the informal settlements, where occupants are the planners who are guided by their needs, limited resources and vernacular knowledge about place making. Understanding the process of its development and transformation could be a way of unfolding the complexity it offers to a formal urban setting. To identify the patterns of adaptation process, a study of morphological elements (i.e. house form, streets) could be a possible way. A case study of an informal settlement (Kampung of Tamansari, Bandung in Indonesia) has been taken to dissect these elements. Two of important components of the study area: house forms and streets created the first layer of urban fabric. High population density demanded layers of needs and activities which eventually guided the multifunctional characteristics of streets and house forms. Thus, streets create dialogue with the complex built forms-often known as interface is the key element to understand the underneath order of Tamansari. Here interface can be divided into two categories depending on their scale – small and large. Small scale interfaces are comprised of small elements such as, extended platform, fence, steps, low height wall, blank wall and elements to set above, set forth, set over in house forms. These components help to create and define semipublic spaces in the settlement. These spaces could be visually and physically interactive or no interactive which result into active or inactive spaces respectively. Small scale interfaces are common features of the settlement, whereas large scale interfaces are placed at strategic locations and act as active spaces. Connecting bridges, open spaces and contours often create special dialogue within and beyond the study area. Interfaces cater diversity in the settlement by creating hierarchy of spaces. Sense of belonging and scope of personalization of the inhabitants are integral parts of alleyways and thus they create a complex yet coherent urban fabric. Apart from the physical elements, the settlement embodies some intangible assets like social bonding, trust, kinship, empathy and sense of belonging that add value to the spatial quality which is a distinctive character of Tamansari kampung. Informal settlements are certainly complex in nature, as it is an outcome of multiple people working to accommodate multidimensional needs. Whereas in a formal system, approach to cater for need is guided by a set of rules developed by a set of professionals end up in creating prototypes irrespective of necessity, affordability and cultural diversity. Cities throughout the world, are experiencing rapid urbanization creating different urban issues. Therefore, it is highly necessary to address different need and affordability of users and come up with suitable urban solutions. Understanding Tamansari Kampung as an informal settlement will enrich the knowledge and expertise to work in complex urban settings.

[Green space vegetation quantity in workshop area of Wuhan Iron and Steel Company].

PubMed

Chen, Fang; Zhou, Zhixiang; Wang, Pengcheng; Li, Haifang; Zhong, Yingfei

2006-04-01

Aimed at the complex community structure and higher fragmentation of urban green space, and based on the investigation of synusia structure and its coverage, this paper studied the vegetation quantity of ornamental green space in the workshop area of Wuhan Iron and Steel Company, with the help of GIS. The results showed that different life forms of ornamental plants in this area had a greater difference in their single leaf area and leaf area index (LAI), and the LAI was not only depended on single leaf area, but also governed by the shape of tree crown and the intensive degree of branches and leaves. The total vegetation quantity was 1 694.2 hm2, with the average LAI being 7.75, and the vegetation quantity of arbor-shrub-herb and arbor-shrub communities accounted for 79.7% and 92.3% of the total, respectively, reflecting that the green space structure was dominated by arbor species and by arbor-shrub-herb and arbor-shrub community types. Single layer-structured lawn had a less percentage, while the vegetation quantity of herb synusia accounted for 22.9% of the total, suggesting an afforestation characteristic of "making use of every bit of space" in the workshop area. The vegetation quantity of urban ornamental green space depended on the area of green space, its synusia structure, and the LAI and coverage of ornamental plants. In enlarging urban green space, ornamental plant species with high LAI should be selected, and community structure should be improved to have a higher vegetation quantity in urban area. To quantify the vegetation quantity of urban ornamental green space more accurately, synusia should be taken as the unit to measure the LAI of typical species, and the synusia structure and its coverage of different community types should be investigated with the help of remote sensing images and GIS.

Inadvertent Weather Modification in Urban Areas: Lessons for Global Climate Change.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Changnon, Stanley A.

1992-05-01

Large metropolitan areas in North America, home to 65% of the nation's population, have created major changes in their climates over the past 150 years. The rate and amount of the urban climate change approximate those being predicted globally using climate models. Knowledge of urban weather and climate modification holds lessons for the global climate change issue. First, adjustments to urban climate changes can provide guidance for adjusting to global change. A second lesson relates to the difficulty but underscores the necessity of providing scientifically credible proof of change within the noise of natural climatic variability. The evolution of understanding about how urban conditions influence weather reveals several unexpected outcomes, particularly relating to precipitation changes. These suggest that similar future surprises can be expected in a changed global climate, a third lesson. In-depth studies of how urban climate changes affected the hydrologic cycle, the regional economy, and human activities were difficult because of data problems, lack of impact methodology, and necessity for multi disciplinary investigations. Similar impact studies for global climate change will require diverse scientific talents and funding commitments adequate to measure the complexity of impacts and human adjustments. Understanding the processes whereby urban areas and other human activities have altered the atmosphere and changed clouds and precipitation regionally appears highly relevant to the global climate-change issue. Scientific and governmental policy development needs to recognize an old axiom that became evident in the studies of inadvertent urban and regional climate change and their behavioral implications: Think globally but act locally. Global climate change is an international issue, and the atmosphere must be treated globally. But the impacts and the will to act and adjust will occur regionally.

Scale effects on spatially varying relationships between urban landscape patterns and water quality.

PubMed

Sun, Yanwei; Guo, Qinghai; Liu, Jian; Wang, Run

2014-08-01

Scientific interpretation of the relationships between urban landscape patterns and water quality is important for sustainable urban planning and watershed environmental protection. This study applied the ordinary least squares regression model and the geographically weighted regression model to examine the spatially varying relationships between 12 explanatory variables (including three topographical factors, four land use parameters, and five landscape metrics) and 15 water quality indicators in watersheds of Yundang Lake, Maluan Bay, and Xinglin Bay with varying levels of urbanization in Xiamen City, China. A local and global investigation was carried out at the watershed-level, with 50 and 200 m riparian buffer scales. This study found that topographical features and landscape metrics are the dominant factors of water quality, while land uses are too weak to be considered as a strong influential factor on water quality. Such statistical results may be related with the characteristics of land use compositions in our study area. Water quality variations in the 50 m buffer were dominated by topographical variables. The impact of landscape metrics on water quality gradually strengthen with expanding buffer zones. The strongest relationships are obtained in entire watersheds, rather than in 50 and 200 m buffer zones. Spatially varying relationships and effective buffer zones were verified in this study. Spatially varying relationships between explanatory variables and water quality parameters are more diversified and complex in less urbanized areas than in highly urbanized areas. This study hypothesizes that all these varying relationships may be attributed to the heterogeneity of landscape patterns in different urban regions. Adjustment of landscape patterns in an entire watershed should be the key measure to successfully improving urban lake water quality.

Semi-Automated Approach for Mapping Urban Trees from Integrated Aerial LiDAR Point Cloud and Digital Imagery Datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dogon-Yaro, M. A.; Kumar, P.; Rahman, A. Abdul; Buyuksalih, G.

2016-09-01

Mapping of trees plays an important role in modern urban spatial data management, as many benefits and applications inherit from this detailed up-to-date data sources. Timely and accurate acquisition of information on the condition of urban trees serves as a tool for decision makers to better appreciate urban ecosystems and their numerous values which are critical to building up strategies for sustainable development. The conventional techniques used for extracting trees include ground surveying and interpretation of the aerial photography. However, these techniques are associated with some constraints, such as labour intensive field work and a lot of financial requirement which can be overcome by means of integrated LiDAR and digital image datasets. Compared to predominant studies on trees extraction mainly in purely forested areas, this study concentrates on urban areas, which have a high structural complexity with a multitude of different objects. This paper presented a workflow about semi-automated approach for extracting urban trees from integrated processing of airborne based LiDAR point cloud and multispectral digital image datasets over Istanbul city of Turkey. The paper reveals that the integrated datasets is a suitable technology and viable source of information for urban trees management. As a conclusion, therefore, the extracted information provides a snapshot about location, composition and extent of trees in the study area useful to city planners and other decision makers in order to understand how much canopy cover exists, identify new planting, removal, or reforestation opportunities and what locations have the greatest need or potential to maximize benefits of return on investment. It can also help track trends or changes to the urban trees over time and inform future management decisions.

Urban drainage system planning and design--challenges with climate change and urbanization: a review.

PubMed

Yazdanfar, Zeinab; Sharma, Ashok

2015-01-01

Urban drainage systems are in general failing in their functions mainly due to non-stationary climate and rapid urbanization. As these systems are becoming less efficient, issues such as sewer overflows and increase in urban flooding leading to surge in pollutant loads to receiving water bodies are becoming pervasive rapidly. A comprehensive investigation is required to understand these factors impacting the functioning of urban drainage, which vary spatially and temporally and are more complex when weaving together. It is necessary to establish a cost-effective, integrated planning and design framework for every local area by incorporating fit for purpose alternatives. Carefully selected adaptive measures are required for the provision of sustainable drainage systems to meet combined challenges of climate change and urbanization. This paper reviews challenges associated with urban drainage systems and explores limitations and potentials of different adaptation alternatives. It is hoped that the paper would provide drainage engineers, water planners, and decision makers with the state of the art information and technologies regarding adaptation options to increase drainage systems efficiency under changing climate and urbanization.

Application of Deep Learning and Supervised Learning Methods to Recognize Nonlinear Hidden Pattern in Water Stress Levels from Spatiotemporal Datasets across Rural and Urban US Counties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisenhart, T.; Josset, L.; Rising, J. A.; Devineni, N.; Lall, U.

2017-12-01

In the wake of recent water crises, the need to understand and predict the risk of water stress in urban and rural areas has grown. This understanding has the potential to improve decision making in public resource management, policy making, risk management and investment decisions. Assuming an underlying relationship between urban and rural water stress and observable features, we apply Deep Learning and Supervised Learning models to uncover hidden nonlinear patterns from spatiotemporal datasets. Results of interest includes prediction accuracy on extreme categories (i.e. urban areas highly prone to water stress) and not solely the average risk for urban or rural area, which adds complexity to the tuning of model parameters. We first label urban water stressed counties using annual water quality violations and compile a comprehensive spatiotemporal dataset that captures the yearly evolution of climatic, demographic and economic factors of more than 3,000 US counties over the 1980-2010 period. As county-level data reporting is not done on a yearly basis, we test multiple imputation methods to get around the issue of missing data. Using Python libraries, TensorFlow and scikit-learn, we apply and compare the ability of, amongst other methods, Recurrent Neural Networks (testing both LSTM and GRU cells), Convolutional Neural Networks and Support Vector Machines to predict urban water stress. We evaluate the performance of those models over multiple time spans and combine methods to diminish the risk of overfitting and increase prediction power on test sets. This methodology seeks to identify hidden nonlinear patterns to assess the predominant data features that influence urban and rural water stress. Results from this application at the national scale will assess the performance of deep learning models to predict water stress risk areas across all US counties and will highlight a predominant Machine Learning method for modeling water stress risk using spatiotemporal data.

Evaluate the urban effect on summer convective precipitation by coupling a urban canopy model with a Regional Climate Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Z.; Liu, S.; Xue, Y.; Oleson, K. W.

2013-12-01

One of the most significant urbanization in the world occurred in Great Beijing Area of China during the past several decades. The land use and land cover changes modifies the land surface physical characteristics, including the anthropogenic heat and thermo-dynamic conduction. All of those play important roles in the urban regional climate changes. We developed a single layer urban canopy module based on the Community Land Surface Model Urban Module (CLMU). We have made further improvements in the urban module: the energy balances on the five surface conditions are considered separately: building roof, sun side and shade side wall, pervious and impervious land surface. Over each surface, a method to calculate sky view factor (SVF) is developed based on the physically process while most urban models simply provide an empirical value; A new scheme for calculating the latent heat flux is applied on both wall and impervious land; anthropogenic heat is considered in terms of industrial production, domestic wastes, vehicle and air condition. All of these developments improve the accuracy of surface energy balance processing in urban area. The urban effect on summer convective precipitation under the unstable atmospheric condition in the Great Beijing Area was investigated by simulating a heavy rainfall event in July 21st 2012. In this storm, strong meso-scale convective complexes (MCC) brought precipitation of averagely 164 mm within 6 hours, which is the record of past 60 years in the region. Numerical simulating experiment was set up by coupling MCLMU with WRF. Several condition/blank control cases were also set up. The horizontal resolution in all simulations was 2 km. While all of the control results drastically underestimate the urban precipitation, the result of WRF-MCLMU is much closer to the observation though still underestimated. More sensitive experiments gave a preliminary conclusion of how the urban canopy physics processing affects the local precipitation: the existence of large area of impervious surfaces restrain the surface evaporation and latent heat flux in urban while the anthropogenic heat and enhanced sensible heat flux warm up the lower atmospheric layer and strengthen the vertical stratification instability; In this storm event, the water supply of the MCC was thought to be sufficient, thus the instability of the vertical stratification was the key factor for precipitation.

Studying the urban thermal environment under a human-biometeorological point of view: The case of a large coastal metropolitan city, Athens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katavoutas, George; Georgiou, Giorgos K.; Asimakopoulos, Dimosthenis N.

2015-01-01

The thermal environment in modern cities has become potentially unfavorable and harmful for its residents, as a result of urbanization and industrialization. Exposure to these extreme thermal conditions increases the heat stress of people in cities considerably. In this context, the present study aims to investigate the urban thermal environment of the large coastal metropolitan city of Athens, in a human-biometeorologically significant way, utilizing the thermo-physiological assessment index PET. The analysis was based on three hour measurements derived from three-year datasets (2006-2009), at 12 monitoring sites located in the urban complex of Athens, on its boundaries and beyond them. The differences of PET values have been investigated in order to attribute urban and exurban thermal characteristics to the considered sites. The frequency and spatial distribution of PET as well as the urban/rural differences of PET have also been analyzed. Finally, a trend analysis has been applied in order to detect possible PET trends by employing long-term recording data (1985-2008). In terms of thermal human-biometeorological conditions, the analysis reveals that among the considered stations, those located inside the urban complex and the industrialized area present urban thermal characteristics, regardless the fact that they are installed either in a park and on a hill or at an open field. The spatial distribution of PET, at 0200 LST, shows a difference of about 3 to 4 °C, on the main axis of the city (SSW-NNE) in the summer period, while the difference exceeds 2.5 °C in the winter period. In general, cooler (less warm) thermal perception is observed at the north/northeast sites of the city as well as at the areas beyond the eastern boundaries of it. The PET differences between urban and rural sites hold a positive sign, except of those at 0500 LST and at 0800 LST. The highest differences are noted at 1400 LST and the most intense of them is noticed in the summer period (exceeds 5 °C). The trend analysis reveals statistically significant increasing heat stress for certain stations and months.

A Simple and Universal Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm for Landsat Series Images Over Complex Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Jing; Huang, Bo; Sun, Lin; Zhang, Zhaoyang; Wang, Lunche; Bilal, Muhammad

2017-12-01

Operational aerosol optical depth (AOD) products are available at coarse spatial resolutions from several to tens of kilometers. These resolutions limit the application of these products for monitoring atmospheric pollutants at the city level. Therefore, a simple, universal, and high-resolution (30 m) Landsat aerosol retrieval algorithm over complex urban surfaces is developed. The surface reflectance is estimated from a combination of top of atmosphere reflectance at short-wave infrared (2.22 μm) and Landsat 4-7 surface reflectance climate data records over densely vegetated areas and bright areas. The aerosol type is determined using the historical aerosol optical properties derived from the local urban Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) site (Beijing). AERONET ground-based sun photometer AOD measurements from five sites located in urban and rural areas are obtained to validate the AOD retrievals. Terra MODerate resolution Imaging Spectrometer Collection (C) 6 AOD products (MOD04) including the dark target (DT), the deep blue (DB), and the combined DT and DB (DT&DB) retrievals at 10 km spatial resolution are obtained for comparison purposes. Validation results show that the Landsat AOD retrievals at a 30 m resolution are well correlated with the AERONET AOD measurements (R2 = 0.932) and that approximately 77.46% of the retrievals fall within the expected error with a low mean absolute error of 0.090 and a root-mean-square error of 0.126. Comparison results show that Landsat AOD retrievals are overall better and less biased than MOD04 AOD products, indicating that the new algorithm is robust and performs well in AOD retrieval over complex surfaces. The new algorithm can provide continuous and detailed spatial distributions of AOD during both low and high aerosol loadings.

Seasonal variations and source apportionment of complex polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures in particulate matter in an electronic waste and urban area in South China.

PubMed

Chen, She-Jun; Wang, Jing; Wang, Tao; Wang, Ting; Mai, Bi-Xian; Simonich, Staci L Massey

2016-12-15

Complex polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) mixtures including parent PAHs, high molecular weight PAHs (MW 302 PAHs), and halogenated PAHs (HPAHs) were measured in particulate matter (PM) in an urban area and a rural electronic waste area in South China. The concentrations of MW < 302 PAHs at two sites were not significantly different with annual means of 23.2 ± 17.2 and 33.7 ± 29.0 ng/m 3 , respectively. However the concentrations of both MW 302 PAHs (5.35 ± 3.72 ng/m 3 ) and HPAH (49.9 pg/m 3 ) were significantly higher at the e-waste site than the urban site (2.81 ± 2.36 ng/m 3 and 28.2 ± 28.5 pg/m 3 ), suggesting e-waste recycling being a significant source of these PAHs. The majority of PAHs exhibited higher concentrations in winter and spring and lower concentrations in fall and summer. Meteorological conditions and increased emissions of PAHs in northern China due to domestic heating in colder seasons are important factors influencing the PAH seasonal variations. Source apportionment by the chemical mass balance (CMB) model indicated that residential stoves (coal combustion), industrial boilers (coal combustion), biomass burning, and vehicular emission accounted for 38 ± 14%, 30 ± 11%, 22 ± 22%, and 10 ± 7% of the PAHs in the urban PM, respectively. Comparable contributions from these sources were also observed for PM at the e-waste site. PAH emission factors are needed for primitive e-waste recycling to further understand the importance of this source to ambient air. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Remote Sensing and Spatial Growth Modeling Coupled with Air Quality Modeling to Assess the Impact of Atlanta, Georgia on the Local and Regional Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Estes, Maurice G., Jr.; Crosson, William; Khan, Maudood

2006-01-01

The growth of cities, both in population and areal extent, appears as an inexorable process. Urbanization continues at a rapid rate, and it is estimated that by the year 2025, 80 percent of the world s population will live in cities. Directly aligned with the expansion of cities is urban sprawl. Urban expansion has profound impacts on a host of biophysical, environmental, and atmospheric processes. A reduction in air quality over cities is a major result of these impacts. Strategies that can be directly or indirectly implemented to help remediate air quality problems in cities and that can be accepted by political decision makers and the general public are now being explored to help bring down air pollutants and improve air quality. The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured in air quality models, particularly the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model that is used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, primarily for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of the CMAQ model to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well the model predicts ozone pollutant levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban spatial growth modeling (SGM) projections as improved inputs to the meteorology component of the CMAQ model focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. These growth projections include "business as usual" and "smart growth" scenarios out to 2030. The growth projections illustrate the effects of employing urban heat island mitigation strategies, such as increasing tree canopy and albedo across the Atlanta metro area, which in turn, are used to model how ozone and air temperature can potentially be moderated as impacts on elevating ground-level ozone, as opposed to not utilizing heat island mitigation strategies. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the (CMAQ) modeling schemes. Use of these data have been found to better characterize low density/suburban development as compared with USGS 1km land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for future scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the regional planning agency for the area. This allows the State Environmental Protection agency to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect future air quality. The coupled SGM and air quality modeling approach provides insight on what the impacts of Atlanta s growth will be on the local and regional environment and exists as a mechanism that can be used by policy makers to make rationale decisions on urban growth and sustainability for the metropolitan area in the future.

Analysis of river health variation under the background of urbanization based on entropy weight and matter-element model: A case study in Huzhou City in the Yangtze River Delta, China.

PubMed

Pan, Guangbo; Xu, Youpeng; Yu, Zhihui; Song, Song; Zhang, Yuan

2015-05-01

Maintaining the health of the river ecosystem is an essential ecological and environmental guarantee for regional sustainable development and one of the basic objectives in water resource management. With the rapid development of urbanization, the river health situation is deteriorating, especially in urban areas. The river health evaluation is a complex process that involves various natural and social components; eight eco-hydrological indicators were selected to establish an evaluation system, and the variation of river health status under the background of urbanization was explored based on entropy weight and matter-element model. The comprehensive correlative degrees of urban river health of Huzhou City in 2001, 2006 and 2010 were then calculated. The results indicated that river health status of the study area was in the direction of pathological trend, and the impact of limiting factors (such as Shannon's diversity index and agroforestry output growth rate) played an important role in river health. The variation of maximum correlative degree could be classified into stationary status, deterioration status, deterioration-to-improvement status, and improvement-to-deterioration status. There was a severe deterioration situation of river health under the background of urbanization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Classification method, spectral diversity, band combination and accuracy assessment evaluation for urban feature detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erener, A.

2013-04-01

Automatic extraction of urban features from high resolution satellite images is one of the main applications in remote sensing. It is useful for wide scale applications, namely: urban planning, urban mapping, disaster management, GIS (geographic information systems) updating, and military target detection. One common approach to detecting urban features from high resolution images is to use automatic classification methods. This paper has four main objectives with respect to detecting buildings. The first objective is to compare the performance of the most notable supervised classification algorithms, including the maximum likelihood classifier (MLC) and the support vector machine (SVM). In this experiment the primary consideration is the impact of kernel configuration on the performance of the SVM. The second objective of the study is to explore the suitability of integrating additional bands, namely first principal component (1st PC) and the intensity image, for original data for multi classification approaches. The performance evaluation of classification results is done using two different accuracy assessment methods: pixel based and object based approaches, which reflect the third aim of the study. The objective here is to demonstrate the differences in the evaluation of accuracies of classification methods. Considering consistency, the same set of ground truth data which is produced by labeling the building boundaries in the GIS environment is used for accuracy assessment. Lastly, the fourth aim is to experimentally evaluate variation in the accuracy of classifiers for six different real situations in order to identify the impact of spatial and spectral diversity on results. The method is applied to Quickbird images for various urban complexity levels, extending from simple to complex urban patterns. The simple surface type includes a regular urban area with low density and systematic buildings with brick rooftops. The complex surface type involves almost all kinds of challenges, such as high dense build up areas, regions with bare soil, and small and large buildings with different rooftops, such as concrete, brick, and metal. Using the pixel based accuracy assessment it was shown that the percent building detection (PBD) and quality percent (QP) of the MLC and SVM depend on the complexity and texture variation of the region. Generally, PBD values range between 70% and 90% for the MLC and SVM, respectively. No substantial improvements were observed when the SVM and MLC classifications were developed by the addition of more variables, instead of the use of only four bands. In the evaluation of object based accuracy assessment, it was demonstrated that while MLC and SVM provide higher rates of correct detection, they also provide higher rates of false alarms.

Let's Plan the School Garden: A Participatory Project on Sustainability in a Nursery School in Padua

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rocca, Lorena; Donadelli, Giovanni; Ziliotto, Sonia

2012-01-01

The increasing complexity of urban regions and the lack of green areas in the neighborhoods have turned the cities less and less child-friendly. In order to locally face these situations, the project "Small steps of Agenda 21," which promoted a participatory planning experience for children focused on the green area of their school, was…

Meaningless artificial sound and its application in urban soundscape research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Coensel, Bert; Botteldooren, Dick

2004-05-01

Urban areas are increasingly being overwhelmed with uninteresting (traffic) noise. Designing a more matching soundscape for urban parks, quiet backyards, shopping areas, etc., clearly deserves more attention. Urban planners, being architects rather than musical composers, like to have a set of ``objective'' indicators of the urban soundscape at their disposal. In deriving such indicators, one can assume that the soundscape is appreciated as a conglomerate of sound events, recognized as originating from individual sources by people evaluating it. A more recent line of research assumes that the soundscape as a whole evokes particular emotions. In this research project we follow the latter, more holistic view. Given this choice, the challenge is to create a test setup where subjects are not tempted to react to a sound in a cognitive way, analyzing it to its individual components. Meaningless sound is therefore preferred. After selection of appealing sounds for a given context by subjects, objective indicators can then be extracted. To generate long, complex, but meaningless sound fragments not containing repetition, based on a limited number of parameters, swarm technology is used. This technique has previously been used for creating artificial music and has proved to be very useful.

Green areas and public health: improving wellbeing and physical activity in the urban context.

PubMed

D'Alessandro, Daniela; Buffoli, Maddalena; Capasso, Lorenzo; Fara, Gaetano Maria; Rebecchi, Andrea; Capolongo, Stefano

2015-01-01

The green areas play an important role in improving the environmental quality and climate of the city. However, despite the undoubted importance of these areas, the benefits to public health are still under investigation. The Authors perform a review of studies on the relationship between health and green areas and describe the main areas for which evidence on this relationship is currently available. They include: effects on air quality, on social cohesion, on mental health, with particular reference to the stress, and on physical activity. Most of the evidence comes from cross-sectional and descriptive studies and the approaches used to measure the association show themselves to be often unsatisfactory. The Authors conclude the review stressing the need for greater integration between the different professionals involved in urban planning and in health care analysis in order to identify research approaches more appropriate to understand such complex issues, striving toward a planning design of green areas that will satisfy both environmental sustainability and health requirements.

Effect of urbanization on the structure and functional traits of remnant subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in South China.

PubMed

Huang, Liujing; Chen, Hongfeng; Ren, Hai; Wang, Jun; Guo, Qinfeng

2013-06-01

We investigated the effects of major environmental drivers associated with urbanization on species diversity and plant functional traits (PFTs) in the remnant subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in Metropolitan Guangzhou (Guangdong, China). Twenty environmental factors including topography, light, and soil properties were used to quantify the effects of urbanization. Vegetation data and soil properties were collected from 30 400-m(2) plots at 6 study sites in urban and rural areas. The difference of plant species diversity and PFTs of remnant forests between urban and rural areas were analyzed. To discern the complex relationships, multivariate statistical analyses (e.g., canonical correspondence analysis and regression analysis) were employed. Pioneer species and stress-tolerant species can survive and vigorously establish their population dominance in the urban environment. The native herb diversity was lower in urban forests than in rural forests. Urban forests tend to prefer the species with Mesophanerophyte life form. In contrast, species in rural forests possessed Chamaephyte and Nanophanerophyte life forms and gravity/clonal growth dispersal mode. Soil pH and soil nutrients (K, Na, and TN) were positively related to herb diversity, while soil heavy metal concentrations (Cu) were negatively correlated with herb diversity. The herb plant species diversity declines and the species in the remnant forests usually have stress-tolerant functional traits in response to urbanization. The factors related to urbanization such as soil acidification, nutrient leaching, and heavy metal pollution were important in controlling the plant diversity in the forests along the urban-rural gradients. Urbanization affects the structure and functional traits of remnant subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests.

Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning.

PubMed

Agudelo-Vera, Claudia M; Mels, Adriaan R; Keesman, Karel J; Rijnaarts, Huub H M

2011-10-01

Due to fast urbanization and increasing living standards, the environmental sustainability of our global society becomes more and more questionable. In this historical review we investigate the role of resources management (RM) and urban planning (UP) and propose ways for integration in sustainable development (SD). RM follows the principle of circular causation, and we reflect on to what extent RM has been an element for urban planning. Since the existence of the first settlements, a close relationship between RM, urbanization and technological development has been present. RM followed the demand for urban resources like water, energy, and food. In history, RM has been fostered by innovation and technology developments and has driven population growth and urbanization. Recent massive resource demand, especially in relation to energy and material flows, has altered natural ecosystems and has resulted in environmental degradation. UP has developed separately in response to different questions. UP followed the demand for improved living conditions, often associated to safety, good manufacturing and trading conditions and appropriate sanitation and waste management. In history UP has been a developing research area, especially since the industrial era and the related strong urbanization at the end of the 18th century. UP responded to new emerging problems in urban areas and became increasingly complex. Nowadays, UP has to address many objectives that are often conflicting, including, the urban sustainability. Our current urban un-sustainability is rooted in massive resource consumption and waste production beyond natural limits, and the absence of flows from waste to resources. Therefore, sustainable urban development requires integration of RM into UP. We propose new ways to this integration. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysing Relationships Between Urban Land Use Fragmentation Metrics and Socio-Economic Variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sapena, M.; Ruiz, L. A.; Goerlich, F. J.

2016-06-01

Analysing urban regions is essential for their correct monitoring and planning. This is mainly accounted for the sharp increase of people living in urban areas, and consequently, the need to manage them. At the same time there has been a rise in the use of spatial and statistical datasets, such as the Urban Atlas, which offers high-resolution urban land use maps obtained from satellite imagery, and the Urban Audit, which provides statistics of European cities and their surroundings. In this study, we analyse the relations between urban fragmentation metrics derived from Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) data from the Urban Atlas dataset, and socio-economic data from the Urban Audit for the reference years 2006 and 2012. We conducted the analysis on a sample of sixty-eight Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). One-date and two-date based fragmentation indices were computed for each FUA, land use class and date. Correlation tests and principal component analysis were then applied to select the most representative indices. Finally, multiple regression models were tested to explore the prediction of socio-economic variables, using different combinations of land use metrics as explanatory variables, both at a given date and in a dynamic context. The outcomes show that demography, living conditions, labour, and transportation variables have a clear relation with the morphology of the FUAs. This methodology allows us to compare European FUAs in terms of the spatial distribution of the land use classes, their complexity, and their structural changes, as well as to preview and model different growth patterns and socio-economic indicators.

The review of some chosen approaches to foresee the development of urban areas. (Polish Title: Przeglad wybranych podejsc w zakresie prognozowania rozwoju obszarow miast)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radło-Kulisiewicz, M.

2015-12-01

The practical importance of Geographical Information Systems in urban planning and managing of urban areas is becoming much more explicit. Managing small cities usually needs simple GIS spatial analysis tools to support planners' decisions. Otherwise, the urban dynamic is bigger and factors affecting changes in city are combined. These analyses are not sufficient and then a need for more advanced and sophisticated solutions can appear. The aim of this article is to introduce popular techniques for urban modelling and underlying importance of GIS as an environment for creating simple models, which let t easy decisions in creating vision of a city be taken. The Article touches on the following issues related to the planning and management of urban space; from the applicable standards concerning materials planning in Poland, through the possibilities that give us network solutions useful at the municipal and country level, to existing techniques in modelling cities in the world. The background for these questions are the Geographical Information Systems (their role in this respect), that naturally fit into this theme. The ability to analyze multi-source data at different levels of detail, in different variants and ranges, predispose the GIS to environmental urban management. While also taking into account social - economic factors, integrated with GIS predictive modeling techniques, allows us to understand dependencies that navigate complex urban phenomena. City management in an integrated and thoughtful manner and will reduce the costs associated with the expansion of the urban fabric and avoid the chaos of urban development.

Field Studies Delve Into the Intricacies of Mountain Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernando, Harindra J. S.; Pardyjak, Eric R.

2013-09-01

Mountain meteorology, in particular weather prediction in complex (rugged) terrain, is emerging as an important topic for science and society. Large urban settlements such as Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Rio de Janeiro have grown within or in the shadow of complex terrain, and managing the air quality of such cities requires a good understanding of the air flow patterns that spill off of mountains. On a daily time scale, the interconnected engineered and natural systems that sustain urban metabolism and quality of life are affected by weather [Fernando, 2010]. Further, recent military engagements in remote mountainous areas have heightened the need for better weather predictions—alpine warfare is considered to be one of the most dangerous types of combat.

A tool for urban soundscape evaluation applying Support Vector Machines for developing a soundscape classification model.

PubMed

Torija, Antonio J; Ruiz, Diego P; Ramos-Ridao, Angel F

2014-06-01

To ensure appropriate soundscape management in urban environments, the urban-planning authorities need a range of tools that enable such a task to be performed. An essential step during the management of urban areas from a sound standpoint should be the evaluation of the soundscape in such an area. In this sense, it has been widely acknowledged that a subjective and acoustical categorization of a soundscape is the first step to evaluate it, providing a basis for designing or adapting it to match people's expectations as well. In this sense, this work proposes a model for automatic classification of urban soundscapes. This model is intended for the automatic classification of urban soundscapes based on underlying acoustical and perceptual criteria. Thus, this classification model is proposed to be used as a tool for a comprehensive urban soundscape evaluation. Because of the great complexity associated with the problem, two machine learning techniques, Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Support Vector Machines trained with Sequential Minimal Optimization (SMO), are implemented in developing model classification. The results indicate that the SMO model outperforms the SVM model in the specific task of soundscape classification. With the implementation of the SMO algorithm, the classification model achieves an outstanding performance (91.3% of instances correctly classified). © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Geometric validation of a mobile laser scanning system for urban applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Haiyan; Li, Jonathan; Yu, Yongtao; Liu, Yan

2016-03-01

Mobile laser scanning (MLS) technologies have been actively studied and implemented over the past decade, as their application fields are rapidly expanding and extending beyond conventional topographic mapping. Trimble's MX-8, as one of the MLS systems in the current market, generates rich survey-grade laser and image data for urban surveying. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether Trimble MX-8 MLS data satisfies the accuracy requirements of urban surveying. According to the formula of geo-referencing, accuracies of navigation solution and laser scanner determines the accuracy of the collected LiDAR point clouds. Two test sites were selected to test the performance of Trimble MX-8. Those extensive tests confirm that Trimble MX-8 offers a very promising tool to survey complex urban areas.

Metagenomic analysis of the airborne environment in urban spaces.

PubMed

Be, Nicholas A; Thissen, James B; Fofanov, Viacheslav Y; Allen, Jonathan E; Rojas, Mark; Golovko, George; Fofanov, Yuriy; Koshinsky, Heather; Jaing, Crystal J

2015-02-01

The organisms in aerosol microenvironments, especially densely populated urban areas, are relevant to maintenance of public health and detection of potential epidemic or biothreat agents. To examine aerosolized microorganisms in this environment, we performed sequencing on the material from an urban aerosol surveillance program. Whole metagenome sequencing was applied to DNA extracted from air filters obtained during periods from each of the four seasons. The composition of bacteria, plants, fungi, invertebrates, and viruses demonstrated distinct temporal shifts. Bacillus thuringiensis serovar kurstaki was detected in samples known to be exposed to aerosolized spores, illustrating the potential utility of this approach for identification of intentionally introduced microbial agents. Together, these data demonstrate the temporally dependent metagenomic complexity of urban aerosols and the potential of genomic analytical techniques for biosurveillance and monitoring of threats to public health.

The Complexities of Urban Flood Response: Hydrologic Analyses for the Charlotte, North Carolina Metropolitan Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Z.; Smith, J. A.; Yang, L.; Baeck, M. L.; Liu, S.; Ten Veldhuis, M. C.

2016-12-01

The objective of this study is to develop a broad characterization of land surface and hydrometeorological controls of urban flood frequency. We focus on a collection of "small" urban watersheds (with drainage area ranging from 7 to 200 km2) in Charlotte metropolitan region, North Carolina. These watersheds are contrasted by a variety of land surface properties, such as size, shape, land use/land cover type, impervious coverage pattern, stormwater infrastructure, etc. We carried out empirical analyses based on long-term (15 years), high-resolution (1 15 minutes) instantaneous USGS stream gaging observations as well as bias-corrected, high-resolution (1 km2, 15 min) radar rainfall fields developed through the Hydro-NEXRAD system. Extreme floods in Charlotte urban watersheds are primarily induced by a mixture of flood agents including warm season thunderstorms and tropical cyclones, which ultimately contributed to the upper-tail properties of flood frequency. Flood response in urban watersheds is dominantly dictated by space-time characteristics of rainfall, with relatively significant correlation between runoff and rainfall over more developed watersheds. The roles of antecedent soil moisture and stormwater management infrastructure in flood response are also contrasted across the urban watersheds. The largest variability of flood response, in terms of flood peak and timing, exists in the watershed at a scale of 100 km2. The scale-dependent hydrological response is closely related to the pattern and evolution of urban development across watersheds. Our analyses show the complexities of urban flood response in Charlotte metropolitan region. There are no simple metrics that could perfectly explain the contrasts in flood response across urban watersheds. Future research is directed towards sophisticated modeling studies for a predictive understanding of flood frequency in urban watersheds.

Will it rise or will it fall? Managing the complex effects of urbanization on base flow

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bhaskar, Aditi; Beesley, Leah; Burns, Matthew J.; Fletcher, T. D.; Hamel, Perrine; Oldham, Carolyn; Roy, Allison

2016-01-01

Sustaining natural levels of base flow is critical to maintaining ecological function as stream catchments are urbanized. Research shows a variable response of stream base flow to urbanization, with base flow or water tables rising in some locations, falling in others, or elsewhere remaining constant. The variable baseflow response is due to the array of natural (e.g., physiographic setting and climate) and anthropogenic (e.g., urban development and infrastructure) factors that influence hydrology. Perhaps as a consequence of this complexity, few simple tools exist to assist managers to predict baseflow change in their local urban area. This paper addresses this management need by presenting a decision support tool. The tool considers the natural vulnerability of the landscape, together with aspects of urban development in predicting the likelihood and direction of baseflow change. Where the tool identifies a likely increase or decrease it guides managers toward strategies that can reduce or increase groundwater recharge, respectively. Where the tool finds an equivocal result, it suggests a detailed water balance be performed. The decision support tool is embedded within an adaptive-management framework that encourages managers to define their ecological objectives, assess the vulnerability of their ecological objectives to changes in water table height, and monitor baseflow responses to urbanization. We trial our framework using two very different case studies: Perth, Western Australia, and Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Together, these studies show how pre-development water table height, climate and geology together with aspects of urban infrastructure (e.g., stormwater practices, leaky pipes) interact such that urbanization has overall led to rising base flow (Perth) and falling base flow (Baltimore). Greater consideration of subsurface components of the water cycle will help to protect and restore the ecology of urban freshwaters.

Mapping intra-urban malaria risk using high resolution satellite imagery: a case study of Dar es Salaam.

PubMed

Kabaria, Caroline W; Molteni, Fabrizio; Mandike, Renata; Chacky, Frank; Noor, Abdisalan M; Snow, Robert W; Linard, Catherine

2016-07-30

With more than half of Africa's population expected to live in urban settlements by 2030, the burden of malaria among urban populations in Africa continues to rise with an increasing number of people at risk of infection. However, malaria intervention across Africa remains focused on rural, highly endemic communities with far fewer strategic policy directions for the control of malaria in rapidly growing African urban settlements. The complex and heterogeneous nature of urban malaria requires a better understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of urban malaria risk in order to design effective urban malaria control programs. In this study, we use remotely sensed variables and other environmental covariates to examine the predictability of intra-urban variations of malaria infection risk across the rapidly growing city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between 2006 and 2014. High resolution SPOT satellite imagery was used to identify urban environmental factors associated malaria prevalence in Dar es Salaam. Supervised classification with a random forest classifier was used to develop high resolution land cover classes that were combined with malaria parasite prevalence data to identify environmental factors that influence localized heterogeneity of malaria transmission and develop a high resolution predictive malaria risk map of Dar es Salaam. Results indicate that the risk of malaria infection varied across the city. The risk of infection increased away from the city centre with lower parasite prevalence predicted in administrative units in the city centre compared to administrative units in the peri-urban suburbs. The variation in malaria risk within Dar es Salaam was shown to be influenced by varying environmental factors. Higher malaria risks were associated with proximity to dense vegetation, inland water and wet/swampy areas while lower risk of infection was predicted in densely built-up areas. The predictive maps produced can serve as valuable resources for municipal councils aiming to shrink the extents of malaria across cities, target resources for vector control or intensify mosquito and disease surveillance. The semi-automated modelling process developed can be replicated in other urban areas to identify factors that influence heterogeneity in malaria risk patterns and detect vulnerable zones. There is a definite need to expand research into the unique epidemiology of malaria transmission in urban areas for focal elimination and sustained control agendas.

THE EFFECT OF THE GHETTO ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND LEVEL OF NONWHITE EMPLOYMENT IN URBAN AREAS.

DTIC Science & Technology

URBAN AREAS, HOUSING(DWELLINGS)), (*HOUSING(DWELLINGS), URBAN AREAS), (*MANPOWER, URBAN AREAS), (*SOCIOLOGY, URBAN AREAS), POPULATION, URBAN PLANNING, HOUSING PROJECTS, DISTRIBUTION, LABOR , ECONOMICS

THE EFFECT OF THE GHETTO ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND LEVEL OF NONWHITE EMPLOYMENT IN URBAN AREAS,

DTIC Science & Technology

URBAN AREAS, HOUSING(DWELLINGS)), (*HOUSING(DWELLINGS), URBAN AREAS), (*MANPOWER, URBAN AREAS), (*SOCIOLOGY, URBAN AREAS), POPULATION, URBAN PLANNING, HOUSING PROJECTS, DISTRIBUTION, LABOR , ECONOMICS

Reduction on NOx emissions on urban areas by changing specific vehicle fleets: effects on NO2 and O3 concentration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goncalves, M.; Jimenez, P.; Baldasano, J.

2007-12-01

The largest amount of NOx emissions in urban areas comes from on-road traffic, which is the largest contributor to urban air pollution (Colvile et al., 2001). Currently different strategies are being tested in order to reduce its effects; many of them oriented to the reduction of the unitary vehicles emissions, by alternative fuels use (such as biofuels, natural gas or hydrogen) or introduction of new technologies (such as hybrid electric vehicles or fuel cells). Atmospheric modelling permits to predict their consequences on tropospheric chemistry (Vautard et al., 2007). Hence, this work assesses the changes on NO2 and O3 concentrations when substituting a 10 per cent of the urban private cars fleets by petrol hybrid electric cars (HEC) or by natural gas cars (NGC) in Madrid and Barcelona urban areas (Spain). These two cities are selected in order to highlight the different patterns of pollutants transport (inland vs. coastal city) and the different responses to emissions reductions. The results focus on a typical summertime episode of air pollution, by means of the Eulerian air quality model ARW- WRF/HERMES/CMAQ, applied with high resolution (1-hr, 1km2) since of the complexity of both areas under study. The detailed emissions scenarios are implemented in the HERMES traffic emissions module, based on the Copert III-EEA/EMEP-CORINAIR (Nztiachristos and Samaras, 2000) methodology. The HEC introduction reduces NOx emissions from on-road traffic in a 10.8 per cent and 8.2 per cent; and the NGC introduction in a 10.3 per cent and 7.8 per cent, for Madrid and Barcelona areas, respectively. The scenarios also affect the NMVOCs reduction (ranging from -3.1 to -6.9 per cent), influencing the tropospheric photochemistry through the NOx/NMVOCs ratio. The abatement of the NO photooxidation but also to the reduction on primary NO2 involves a decrease on NO2 levels centred on urban areas. For example, the NO2 24-hr average concentration in downtown areas reduces up to 8 per cent (-6 μg m-3 on average). The urban areas are VOC-controlled, therefore the reduction on NOx emissions involves a minor increase on tropospheric O3 concentration (Jiménez and Baldasano, 2004), up to 1.5 per cent at some points. Nevertheless, the O3 precursors reduction has positive effects in the downwind areas affected by the urban plume, slightly reducing the O3 levels, but at the regional scale the reduction applied on urban traffic emissions has negligible effects. Both scenarios tested are very similar in terms of emissions reductions and air quality changes, which means that the NOx/NMVOCs ratio do not involve an O3-sensitivity regime variation among scenarios. The HEC scenario is more effective in reducing NO2 levels in urban areas than the NGC scenario (with maximum reductions affecting a larger area) and involves a larger increase in urban O3 concentration.

Toward a Multi-City Framework for Urban GHG Estimation in the United States: Methods, Uncertainties, and Future Goals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, K. L.; Callahan, W.; Davis, K. J.; Dickerson, R. R.; Duren, R. M.; Gurney, K. R.; Karion, A.; Keeling, R. F.; Kim, J.; Lauvaux, T.; Miller, C. E.; Shepson, P. B.; Turnbull, J. C.; Weiss, R. F.; Whetstone, J. R.

2017-12-01

City and State governments are increasingly interested in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to improve sustainability within their jurisdictions. Estimation of urban GHG emissions remains an active research area with many sources of uncertainty. To support the effort of improving measurement of trace gas emissions in city environments, several federal agencies along with academic, research, and private entities have been working within a handful of domestic metropolitan areas to improve both (1) the assessment of GHG emissions accuracy using a variety of measurement technologies, and (2) the tools that can better assess GHG inventory data at urban mitigation scales based upon these measurements. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) activities have focused on three areas, or testbeds: Indianapolis (INFLUX experiment), Los Angeles (the LA Megacities project), and the Northeastern Corridor areas encompassing Washington and Baltimore (the NEC/BW GHG Measurements project). These cities represent diverse meteorological, terrain, demographic, and emissions characteristics having a broad range of complexities. To date this research has involved multiple measurement systems and integrated observing approaches, all aimed at advancing development of a robust, science-base upon which higher accuracy quantification approaches can rest. Progress toward such scientifically robust, widely-accepted emissions quantification methods will rely upon continuous performance assessment. Such assessment is challenged by the complexities of cities themselves (e.g., population, urban form) along with the many variables impacting a city's technological ability to estimate its GHG emissions (e.g., meteorology, density of observations). We present the different NIST testbeds and a proposal to initiate conceptual development of a reference framework supporting the comparison of multi-city GHG emissions estimates. Such a reference framework has potential to provide the basis for city governments to choose the measurements and methods that can quantify their GHG and related trace gas emissions at levels commensurate with their needs.

Emergy-based urban ecosystem health assessment: A case study of Baotou, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, G. Y.; Yang, Z. F.; Chen, B.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, L. X.; Zhao, Y. W.; Jiang, M. M.

2009-03-01

Ecosystem health has been a hot topic of ecosystem management research for years. Considering the urban area as a complex ecosystem consisted of natural, societal and economic entities, urban ecosystem health assessment is necessary to be conducted for the scientific management and proper ecological restoration. Combining with the ecosystem service function of the urban ecosystem, theoretical framework and methodology of the urban ecosystem health assessment based on emergy are proposed and the temporal variation of the health level of the city are also outlined in this paper. Following the principle of ecosystem health assessment, four major factors, including vigor (V), organizational structure (O), resilience (R) and function maintenance (F), are integrated to construct a novel emergy-based urban ecosystem health index (EUEHI). Based on the EUEHI and comparing with those of five other typical Chinese cities, the case study of Baotou city shows that its urban ecosystem health level is steadily arising despite the year 2001 as a turning point. Due to the emphasis on the resource structure adjustment and utilization efficiency, Baotou has obtained a better organizational structure and service function for the total urban ecosystem.

Human-Modified Permafrost Complexes in Urbanized Areas of the Russian North

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grebenets, V. I.; Streletskiy, D. A.

2013-12-01

Economic development in permafrost regions is accompanied by modification of natural geocryological conditions. Drastic landscape transformations in urbanized areas on permafrost are characterized by changes of heat and moisture exchange in permafrost - atmosphere system, and by engineering and technogenic influence upon the frozen ground, leading to alteration of its physical, thermal and mechanical properties. In northern cities this leads to overall increase of ground temperature relative to undisturbed areas and intensification of hazardous cryogenic processes in areas under engineering development, which together leads to reduction in stability of geotechnical environment. For example, deformations of structures in Norilsk district, Northern Siberia, in the last 15 years, became much more abundant than those revealed throughout the previous 50 years. About 250 large buildings in the local towns were deformed considerably due to deterioration of geocryological conditions, about 100 structures were functioning in emergency state, and almost 50 nine- and five-storey houses, built in the 1960-80s, have been recently disassembled. Increase in accident risk for various facilities (water and oil pipelines, industrial enterprises, etc.) enhances the technogenic pressure on permafrost, leading to the new milestone of changes in permafrost characteristics, i.e. to creation of 'another reality' of geocryological conditions. Social and natural factors dictate clustered spatial pattern of industrial development in permafrost regions. Cryogenic processes within the urban areas on permafrost are seldom similar with those under the natural conditions as intensity, duration and extent of the processes changes under technogenic impacts. Moreover, new cryogenic processes and phenomena may occur, which have not been typical for a given region. This makes mapping and characterization of these processes difficult task. Peculiar natural-technogenic geocryological complexes (NTGC) are formed in the urban territories, which are characterized by modified permafrost characteristics, by the new set of cryogenic processes, and by modified temperature trends. NTGC classification depends on initial natural settings and on type, intensity and duration of technogenic pressure. For instance, field reconnaissance of permafrost and geological conditions resulted in characterization of 17 NTGC types in Norilsk industrial area, 11 types in Yamburg Gas Condensate Field, Tazovsky Peninsula, and 32 types along gas and oil pipelines in the north of Western Siberia. Particular interest presents the dynamics of NTGC depending on the scale of urban system, on the set of its elements and on duration of technogenic impacts on permafrost. Important aspect is assessment of climate change impacts on structures and environment in various areas on permafrost

Identifying and quantifying urban recharge: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lerner, David N.

2002-02-01

The sources of and pathways for groundwater recharge in urban areas are more numerous and complex than in rural environments. Buildings, roads, and other surface infrastructure combine with man-made drainage networks to change the pathways for precipitation. Some direct recharge is lost, but additional recharge can occur from storm drainage systems. Large amounts of water are imported into most cities for supply, distributed through underground pipes, and collected again in sewers or septic tanks. The leaks from these pipe networks often provide substantial recharge. Sources of recharge in urban areas are identified through piezometry, chemical signatures, and water balances. All three approaches have problems. Recharge is quantified either by individual components (direct recharge, water-mains leakage, septic tanks, etc.) or holistically. Working with individual components requires large amounts of data, much of which is uncertain and is likely to lead to large uncertainties in the final result. Recommended holistic approaches include the use of groundwater modelling and solute balances, where various types of data are integrated. Urban recharge remains an under-researched topic, with few high-quality case studies reported in the literature.

Longitudinal differences in habitat complexity and fish assemblage structure of a great plains river

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eitzmann, J.L.; Paukert, C.P.

2010-01-01

We investigated the spatial variation in the Kansas River (USA) fish assemblage to determine how fish community structure changes with habitat complexity in a large river. Fishes were collected at ten sites throughout the Kansas River for assessing assemblage structure in summer 2007. Aerial imagery indicated riparian land use within 200 m from the river edge was dominated by agriculture in the upper river reaches (>35) and tended to increase in urban land use in the lower reaches (>58). Instream habitat complexity (number of braided channels, islands) also decreased with increased urban area (<25). Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that species that prefer high-velocity flows and sandy substrate (e.g., blue sucker Cycleptus elongatus and shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) were associated with the upper river reaches. Abundance of omnivorous and planktivorous fish species were also higher in the lower river. The presence of fluvial dependent and fluvial specialist species was associated with sites with higher water flows, more sand bars, and log jams. Our results suggest that conserving intolerant, native species in the Kansas River may require maintaining suitable habitat for these species and restoration of impacted areas of the river.

Integrating Demographic, Clinical,and Environmental Exposure Information to Identify Genomic Biomarkers Associated With Subtypes of Childhood Asthma

EPA Science Inventory

Childhood asthma is a multifactorial disease with a disturbingly high incidence in urbanized areas. The pathogenesis of asthma is poorly understood due to the complex relationship between genetic susceptibility and modulating environmental factors. The Mechanistic Indicators of C...

Mortality and ST resolution in patients admitted with STEMI: the MOMI survey of emergency service experience in a complex urban area.

PubMed

Grieco, Niccolò; Sesana, Giovanni; Corrada, Elena; Ieva, Francesca; Paganoni, Annamaria; Marzegalli, Maurizio

2012-09-01

Since 2001, the urban area of Milan has been operating a network among 23 cardiac care units, the 118 dispatch centre (national free number for medical emergencies), and the county government health agency called Group for Prehospital Cardiac Emergency. In order to monitor the network activity, time to treatment, and clinical outcome, a periodic survey, called MOMI(2), was repeated two or three times a year. Each survey lasted 30 days and was repeated in comparable periods. Data were stratified for hospital admission mode. We collected data concerning 708 consecutive ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients (male 72.6%; mean age 64.4 years). In these six surveys, we observed a high rate of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (73.2%) and a mortality rate of 6.3%. Using advanced statistical models, we identified age, Killip class, and the symptom onset-to-balloon time as most relevant prognostic factors. Nonparametric test showed that the modality of hospital admittance was the most critical determinant of door-to-balloon time. 12-lead ECG tele-transmission and activation of a fast track directly to the catheterization laboratory are easy action to reduce time to treatment. The experience of the Milan network for cardiac emergency shows how a network coordinating the community, rescue units, and hospitals in a complex urban area and making use of medical technology contributes to the health care of patients with STEMI.

Complex association between rural/urban residence, household wealth and women's overweight: evidence from 30 cross-sectional national household surveys in Africa.

PubMed

Madise, Nyovani Janet; Letamo, Gobopamang

2017-01-01

We sought to demonstrate that the relationship between urban or rural residence and overweight status among women in Sub-Saharan Africa is complex and confounded by wealth status. We applied multilevel logistic regression to data from 30 sub-Saharan African countries which were collected between 2006 and 2012 to examine the association between women's overweight status (body mass index ≥ 25) and household wealth, rural or urban place of residence, and their interaction. Macro-level statistics from United Nations agencies were used as contextual variables to assess the link between progress in globalization and patterns of overweight. Household wealth was associated with increased odds of being overweight in nearly all of the countries. Urban/rural living and household wealth had a complex association with women's overweight status, shown by 3 patterns. In one group of countries, characterised by low national wealth (median per capita gross national income (GNI) = $660 in 2012) and lower overall prevalence of female overweight (median = 24 per cent in 2010), high household wealth and urban living had independent associations with increased risks of being overweight. In the second group of less poor countries (median per capita GNI = $870) and higher national levels of female overweight (median = 29), there was a cross-over association where rural women had lower risks of overweight than urban women at lower levels of household wealth, but in wealthier households, rural women had higher risks of overweight than urban women. In the final group of countries, household wealth was an important predictor of overweight status, but the association between urban or rural place of residence and overweight status was not statistically significant. The median per capita GNI for this third group was $800 and national prevalence of female overweight was high (median = 32% in 2010). As nations develop and household wealth increases, rural African women are at increased or higher risk of being overweight compared with urban women. Programmes and policies to address rising prevalence of overweight are needed in both rural and urban areas to avoid serious epidemics of non-communicable diseases.

Use of portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for environmental quality assessment of peri-urban agriculture.

PubMed

Weindorf, David C; Zhu, Yuanda; Chakraborty, Somsubhra; Bakr, Noura; Huang, Biao

2012-01-01

Urban expansion into traditional agricultural lands has augmented the potential for heavy metal contamination of soils. This study examined the utility of field portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometry for evaluating the environmental quality of sugarcane fields near two industrial complexes in Louisiana, USA. Results indicated that PXRF provided quality results of heavy metal levels comparable to traditional laboratory analysis. When coupled with global positioning system technology, the use of PXRF allows for on-site interpolation of heavy metal levels in a matter of minutes. Field portable XRF was shown to be an effective tool for rapid assessment of heavy metals in soils of peri-urban agricultural areas.

Planning of Green Space Ecological Network in Urban Areas: An Example of Nanchang, China

PubMed Central

Li, Haifeng; Chen, Wenbo; He, Wei

2015-01-01

Green space plays an important role in sustainable urban development and ecology by virtue of multiple environmental, recreational, and economic benefits. Constructing an effective and harmonious urban ecological network and maintaining a sustainable living environment in response to rapid urbanization are the key issues required to be resolved by landscape planners. In this paper, Nanchang City, China was selected as a study area. Based on a series of landscape metrics, the landscape pattern analysis of the current (in 2005) and planned (in 2020) green space system were, respectively, conducted by using FRAGSTATS 3.3 software. Considering the actual situation of the Nanchang urban area, a “one river and two banks, north and south twin cities” ecological network was constructed by using network analysis. Moreover, the ecological network was assessed by using corridor structure analysis, and the improvement of an ecological network on the urban landscape was quantitatively assessed through a comparison between the ecological network and green space system planning. The results indicated that: (1) compared to the green space system in 2005, the planned green space system in 2020 of the Nanchang urban area will decline in both districts (Changnan and Changbei districts). Meanwhile, an increase in patch density and a decrease in mean patch size of green space patches at the landscape level implies the fragmentation of the urban green space landscape. In other words, the planned green space system does not necessarily improve the present green space system; (2) the ecological network of two districts has high corridor density, while Changnan’s ecological network has higher connectivity, but Changbei’s ecological network is more viable from an economic point of view, since it has relatively higher cost efficiency; (3) decrease in patch density, Euclidean nearest neighbor distance, and an increase in mean patch size and connectivity implied that the ecological network could improve landscape connectivity greatly, as compared with the planned green space system. That is to say, the planned ecological network would reduce landscape fragmentation, and increase the shape complexity of green space patches and landscape connectivity. As a result, the quality of the urban ecological environment would be improved. PMID:26501298

Planning of Green Space Ecological Network in Urban Areas: An Example of Nanchang, China.

PubMed

Li, Haifeng; Chen, Wenbo; He, Wei

2015-10-15

Green space plays an important role in sustainable urban development and ecology by virtue of multiple environmental, recreational, and economic benefits. Constructing an effective and harmonious urban ecological network and maintaining a sustainable living environment in response to rapid urbanization are the key issues required to be resolved by landscape planners. In this paper, Nanchang City, China was selected as a study area. Based on a series of landscape metrics, the landscape pattern analysis of the current (in 2005) and planned (in 2020) green space system were, respectively, conducted by using FRAGSTATS 3.3 software. Considering the actual situation of the Nanchang urban area, a "one river and two banks, north and south twin cities" ecological network was constructed by using network analysis. Moreover, the ecological network was assessed by using corridor structure analysis, and the improvement of an ecological network on the urban landscape was quantitatively assessed through a comparison between the ecological network and green space system planning. The results indicated that: (1) compared to the green space system in 2005, the planned green space system in 2020 of the Nanchang urban area will decline in both districts (Changnan and Changbei districts). Meanwhile, an increase in patch density and a decrease in mean patch size of green space patches at the landscape level implies the fragmentation of the urban green space landscape. In other words, the planned green space system does not necessarily improve the present green space system; (2) the ecological network of two districts has high corridor density, while Changnan's ecological network has higher connectivity, but Changbei's ecological network is more viable from an economic point of view, since it has relatively higher cost efficiency; (3) decrease in patch density, Euclidean nearest neighbor distance, and an increase in mean patch size and connectivity implied that the ecological network could improve landscape connectivity greatly, as compared with the planned green space system. That is to say, the planned ecological network would reduce landscape fragmentation, and increase the shape complexity of green space patches and landscape connectivity. As a result, the quality of the urban ecological environment would be improved.

[Study on effects of community-based management of hypertension patients aged ≥35 years and influencing factors in urban and rural areas of China, 2010].

PubMed

Zeng, X Y; Zhang, M; Li, Y C; Huang, Z J; Wang, L M

2016-05-01

To understand the effects of standardized community-based management of hypertension in urban and rural areas in China and related influencing factors. The study subjects were the hypertension patients aged ≥35 years who were recruited in 2011 from the participants of 2010 national chronic and non-communicable disease surveillance project. The hypertension patients were diagnosed in community health centers or higher level hospitals and included in community based hypertension management project. By face-to-face questionnaire survey and health examination, the information of the subjects' demographic characteristics, risk factors, complications, involvement in community-based management of hypertension, anti-hypertension treatment, blood pressure, body height, waistline and body weight were collected. In this study, Rao-Scott χ(2) test was used to compare the variations among sub-groups. Taylor series linearization method was used to estimate the prevalence rate. The complex sampling and unconditional multivariate logistics regression analysis was conducted to identify the influencing factors for the control of hypertension. A total of 5 120 subjects were recruited in the analysis. The proportion of those receiving management for more than two years was 36.57%, and it was higher in urban area(44.56%)than in rural area(31.79%, P<0.05); In the past 12 months, 6.17% and 14.46% of the patients received no blood pressure measurement and drug therapy advice respectively, but there were no significant differences between urban group and rural group(P>0.05); In the past 12 months, the proportions of the patients receiving diet and physical activity advice were 84.25% and 84.90% respectively, and the proportions were higher in urban group than in rural group(P<0.05); In the past 12 months, the proportions of the subjects receiving tobacco and alcohol use advice were 78.41% and 77.80% respectively, and the proportions were higher in rural group than in urban group(P<0.05). In urban area, the subjects receiving standardized management had lower SBP(142.79±17.39)mmHg, lower DBP(84.26±9.49)mmHg and higher blood pressure control rate(49.77%)than those receiving no standardized management(P<0.05); while in rural area, no difference was found in BP control between the patients receiving and receiving no standardized management(P>0.05). In urban area, the influencing factors for BP control among the subjects receiving community based management were educational level, annual income, body weight, hypertension management mode, times of receiving BP measurement, times of receiving antihypertensive medicine advice and receiving physical activity advice; while in rural area, the influencing factors for BP control among the subjects receiving community based management were annual income, body weight, family history of hypertension, antihypertensive medicine awareness, times of receiving antihypertensive medicine advice and receiving diet advice. The effects of community-based standardized management of hypertension were better in urban area than in rural area, and the quality of the services of community-based hypertension management was lower in rural area than in urban area.

NY-uHMT: A dense hydro-meteorological network to characterize urban land-atmosphere interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramamurthy, P.; Lakhankar, T.; Khanbilvardi, R.; Devineni, N.

2016-12-01

Most people in the US live in large Metropolitan areas that have a dense urban core in the center, dominated by built surfaces and surrounded by residential/suburban areas that consist a mix of built, vegetated and permeable surfaces. This creates a gradient in the hydro-meteorological environment giving rise to complex land-atmosphere interactions. Current modeling platforms and observational techniques like tower measurements do not adequately account for the underlying heterogeneity. To address this critical gap in our understanding we have instituted a dense network of sensors in the New York Metropolitan area. This unique urban sensor network consists of instrumentation to monitor soil moisture at multiple depths along with air temperature, relative humidity and precipitation, with room to add additional sensors in the future. The network is autonomous and connected to a centralized server using cellular towers. Apart from describing the spatial variability in hydro-meteorological quantities the network will also aid in conducting high-resolution numerical simulations to study and forecast urban weather and climate. In one such simulation conducted to partition the influence of storage flux, wind pattern and circulation and soil moisture deficit on urban heat island intensity (UHI), we found that the daily variability in UHI in NYC was sensitive to available energy and wind pattern. The long-term trend in UHI was however related to soil moisture deficit. In fact a prolonged heat wave period witnessed during summer 2006 correlated well with an extended dry period and the daily UHI in NYC almost doubled. Moreover, the urban soils also suffered from high degree of dessication, owing to drier urban boundary layer.

Extraction of Urban Morphology Parameters from Generic European Datasets: A Case Study for Antwerp, Berlin and Almada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, Catherine; Thomas, Bart

2014-05-01

Climate change is driven by global processes such as the global ocean circulation and its variability over time leading to changing weather patterns on regional scales as well as changes in the severity and occurrence of extreme events such as heat waves. The response of urban societies to the evolving climate depends not only on their regional climate characteristics but also on other local factors such as the urban heat island effect. Simulation of this phenomenon with local urban climate models requires comprehensive information about the urban morphology. This study focusses on the extraction of the planar and frontal area indices from detailed 3D city models and their relationship with the European Soil Sealing Level database from the European Environment Agency. These parameters have been calculated on a 1km2 grid and compared with soil sealing values aggregated at the same spatial resolution. The optimal size of the grid is a trade-off between the level of detail and the robustness of the established relationships by reducing the scatter at small scales. Moreover, the transferability of the results to other geographical areas has been investigated. The analyses have been conducted in the framework of the NACLIM FP7 project funded by the European Commission and include the cities of Antwerp (BE), Berlin (DE) and Almada (PT) represented by different climate and urban characteristics. First results show a correlation of 70% between the planar area index and the averaged soil sealing using a linear regression model at a 1km scale. Moreover, a good correspondence has been found between the relationships for Antwerp and Berlin which is promising for urban climate modellers to reduce model complexity and analyse various climate scenarios in an effective way.

Fluid Mechanics of Urban Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernando, Harindra J.

2008-11-01

The rapid urbanization of the Earth has led to highly populated cities that act as concentrated centers of anthropogenic stressors on the natural environment. The degradation of environmental quality due to such stressors, in turn, greatly impacts human behavior. Anthropogenic stressors largely originate as a result of coupling between man-made urban elements (i.e., networks of engineering and socio-economic infrastructures) and the environment, for which surrounding fluid motions play a key role. In recent years, research efforts have been directed at the understanding and modeling of fluid motions in urban areas, infrastructure dynamics and interactions thereof, with the hope of identifying environmental impacts of urbanization and complex outcomes (or ``emergent properties'') of nominally simple interactions between infrastructures and environment. Such consequences play an important role in determining the ``resilience'' of cities under anthropogenic stressors, defined as maintaining the structure and essential functions of an urbanity without regime shifts. Holistic integrated models that meld the dynamics of infrastructures and environment as well as ``quality of life'' attributes are becoming powerful decision-making tools with regard to sustainability of urban areas (continuance or even enhancement of socio-economic activities in harmony with the environment). The rudimentary forms of integrated models are beginning to take shape, augmented by comprehensive field studies and advanced measurement platforms to validate them. This presentation deals with the challenges of modeling urban atmosphere, subject to anthropogenic forcing. An important emergent property, the Urban Heat Island, and its role in determining resilience and sustainability of cities will be discussed based on the prediction of a coupled model.

Hybrid method for building extraction in vegetation-rich urban areas from very high-resolution satellite imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayasekare, Ajith S.; Wickramasuriya, Rohan; Namazi-Rad, Mohammad-Reza; Perez, Pascal; Singh, Gaurav

2017-07-01

A continuous update of building information is necessary in today's urban planning. Digital images acquired by remote sensing platforms at appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions provide an excellent data source to achieve this. In particular, high-resolution satellite images are often used to retrieve objects such as rooftops using feature extraction. However, high-resolution images acquired over built-up areas are associated with noises such as shadows that reduce the accuracy of feature extraction. Feature extraction heavily relies on the reflectance purity of objects, which is difficult to perfect in complex urban landscapes. An attempt was made to increase the reflectance purity of building rooftops affected by shadows. In addition to the multispectral (MS) image, derivatives thereof namely, normalized difference vegetation index and principle component (PC) images were incorporated in generating the probability image. This hybrid probability image generation ensured that the effect of shadows on rooftop extraction, particularly on light-colored roofs, is largely eliminated. The PC image was also used for image segmentation, which further increased the accuracy compared to segmentation performed on an MS image. Results show that the presented method can achieve higher rooftop extraction accuracy (70.4%) in vegetation-rich urban areas compared to traditional methods.

Using Space Syntax to Assess Safety in Public Areas - Case Study of Tarbiat Pedestrian Area, Tabriz-Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cihangir Çamur, Kübra; Roshani, Mehdi; Pirouzi, Sania

2017-10-01

In studying the urban complex issues, simulation and modelling of public space use considerably helps in determining and measuring factors such as urban safety. Depth map software for determining parameters of the spatial layout techniques; and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for analysing and evaluating the views of the pedestrians on public safety were used in this study. Connectivity, integration, and depth of the area in the Tarbiat city blocks were measured using the Space Syntax Method, and these parameters are presented as graphical and mathematical data. The combination of the results obtained from the questionnaire and statistical analysis with the results of spatial arrangement technique represents the appropriate and inappropriate spaces for pedestrians. This method provides a useful and effective instrument for decision makers, planners, urban designers and programmers in order to evaluate public spaces in the city. Prior to physical modification of urban public spaces, space syntax simulates the pedestrian safety to be used as an analytical tool by the city management. Finally, regarding the modelled parameters and identification of different characteristics of the case, this study represents the strategies and policies in order to increase the safety of the pedestrians of Tarbiat in Tabriz.

Unveiling relationships between crime and property in England and Wales via density scale-adjusted metrics and network tools.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Haroldo V; Hanley, Quentin S; Lewis, Dan

2018-01-01

Scale-adjusted metrics (SAMs) are a significant achievement of the urban scaling hypothesis. SAMs remove the inherent biases of per capita measures computed in the absence of isometric allometries. However, this approach is limited to urban areas, while a large portion of the world's population still lives outside cities and rural areas dominate land use worldwide. Here, we extend the concept of SAMs to population density scale-adjusted metrics (DSAMs) to reveal relationships among different types of crime and property metrics. Our approach allows all human environments to be considered, avoids problems in the definition of urban areas, and accounts for the heterogeneity of population distributions within urban regions. By combining DSAMs, cross-correlation, and complex network analysis, we find that crime and property types have intricate and hierarchically organized relationships leading to some striking conclusions. Drugs and burglary had uncorrelated DSAMs and, to the extent property transaction values are indicators of affluence, twelve out of fourteen crime metrics showed no evidence of specifically targeting affluence. Burglary and robbery were the most connected in our network analysis and the modular structures suggest an alternative to "zero-tolerance" policies by unveiling the crime and/or property types most likely to affect each other.

Unveiling relationships between crime and property in England and Wales via density scale-adjusted metrics and network tools

PubMed Central

Hanley, Quentin S.; Lewis, Dan

2018-01-01

Scale-adjusted metrics (SAMs) are a significant achievement of the urban scaling hypothesis. SAMs remove the inherent biases of per capita measures computed in the absence of isometric allometries. However, this approach is limited to urban areas, while a large portion of the world’s population still lives outside cities and rural areas dominate land use worldwide. Here, we extend the concept of SAMs to population density scale-adjusted metrics (DSAMs) to reveal relationships among different types of crime and property metrics. Our approach allows all human environments to be considered, avoids problems in the definition of urban areas, and accounts for the heterogeneity of population distributions within urban regions. By combining DSAMs, cross-correlation, and complex network analysis, we find that crime and property types have intricate and hierarchically organized relationships leading to some striking conclusions. Drugs and burglary had uncorrelated DSAMs and, to the extent property transaction values are indicators of affluence, twelve out of fourteen crime metrics showed no evidence of specifically targeting affluence. Burglary and robbery were the most connected in our network analysis and the modular structures suggest an alternative to “zero-tolerance” policies by unveiling the crime and/or property types most likely to affect each other. PMID:29470499

Impact of Environmental and Disturbance Variables on Avian Community Structure along a Gradient of Urbanization in Jamshedpur, India

PubMed Central

Verma, Sushant Kumar; Murmu, Thakur Das

2015-01-01

Gradient pattern analysis was used to investigate the impact of environmental and disturbance variables on species richness, species diversity, abundance and seasonal variation of birds in and around Jamshedpur, which is one of the fastest growing cities of India. It was observed that avian community structure is highly influenced by the vegetation habitat variables, food availability and human-related disturbance variables. A total of 61 species belonging to 33 families were recorded from the suburban area. 55 species belonging to 32 families were observed in nearby wildland habitat consisting of natural vegetation whereas only 26 species belonging to 18 families were observed in urban area. Results indicated that the suburban habitat had more complex bird community structure in terms of higher species richness, higher species diversity and higher evenness in comparison to urban and wildland habitat. Bird species richness and diversity varied across seasons. Maximum species richness and diversity was observed during spring season in all type of habitat. Most of the birds observed in urban areas were found to belong to either rare or irregular category on the basis of their abundance. The observed pattern of avian community structure is due to combined effect of both environmental and human related disturbance variables. PMID:26218583

Geo-hydrological risk management for civil protection purposes in the urban area of Genoa (Liguria, NW Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandolini, P.; Cevasco, A.; Firpo, M.; Robbiano, A.; Sacchini, A.

2012-04-01

Over the past century the municipal area of Genoa has been affected by recurring flood events and several landslides that have caused severe damage to urbanized areas on both the coastal-fluvial plains and surrounding slopes, sometimes involving human casualties. The analysis of past events' annual distribution indicates that these phenomena have occurred with rising frequency in the last seventy years, following the main land use change due to the development of harbour, industrial, and residential areas, which has strongly impacted geomorphological processes. Consequently, in Genoa, civil protection activities are taking on an increasing importance for geo-hydrological risk mitigation. The current legislative framework assigns a key role in disaster prevention to municipalities, emergency plan development, as well as response action coordination in disaster situations. In view of the geomorphological and environmental complexity of the study area and referring to environmental laws, geo-hydrological risk mitigation strategies adopted by local administrators for civil protection purposes are presented as examples of current land/urban management related to geo-hydrological hazards. Adopted measures have proven to be effective on several levels (planning, management, structure, understanding, and publication) in different cases. Nevertheless, the last flooding event (4 November 2011) has shown that communication and public information concerning the perception of geo-hydrological hazard can be improved.

Quantification and Mitigation of Long-Term Impacts of Urbanization and Climate Change in the Tropical Coastal City of San Juan, Puerto Rico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comarazamy, Daniel; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Luvall, Jeffrey C.

2014-01-01

Urbanization, along with other cases of land cover and land use changes, has significant climate impacts in tropical regions with the added complexity of occurring within the context of global warming. The individual and combined effects of these two factors on the surface energy balance of a tropical city are investigated by use of an integrated atmospheric modeling approach, taking the San Juan Metropolitan Area (SJMA), Puerto Rico as the test case. To achieve this goal, an ensemble of climate and weather simulations is performed, with the climate scenarios combining urban development and sprawl with regional climate change over the past 50 years, and the short-term simulations designed to test the sensitivity to different urban vegetation configurations as mitigating alternatives. As indicator of change, we use the thermal response number (TRN), which is a measure of the sensible heating to the thermal storage of a surface or region, and the Bowen ratio, which is defined as the ratio of sensible to latent heat fluxes. The TRN of the area occupied by the SJMA has decreased as a consequence of replacing the low land coastal plain vegetation with man made materials, indicating that it takes less energy to raise the surface temperature of the urban area, whereas the TRN of forested regions has remained virtually unchanged. The global warming signal also has effects on the thermal response of the SJMA, where dryer current conditions generate lower TRN values. Differences due to global warming are more evident in the Bowen ratio pattern, mostly associated with the drier present conditions observed and its effects on sensible and latent heat fluxes. In terms of testing different mitigation strategies, the short-term simulations show that the urban area is more efficient in partitioning surface energy balance terms when green roofs are specified, as opposed to including vegetation inside the urban core.

CFD-RANS prediction of individual exposure from continuous release of hazardous airborne materials in complex urban environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Efthimiou, G. C.; Andronopoulos, S.; Bartzis, J. G.; Berbekar, E.; Harms, F.; Leitl, B.

2017-02-01

One of the key issues of recent research on the dispersion inside complex urban environments is the ability to predict individual exposure (maximum dosages) of an airborne material which is released continuously from a point source. The present work addresses the question whether the computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methodology can be used to predict individual exposure for various exposure times. This is feasible by providing the two RANS concentration moments (mean and variance) and a turbulent time scale to a deterministic model. The whole effort is focused on the prediction of individual exposure inside a complex real urban area. The capabilities of the proposed methodology are validated against wind-tunnel data (CUTE experiment). The present simulations were performed 'blindly', i.e. the modeller had limited information for the inlet boundary conditions and the results were kept unknown until the end of the COST Action ES1006. Thus, a high uncertainty of the results was expected. The general performance of the methodology due to this 'blind' strategy is good. The validation metrics fulfil the acceptance criteria. The effect of the grid and the turbulence model on the model performance is examined.

Urbanization influences on aquatic communities in northeastern Illinois streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzpatrick, F.A.; Harris, M.A.; Arnold, T.L.; Richards, K.D.

2004-01-01

Biotic indices and sediment trace element concentrations for 43 streams in northeastern Illinois (Chicago area) from the 1980s and 1990s were examined along an agricultural to urban land cover gradient to explore the relations among biotic integrity, sediment chemistry, and urbanization. The Illinois fish Alternative Index of Biotic Integrity (AIBI) ranged from poor to excellent in agricultural/rural streams, but streams with more than 10 percent watershed urban land (about 500 people/mi2) had fair or poor index scores. A macroinvertebrate index (MBI) showed similar trends. A qualitative habitat index (PIBI) did not correlate to either urban indicator. The AIBI and MBI correlated with urban associated sediment trace element concentrations. Elevated copper concentrations in sediment occurred in streams with greater than 40 percent watershed urban land. The number of intolerant fish species and modified index of biotic integrity scores increased in some rural, urbanizing, and urban streams from the 1980s to 1990s, with the largest increases occurring in rural streams with loamy/sandy surficial deposits. However, smaller increases also occurred in urban streams with clayey surficial deposits and over 50 percent watershed urban land. These data illustrate the potentially complex spatial and temporal relations among biotic integrity, sediment chemistry, watershed urban land, population density, and regional and local geologic setting.

Asthma disparities in urban environments.

PubMed

Bryant-Stephens, Tyra

2009-06-01

Asthma continues to disproportionately affect minority and low-income groups, with African American and Latino children who live in low-socioeconomic-status urban environments experiencing higher asthma morbidity and mortality than white children. This uneven burden in asthma morbidity has been ever increasing despite medical advancement. Many factors have contributed to these disparities in the areas of health care inequities, which result in inadequate treatment; poor housing, which leads to increased exposure to asthma allergens; and social and psychosocial stressors, which are often unappreciated. Interventions to reduce individual areas of disparities have had varying successes. Because asthma is a complex disease that affects millions of persons, multifaceted comprehensive interventions that combine all evidence-based successful strategies are essential to finally closing the gap in asthma morbidity.

High resolution modeling of a small urban catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skouri-Plakali, Ilektra; Ichiba, Abdellah; Gires, Auguste; Tchiguirinskaia, Ioulia; Schertzer, Daniel

2016-04-01

Flooding is one of the most complex issues that urban environments have to deal with. In France, flooding remains the first natural risk with 72% of decrees state of natural disaster issued between October 1982 and mid-November 2014. Flooding is a result of meteorological extremes that are usually aggravated by the hydrological behavior of urban catchments and human factors. The continuing urbanization process is indeed changing the whole urban water cycle by limiting the infiltration and promoting runoff. Urban environments are very complex systems due to their extreme variability, the interference between human activities and natural processes but also the effect of the ongoing urbanization process that changes the landscape and hardly influences their hydrologic behavior. Moreover, many recent works highlight the need to simulate all urban water processes at their specific temporal and spatial scales. However, considering urban catchments heterogeneity still challenging for urban hydrology, even after advances noticed in term of high-resolution data collection and computational resources. This issue is more to be related to the architecture of urban models being used and how far these models are ready to take into account the extreme variability of urban catchments. In this work, high spatio-temporal resolution modeling is performed for a small and well-equipped urban catchment. The aim of this work is to identify urban modeling needs in terms of spatial and temporal resolution especially for a very small urban area (3.7 ha urban catchment located in the Perreux-sur-Marne city at the southeast of Paris) MultiHydro model was selected to carry out this work, it is a physical based and fully distributed model that interacts four existing modules each of them representing a portion of the water cycle in urban environments. MultiHydro was implemented at 10m, 5m and 2m resolution. Simulations were performed at different spatio-temporal resolutions and analyzed with respect to real flow measurements. First Results coming out show improvements obtained in terms of the model performance at high spatio-temporal resolution.

The influence of tree stands and a noise barrier on near-roadway air quality

EPA Science Inventory

Prediction of air pollution exposure levels of people living near or commuting on roadways is still very problematic due to the highly localized nature of traffic intensity, fleet composition, and extremely complex air flow patterns in urban areas. Both modelling and field studie...

Exploring the Complexity of Teacher Professional Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsieh, Betina Yuan-Cheng

2010-01-01

This dissertation is based on a case study of 8 beginning English teachers who participated in a collaborative inquiry group at an urban, comprehensive, high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. Qualitative data (including audio-transcribed meeting data, individual interview data, and classroom observations) were collected over two school years,…

Unraveling Landscape Complexity: Land Use/Land Cover Changes and Landscape Pattern Dynamics (1954-2008) in Contrasting Peri-Urban and Agro-Forest Regions of Northern Italy.

PubMed

Smiraglia, D; Ceccarelli, T; Bajocco, S; Perini, L; Salvati, L

2015-10-01

This study implements an exploratory data analysis of landscape metrics and a change detection analysis of land use and population density to assess landscape dynamics (1954-2008) in two physiographic zones (plain and hilly-mountain area) of Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. The two areas are characterized by different landscape types: a mixed urban-rural landscape dominated by arable land and peri-urban settlements in the plain and a traditional agro-forest landscape in the hilly-mountain area with deciduous and conifer forests, scrublands, meadows, and crop mosaic. Urbanization and, to a lesser extent, agricultural intensification were identified as the processes underlying landscape change in the plain. Land abandonment determining natural forestation and re-forestation driven by man was identified as the process of change most representative of the hilly-mountain area. Trends in landscape metrics indicate a shift toward more fragmented and convoluted patterns in both areas. Number of patches, the interspersion and juxtaposition index, and the large patch index are the metrics discriminating the two areas in terms of landscape patterns in 1954. In 2008, mean patch size, edge density, interspersion and juxtaposition index, and mean Euclidean nearest neighbor distance were the metrics with the most different spatial patterns in the two areas. The exploratory data analysis of landscape metrics contributed to link changes over time in both landscape composition and configuration providing a comprehensive picture of landscape transformations in a wealthy European region. Evidence from this study are hoped to inform sustainable land management designed for homogeneous landscape units in similar socioeconomic contexts.

The effects of black-tailed prairie dogs on plant communities within a complex urban landscape: an ecological surprise?

PubMed

Beals, Stower C; Hartley, Laurel M; Prevéy, Janet S; Seastedt, Timothy R

2014-05-01

Historically, prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) have been considered essential keystone species of western United States grassland ecosystems because they provide unique services and increase vegetation community richness, evenness, and diversity. However, the effects of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on lands adjacent to or surrounded by urban areas may not result in the same ecosystem benefits historically associated with their presence. An urban landscape presents prairie dogs with movement challenges unparalleled in natural landscapes, as well as suites of nonnative plant species that are more common in disturbed areas. This study examined a complex ecosystem where vegetation communities are being influenced by directional environmental change, and quantified the synergistic effects resulting from the protective management of a native keystone species. The data set for this analysis was comprised of 71 paired (occupied by prairie dogs vs. unoccupied) vegetation surveys and 156 additional unpaired surveys collected from around the city of Boulder, Colorado, USA for 14 yr. Linear mixed models were used to compare data from transects occupied and unoccupied by prairie dogs, as well as to evaluate the effect of prairie dog occupation duration. In the absence of prairie dogs, vegetation in this region exhibited declines in native grasses, no changes in introduced grasses, and increases in native and nonnative forbs and bare soil over the study interval. In the presence of prairie dogs, these observed directional changes were nearly all amplified at rates four to 10 times greater than when prairie dogs were absent. Areas in Boulder occupied by prairie dogs also had significantly lower richness, evenness, and diversity of plant species, compared to unoccupied areas. Analysis of plant functional groups revealed the significant reduction of perennial native grasses, as well as a significantly higher cover of introduced forbs in occupied areas. Prairie dogs amplified the effects of low-impact environmental directional changes, creating more novel vegetation communities than the environmental factors alone. Results from this research provide insight regarding the synergistic effects of a native keystone species within a complex human-impacted 21st century landscape.

Interdisciplinary Pathways for Urban Metabolism Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newell, J. P.

2011-12-01

With its rapid rise as a metaphor to express coupled natural-human systems in cities, the concept of urban metabolism is evolving into a series of relatively distinct research frameworks amongst various disciplines, with varying definitions, theories, models, and emphases. In industrial ecology, housed primarily within the disciplinary domain of engineering, urban metabolism research has focused on quantifying material and energy flows into, within, and out of cities, using methodologies such as material flow analysis and life cycle assessment. In the field of urban ecology, which is strongly influenced by ecology and urban planning, research focus has been placed on understanding and modeling the complex patterns and processes of human-ecological systems within urban areas. Finally, in political ecology, closely aligned with human geography and anthropology, scholars theorize about the interwoven knots of social and natural processes, material flows, and spatial structures that form the urban metabolism. This paper offers three potential interdisciplinary urban metabolism research tracks that might integrate elements of these three "ecologies," thereby bridging engineering and the social and physical sciences. First, it presents the idea of infrastructure ecology, which explores the complex, emergent interdependencies between gray (water and wastewater, transportation, etc) and green (e.g. parks, greenways) infrastructure systems, as nested within a broader socio-economic context. For cities to be sustainable and resilient over time-space, the theory follows, these is a need to understand and redesign these infrastructure linkages. Second, there is the concept of an urban-scale carbon metabolism model which integrates consumption-based material flow analysis (including goods, water, and materials), with the carbon sink and source dynamics of the built environment (e.g. buildings, etc) and urban ecosystems. Finally, there is the political ecology of the material urban metabolism, which adds spatial differentiation to materials flows and form, as well as a focus on equity, access, and governance dimensions of the urban metabolism.

Population dynamics throughout the urban context: A case study in sub-Saharan Africa utilizing remotely sensed imagery and GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benza, Magdalena

The characteristics of places where people live and work play an important role in explaining complex social, political, economic and demographic processes. In sub-Saharan Africa rapid urban growth combined with rising poverty is creating diverse urban environments inhabited by people with a wide variety of lifestyles. This research examines how spatial patterns of land cover in a southern portion of the West African country of Ghana are associated with particular characteristics of family organization and reproduction decisions. Satellite imagery and landscape metrics are used to create an urban context definition based on landscape patterns using a gradient approach. Census data are used to estimate fertility levels and household structure, and the association between urban context, household composition and fertility levels is modeled through OLS regression, spatial autoregressive models and geographically weighted regression. Results indicate that there are significant differences in fertility levels between different urban contexts, with below average fertility levels found in the most urbanized end of the urban context definition and above average fertility levels found on the opposite end. The spatial patterns identified in the association between urban context and fertility levels indicate that, within the city areas with lower fertility have significant impacts on the reproductive levels of adjacent neighborhoods. Findings also indicate that there are clear patterns that link urban context to living arrangements and fertility levels. Female- and single-headed households are associated with below average fertility levels, a result that connects dropping fertility levels with the spread of smaller nuclear households in developing countries. At the same time, larger extended family households are linked to below average fertility levels for highly clustered areas, a finding that points to the prevalence of extended family housing in the West African city.

Description and evaluation of the QUIC bio-slurry scheme: droplet evaporation and surface deposition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zajic, Dragan; Brown, Michael J; Nelson, Matthew A

2010-01-01

The Quick Urban and Industrial Complex (QUIC) dispersion modeling system was developed with the goal of improving the transport and dispersion modeling capabilities within urban areas. The modeling system has the ability to rapidly obtain a detailed 3D flow field around building clusters and uses an urbanized Lagrangian random-walk approach to account for transport and dispersion (e.g., see Singh et al., 2008; Williams et al., 2009; and Gowardhan et al., 2009). In addition to wind-tunnel testing, the dispersion modeling system has been evaluated against full-scale urban tracer experiments performed in Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, and New York City (Gowardhanmore » et al., 2006; Gowardhan et al., 2009; Allwine et al., 2008) and the wind model output to measurements taken in downtown Oklahoma City.« less

Integration of data from censuses and remote sensing to measure the socio-economic and environmental evolution in urban areas: case of the city of Sherbrooke (1981-2006)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dari, Ouassini

The urban environment is complex, heterogeneous and temporally changeable. Man is the main actor in the transformation of urban areas where he interacts with intensity. Spatial differentiation is a result of human occupation in the urban environment. This occupation may vary according to land use, population density, social and economic characteristics and environment. This leads us to say that the socio-economic and environmental indicators change according to the various locations in the urban area and through time. Our goal is to measure the socio-economic and environmental changes in the urban area of the city of Sherbrooke using remote sensing data synchronized with the censuses and that we will then integrate into the geographic information system (GIS). We have used data from the 1981 and 2006 censuses, 1983 aerial photos, 2007 orthophotos and 1983 MSS and 2006 Ikons satellite images to measure the socio-economic and environmental changes in the city of Sherbrooke. We have used spatial analysis tools to integrate image data with census data. The methods uses such as global indices, principal component analysis combined with the variation between the two dates have yielded interesting results. The first factor in principal component analysis with orthogonal rotation (Varimax) justified a substantial percentage of the variance in global indices. The use of dissemination areas resulted in detailed information on the change in the city. From the perspective of spatial distribution, we noted a major difference between the central areas and the peripheral areas in 1981 and 2006. From the perspective of evolution between 1981 and 2006, we observed that are positive and negative changes at various levels took place. We also observed the evolution of ethnicity in the Sherbrooke city and Lennoxville municipality. The study showed that the French population is prevalent in the old city of Sherbrooke as the English population is prevalent in Lennoxville. The European population is spread over the two cities. The aboriginal population is well distributed over the city of Sherbrooke. The population from Asian and Oceanic backgrounds are concentrated (sometimes on an exclusive basis) in the north and west-centre area of Jardins-Fleuris, in the eastern area of l'Assomption, the northeastern area of Sainte-Famille and the center area of Marie-Reine. We also find concentrations of immigrant populations from all backgrounds in areas such as in the southern part of the Immaculee-Conception and Saint-Joseph and in the south-eastern part of Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc. This indicates that ethnic neighborhoods are taking roots in the city of Sherbrooke. Keywords : socio-economic and environmental, urban, remote sensing, multiple factor analysis, dissemination areas, the city of Sherbrooke, Lennoxville municipality.

Parasitic diseases and urban development.

PubMed Central

Mott, K. E.; Desjeux, P.; Moncayo, A.; Ranque, P.; de Raadt, P.

1990-01-01

The distribution and epidemiology of parasitic diseases in both urban and periurban areas of endemic countries have been changing as development progresses. The following different scenarios involving Chagas disease, lymphatic filariasis, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis are discussed: (1) infected persons entering nonendemic urban areas without vectors; (2) infected persons entering nonendemic urban areas with vectors; (3) infected persons entering endemic urban areas; (4) non-infected persons entering endemic urban areas; (5) urbanization or domestication of natural zoonotic foci; and (6) vectors entering nonendemic urban areas. Cultural and social habits from the rural areas, such as type of house construction and domestic water usage, are adopted by migrants to urban areas and increase the risk of disease transmission which adversely affects employment in urban populations. As the urban health services must deal with the rise in parasitic diseases, appropriate control strategies for the urban setting must be developed and implemented. PMID:2127380

Assessment of the urban water system with an open ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Urban water systems convey complex environmental and man-made flows. The relationships among water flows and networked storages remains difficult to comprehensively evaluate. Such evaluation is important, however, as interventions are designed (e.g, conservation measures, green infrastructure) to modify specific flows of urban water (e.g. drinking water, stormwater) that may have systemic effects. We have developed a general model that specifies the relationships among urban water system components, and a set of tools for evaluating the model for any city as the R package CityWaterBalance. CityWaterBalance provides a reproducible workflow for assessing urban water system(s) by facilitating the retrieval of open data, largely via web services, and analysis of these data using open-source R functions. It allows the user to 1) quickly assemble a quantitative, unified picture of flows thorough an urban area, and 2) easily change the spatial and temporal boundaries of analysis to match scales relevant to local decision-making. We used CityWaterBalance to evaluate the water system in the Chicago metropolitan area on a monthly basis for water years 2001-2010. Results, including the relative magnitudes and temporal variability of major water flows in greater Chicago, are used to consider 1) trade-offs associated with management alternatives for stormwater and combined sewer overflows and 2) the significance of future changes in precipitation, which is the largest

Combination of Geophysical Methods to Support Urban Geological Mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabàs, A.; Macau, A.; Benjumea, B.; Bellmunt, F.; Figueras, S.; Vilà, M.

2014-07-01

Urban geological mapping is a key to assist management of new developed areas, conversion of current urban areas or assessment of urban geological hazards. Geophysics can have a pivotal role to yield subsurface information in urban areas provided that geophysical methods are capable of dealing with challenges related to these scenarios (e.g., low signal-to-noise ratio or special logistical arrangements). With this principal aim, a specific methodology is developed to characterize lithological changes, to image fault zones and to delineate basin geometry in the urban areas. The process uses the combination of passive and active techniques as complementary data: controlled source audio-magnetotelluric method (CSAMT), magnetotelluric method (MT), microtremor H/V analysis and ambient noise array measurements to overcome the limitations of traditional geophysical methodology. This study is focused in Girona and Salt surrounding areas (NE of Spain) where some uncertainties in subsurface knowledge (maps of bedrock depth and the isopach maps of thickness of quaternary sediments) need to be resolved to carry out the 1:5000 urban geological mapping. These parameters can be estimated using this proposed methodology. (1) Acoustic impedance contrast between Neogene sediments and Paleogene or Paleozoic bedrock is detected with microtremor H/V analysis that provides the soil resonance frequency. The minimum value obtained is 0.4 Hz in Salt city, and the maximum value is the 9.5 Hz in Girona city. The result of this first method is a fast scanner of the geometry of basement. (2) Ambient noise array constrains the bedrock depth using the measurements of shear-wave velocity of soft soil. (3) Finally, the electrical resistivity models contribute with a good description of lithological changes and fault imaging. The conductive materials (1-100 Ωm) are associated with Neogene Basin composed by unconsolidated detrital sediments; medium resistive materials (100-400 Ωm) correspond to Paleogene, and resistive materials (600-1,000 Ωm) are related with complex basement, granite of Paleozoic. The Neogene basin-basement boundary is constrained between surface and 500 m depth, approximately. The new geophysical methodology presented is an optimized and fast tool to refine geological mapping by adding 2D information to traditional geological data and improving the knowledge of subsoil.

Influences of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development.

PubMed

Zhou, Min; Tan, Shukui; Zhang, Lu

2015-01-01

Land use planning is always officially implemented as an effective tool to control urban development and protect farmland. However, its impact on land use change remains untested in China. Using a case study of Hang-Jia-Hu region, the main objective of this paper was to investigate the influence of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development. Comparisons of farmland conversion and urban development patterns between the urban planning area and the non-urban planning area were characterized by using remote sensing, geographical information systems, and landscape metrics. Results indicated that farmland conversion in the non-urban planning area was more intensive than that in the urban planning area, and that farmland patterns was more fragmented in the non-urban planning area. Built-up land patterns in the non-urban planning area showed a trend of aggregation, while those in the urban planning area had a dual trend of fragmentation and aggregation. Existing built-up areas had less influence on built-up land sprawl in the non-urban planning area than that in the urban planning area. Built-up land sprawl in the form of continuous development in the urban planning area led to farmland conversion; and in the non-urban planning area, built-up land sprawl in the form of leapfrogging development resulted in farmland areal declines and fragmentation. We argued that it is a basic requirement to integrate land use plans in urban and non-urban planning areas for land use planning and management.

Influences of Different Land Use Spatial Control Schemes on Farmland Conversion and Urban Development

PubMed Central

Zhou, Min; Tan, Shukui; Zhang, Lu

2015-01-01

Land use planning is always officially implemented as an effective tool to control urban development and protect farmland. However, its impact on land use change remains untested in China. Using a case study of Hang-Jia-Hu region, the main objective of this paper was to investigate the influence of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development. Comparisons of farmland conversion and urban development patterns between the urban planning area and the non-urban planning area were characterized by using remote sensing, geographical information systems, and landscape metrics. Results indicated that farmland conversion in the non-urban planning area was more intensive than that in the urban planning area, and that farmland patterns was more fragmented in the non-urban planning area. Built-up land patterns in the non-urban planning area showed a trend of aggregation, while those in the urban planning area had a dual trend of fragmentation and aggregation. Existing built-up areas had less influence on built-up land sprawl in the non-urban planning area than that in the urban planning area. Built-up land sprawl in the form of continuous development in the urban planning area led to farmland conversion; and in the non-urban planning area, built-up land sprawl in the form of leapfrogging development resulted in farmland areal declines and fragmentation. We argued that it is a basic requirement to integrate land use plans in urban and non-urban planning areas for land use planning and management. PMID:25915897

Urban remote sensing in areas of conflict: TerraSAR-X and Sentinel-1 change detection in the Middle East

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tapete, Deodato; Cigna, Francesca

2016-08-01

Timely availability of images of suitable spatial resolution, temporal frequency and coverage is currently one of the major technical constraints on the application of satellite SAR remote sensing for the conservation of heritage assets in urban environments that are impacted by human-induced transformation. TerraSAR-X and Sentinel-1A, in this regard, are two different models of SAR data provision: very high resolution on-demand imagery with end user-selected acquisition parameters, on one side, and freely accessible GIS-ready products with intended regular temporal coverage, on the other. What this means for change detection analyses in urban areas is demonstrated in this paper via the experiment over Homs, the third largest city of Syria with an history of settlement since 2300 BCE, where the impacts of the recent civil war combine with pre- and post-conflict urban transformation . The potential performance of Sentinel-1A StripMap scenes acquired in an emergency context is simulated via the matching StripMap beam mode offered by TerraSAR-X. Benefits and limitations of the different radar frequency band, spatial resolution and single/multi-channel polarization are discussed, as a proof-of-concept of regular monitoring currently achievable with space-borne SAR in historic urban settings. Urban transformation observed across Homs in 2009, 2014 and 2015 shows the impact of the Syrian conflict on the cityscape and proves that operator-driven interpretation is required to understand the complexity of multiple and overlapping urban changes.

Crew Earth Observations (CEO) taken during Expedition 9

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-06-12

ISS009-E-11537 (12 June 2004) --- Athens, Greece is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 9 crewmember on the International Space Station (ISS). This photo includes areas of new construction or renovation for the Olympic Games, such as the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex and Helliniko Olympic Complex. The image also demonstrates the control of bounding mountain ranges (Mts. Aigeleos and Hymettos) on the western and southern expansion of the Athens urban area. Athens is located in the Central Plains region of Attica in eastern Greece. The large basin in which Athens is located was formed by faulting and has accumulated thick deposits of clays and alluvium.

Systematic flood modelling to support flood-proof urban design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruwier, Martin; Mustafa, Ahmed; Aliaga, Daniel; Archambeau, Pierre; Erpicum, Sébastien; Nishida, Gen; Zhang, Xiaowei; Pirotton, Michel; Teller, Jacques; Dewals, Benjamin

2017-04-01

Urban flood risk is influenced by many factors such as hydro-meteorological drivers, existing drainage systems as well as vulnerability of population and assets. The urban fabric itself has also a complex influence on inundation flows. In this research, we performed a systematic analysis on how various characteristics of urban patterns control inundation flow within the urban area and upstream of it. An urban generator tool was used to generate over 2,250 synthetic urban networks of 1 km2. This tool is based on the procedural modelling presented by Parish and Müller (2001) which was adapted to generate a broader variety of urban networks. Nine input parameters were used to control the urban geometry. Three of them define the average length, orientation and curvature of the streets. Two orthogonal major roads, for which the width constitutes the fourth input parameter, work as constraints to generate the urban network. The width of secondary streets is given by the fifth input parameter. Each parcel generated by the street network based on a parcel mean area parameter can be either a park or a building parcel depending on the park ratio parameter. Three setback parameters constraint the exact location of the building whithin a building parcel. For each of synthetic urban network, detailed two-dimensional inundation maps were computed with a hydraulic model. The computational efficiency was enhanced by means of a porosity model. This enables the use of a coarser computational grid , while preserving information on the detailed geometry of the urban network (Sanders et al. 2008). These porosity parameters reflect not only the void fraction, which influences the storage capacity of the urban area, but also the influence of buildings on flow conveyance (dynamic effects). A sensitivity analysis was performed based on the inundation maps to highlight the respective impact of each input parameter characteristizing the urban networks. The findings of the study pinpoint which properties of urban networks have a major influence on urban inundation flow, enabling better informed flood-proof urban design. References: Parish, Y. I. H., Muller, P. 2001. Procedural modeling of cities. SIGGRAPH, pp. 301—308. Sanders, B.F., Schubert, J.E., Gallegos, H.A., 2008. Integral formulation of shallow-water equations with anisotropic porosity for urban flood modeling. Journal of Hydrology 362, 19-38. Acknowledgements: The research was funded through the ARC grant for Concerted Research Actions, financed by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

Urban Modification of Convection and Rainfall in Complex Terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freitag, B. M.; Nair, U. S.; Niyogi, D.

2018-03-01

Despite a globally growing proportion of cities located in regions of complex terrain, interactions between urbanization and complex terrain and their meteorological impacts are not well understood. We utilize numerical model simulations and satellite data products to investigate such impacts over San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. Numerical modeling experiments show urbanization results in 20-30% less precipitation downwind of the city and an eastward shift in precipitation upwind. Our experiments show that changes in surface energy, boundary layer dynamics, and thermodynamics induced by urbanization interact synergistically with the persistent forcing of atmospheric flow by complex terrain. With urbanization increasing in mountainous regions, land-atmosphere feedbacks can exaggerate meteorological forcings leading to weather impacts that require important considerations for sustainable development of urban regions within complex terrain.

Influence of rainfall and catchment characteristics on urban stormwater quality.

PubMed

Liu, An; Egodawatta, Prasanna; Guan, Yuntao; Goonetilleke, Ashantha

2013-02-01

The accuracy and reliability of urban stormwater quality modelling outcomes are important for stormwater management decision making. The commonly adopted approach where only a limited number of factors are used to predict urban stormwater quality may not adequately represent the complexity of the quality response to a rainfall event or site-to-site differences to support efficient treatment design. This paper discusses an investigation into the influence of rainfall and catchment characteristics on urban stormwater quality in order to investigate the potential areas for errors in current stormwater quality modelling practices. It was found that the influence of rainfall characteristics on pollutant wash-off is step-wise based on specific thresholds. This means that a modelling approach where the wash-off process is predicted as a continuous function of rainfall intensity and duration is not appropriate. Additionally, other than conventional catchment characteristics, namely, land use and impervious surface fraction, other catchment characteristics such as impervious area layout, urban form and site specific characteristics have an important influence on both, pollutant build-up and wash-off processes. Finally, the use of solids as a surrogate to estimate other pollutant species was found to be inappropriate. Individually considering build-up and wash-off processes for each pollutant species should be the preferred option. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of Urbanization on Demography of Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) in the Prairies of North America

PubMed Central

Coleman, Joanna L.; Barclay, Robert M. R.

2011-01-01

Background We address three key gaps in research on urban wildlife ecology: insufficient attention to (1) grassland biomes, (2) individual- and population-level effects, and (3) vertebrates other than birds. We hypothesized that urbanization in the North American Prairies, by increasing habitat complexity (via the proliferation of vertical structures such as trees and buildings), thereby enhancing the availability of day-roosts, tree cover, and insects, would benefit synanthropic bats, resulting in increased fitness among urban individuals. Methodology/Principal Findings Over three years, we captured more than 1,600 little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in urban and non-urban riparian sites in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This species dominated bat assemblages throughout our study area, but nowhere more so than in the city. Our data did not support most of our specific predictions. Increased numbers of urban bats did not reflect urbanization-related benefits such as enhanced body condition, reproductive rates, or successful production of juveniles. Instead, bats did best in the transition zone situated between strictly urban and rural areas. Conclusions/Significance We reject our hypothesis and explore various explanations. One possibility is that urban and rural M. lucifugus exhibit increased use of anthropogenic roosts, as opposed to natural ones, leading to larger maternity colonies and higher population densities and, in turn, increased competition for insect prey. Other possibilities include increased stress, disease transmission and/or impacts of noise on urban bats. Whatever the proximate cause, the combination of greater bat population density with decreased body condition and production of juveniles indicates that Calgary does not represent a population source for Prairie bats. We studied a highly synanthropic species in a system where it could reasonably be expected to respond positively to urbanization, but failed to observe any apparent benefits at the individual level, leading us to propose that urban development may be universally detrimental to bats. PMID:21857890

Identifying natural and anthropogenic sources of metals in urban and rural soils using GIS-based data, PCA, and spatial interpolation

PubMed Central

Davis, Harley T.; Aelion, C. Marjorie; McDermott, Suzanne; Lawson, Andrew B.

2009-01-01

Determining sources of neurotoxic metals in rural and urban soils is important for mitigating human exposure. Surface soil from four areas with significant clusters of mental retardation and developmental delay (MR/DD) in children, and one control site were analyzed for nine metals and characterized by soil type, climate, ecological region, land use and industrial facilities using readily-available GIS-based data. Kriging, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) were used to identify commonalities of metal distribution. Three MR/DD areas (one rural and two urban) had similar soil types and significantly higher soil metal concentrations. PCA and CA results suggested that Ba, Be and Mn were consistently from natural sources; Pb and Hg from anthropogenic sources; and As, Cr, Cu, and Ni from both sources. Arsenic had low commonality estimates, was highly associated with a third PCA factor, and had a complex distribution, complicating mitigation strategies to minimize concentrations and exposures. PMID:19361902

Third International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics with a Special Theme on Urban Fluid Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyer, Don

2002-01-01

This is to report on the use of the funds provided by NASA to support the 'Third International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics with a Special Theme on Urban Fluid Dynamics'. The Symposium was held on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, USA, from 5-8 December 2001. It proved to be a forum for the discussion of a wide range of applied and basic research being conducted in the general areas of water and air resources, with the latter focusing on air quality in urban areas associated with complex terrain. This aspect of the Symposium was highlighted by twelve invited papers given by distinguished international scientists and roughly three hundred contributed manuscripts. Owing primarily to the current international situation, roughly 20% of the authors canceled their plans to attend the Symposium; while this was unfortunate, the Symposium went ahead with the enthusiastic participation of more than 250 scientists from forty nations.

Spatial variations in US poverty: beyond metropolitan and non-metropolitan.

PubMed

Wang, Man; Kleit, Rachel Garshick; Cover, Jane; Fowler, Christopher S

2012-01-01

Because poverty in rural and urban areas of the US often has different causes, correlates and solutions, effective anti-poverty policies depend on a thorough understanding of the ruralness or urbanness of specific places. This paper compares several widely used classification schemes and the varying magnitudes of poverty that they reveal in the US. The commonly used ‘metropolitan/non-metropolitan’ distinction obscures important socioeconomic differences among metropolitan areas, making our understanding of the geography of poverty imprecise. Given the number and concentration of poor people living in mixed-rural and rural counties in metropolitan regions, researchers and policy-makers need to pay more nuanced attention to the opportunities and constraints such individuals face. A cross-classification of the Office of Management and Budget’s metro system with a nuanced RUDC scheme is the most effective for revealing the geographical complexities of poverty within metropolitan areas.

Preliminary Analysis of the efficacy of Artificial neural Network (ANN) and Cellular Automaton (CA) based Land Use Models in Urban Land-Use Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harun, R.

2013-05-01

This research provides an opportunity of collaboration between urban planners and modellers by providing a clear theoretical foundations on the two most widely used urban land use models, and assessing the effectiveness of applying the models in urban planning context. Understanding urban land cover change is an essential element for sustainable urban development as it affects ecological functioning in urban ecosystem. Rapid urbanization due to growing inclination of people to settle in urban areas has increased the complexities in predicting that at what shape and size cities will grow. The dynamic changes in the spatial pattern of urban landscapes has exposed the policy makers and environmental scientists to great challenge. But geographic science has grown in symmetry to the advancements in computer science. Models and tools are developed to support urban planning by analyzing the causes and consequences of land use changes and project the future. Of all the different types of land use models available in recent days, it has been found by researchers that the most frequently used models are Cellular Automaton (CA) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) models. But studies have demonstrated that the existing land use models have not been able to meet the needs of planners and policy makers. There are two primary causes identified behind this prologue. First, there is inadequate understanding of the fundamental theories and application of the models in urban planning context i.e., there is a gap in communication between modellers and urban planners. Second, the existing models exclude many key drivers in the process of simplification of the complex urban system that guide urban spatial pattern. Thus the models end up being effective in assessing the impacts of certain land use policies, but cannot contribute in new policy formulation. This paper is an attempt to increase the knowledge base of planners on the most frequently used land use model and also assess the relative effectiveness of the two models, ANN and CA, in urban planning. The questions that are addressed in this research are: a) What makes ANN models different from CA models?; b) Which model has higher accuracy in predicting future urban land use change?; and c) Are the models effective enough in guiding urban land use policies and strategies? The models that are used for this research are Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and CA model, available in IDRISI Taiga. Since, the objective is to perform a comparative analysis and draw general inferences irrespective of specific urban policies, the availability of data was given more emphasis over the selection of particular location. Urban area in Massachusetts was chosen to conduct the study due to data availability. Extensive literature review was performed to understand the functionality of the two models. The models were applied to predict future changes and the accuracy assessment was performed using standard matrix. Inferences were drawn about the applicability of the models in urban planning context along with recommendations. This research will not only develop understanding of land use models among urban planners, but also will create an environment of coupled research between planners and modellers.

Mobile wireless network for the urban environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budulas, Peter; Luu, Brian; Gopaul, Richard

2005-05-01

As the Army transforms into the Future Force, particular attention must be paid to operations in Complex and Urban Terrain. Our adversaries increasingly draw us into operations in the urban environment and one can presume that this trend will continue in future battles. In order to ensure that the United States Army maintains battlefield dominance, the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is developing technology to equip our soldiers for the urban operations of the future. Sophisticated soldier borne systems will extend sensing to the individual soldier, and correspondingly, allow the soldier to establish an accurate picture of their surrounding environment utilizing information from local and remote assets. Robotic platforms will be an integral part of the future combat team. These platforms will augment the team with remote sensing modalities, task execution capabilities, and enhanced communication systems. To effectively utilize the products provided by each of these systems, collected data must be exchanged in real time to all affected entities. Therefore, the Army Research Laboratory is also developing the technology that will be required to support high bandwidth mobile communication in urban environments. This technology incorporates robotic systems that will allow connectivity in areas unreachable by traditional systems. This paper will address some of the issues of providing wireless connectivity in complex and urban terrain. It will further discuss approaches developed by the Army Research Laboratory to integrate communications capabilities into soldier and robotic systems and provide seamless connectivity between the elements of a combat team, and higher echelons.

Urban Malaria: Understanding its Epidemiology, Ecology, and Transmission across Seven Diverse ICEMR Network Sites

PubMed Central

Wilson, Mark L.; Krogstad, Donald J.; Arinaitwe, Emmanuel; Arevalo-Herrera, Myriam; Chery, Laura; Ferreira, Marcelo U.; Ndiaye, Daouda; Mathanga, Don P.; Eapen, Alex

2015-01-01

A major public health question is whether urbanization will transform malaria from a rural to an urban disease. However, differences about definitions of urban settings, urban malaria, and whether malaria control should differ between rural and urban areas complicate both the analysis of available data and the development of intervention strategies. This report examines the approach of the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) to urban malaria in Brazil, Colombia, India (Chennai and Goa), Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda. Its major theme is the need to determine whether cases diagnosed in urban areas were imported from surrounding rural areas or resulted from transmission within the urban area. If infections are being acquired within urban areas, malaria control measures must be targeted within those urban areas to be effective. Conversely, if malaria cases are being imported from rural areas, control measures must be directed at vectors, breeding sites, and infected humans in those rural areas. Similar interventions must be directed differently if infections were acquired within urban areas. The hypothesis underlying the ICEMR approach to urban malaria is that optimal control of urban malaria depends on accurate epidemiologic and entomologic information about transmission. PMID:26259941

Improving Semantic Updating Method on 3d City Models Using Hybrid Semantic-Geometric 3d Segmentation Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharkawi, K.-H.; Abdul-Rahman, A.

2013-09-01

Cities and urban areas entities such as building structures are becoming more complex as the modern human civilizations continue to evolve. The ability to plan and manage every territory especially the urban areas is very important to every government in the world. Planning and managing cities and urban areas based on printed maps and 2D data are getting insufficient and inefficient to cope with the complexity of the new developments in big cities. The emergence of 3D city models have boosted the efficiency in analysing and managing urban areas as the 3D data are proven to represent the real world object more accurately. It has since been adopted as the new trend in buildings and urban management and planning applications. Nowadays, many countries around the world have been generating virtual 3D representation of their major cities. The growing interest in improving the usability of 3D city models has resulted in the development of various tools for analysis based on the 3D city models. Today, 3D city models are generated for various purposes such as for tourism, location-based services, disaster management and urban planning. Meanwhile, modelling 3D objects are getting easier with the emergence of the user-friendly tools for 3D modelling available in the market. Generating 3D buildings with high accuracy also has become easier with the availability of airborne Lidar and terrestrial laser scanning equipments. The availability and accessibility to this technology makes it more sensible to analyse buildings in urban areas using 3D data as it accurately represent the real world objects. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has accepted CityGML specifications as one of the international standards for representing and exchanging spatial data, making it easier to visualize, store and manage 3D city models data efficiently. CityGML able to represents the semantics, geometry, topology and appearance of 3D city models in five well-defined Level-of-Details (LoD), namely LoD0 to LoD4. The accuracy and structural complexity of the 3D objects increases with the LoD level where LoD0 is the simplest LoD (2.5D; Digital Terrain Model (DTM) + building or roof print) while LoD4 is the most complex LoD (architectural details with interior structures). Semantic information is one of the main components in CityGML and 3D City Models, and provides important information for any analyses. However, more often than not, the semantic information is not available for the 3D city model due to the unstandardized modelling process. One of the examples is where a building is normally generated as one object (without specific feature layers such as Roof, Ground floor, Level 1, Level 2, Block A, Block B, etc). This research attempts to develop a method to improve the semantic data updating process by segmenting the 3D building into simpler parts which will make it easier for the users to select and update the semantic information. The methodology is implemented for 3D buildings in LoD2 where the buildings are generated without architectural details but with distinct roof structures. This paper also introduces hybrid semantic-geometric 3D segmentation method that deals with hierarchical segmentation of a 3D building based on its semantic value and surface characteristics, fitted by one of the predefined primitives. For future work, the segmentation method will be implemented as part of the change detection module that can detect any changes on the 3D buildings, store and retrieve semantic information of the changed structure, automatically updates the 3D models and visualize the results in a userfriendly graphical user interface (GUI).

Fundamental concepts and research priorities for advancing the science of urban stormwater hydrology and flood management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nytch, C. J.; Meléndez-Ackerman, E. J.; Vivoni, E. R.; Grove, J. M.; Ortiz, J.

2016-12-01

In cities, hydrologic processes are drastically altered by human interventions. Modification of land cover and the enhancement of hydraulic efficiency have been documented as root causes of augmented stormwater runoff in urban watersheds, contributing to higher magnitude discharge events that pose flood risks for human communities. Climate change is expected to accelerate the hydrologic cycle, leading to more extreme events and increased flood risk. We present a synthesis of the physical and conceptual components and processes that govern urban stormwater runoff, and highlight key areas for future research. There is limited understanding about the fine-scale spatio-temporal relationships between gray, green, brown, and blue land cover features, the underlying social-ecological mechanisms responsible for their distribution, and the resulting effects on runoff dynamics. Horizontal and vertical complexity of urban morphological features and connectivity with the network of stormwater management infrastructure leads to heterogeneous and non-linear runoff responses that confound efforts for accurately predicting flood hazards. Quantitative analysis is needed to understand how urban drainage network structure varies across stream orders, and illuminate the landscape-scale patterns that potentially serve as organizing principles for generating hydrologic processes across diverse socio-bio-climatic domains and scales. Field-based and modeling studies are also needed to quantify the individual hydrologic capacities of urban structural elements and their cumulative effects at the watershed scale, particularly in developing regions. Integrated, transdisciplinary, multi-scalar approaches to framing and investigating complex socio-eco-techno-hydrologic systems are essential for advancing the science of urban stormwater hydrology, and developing resilient, multifunctional management solutions appropriate to the challenges of urban flooding in the twenty-first century.

The dynamics of heatwave over a coastal megacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramamurthy, P.

2017-12-01

A majority of the current population in the U.S. resides in urban areas and nearly 40% live in urban coastal communities. These cities are disproportionately affected by extreme events such as heatwaves, hurricanes and extreme precipitation. The microclimate of the coastal cities is profoundly influenced by the interaction between the highly convective urban core and the moist sea breeze advection. However, such interactions are poorly characterized due to lack of observations over these complex terrains. Herein we use a comprehensive observational platform and numerical simulations to characterize the impact of heatwaves over New York City. As part of the campaign the urban boundary layer over New York City was continuously monitored during July 2016, a period that witnessed three heatwave events. Surface weather stations and indoor sensors were also used to characterize the urban heat island intensity. Our results reveal that during the month, the urban heat island intensity was nearly twice as compared to the decadal average. During the heatwave episodes urban heat island intensities as high as 10 ˚C were observed. The thermal profiles indicate elevated temperatures in much of the boundary layer between 800-2500 m during the heatwave episodes. The profiles indicate a complex thermal structure and high intra-city variability. Thermal internal boundary layer was observed in neighborhoods populated by tall buildings. The results show that heat released from buildings heating and air conditioning system during extreme heat events can be as high as 18 percent of the overall available energy. Overall the high-pressure system during the heatwave episodes acted as a thermal block and much of the heat generated in the urban surface layer remained within the boundary layer, thereby amplifying the near surface air temperature.

Local and Landscape Drivers of Parasitoid Abundance, Richness, and Composition in Urban Gardens.

PubMed

Burks, Julia M; Philpott, Stacy M

2017-04-01

Urbanization negatively affects biodiversity, yet some urban habitat features can support diversity. Parasitoid wasps, an abundant and highly diverse group of arthropods, can inhabit urban areas and do well in areas with higher host abundance, floral resources, or local or landscape complexity. Parasitoids provide biological control services in many agricultural habitats, yet few studies have examined diversity and abundance of parasitoids in urban agroecosystems to understand how to promote conservation and function. We examined the local habitat and landscape drivers of parasitoid abundance, superfamily and family richness, and parasitoid composition in urban gardens in the California central coast. Local factors included garden size, ground cover type, herbaceous plant species, and number of trees and shrubs. Landscape characteristics included land cover and landscape diversity around gardens. We found that garden size, mulch cover, and urban cover within 500 m of gardens predicted increases in parasitoid abundance within gardens. The height of herbaceous vegetation and tree and shrub richness predicted increases in superfamily and family richness whereas increases in urban cover resulted in declines in parasitoid richness. Abundance of individual superfamilies and families responded to a wide array of local and landscape factors, sometimes in opposite ways. Composition of parasitoid communities responded to changes in garden size, herbaceous plant cover, and number of flowers. Thus, both local scale management and landscape planning may impact the abundance, diversity, and community composition of parasitoids in urban gardens, and may result in differences in the effectiveness of parasitoids in biological control. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Multistate matrix population model to assess the contributions and impacts on population abundance of domestic cats in urban areas including owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in shelters.

PubMed

Flockhart, D T Tyler; Coe, Jason B

2018-01-01

Concerns over cat homelessness, over-taxed animal shelters, public health risks, and environmental impacts has raised attention on urban-cat populations. To truly understand cat population dynamics, the collective population of owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in the shelter system must be considered simultaneously because each subpopulation contributes differently to the overall population of cats in a community (e.g., differences in neuter rates, differences in impacts on wildlife) and cats move among categories through human interventions (e.g., adoption, abandonment). To assess this complex socio-ecological system, we developed a multistate matrix model of cats in urban areas that include owned cats, unowned cats (free-roaming and feral), and cats that move through the shelter system. Our model requires three inputs-location, number of human dwellings, and urban area-to provide testable predictions of cat abundance for any city in North America. Model-predicted population size of unowned cats in seven Canadian cities were not significantly different than published estimates (p = 0.23). Model-predicted proportions of sterile feral cats did not match observed sterile cat proportions for six USA cities (p = 0.001). Using a case study from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, we compared model-predicted to empirical estimates of cat abundance in each subpopulation and used perturbation analysis to calculate relative sensitivity of vital rates to cat abundance to demonstrate how management or mismanagement in one portion of the population could have repercussions across all portions of the network. Our study provides a general framework to consider cat population abundance in urban areas and, with refinement that includes city-specific parameter estimates and modeling, could provide a better understanding of population dynamics of cats in our communities.

A Meta-Analysis of Urban Climate Change Adaptation ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The concentration of people, infrastructure, and ecosystem services in urban areas make them prime sites for climate change adaptation. While advances have been made in developing frameworks for adaptation planning and identifying both real and potential barriers to action, empirical work evaluating urban adaptation planning processes has been relatively piecemeal. Existing assessments of current experience with urban adaptation provide necessarily broad generalizations based on the available peer-reviewed literature. This paper uses a meta-analysis of U.S. cities’ current experience with urban adaptation planning drawing from 54 sources that include peer-reviewed literature, government reports, white papers, and reports published by non-governmental organizations. The analysis specifically evaluates the institutional support structures being developed for urban climate change adaptation. The results demonstrate that adaptation planning is driven by a desire to reduce vulnerability and often catalyzes new collaborations and coordination mechanisms in urban governance. As a result, building capacity for urban climate change adaptation planning requires a focus not only on city governments themselves but also on the complex horizontal and vertical networks that have arisen around such efforts. Existing adaptation planning often lacks attention to equity issues, social vulnerability, and the influence of non-climatic factors on vulnerability. Engaging city govern

Key Parameters for Urban Heat Island Assessment in A Mediterranean Context: A Sensitivity Analysis Using the Urban Weather Generator Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvati, Agnese; Palme, Massimo; Inostroza, Luis

2017-10-01

Although Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a fundamental effect modifying the urban climate, being widely studied, the relative weight of the parameters involved in its generation is still not clear. This paper investigates the hierarchy of importance of eight parameters responsible for UHI intensity in the Mediterranean context. Sensitivity analyses have been carried out using the Urban Weather Generator model, considering the range of variability of: 1) city radius, 2) urban morphology, 3) tree coverage, 4) anthropogenic heat from vehicles, 5) building’s cooling set point, 6) heat released to canyon from HVAC systems, 7) wall construction properties and 8) albedo of vertical and horizontal surfaces. Results show a clear hierarchy of significance among the considered parameters; the urban morphology is the most important variable, causing a relative change up to 120% of the annual average UHI intensity in the Mediterranean context. The impact of anthropogenic sources of heat such as cooling systems and vehicles is also significant. These results suggest that urban morphology parameters can be used as descriptors of the climatic performance of different urban areas, easing the work of urban planners and designers in understanding a complex physical phenomenon, such as the UHI.

Structural wildland intermix

Treesearch

Ronny J. Coleman

1995-01-01

Because many major population centers are located in wildland areas, many structures have been destroyed by increasingly more costly wildland fires. The structure and jurisdiction of the fire service in California are complex, and a uniform approach to fire prevention is lacking. A description of many of the fire issues in the wildland-urban intermix is provided. The...

Habitat Composition and Connectivity Predicts Bat Presence and Activity at Foraging Sites in a Large UK Conurbation

PubMed Central

Hale, James D.; Fairbrass, Alison J.; Matthews, Tom J.; Sadler, Jon P.

2012-01-01

Background Urbanization is characterized by high levels of sealed land-cover, and small, geometrically complex, fragmented land-use patches. The extent and density of urbanized land-use is increasing, with implications for habitat quality, connectivity and city ecology. Little is known about densification thresholds for urban ecosystem function, and the response of mammals, nocturnal and cryptic taxa are poorly studied in this respect. Bats (Chiroptera) are sensitive to changing urban form at a species, guild and community level, so are ideal model organisms for analyses of this nature. Methodology/Principal Findings We surveyed bats around urban ponds in the West Midlands conurbation, United Kingdom (UK). Sites were stratified between five urban land classes, representing a gradient of built land-cover at the 1 km2 scale. Models for bat presence and activity were developed using land-cover and land-use data from multiple radii around each pond. Structural connectivity of tree networks was used as an indicator of the functional connectivity between habitats. All species were sensitive to measures of urban density. Some were also sensitive to landscape composition and structural connectivity at different spatial scales. These results represent new findings for an urban area. The activity of Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber 1774) exhibited a non-linear relationship with the area of built land-cover, being much reduced beyond the threshold of ∼60% built surface. The presence of tree networks appears to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization for this species. Conclusions/Significance Our results suggest that increasing urban density negatively impacts the study species. This has implications for infill development policy, built density targets and the compact city debate. Bats were also sensitive to the composition and structure of the urban form at a range of spatial scales, with implications for land-use planning and management. Protecting and establishing tree networks may improve the resilience of some bat populations to urban densification. PMID:22428015

The framework of urban exposome: Application of the exposome concept in urban health studies.

PubMed

Andrianou, Xanthi D; Makris, Konstantinos C

2018-05-02

Horizontal challenges, such as climate change or the growing populations, and their manifestations require the development of multidisciplinary research synergies in urban health that could benefit from concepts, such as the human exposome. Cities are composed of interconnected systems which are influenced, by global trends, national policies and local complexities. In this context, the exposome concept could be expanded having the city setting in its core, providing the conceptual framework for the new generation of urban studies. The objectives of this work were to define the urban exposome and outline its utility. The urban exposome can be defined as the continuous spatiotemporal surveillance/monitoring of quantitative and qualitative indicators associated with the urban external and internal domains that shape up the quality of life and the health of urban populations, using small city areas, i.e. neighborhoods, quarters, or smaller administrative districts, as the point of reference. Research should focus on the urban exposome's measurable units at different levels, i.e. the individuals, small, within-city areas and the populations. The urban exposome framework applied in the city of Limassol, Cyprus combines three elements: (i) a mixed-methods study on stakeholders' opinions about quality of life in the city; (ii) a systematic assessment of secondary data from the cancer and death registries, including city infrastructure data; and (iii) a population health and biomonitoring survey. Continuous assessment of environmental and health indicators that are routinely collected, and the incorporation of primary data from population studies, will allow for the timely identification of within-city health and environmental disparities to inform policy making and public health interventions. The urban exposome could facilitate evidence-based public health response, offering researchers, policy-makers, and citizens effective tools to address the societal needs of large urban centers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global Learning Spectral Archive- A new Way to deal with Unknown Urban Spectra -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jilge, M.; Heiden, U.; Habermeyer, M.; Jürgens, C.

2015-12-01

Rapid urbanization processes and the need of identifying urban materials demand urban planners and the remote sensing community since years. Urban planners cannot overcome the issue of up-to-date information of urban materials due to time-intensive fieldwork. Hyperspectral remote sensing can facilitate this issue by interpreting spectral signals to provide information of occurring materials. However, the complexity of urban areas and the occurrence of diverse urban materials vary due to regional and cultural aspects as well as the size of a city, which makes identification of surface materials a challenging analysis task. For the various surface material identification approaches, spectral libraries containing pure material spectra are commonly used, which are derived from field, laboratory or the hyperspectral image itself. One of the requirements for successful image analysis is that all spectrally different surface materials are represented by the library. Currently, a universal library, applicable in every urban area worldwide and taking each spectral variability into account, is and will not be existent. In this study, the issue of unknown surface material spectra and the demand of an urban site-specific spectral library is tackled by the development of a learning spectral archive tool. Starting with an incomplete library of labelled image spectra from several German cities, surface materials of pure image pixels will be identified in a hyperspectral image based on a similarity measure (e.g. SID-SAM). Additionally, unknown image spectra of urban objects are identified based on an object- and spectral-based-rule set. The detected unknown surface material spectra are entered with additional metadata, such as regional occurrence into the existing spectral library and thus, are reusable for further studies. Our approach is suitable for pure surface material detection of urban hyperspectral images that is globally applicable by taking incompleteness into account. The generically development enables the implementation of different hyperspectral sensors.

Habitat composition and connectivity predicts bat presence and activity at foraging sites in a large UK conurbation.

PubMed

Hale, James D; Fairbrass, Alison J; Matthews, Tom J; Sadler, Jon P

2012-01-01

Urbanization is characterized by high levels of sealed land-cover, and small, geometrically complex, fragmented land-use patches. The extent and density of urbanized land-use is increasing, with implications for habitat quality, connectivity and city ecology. Little is known about densification thresholds for urban ecosystem function, and the response of mammals, nocturnal and cryptic taxa are poorly studied in this respect. Bats (Chiroptera) are sensitive to changing urban form at a species, guild and community level, so are ideal model organisms for analyses of this nature. We surveyed bats around urban ponds in the West Midlands conurbation, United Kingdom (UK). Sites were stratified between five urban land classes, representing a gradient of built land-cover at the 1 km(2) scale. Models for bat presence and activity were developed using land-cover and land-use data from multiple radii around each pond. Structural connectivity of tree networks was used as an indicator of the functional connectivity between habitats. All species were sensitive to measures of urban density. Some were also sensitive to landscape composition and structural connectivity at different spatial scales. These results represent new findings for an urban area. The activity of Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber 1774) exhibited a non-linear relationship with the area of built land-cover, being much reduced beyond the threshold of ∼60% built surface. The presence of tree networks appears to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization for this species. Our results suggest that increasing urban density negatively impacts the study species. This has implications for infill development policy, built density targets and the compact city debate. Bats were also sensitive to the composition and structure of the urban form at a range of spatial scales, with implications for land-use planning and management. Protecting and establishing tree networks may improve the resilience of some bat populations to urban densification.

Neighbourhood Environmental Attributes Associated with Walking in South Australian Adults: Differences between Urban and Rural Areas

PubMed Central

Coffee, Neil T.; Nolan, Rebecca; Dollman, James; Sugiyama, Takemi

2017-01-01

Although the health benefits of walking are well established, participation is lower in rural areas compared to urban areas. Most studies on walkability and walking have been conducted in urban areas, thus little is known about the relevance of walkability to rural areas. A computer-assisted telephone survey of 2402 adults (aged ≥18 years) was conducted to determine walking behaviour and perceptions of neighbourhood walkability. Data were stratified by urban (n = 1738) and rural (n = 664). A greater proportion of respondents reported no walking in rural (25.8%) compared to urban areas (18.5%). Compared to urban areas, rural areas had lower walkability scores and urban residents reported higher frequency of walking. The association of perceived walkability with walking was significant only in urban areas. These results suggest that environmental factors associated with walking in urban areas may not be relevant in rural areas. Appropriate walkability measures specific to rural areas should be further researched. PMID:28846597

Malaria and Colonialism in Korea, c.1876–c.1945

PubMed Central

Kim, Jeong-Ran

2016-01-01

Abstract This article considers the problem of malaria in the Korean peninsula from 1876 to 1945, focusing particularly on the impact of Japanese colonial rule. One aspect which receives special attention is malaria in urban contexts. The relationship between malaria and urbanisation is shown to be extremely complex, fluctuating regardless of specific interventions against the disease. In rural and urban areas, Japanese antimalarial measures concentrated on military garrisons, at the expense of both civilian settlers and Koreans. However, it was Koreans who bore the brunt of the malaria problem, which was exacerbated in many areas by agricultural and industrial development and, ultimately, by the war regime introduced from 1938. The worsening of the malaria burden in the final years of Japanese rule left a legacy which lasted long after independence. PMID:29731545

Sensitivity of summer climate to anthropogenic land-cover change over the Greater Phoenix, AZ, region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Georgescu, M.; Miguez-Macho, G.; Steyaert, L.T.; Weaver, C.P.

2008-01-01

This work evaluates the first-order effect of land-use/land-cover change (LULCC) on the summer climate of one of the nation's most rapidly expanding metropolitan complexes, the Greater Phoenix, AZ, region. High-resolution-2-km grid spacing-Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) simulations of three "wet" and three "dry" summers were carried out for two different land-cover reconstructions for the region: a circa 1992 representation based on satellite observations, and a hypothetical land-cover scenario where the anthropogenic landscape of irrigated agriculture and urban pixels was replaced with current semi-natural vegetation. Model output is evaluated with respect to observed air temperature, dew point, and precipitation. Our results suggest that development of extensive irrigated agriculture adjacent to the urban area has dampened any regional-mean warming due to urbanization. Consistent with previous observationally based work, LULCC produces a systematic increase in precipitation to the north and east of the city, though only under dry conditions. This is due to a change in background atmospheric stability resulting from the advection of both warmth from the urban core and moisture from the irrigated area. ?? 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hierarchical graph-based segmentation for extracting road networks from high-resolution satellite images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alshehhi, Rasha; Marpu, Prashanth Reddy

2017-04-01

Extraction of road networks in urban areas from remotely sensed imagery plays an important role in many urban applications (e.g. road navigation, geometric correction of urban remote sensing images, updating geographic information systems, etc.). It is normally difficult to accurately differentiate road from its background due to the complex geometry of the buildings and the acquisition geometry of the sensor. In this paper, we present a new method for extracting roads from high-resolution imagery based on hierarchical graph-based image segmentation. The proposed method consists of: 1. Extracting features (e.g., using Gabor and morphological filtering) to enhance the contrast between road and non-road pixels, 2. Graph-based segmentation consisting of (i) Constructing a graph representation of the image based on initial segmentation and (ii) Hierarchical merging and splitting of image segments based on color and shape features, and 3. Post-processing to remove irregularities in the extracted road segments. Experiments are conducted on three challenging datasets of high-resolution images to demonstrate the proposed method and compare with other similar approaches. The results demonstrate the validity and superior performance of the proposed method for road extraction in urban areas.

Urban Malaria: Understanding its Epidemiology, Ecology, and Transmission Across Seven Diverse ICEMR Network Sites.

PubMed

Wilson, Mark L; Krogstad, Donald J; Arinaitwe, Emmanuel; Arevalo-Herrera, Myriam; Chery, Laura; Ferreira, Marcelo U; Ndiaye, Daouda; Mathanga, Don P; Eapen, Alex

2015-09-01

A major public health question is whether urbanization will transform malaria from a rural to an urban disease. However, differences about definitions of urban settings, urban malaria, and whether malaria control should differ between rural and urban areas complicate both the analysis of available data and the development of intervention strategies. This report examines the approach of the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) to urban malaria in Brazil, Colombia, India (Chennai and Goa), Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda. Its major theme is the need to determine whether cases diagnosed in urban areas were imported from surrounding rural areas or resulted from transmission within the urban area. If infections are being acquired within urban areas, malaria control measures must be targeted within those urban areas to be effective. Conversely, if malaria cases are being imported from rural areas, control measures must be directed at vectors, breeding sites, and infected humans in those rural areas. Similar interventions must be directed differently if infections were acquired within urban areas. The hypothesis underlying the ICEMR approach to urban malaria is that optimal control of urban malaria depends on accurate epidemiologic and entomologic information about transmission. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Urbanization and Land Use Changes in Peri-Urban Area using Spatial Analysis Methods (Case Study: Ciawi Urban Areas, Bogor Regency)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cahya, D. L.; Martini, E.; Kasikoen, K. M.

2018-02-01

Urbanization is shown by the increasing percentage of the population in urban areas. In Indonesia, the percentage of urban population increased dramatically form 17.42% (1971) to 42.15% (2010). This resulted in increased demand for housing. Limited land in the city area push residents looking for an alternative location of his residence to the peri-urban areas. It is accompanied by a process of land conversion from green area into built-up area. Continuous land conversion in peri-urban area is becoming increasingly widespread. Bogor Regency as part of the Jakarta Metropolitan Area is experiencing rapid development. This regency has been experienced land-use change very rapidly from agricultural areas into urban built up areas. Aim of this research is to analyze the effect of urbanization on land use changes in peri-urban areas using spatial analysis methods. This research used case study of Ciawi Urban Area that experiencing rapid development. Method of this research is using descriptive quantitative approach. Data used in this research is primary data (field survey) and secondary data (maps). To analyze land use change is using Geographic Information System (GIS) as spatial analysis methods. The effect of urbanization on land use changes in Ciawi Urban Area from year 2013 to 2015 is significant. The reduction of farm land is around -4.00% and wetland is around - 2.51%. The increasing area for hotel/villa/resort is around 3.10%. Based on this research, local government (Bogor Regency) should be alert to the land use changes that does not comply with the land use plan and also consistently apply the spatial planning.

Urban-area extraction from polarimetric SAR image using combination of target decomposition and orientation angle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Bin; Lu, Da; Wu, Zhilu; Qiao, Zhijun G.

2016-05-01

The results of model-based target decomposition are the main features used to discriminate urban and non-urban area in polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) application. Traditional urban-area extraction methods based on modelbased target decomposition usually misclassified ground-trunk structure as urban-area or misclassified rotated urbanarea as forest. This paper introduces another feature named orientation angle to improve urban-area extraction scheme for the accurate mapping in urban by PolSAR image. The proposed method takes randomness of orientation angle into account for restriction of urban area first and, subsequently, implements rotation angle to improve results that oriented urban areas are recognized as double-bounce objects from volume scattering. ESAR L-band PolSAR data of the Oberpfaffenhofen Test Site Area was used to validate the proposed algorithm.

Mercury in Sediment, Water, and Biota of Sinclair Inlet, Puget Sound, Washington, 1989-2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paulson, Anthony J.; Keys, Morgan E.; Scholting, Kelly L.

2010-01-01

Historical records of mercury contamination in dated sediment cores from Sinclair Inlet are coincidental with activities at the U.S. Navy Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; peak total mercury concentrations occurred around World War II. After World War II, better metallurgical management practices and environmental regulations reduced mercury contamination, but total mercury concentrations in surface sediment of Sinclair Inlet have decreased slowly because of the low rate of sedimentation relative to the vertical mixing within sediment. The slopes of linear regressions between the total mercury and total organic carbon concentrations of sediment offshore of Puget Sound urban areas was the best indicator of general mercury contamination above pre-industrial levels. Prior to the 2000-01 remediation, this indicator placed Sinclair Inlet in the tier of estuaries with the highest level of mercury contamination, along with Bellingham Bay in northern Puget Sound and Elliott Bay near Seattle. This indicator also suggests that the 2000/2001 remediation dredging had significant positive effect on Sinclair Inlet as a whole. In 2007, about 80 percent of the area of the Bremerton naval complex had sediment total mercury concentrations within about 0.5 milligrams per kilogram of the Sinclair Inlet regression. Three areas adjacent to the waterfront of the Bremerton naval complex have total mercury concentrations above this range and indicate a possible terrestrial source from waterfront areas of Bremerton naval complex. Total mercury concentrations in unfiltered Sinclair Inlet marine waters are about three times higher than those of central Puget Sound, but the small numbers of samples and complex physical and geochemical processes make it difficult to interpret the geographical distribution of mercury in marine waters from Sinclair Inlet. Total mercury concentrations in various biota species were compared among geographical locations and included data of composite samples, individual specimens, and caged mussels. Total mercury concentrations in muscle and liver of English sole from Sinclair Inlet ranked in the upper quarter and third, respectively, of Puget Sound locations. For other species, concentrations from Sinclair Inlet were within the mid-range of locations (for example, Chinook salmon). Total mercury concentrations of the long-lived and higher trophic rockfish in composites and individual specimens from Sinclair Inlet tended to be the highest in Puget Sound. For a given size, sand sole, graceful crab, staghorn sculpin, surf perch, and sea cucumber individuals collected from Sinclair Inlet had higher total mercury concentrations than individuals collected from non-urban estuaries. Total mercury concentrations in individual English sole and ratfish were not significantly different than in individuals of various sizes collected from either urban or non-urban estuaries in Puget Sound. Total mercury concentrations in English sole collected from Sinclair Inlet after the 2000-2001 dredging appear to have lower total mercury concentrations than those collected before (1996) the dredging project. The highest total mercury concentrations of mussels caged in 2002 were not within the Bremerton naval complex, but within the Port Orchard Marina and inner Sinclair Inlet.

Protection of Landscape Values of Historical Post Military Objects - Complexes in Spatial, Urban and Architectural Planning of Polish Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gawryluk, Dorota; Zagroba, Marek

2017-12-01

Within the borders of modern Poland there are numerous barracks units erected at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by the invaders from Russia, Austria and Prussia. Former barracks are a clear element of the history of the place. Historical complexes have a strong influence on the urban landscape and on building their former and contemporary identity. The analysis of functional and landscape absorption of postmodern complexes allows for their adaptation and modern use without limiting the readability of historical values. For this reason, their landscape should be protected comprehensively within the scope of subsequent exposure scales. The aim of the work is to justify the conditions of comprehensive protection of the fortified landscape of the former barracks of the former Russian partition in the landscape of contemporary Polish cities. The article contains a review of the literature on the protection, supplement and access to fortified buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in contemporary Poland. A review of current research conducted at various academic centres in Poland, concerning the exposition of fortified buildings in the landscape, is presented. Particular attention was paid to the scales and forms of exposition, proposed for the fortifications and barracks. The paper presents justification for the protection of barracks complexes from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the landscape of Polish cities of the former Russian partition area. Protection of the landscape was proposed in the following scales: superregional, landscape (panorama of the centre), urban (urban structure of the complex in the context of the urban space), architectural and landscape interiors of the complex (WAK) such as alleys, alarm squares, greenery) and detail (view of the building from the outside), interior of the building (characteristic interior spaces, e.g. home chapels, staircases). Taking account of exposures analysis of individual scales should result in appropriate records at all levels of planning documents to protect the fortified landscape of the historic barracks. The article points to the use of greenery as a means to correct barracks exposures and to improve the standard of using historic complexes for new, contemporary functions.

Sustainable urban systems: Co-design and framing for transformation.

PubMed

Webb, Robert; Bai, Xuemei; Smith, Mark Stafford; Costanza, Robert; Griggs, David; Moglia, Magnus; Neuman, Michael; Newman, Peter; Newton, Peter; Norman, Barbara; Ryan, Chris; Schandl, Heinz; Steffen, Will; Tapper, Nigel; Thomson, Giles

2018-02-01

Rapid urbanisation generates risks and opportunities for sustainable development. Urban policy and decision makers are challenged by the complexity of cities as social-ecological-technical systems. Consequently there is an increasing need for collaborative knowledge development that supports a whole-of-system view, and transformational change at multiple scales. Such holistic urban approaches are rare in practice. A co-design process involving researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders, has progressed such an approach in the Australian context, aiming to also contribute to international knowledge development and sharing. This process has generated three outputs: (1) a shared framework to support more systematic knowledge development and use, (2) identification of barriers that create a gap between stated urban goals and actual practice, and (3) identification of strategic focal areas to address this gap. Developing integrated strategies at broader urban scales is seen as the most pressing need. The knowledge framework adopts a systems perspective that incorporates the many urban trade-offs and synergies revealed by a systems view. Broader implications are drawn for policy and decision makers, for researchers and for a shared forward agenda.

Quantifying Urban Texture in Nairobi, Kenya and its Implications for Understanding Natural Hazard Impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Faith E.; Malamud, Bruce D.; Millington, James D. A.

2016-04-01

The configuration of infrastructure networks such as roads, drainage and power lines can both affect and be affected by natural hazards such as earthquakes, intense rain, wildfires and extreme temperatures. In this paper, we present and compare two methods to quantify urban topology on approximate scales of 0.0005 km2 to 10 km2 and create classifications of different 'urban textures' that relate to risk of natural hazard impact in an area. The methods we use focus on applicability in urban developing country settings, where access to high resolution and high quality data may be difficult. We use the city of Nairobi, Kenya to trial these methods. Nairobi has a population >3 million, and is a mix of informal settlements, residential and commercial development. The city and its immediate surroundings are subject to a variety of natural hazards such as floods, landslides, fires, drought, hail, heavy wind and extreme temperatures; all of these hazards can occur singly, but also have the potential for one to trigger another, thus providing a 'cascade' of hazards, or for two of the hazards to occur spatially and temporally near each other and interact. We use two measures of urban texture: (i) Street block textures, (ii) Google Earth land cover textures. Street block textures builds on the methodology of Louf and Barthelemy (2014) and uses Open Street Map data to analyse the shape, size, complexity and pattern of individual blocks of land created by fully enclosed loops of the major and minor road network of Nairobi. We find >4000 of these blocks ranging in size from approximately 0.0005 km2 to 10 km2, with approximately 5 classifications of urban texture. Google Earth land cover texture is a visual classification of homogeneous parcels of land performed in Google Earth using high-resolution airborne imagery and a qualitative criteria for each land cover type. Using the Google Earth land cover texture method, we identify >40 'urban textures' based on visual characteristics such as colour, texture, shadow and setting and have created a clear criteria for classifying an area based on its visual characteristics. These two methods for classifying urban texture in Nairobi are compared in a GIS and in the field to investigate whether there is a link between the visual appearance of an area and its network topology. From these urban textures, we may start to identify areas where (a) urban texture types may indicate a relative propensity to certain hazards and their interactions and (b) urban texture types that may increase or decrease the impact of a hazard that occurs in that area.

Spatio-temporal patterns of high summer ozone events in the Madrid Basin, Central Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reche, C.; Moreno, T.; Amato, F.; Pandolfi, M.; Pérez, J.; de la Paz, D.; Diaz, E.; Gómez-Moreno, F. J.; Pujadas, M.; Artíñano, B.; Reina, F.; Orio, A.; Pallarés, M.; Escudero, M.; Tapia, O.; Crespo, E.; Vargas, R.; Alastuey, A.; Querol, X.

2018-07-01

Complex spatial and temporal patterns of ground-level O3 and NO2 concentrations have been revealed across an important southern European O3 exceedance area (Madrid Basin, central Spain). Data were obtained from 102 diffusion tube sites and 49 monitoring stations (25 urban/suburban, 12 urban/suburban-traffic, 7 remote, 3 rural, 2 urban-industrial) located through a wide area inside and beyond the city. This new, high-density database confirms that current locations of monitoring stations in the Madrid networks are well positioned to record representative levels of O3 across the area. Two air quality monitoring stations were identified as reference measurement points, based on their lower O3 and NO2 concentrations, and used as a proxy for regional and hemispheric background levels. Although a main regional contribution was evidenced, emissions of local precursors within the Madrid urban plume play a key role in the generation of O3 exceedances, which are higher and occur earlier near the city than at rural sites, where the effect of NO titration is lower. Despite the fact that weekend emissions of O3 precursors in Madrid are typically lower than on weekdays, mainly due to fewer road traffic emissions, there is little difference in average values of weekday and weekend O3. However, more subtle "weekend effect" differences are revealed by probability density analysis, with high O3 and low NO2 at the highest temperature range (30-35° C) at weekends reflecting lower NO titration. This analysis highlights the importance of NO timing with respect to the photochemical activity timing. The complexity of these O3 pollution patterns in and around the city is dependent on an ever-changing interplay between weather conditions, emission sources, and the timescale required for pollutant transport, chemical processing and recirculation in an evolving contaminated airmass.

Urban water metabolism efficiency assessment: integrated analysis of available and virtual water.

PubMed

Huang, Chu-Long; Vause, Jonathan; Ma, Hwong-Wen; Yu, Chang-Ping

2013-05-01

Resolving the complex environmental problems of water pollution and shortage which occur during urbanization requires the systematic assessment of urban water metabolism efficiency (WME). While previous research has tended to focus on either available or virtual water metabolism, here we argue that the systematic problems arising during urbanization require an integrated assessment of available and virtual WME, using an indicator system based on material flow analysis (MFA) results. Future research should focus on the following areas: 1) analysis of available and virtual water flow patterns and processes through urban districts in different urbanization phases in years with varying amounts of rainfall, and their environmental effects; 2) based on the optimization of social, economic and environmental benefits, establishment of an indicator system for urban WME assessment using MFA results; 3) integrated assessment of available and virtual WME in districts with different urbanization levels, to facilitate study of the interactions between the natural and social water cycles; 4) analysis of mechanisms driving differences in WME between districts with different urbanization levels, and the selection of dominant social and economic driving indicators, especially those impacting water resource consumption. Combinations of these driving indicators could then be used to design efficient water resource metabolism solutions, and integrated management policies for reduced water consumption. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adaptive governance to promote ecosystem services in urban ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Managing urban green space as part of an ongoing social-ecological transformationposes novel governance issues, particularly in post-industrial settings. Urban green spaces operate as small-scale nodes in larger networks of ecological reserves that provide and maintain key ecosystem services such as pollination, water retention and infiltration, and sustainable food production. In an urban mosaic, a myriad of social and ecological components factor into aggregating and managing land to maintain or increase the flow of ecosystem services associated with green spaces. Vacant lots (a form of urban green space) are being repurposed for multiple functions, such as habitat for biodiversity, including arthropods that provide pollination services to other green areas; to capture urban runoff that eases the burden on ageing wastewater systems and other civic infrastructure; and to reduce urban heat island effects. Urban green spaces provide vital ecosystem services at varying degrees, depending on the size, function, and management of these spaces. Governance of linked social-ecological systems to maximize those services poses unique challenges given the uncertainty of ecological responses and the social political complexity of managing ecological resources in an urban context where fiscal and human resources are strained. In North America, many cities are facing fiscal austerity because of shrinkage in manufacturing and industrial sectors and the foreclosure crisis. As

Spatial connectivity, scaling, and temporal trajectories as emergent urban stormwater impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jovanovic, T.; Gironas, J. A.; Hale, R. L.; Mejia, A.

2016-12-01

Urban watersheds are structurally complex systems comprised of multiple components (e.g., streets, pipes, ponds, vegetated swales, wetlands, riparian corridors, etc.). These multiple engineered components interact in unanticipated and nontrivial ways with topographic conditions, climate variability, land use/land cover changes, and the underlying eco-hydrogeomorphic dynamics. Such interactions can result in emergent urban stormwater impacts with cascading effects that can negatively influence the overall functioning of the urban watershed. For example, the interaction among many detention ponds has been shown, in some situations, to synchronize flow volumes and ultimately lead to downstream flow amplifications and increased pollutant mobilization. Additionally, interactions occur at multiple temporal and spatial scales requiring that urban stormwater dynamics be represented at the long-term temporal (decadal) and across spatial scales (from the single lot to the watershed scale). In this study, we develop and implement an event-based, high-resolution, network hydro-engineering model (NHEM), and demonstrate an approach to reconstruct the long-term regional infrastructure and land use/land cover conditions of an urban watershed. As the study area, we select an urban watershed in the metropolitan area of Scottsdale, Arizona. Using the reconstructed landscapes to drive the NHEM, we find that distinct surficial, hydrologic connectivity patterns result from the intersection of hydrologic processes, infrastructure, and land use/land cover arrangements. These spatial patters, in turn, exhibit scaling characteristics. For example, the scaling of urban watershed dispersion mechanisms shows altered scaling exponents with respect to pre-urban conditions. For example, the scaling exponent associated with geomorphic dispersion tends to increase for urban conditions, reflecting increased surficial path heterogeneity. Both the connectivity and scaling results can be used to delineate impact trajectories (i.e. the evolution of spatially referenced impacts over time). We find that the impact trajectories provide insight about the urban stormwater sustainability of watersheds as well as clues about the potential imprint of socio-environmental feedbacks in the evolutionary dynamics.

A multi-model approach to monitor emissions of CO2 and CO from an urban-industrial complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Super, Ingrid; Denier van der Gon, Hugo A. C.; van der Molen, Michiel K.; Sterk, Hendrika A. M.; Hensen, Arjan; Peters, Wouter

2017-11-01

Monitoring urban-industrial emissions is often challenging because observations are scarce and regional atmospheric transport models are too coarse to represent the high spatiotemporal variability in the resulting concentrations. In this paper we apply a new combination of an Eulerian model (Weather Research and Forecast, WRF, with chemistry) and a Gaussian plume model (Operational Priority Substances - OPS). The modelled mixing ratios are compared to observed CO2 and CO mole fractions at four sites along a transect from an urban-industrial complex (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) towards rural conditions for October-December 2014. Urban plumes are well-mixed at our semi-urban location, making this location suited for an integrated emission estimate over the whole study area. The signals at our urban measurement site (with average enhancements of 11 ppm CO2 and 40 ppb CO over the baseline) are highly variable due to the presence of distinct source areas dominated by road traffic/residential heating emissions or industrial activities. This causes different emission signatures that are translated into a large variability in observed ΔCO : ΔCO2 ratios, which can be used to identify dominant source types. We find that WRF-Chem is able to represent synoptic variability in CO2 and CO (e.g. the median CO2 mixing ratio is 9.7 ppm, observed, against 8.8 ppm, modelled), but it fails to reproduce the hourly variability of daytime urban plumes at the urban site (R2 up to 0.05). For the urban site, adding a plume model to the model framework is beneficial to adequately represent plume transport especially from stack emissions. The explained variance in hourly, daytime CO2 enhancements from point source emissions increases from 30 % with WRF-Chem to 52 % with WRF-Chem in combination with the most detailed OPS simulation. The simulated variability in ΔCO :  ΔCO2 ratios decreases drastically from 1.5 to 0.6 ppb ppm-1, which agrees better with the observed standard deviation of 0.4 ppb ppm-1. This is partly due to improved wind fields (increase in R2 of 0.10) but also due to improved point source representation (increase in R2 of 0.05) and dilution (increase in R2 of 0.07). Based on our analysis we conclude that a plume model with detailed and accurate dispersion parameters adds substantially to top-down monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions in urban environments with large point source contributions within a ˜ 10 km radius from the observation sites.

A Heat Vulnerability Index: Spatial Patterns of Exposure, Sensitivity and Adaptive Capacity for Santiago de Chile.

PubMed

Inostroza, Luis; Palme, Massimo; de la Barrera, Francisco

2016-01-01

Climate change will worsen the high levels of urban vulnerability in Latin American cities due to specific environmental stressors. Some impacts of climate change, such as high temperatures in urban environments, have not yet been addressed through adaptation strategies, which are based on poorly supported data. These impacts remain outside the scope of urban planning. New spatially explicit approaches that identify highly vulnerable urban areas and include specific adaptation requirements are needed in current urban planning practices to cope with heat hazards. In this paper, a heat vulnerability index is proposed for Santiago, Chile. The index was created using a GIS-based spatial information system and was constructed from spatially explicit indexes for exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity levels derived from remote sensing data and socio-economic information assessed via principal component analysis (PCA). The objective of this study is to determine the levels of heat vulnerability at local scales by providing insights into these indexes at the intra city scale. The results reveal a spatial pattern of heat vulnerability with strong variations among individual spatial indexes. While exposure and adaptive capacities depict a clear spatial pattern, sensitivity follows a complex spatial distribution. These conditions change when examining PCA results, showing that sensitivity is more robust than exposure and adaptive capacity. These indexes can be used both for urban planning purposes and for proposing specific policies and measures that can help minimize heat hazards in highly dynamic urban areas. The proposed methodology can be applied to other Latin American cities to support policy making.

A Heat Vulnerability Index: Spatial Patterns of Exposure, Sensitivity and Adaptive Capacity for Santiago de Chile

PubMed Central

Palme, Massimo; de la Barrera, Francisco

2016-01-01

Climate change will worsen the high levels of urban vulnerability in Latin American cities due to specific environmental stressors. Some impacts of climate change, such as high temperatures in urban environments, have not yet been addressed through adaptation strategies, which are based on poorly supported data. These impacts remain outside the scope of urban planning. New spatially explicit approaches that identify highly vulnerable urban areas and include specific adaptation requirements are needed in current urban planning practices to cope with heat hazards. In this paper, a heat vulnerability index is proposed for Santiago, Chile. The index was created using a GIS-based spatial information system and was constructed from spatially explicit indexes for exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity levels derived from remote sensing data and socio-economic information assessed via principal component analysis (PCA). The objective of this study is to determine the levels of heat vulnerability at local scales by providing insights into these indexes at the intra city scale. The results reveal a spatial pattern of heat vulnerability with strong variations among individual spatial indexes. While exposure and adaptive capacities depict a clear spatial pattern, sensitivity follows a complex spatial distribution. These conditions change when examining PCA results, showing that sensitivity is more robust than exposure and adaptive capacity. These indexes can be used both for urban planning purposes and for proposing specific policies and measures that can help minimize heat hazards in highly dynamic urban areas. The proposed methodology can be applied to other Latin American cities to support policy making. PMID:27606592

Urban scaling in Europe

PubMed Central

Bettencourt, Luís M. A.; Lobo, José

2016-01-01

Over the last few decades, in disciplines as diverse as economics, geography and complex systems, a perspective has arisen proposing that many properties of cities are quantitatively predictable due to agglomeration or scaling effects. Using new harmonized definitions for functional urban areas, we examine to what extent these ideas apply to European cities. We show that while most large urban systems in Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) approximately agree with theoretical expectations, the small number of cities in each nation and their natural variability preclude drawing strong conclusions. We demonstrate how this problem can be overcome so that cities from different urban systems can be pooled together to construct larger datasets. This leads to a simple statistical procedure to identify urban scaling relations, which then clearly emerge as a property of European cities. We compare the predictions of urban scaling to Zipf's law for the size distribution of cities and show that while the former holds well the latter is a poor descriptor of European cities. We conclude with scenarios for the size and properties of future pan-European megacities and their implications for the economic productivity, technological sophistication and regional inequalities of an integrated European urban system. PMID:26984190

Barriers to dog rabies vaccination during an urban rabies outbreak: Qualitative findings from Arequipa, Peru.

PubMed

Castillo-Neyra, Ricardo; Brown, Joanna; Borrini, Katty; Arevalo, Claudia; Levy, Michael Z; Buttenheim, Alison; Hunter, Gabrielle C; Becerra, Victor; Behrman, Jere; Paz-Soldan, Valerie A

2017-03-01

Canine rabies was reintroduced to the city of Arequipa, Peru in March 2015. The Ministry of Health has conducted a series of mass dog vaccination campaigns to contain the outbreak, but canine rabies virus transmission continues in Arequipa's complex urban environment, putting the city's 1 million inhabitants at risk of infection. The proximate driver of canine rabies in Arequipa is low dog vaccination coverage. Our objectives were to qualitatively assess barriers to and facilitators of rabies vaccination during mass campaigns, and to explore strategies to increase participation in future efforts. We conducted 8 focus groups (FG) in urban and peri-urban communities of Mariano Melgar district; each FG included both sexes, and campaign participants and non-participants. All FG were transcribed and then coded independently by two coders. Results were summarized using the Social Ecological Model. At the individual level, participants described not knowing enough about rabies and vaccination campaigns, mistrusting the campaign, and being unable to handle their dogs, particularly in peri-urban vs. urban areas. At the interpersonal level, we detected some social pressure to vaccinate dogs, as well as some disparaging of those who invest time and money in pet dogs. At the organizational level, participants found the campaign information to be insufficient and ill-timed, and campaign locations and personnel inadequate. At the community level, the influence of landscape and topography on accessibility to vaccination points was reported differently between participants from the urban and peri-urban areas. Poor security and impermanent housing materials in the peri-urban areas also drives higher prevalence of guard dog ownership for home protection; these dogs usually roam freely on the streets and are more difficult to handle and bring to the vaccination points. A well-designed communication campaign could improve knowledge about canine rabies. Timely messages on where and when vaccination is occurring could increase dog owners' perception of their own ability to bring their dogs to the vaccination points and be part of the campaign. Small changes in the implementation of the campaign at the vaccination points could increase the public's trust and motivation. Location of vaccination points should take into account landscape and community concerns.

Investigation of Future Thermal Comforts in a Tropical Megacity Using Coupling of Energy Balance Model and Large Eddy Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sueishi, T.; Yucel, M.; Ashie, Y.; Varquez, A. C. G.; Inagaki, A.; Darmanto, N. S.; Nakayoshi, M.; Kanda, M.

2017-12-01

Recently, temperature in urban areas continue to rise as an effect of climate change and urbanization. Specifically, Asian megacities are projected to expand rapidly resulting to serious in the future atmospheric environment. Thus, detailed analysis of urban meteorology for Asian megacities is needed to prescribe optimum against these negative climate modifications. A building-resolving large eddy simulation (LES) coupled with an energy balance model is conducted for a highly urbanized district in central Jakarta on typical daytime hours. Five cases were considered; case 1 utilizes present urban scenario and four cases representing different urban configurations in 2050. The future configurations were based on representative concentration pathways (RCP) and shared socio-economic pathways (SSP). Building height maps and land use maps of simulation domains are shown in the attached figure (top). Case 1 3 focuses on the difference of future scenarios. Case 1 represents current climatic and urban conditions, case 2 and 3 was an idealized future represented by RCP2.6/SSP1 and RCP8.5/SSP3, respectively. More complex urban morphology was applied in case 4, vegetation and building area were changed in case 5. Meteorological inputs and anthropogenic heat emission (AHE) were calculated using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model (Varquez et al [2017]). Sensible and latent heat flux from surfaces were calculated using an energy balance model (Ashie et al [2011]), with considers multi-reflection, evapotranspiration and evaporation. The results of energy balance model (shown in the middle line of figure), in addition to WRF outputs, were used as input into the PArallelized LES Model (PALM) (Raasch et al [2001]). From standard new effective temperature (SET*) which included the effects of temperature, wind speed, humidity and radiation, thermal comfort in urban area was evaluated. SET* contours at 1 m height are shown in the bottom line of the figure. Extreme climate change increase average SET* as expected; however, construction of dense high-rise buildings (case 2) can minimize this effect due to increased shading throughout the district. Acknowledgement: This research was supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (S-14) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

Effect of place of residence and treatment on survival outcomes in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in British Columbia.

PubMed

Lee, Benny; Goktepe, Ozge; Hay, Kevin; Connors, Joseph M; Sehn, Laurie H; Savage, Kerry J; Shenkier, Tamara; Klasa, Richard; Gerrie, Alina; Villa, Diego

2014-03-01

We examined the relationship between location of residence at the time of diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and health outcomes in a geographically large Canadian province with publicly funded, universally available medical care. The British Columbia Cancer Registry was used to identify all patients 18-80 years of age diagnosed with DLBCL between January 2003 and December 2008. Home and treatment center postal codes were used to determine urban versus rural status and driving distance to access treatment. We identified 1,357 patients. The median age was 64 years (range: 18-80 years), 59% were male, 50% were stage III/IV, 84% received chemotherapy with curative intent, and 32% received radiotherapy. There were 186 (14%) who resided in rural areas, 141 (10%) in small urban areas, 183 (14%) in medium urban areas, and 847 (62%) in large urban areas. Patient and treatment characteristics were similar regardless of location. Five-year overall survival (OS) was 62% for patients in rural areas, 44% in small urban areas, 53% in medium urban areas, and 60% in large urban areas (p = .018). In multivariate analysis, there was no difference in OS between rural and large urban area patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.7-1.4), although patients in small urban areas (HR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0-2.0) and medium urban areas (HR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0-1.9) had worse OS than those in large urban areas. Place of residence at diagnosis is associated with survival of patients with DLBCL in British Columbia, Canada. Rural patients have similar survival to those in large urban areas, whereas patients living in small and medium urban areas experience worse outcomes.

Improving surface-subsurface water budgeting using high resolution satellite imagery applied on a brownfield.

PubMed

Dujardin, J; Batelaan, O; Canters, F; Boel, S; Anibas, C; Bronders, J

2011-01-15

The estimation of surface-subsurface water interactions is complex and highly variable in space and time. It is even more complex when it has to be estimated in urban areas, because of the complex patterns of the land-cover in these areas. In this research a modeling approach with integrated remote sensing analysis has been developed for estimating water fluxes in urban environments. The methodology was developed with the aim to simulate fluxes of contaminants from polluted sites. Groundwater pollution in urban environments is linked to patterns of land use and hence it is essential to characterize the land cover in a detail. An object-oriented classification approach applied on high-resolution satellite data has been adopted. To assign the image objects to one of the land-cover classes a multiple layer perceptron approach was adopted (Kappa of 0.86). Groundwater recharge has been simulated using the spatially distributed WetSpass model and the subsurface water flow using MODFLOW in order to identify and budget water fluxes. The developed methodology is applied to a brownfield case site in Vilvoorde, Brussels (Belgium). The obtained land use map has a strong impact on the groundwater recharge, resulting in a high spatial variability. Simulated groundwater fluxes from brownfield to the receiving River Zenne were independently verified by measurements and simulation of groundwater-surface water interaction based on thermal gradients in the river bed. It is concluded that in order to better quantify total fluxes of contaminants from brownfields in the groundwater, remote sensing imagery can be operationally integrated in a modeling procedure. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Generative Models of Segregation: Investigating Model-Generated Patterns of Residential Segregation by Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status

PubMed Central

Fossett, Mark

2011-01-01

This paper considers the potential for using agent models to explore theories of residential segregation in urban areas. Results of generative experiments conducted using an agent-based simulation of segregation dynamics document that varying a small number of model parameters representing constructs from urban-ecological theories of segregation can generate a wide range of qualitatively distinct and substantively interesting segregation patterns. The results suggest how complex, macro-level patterns of residential segregation can arise from a small set of simple micro-level social dynamics operating within particular urban-demographic contexts. The promise and current limitations of agent simulation studies are noted and optimism is expressed regarding the potential for such studies to engage and contribute to the broader research literature on residential segregation. PMID:21379372

Characterizing the intra-urban spatiotemporal dynamics of High Heat Stress Zones (Hotspots)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shreevastava, A.; Rao, P. S.; McGrath, G. S.

2017-12-01

In this study, we present an innovative framework to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of High Heat Stress Zones (Hot spots) created within an Urban area in the event of a Heat Wave. Heat waves are one of the leading causes of weather-related human mortality in many countries, and cities receive its worst brunt. The extreme heat stress within urban areas is often a synergistic combination of large-scale meteorological events, and the locally exacerbated impacts due to Urban Heat Islands (UHI). UHI is typically characterized as the difference between mean temperature of the urban and rural area. As a result, it fails to capture the significant variability that exists within the city itself. This variability arises from the diverse and complex spatial geometries of cities. Previous studies that have attempted to quantify the heat stress at an intra-urban scale are labor intensive, expensive, and difficult to emulate globally as they rely on availability of extensive data and their assimilation. The proposed study takes advantage of the well-established notion of fractal properties of cities to make the methods scalable to other cities where in-situ observational data might not be available. As an input, land surface temperatures are estimated using Landsat data. Using clustering analysis, we probe the emergence of thermal hotspots. The probability distributions (PD) of these hotspots are found to follow a power-law distribution in agreement with fractal characteristics of the city. PDs of several archetypical cities are then investigated to compare the effect of different spatial structures (e.g. monocentric v/s polycentric, sprawl v/s compact). Further, the temporal variability of the distributions on a diurnal as well as a seasonal scale is discussed. Finally, the spatiotemporal dynamics of the urban hotspots under a heat-wave (E.g. Delhi Heat wave, 2015) are compared against the non-heat wave scenarios. In summary, a technique that is globally adaptive and scale independent, achieved by building on the fractal properties of cities, is presented here. Identification of hotspots and a diagnosis of their characteristics will help in targeting resources judiciously to those areas that warrant the most attention, thereby helping design cities which better mitigate heat stress.

View from the center: Supercities conference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knox, J. B.

The Supercities Conference (26-30 October 1992) was the initial activity planned and executed by the Pacific Basin Study Center (PBSC), a research center founded by San Francisco State University and the University of California, Davis. The Conference focused on issues of environmental quality and the quest for sustainable development in the great urban centers—Supercities—of the Pacific. The Conference, with its working group process, highlighted the long-term commitment of the PBSC to education, training, and research in regard to environmental, energy, and resource utilization issues that challenge society now and the coming century. We define a "Supercity" as a large metropolitan area of about eight million population currently undergoing rapid growth in population and urbanization. Some of the cities considered at the conference are emerging "Supercities"—large urban complexes destined to soon be "Supercities". Supercities in both the developing and developed nations are at critical stages of development, with the size and number of Supercities appearing to be unstoppable. These urban centers and their surrounding areas are large users of resources and energy. In many cases, the national demand for energy and materials will be largely patterned by the strategies, management, and actions taken within the Supercities. It is for this reason that our focus is on these dynamic, urban entities of the Pacific. Appropriate technology transfer, sharing of common concerns and knowledge, and the seeking of workable conservation and remediation efforts within Supercities could improve living conditions within these centers, and address regional and global environmental issues in parallel. The Conference focused on urban air quality conditions in 14 metropolitan areas, common health impacts, and projected emissions; a working group process defined needed areas for research and development of key information. Through the medium of panels, the progress of several major cities in addressing urban air quality issues was reported, as well as the rationale for the documented successes of environmental improvement. The Conference played a key role in the definition of the early research directions of the PBSC, and in the establishment of a Pacific Basin network of researchers and planners committed to the pursuit of sustainable development.

Urban forests for sustainable urban development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sundara, Denny M.; Hartono, Djoko M.; Suganda, Emirhadi; Haeruman, S. Herman J.

2017-11-01

This paper explores the development of the urban forest in East Jakarta. By 2030 Jakarta area has a target of 30% green area covering 19,845 hectares, including urban forest covering an area of 4,631 hectares. In 2015, the city forest is only 646 hectares, while the city requires 3,985 hectares of new land Urban forest growth from year to year showed a marked decrease with increasing land area awoke to commercial functions, environmental conditions encourage the development of the city to become unsustainable. This research aims to support sustainable urban development and ecological balance through the revitalization of green areas and urban development. Analytical methods for urban forest area is calculated based on the amount of CO2 that comes from people, vehicles, and industrial. Urban spatial analysis based on satellite image data, using a GIS program is an analysis tool to determine the distribution and growth patterns of green areas. This paper uses a dynamic system model to simulate the conditions of the region against intervention to be performed on potential areas for development of urban forests. The result is a model urban forest area is integrated with a social and economic function to encourage the development of sustainable cities.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Malaria in Urban Ahmedabad (Gujarat), India: Identification of Hot Spots and Risk Factors for Targeted Intervention

PubMed Central

Parizo, Justin; Sturrock, Hugh J. W.; Dhiman, Ramesh C.; Greenhouse, Bryan

2016-01-01

The world population, especially in developing countries, has experienced a rapid progression of urbanization over the last half century. Urbanization has been accompanied by a rise in cases of urban infectious diseases, such as malaria. The complexity and heterogeneity of the urban environment has made study of specific urban centers vital for urban malaria control programs, whereas more generalizable risk factor identification also remains essential. Ahmedabad city, India, is a large urban center located in the state of Gujarat, which has experienced a significant Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum disease burden. Therefore, a targeted analysis of malaria in Ahmedabad city was undertaken to identify spatiotemporal patterns of malaria, risk factors, and methods of predicting future malaria cases. Malaria incidence in Ahmedabad city was found to be spatially heterogeneous, but temporally stable, with high spatial correlation between species. Because of this stability, a prediction method utilizing historic cases from prior years and seasons was used successfully to predict which areas of Ahmedabad city would experience the highest malaria burden and could be used to prospectively target interventions. Finally, spatial analysis showed that normalized difference vegetation index, proximity to water sources, and location within Ahmedabad city relative to the dense urban core were the best predictors of malaria incidence. Because of the heterogeneity of urban environments and urban malaria itself, the study of specific large urban centers is vital to assist in allocating resources and informing future urban planning. PMID:27382081

Climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystems in metropolitan Chicago and its surrounding, multi-state region

Treesearch

Jessica J. Hellmann; Knute J. Nadelhoffer; Louis R. Iverson; Lewis H. Ziska; Stephen N. Matthews; Philip Myers; Anantha M. Prasad; Matthew P. Peters

2010-01-01

This paper describes the potential impacts of warming temperatures and changing precipitation on plants, wildlife, invasive species, pests, and agricultural ecosystems across the multi-state region centered on Chicago, Illinois. We examine a geographic area that captures much of Lake Michigan, including a complex mosaic of urbanization and agriculture surrounding...

Prerequisites for Setting Up Management System in Municipal Retail Trade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suraeva, Maria O.; Grigoryants, Igor A.; Karpova, Galina A.; Khoreva, Lyubov V.; Schreyer, Alexander V.; Sirotkin, Victor A.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the research problem Urban district, management, trade, sales network is determined by the number of complex problems that exist in present Samara municipal retail trade system, which is manifested in the lack of regulation, a glut of sales area, and poorly developed infrastructure. The purpose of this article is to form a…

Introduction: Ecosystem research in a human context [chapter 1

Treesearch

Deborah M. Finch; Joseph A. Tainter

1995-01-01

The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Basin, which drains a 355,500 square mile area in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico (Fig. I), encompasses numerous land ownership boundaries, vegetation types, desert and woodland ecotones and edges, and urban and rural cultures, forming a complex array of interactive ecological systems. Historically known as the Southwest...

A Qualitative Study of Prospective Elementary Teachers' Grasp of Agricultural and Science Educational Benchmarks for Agricultural Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trexler, Cary J.; Meischen, Deanna

2002-01-01

Interviews with eight preservice elementary teachers regarding benchmarks related to agricultural technology for food and fiber showed that those from rural areas had more complex understanding of the trade-offs in technology use; urban residents were more concerned with ethical dilemmas. Pesticide pollution was most understood, genetic…

Socio-economic and ecological transformations of the peri-urban region of Gurgaon: an analysis of the trickle-down effect in the post globalization era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yadav, A.; Punia, M.

2014-11-01

Economic processes are a manifestation of dynamic complex interdependent array of factors which involves resources, technology and an acting innovative human mind. Production, growth and development are the processes which has vast number of complex drivers, determinants and factors. Innovation, research, diffusion and dissemination are vital instrument of the economic processes of production, which are part of education. Whereas ecological transformations can be corroborated and analyzed by integrating remote sensing based information related to expansion of built-up area beyond city boundaries, extending to peripheries. City reflect economic, environmental, technological and social processes in their change, yet all are in turn profoundly driven by the urban spatial expansion. Metropolitan cities reflects expansion of existing urban and peri-urban areas with a significant socio-ecological transformation in terms of employment, education, and work force participation and land use changes. From the point of view of New Economic Geography (NEG) Theory 2009, the growth dynamic of metros is influenced by their proximity and dependence to a metropolis and the probable spillover effect. Entry point of discussion is the change in production of space in the post globalization era. It attempts to understand city morphology by using remote sensing datasets of LISS IV, IRS-P6 of 5.8 m spatial resolution for 2008 and 2013 and used Gurgaon Municipal Corporation's (GMC) ward boundary to represent socio-political meaning of this expansion and ways of life within the suburb. To understand how city works, detailed analysis related occupational structure, education and informality of ward 31 of Gurgaon and two villages namely Behlpa, Fazalwas and ward 11 of Nuh ( Mewat) along with the village Gabsanpur is attempted as the spatial units of study.

Research on application of intelligent computation based LUCC model in urbanization process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zemin

2007-06-01

Global change study is an interdisciplinary and comprehensive research activity with international cooperation, arising in 1980s, with the largest scopes. The interaction between land use and cover change, as a research field with the crossing of natural science and social science, has become one of core subjects of global change study as well as the front edge and hot point of it. It is necessary to develop research on land use and cover change in urbanization process and build an analog model of urbanization to carry out description, simulation and analysis on dynamic behaviors in urban development change as well as to understand basic characteristics and rules of urbanization process. This has positive practical and theoretical significance for formulating urban and regional sustainable development strategy. The effect of urbanization on land use and cover change is mainly embodied in the change of quantity structure and space structure of urban space, and LUCC model in urbanization process has been an important research subject of urban geography and urban planning. In this paper, based upon previous research achievements, the writer systematically analyzes the research on land use/cover change in urbanization process with the theories of complexity science research and intelligent computation; builds a model for simulating and forecasting dynamic evolution of urban land use and cover change, on the basis of cellular automation model of complexity science research method and multi-agent theory; expands Markov model, traditional CA model and Agent model, introduces complexity science research theory and intelligent computation theory into LUCC research model to build intelligent computation-based LUCC model for analog research on land use and cover change in urbanization research, and performs case research. The concrete contents are as follows: 1. Complexity of LUCC research in urbanization process. Analyze urbanization process in combination with the contents of complexity science research and the conception of complexity feature to reveal the complexity features of LUCC research in urbanization process. Urban space system is a complex economic and cultural phenomenon as well as a social process, is the comprehensive characterization of urban society, economy and culture, and is a complex space system formed by society, economy and nature. It has dissipative structure characteristics, such as opening, dynamics, self-organization, non-balance etc. Traditional model cannot simulate these social, economic and natural driving forces of LUCC including main feedback relation from LUCC to driving force. 2. Establishment of Markov extended model of LUCC analog research in urbanization process. Firstly, use traditional LUCC research model to compute change speed of regional land use through calculating dynamic degree, exploitation degree and consumption degree of land use; use the theory of fuzzy set to rewrite the traditional Markov model, establish structure transfer matrix of land use, forecast and analyze dynamic change and development trend of land use, and present noticeable problems and corresponding measures in urbanization process according to research results. 3. Application of intelligent computation research and complexity science research method in LUCC analog model in urbanization process. On the basis of detailed elaboration of the theory and the model of LUCC research in urbanization process, analyze the problems of existing model used in LUCC research (namely, difficult to resolve many complexity phenomena in complex urban space system), discuss possible structure realization forms of LUCC analog research in combination with the theories of intelligent computation and complexity science research. Perform application analysis on BP artificial neural network and genetic algorithms of intelligent computation and CA model and MAS technology of complexity science research, discuss their theoretical origins and their own characteristics in detail, elaborate the feasibility of them in LUCC analog research, and bring forward improvement methods and measures on existing problems of this kind of model. 4. Establishment of LUCC analog model in urbanization process based on theories of intelligent computation and complexity science. Based on the research on abovementioned BP artificial neural network, genetic algorithms, CA model and multi-agent technology, put forward improvement methods and application assumption towards their expansion on geography, build LUCC analog model in urbanization process based on CA model and Agent model, realize the combination of learning mechanism of BP artificial neural network and fuzzy logic reasoning, express the regulation with explicit formula, and amend the initial regulation through self study; optimize network structure of LUCC analog model and methods and procedures of model parameters with genetic algorithms. In this paper, I introduce research theory and methods of complexity science into LUCC analog research and presents LUCC analog model based upon CA model and MAS theory. Meanwhile, I carry out corresponding expansion on traditional Markov model and introduce the theory of fuzzy set into data screening and parameter amendment of improved model to improve the accuracy and feasibility of Markov model in the research on land use/cover change.

The surface urban heat island response to urban expansion: A panel analysis for the conterminous United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Xiaoma; Zhou, Yuyu; Asrar, Ghassem R.

Abstract: Urban heat island (UHI), a major concern worldwide, affects human health and energy use. With current and anticipated rapid urbanization, improved understanding of the response of UHI to urbanization is important for impact analysis and developing effective adaptation measures and mitigation strategies. Current studies mainly focus on a single or a few big cities and knowledge on the response of UHI to urbanization for large areas is very limited. Modelling UHI caused by urbanization for large areas that encompass multiple metropolitans remains a major scientific challenge/opportunity. As a major indicator of urbanization, urban area size lends itself well formore » representation in prognostic models to investigate the impacts of urbanization on UHI and the related socioeconomic and environmental effects. However, we have little knowledge on how UHI responds to the increase of urban area size, namely urban expansion, and its spatial and temporal variation over large areas. In this study, we investigated the relationship between surface UHI (SUHI) and urban area size in the climate and ecological context, and its spatial and temporal variations, based on a panel analysis of about 5000 urban areas of 10 km2 or larger, in the conterminous U.S. We found statistically significant positive relationship between SUHI and urban area size, and doubling the urban area size led to a SUHI increase of higher than 0.7 °C. The response of SUHI to the increase of urban area size shows spatial and temporal variations, with stronger SUHI increase in the Northern region of U.S., and during daytime and summer. Urban area size alone can explain as much as 87% of the variance of SUHI among cities studied, but with large spatial and temporal variations. Urban area size shows higher association with SUHI in regions where the thermal characteristics of land cover surrounding the urban are more homogeneous, such as in Eastern U.S., and in the summer months. This study provides a practical approach for large-scale assessment and modeling of the impact of urbanization on SUHI, both spatially and temporally, for developing mitigation/adaptation measures, especially in anticipated warmer climate conditions for the rest of this century.« less

Insights to urban dynamics through landscape spatial pattern analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

TV, Ramachandra; Aithal, Bharath H.; Sanna, Durgappa D.

2012-08-01

Urbanisation is a dynamic complex phenomenon involving large scale changes in the land uses at local levels. Analyses of changes in land uses in urban environments provide a historical perspective of land use and give an opportunity to assess the spatial patterns, correlation, trends, rate and impacts of the change, which would help in better regional planning and good governance of the region. Main objective of this research is to quantify the urban dynamics using temporal remote sensing data with the help of well-established landscape metrics. Bangalore being one of the rapidly urbanising landscapes in India has been chosen for this investigation. Complex process of urban sprawl was modelled using spatio temporal analysis. Land use analyses show 584% growth in built-up area during the last four decades with the decline of vegetation by 66% and water bodies by 74%. Analyses of the temporal data reveals an increase in urban built up area of 342.83% (during 1973-1992), 129.56% (during 1992-1999), 106.7% (1999-2002), 114.51% (2002-2006) and 126.19% from 2006 to 2010. The Study area was divided into four zones and each zone is further divided into 17 concentric circles of 1 km incrementing radius to understand the patterns and extent of the urbanisation at local levels. The urban density gradient illustrates radial pattern of urbanisation for the period 1973-2010. Bangalore grew radially from 1973 to 2010 indicating that the urbanisation is intensifying from the central core and has reached the periphery of the Greater Bangalore. Shannon's entropy, alpha and beta population densities were computed to understand the level of urbanisation at local levels. Shannon's entropy values of recent time confirms dispersed haphazard urban growth in the city, particularly in the outskirts of the city. This also illustrates the extent of influence of drivers of urbanisation in various directions. Landscape metrics provided in depth knowledge about the sprawl. Principal component analysis helped in prioritizing the metrics for detailed analyses. The results clearly indicates that whole landscape is aggregating to a large patch in 2010 as compared to earlier years which was dominated by several small patches. The large scale conversion of small patches to large single patch can be seen from 2006 to 2010. In the year 2010 patches are maximally aggregated indicating that the city is becoming more compact and more urbanised in recent years. Bangalore was the most sought after destination for its climatic condition and the availability of various facilities (land availability, economy, political factors) compared to other cities. The growth into a single urban patch can be attributed to rapid urbanisation coupled with the industrialisation. Monitoring of growth through landscape metrics helps to maintain and manage the natural resources.

Analysis of Global Urban Temperature Trends and Urbanization Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, K. I.; Ryu, J.; Jeon, S. W.

2018-04-01

Due to urbanization, urban areas are shrinking green spaces and increasing concrete, asphalt pavement. So urban climates are different from non-urban areas. In addition, long-term macroscopic studies of urban climate change are becoming more important as global urbanization affects global warming. To do this, it is necessary to analyze the effect of urbanization on the temporal change in urban temperature with the same temperature data and standards for urban areas around the world. In this study, time series analysis was performed with the maximum, minimum, mean and standard values of surface temperature during the from 1980 to 2010 and analyzed the effect of urbanization through linear regression analysis with variables (population, night light, NDVI, urban area). As a result, the minimum value of the surface temperature of the urban area reflects an increase by a rate of 0.28K decade-1 over the past 31 years, the maximum value reflects an increase by a rate of 0.372K decade-1, the mean value reflects an increase by a rate of 0.208 decade-1, and the standard deviation reflects a decrease by rate of 0.023K decade-1. And the change of surface temperature in urban areas is affected by urbanization related to land cover such as decrease of greenery and increase of pavement area, but socioeconomic variables are less influential than NDVI in this study. This study are expected to provide an approach to future research and policy-planning for urban temperature change and urbanization impacts.

Role of Green Spaces in Favorable Microclimate Creating in Urban Environment (Exemplified by Italian Cities)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finaeva, O.

2017-11-01

The article represents a brief analysis of factors that influence the development of an urban green space system: territorial and climatic conditions, cultural and historical background as well as the modern strategy of historic cities development. The introduction defines the concept of urban greening, green spaces and green space distribution. The environmental parameters influenced by green spaces are determined. By the example of Italian cities the principles of the urban greening system development are considered: the historical aspects of formation of the urban greening system in Italian cities are analyzed, the role of green spaces in the formation of the urban environment structure and the creation of a favorable microclimate is determined, and a set of measures aimed at its improvement is highlighted. The modern principles of urban greening systems development and their characteristic features are considered. Special attention is paid to the interrelation of architectural and green structures in the formation of a favorable microclimate and psychological comfort in the urban environment; various methods of greening are considered by the example of existing architectural complexes depending on the climate of the area and the landscape features. The examples for the choice of plants and the application of compositional techniques are given. The results represent the basic principles of developing an urban green spaces system. The conclusion summarizes the techniques aimed at the microclimate improvement in the urban environment.

Understanding the urban-rural disparity in HIV and poverty nexus: the case of Kenya.

PubMed

Magadi, Monica A

2017-09-01

The relationship between HIV and poverty is complex and recent studies reveal an urban-rural divide that is not well understood. This paper examines the urban-rural disparity in the relationship between poverty and HIV infection in Kenya, with particular reference to possible explanations relating to social cohesion/capital and other moderating factors. Multilevel logistic regression models are applied to nationally-representative samples of 13 094 men and women of reproductive age from recent Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys. The results confirm a disproportionate higher risk of HIV infection among the urban poor, despite a general negative association between poverty and HIV infection among rural residents. Estimates of intra-community correlations suggest lower social cohesion in urban than rural communities. This, combined with marked socio-economic inequalities in urban areas is likely to result in the urban poor being particularly vulnerable. The results further reveal interesting cultural variations and trends. In particular, recent declines in HIV prevalence among urban residents in Kenya have been predominantly confined to those of higher socio-economic status. With current rapid urbanization patterns and increasing urban poverty, these trends have important implications for the future of the HIV epidemic in Kenya and similar settings across the sub-Saharan Africa region. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Rural:urban inequalities in post 2015 targets and indicators for drinking-water.

PubMed

Bain, R E S; Wright, J A; Christenson, E; Bartram, J K

2014-08-15

Disparities in access to drinking water between rural and urban areas are pronounced. Although use of improved sources has increased more rapidly in rural areas, rising from 62% in 1990 to 81% in 2011, the proportion of the rural population using an improved water source remains substantially lower than in urban areas. Inequalities in coverage are compounded by disparities in other aspects of water service. Not all improved sources are safe and evidence from a systematic review demonstrates that water is more likely to contain detectable fecal indicator bacteria in rural areas. Piped water on premises is a service enjoyed primarily by those living in urban areas so differentiating amongst improved sources would exacerbate rural:urban disparities yet further. We argue that an urban bias may have resulted due to apparent stagnation in urban coverage and the inequity observed between urban and peri-urban areas. The apparent stagnation at around 95% coverage in urban areas stems in part from relative population growth - over the last two decades more people gained access to improved water in urban areas. There are calls for setting higher standards in urban areas which would exacerbate the already extreme rural disadvantage. Instead of setting different targets, health, economic, and human rights perspectives, We suggest that the focus should be kept on achieving universal access to safe water (primarily in rural areas) while monitoring progress towards higher service levels, including greater water safety (both in rural and urban areas and among different economic strata). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methodology for the Detection of Residential Vulnerable Areas - the Case of Barcelona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cornado, Cossima; Garcia-Almirall, Pilar; Vima, Sara; Vila Busqued, Gemma; Uzqueda, Angel

2017-10-01

In a context of a shifting environmental, economic and social paradigm, European cities face a situation that is at the same time challenge and opportunity: the need for urban rehabilitation of the vulnerable degraded socio residential fabric. Public administrations in big cities and metropolitan areas are confronted with both the undercurrent need of actualization of the built stock and the rise of urban residential vulnerability. The city of Barcelona, as many others, is the result of multiple phenomena with high urban and social consequences. The socio spatial integration of immigrant population, the touristic rise and gentrification processes are current situations simultaneously taking place in the city. In parallel, a framework of economic crisis in which public investments in urban and social matters decrease, provides a temporal juncture that results into an increase of social polarization and socio economic inequality that becomes evident and expressed in the territory. This research focuses in the case of Barcelona, and presents a methodology based on a system of indicators elaborated through the exploitation of statistical data complemented with very specific data supplied by the Barcelona City Council. The accurate knowledge of socio demographic, socioeconomic and residential and urban characteristics is crucial in order to define the very complex urban dynamics that describe in the city neighbourhoods and areas. Residential vulnerability is defined as an assembly of objective conditions that relate to residential space and indicate situations of social discrimination and structural disadvantage of the population, related to a specific time and context. Thus, it is relevant to analyse the concentration of certain indicators of vulnerability in specific places or neighbourhoods, to contrast its effect on the socio-residential situation and its temporal evolution in order to identify tendencies. The present study contributes to the identification of data sources and a system to calculate the purposed indicators, the elaboration of a GIS analysis in order to determine the characterization of neighbourhoods and census sections according to each indicator, and the identification of areas with a higher degree of problematic based on synthetic analysis. A very relevant knowledge basis that can be used by public policy makers in order to establish measures that define vulnerable areas where to carry out actions that foster urban equality.

Forests [Chapter 7

Treesearch

Linda A. Joyce; Steven W. Running; David D. Breshears; Virginia H. Dale; Robert W. Malmsheimer; R. Neil Sampson; Brent Sohngen; Christopher W. Woodall

2014-01-01

Forests occur within urban areas, at the interface between urban and rural areas (wildland-urban interface), and in rural areas. Urban forests contribute to clean air, cooling buildings, aesthetics, and recreation in parks. Development in the wildland-urban interface is increasing because of the appeal of owning homes near or in the woods. In rural areas, market...

Contamination of soils with heavy metals and metalloids in the vicinity of the Erdenet copper-molybdenum mining area in Mongolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timofeev, Ivan; Kosheleva, Natalia; Gunin, Petr; Bazha, Sergei; Enkh-Amgalan, Sandag

2014-05-01

The present study was conducted to assess soil contamination taking place in Erdenet, the Mongolian city with a gigantic ore-mining and ore-dressing complex that was founded mainly to exploit the area's huge deposits of copper and molybdenum ore. The objectives of the study were: (1) to determine the content of heavy metals and metalloids (HMs) in soils of background and urban landscapes and to evaluate environmental hazard of HMs pollution; (2) to compile geochemical maps and to define zones with anomalously high concentrations of toxic elements in the city, (3) to identify spatial patterns and leading factors of pollutant accumulation. Sampling was performed in 2011 using regular spacing of 500-700m. In total 225 samples were collected from surface soil horizons (0 - 10 cm) in different functional areas of the city and in the background area located 5-6km from the city. The sampling scheme in background area took into account the topography and geological heterogeneity of the study area. The bulk contents of HMs in soil samples were analyzed by mass spectrometry and inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Background concentrations of HMs were estimated for several soil groups formed on specific parent rocks and were compared with their global abundances in soils. The pollution of urban soils was evaluated using background soils as reference objects. Associations of HMs were identified according to the enrichment factor (EF) values and using cluster analysis with complete linkage algorithm. Visualization of soil-geochemical data was performed by local interpolation or kriging method in MapInfo 11.5 and Surfer 11. Multiple regression analysis (decision trees method) was applied to determine soil properties and landscape factors that may control HMs accumulation in soils. Background soils formed on granite and granodiorite of Permian-Selenga complex occupy the largest area and are characterized by high concentrations of V, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, Sr, Cu, Zn, Mo and W. The lowest concentrations of the elements are typical of soils formed on triassic volcanic suite and sub-volcanic intrusions. Urban soils are heavily polluted in industrial zone, where accumulation of Mo (EF=10.7) and Cu (10.6) are the highest among other elements (Se, As, Sb, W, EF=2.4-1.5). The mining area and the landscapes in its immediate vicinity are characterized by high and dangerous level of multi-elemental contamination while the most part of the urban territory has low level of contamination. Soils in all functional zones, with the exception of the ger district, have elevated concentrations of Mo, Cu and Se. Three geochemical associations W-Bi-Cd-Sn-Zn-Pb; Cu-As-Sb-Mo and V-Co-Sr-Cr-Ni have been identified in urban soils. The maximum concentrations of the elements in the first two groups are typical of the disturbed soils adjacent to the plant and tailings area (EFs for individual elements range from1.4 to1080). Statistical analysis revealed that such soil characteristics as grain-size distribution, pH, humus content have a direct impact on HMs fixation in urban soils while the influence of landscape factors (topography, lithology, functional assignment) is not so evident.

Habitat complexity influences fine scale hydrological processes and the incidence of stormwater runoff in managed urban ecosystems.

PubMed

Ossola, Alessandro; Hahs, Amy Kristin; Livesley, Stephen John

2015-08-15

Urban ecosystems have traditionally been considered to be pervious features of our cities. Their hydrological properties have largely been investigated at the landscape scale and in comparison with other urban land use types. However, hydrological properties can vary at smaller scales depending upon changes in soil, surface litter and vegetation components. Management practices can directly and indirectly affect each of these components and the overall habitat complexity, ultimately affecting hydrological processes. This study aims to investigate the influence that habitat components and habitat complexity have upon key hydrological processes and the implications for urban habitat management. Using a network of urban parks and remnant nature reserves in Melbourne, Australia, replicate plots representing three types of habitat complexity were established: low-complexity parks, high-complexity parks, and high-complexity remnants. Saturated soil hydraulic conductivity in low-complexity parks was an order of magnitude lower than that measured in the more complex habitat types, due to fewer soil macropores. Conversely, soil water holding capacity in low-complexity parks was significantly higher compared to the two more complex habitat types. Low-complexity parks would generate runoff during modest precipitation events, whereas high-complexity parks and remnants would be able to absorb the vast majority of rainfall events without generating runoff. Litter layers on the soil surface would absorb most of precipitation events in high-complexity parks and high-complexity remnants. To minimize the incidence of stormwater runoff from urban ecosystems, land managers could incrementally increase the complexity of habitat patches, by increasing canopy density and volume, preserving surface litter and maintaining soil macropore structure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of urban natural areas influencing winter bird use in southern Ontario, Canada.

PubMed

Smith, Paul G R

2007-03-01

Characteristics of urban natural areas and surrounding landscapes were identified that best explain winter bird use for 28 urban natural areas in southern Ontario, Canada. The research confirms for winter birds the importance of area (size) and natural vegetation, rather than managed, horticultural parkland, within urban natural areas as well as percent urban land use and natural habitat in surrounding landscapes. Alien bird density and percent ground feeding species increased with percent surrounding urban land use. Higher percent forest cover was associated with higher percentages of forest, bark feeding, small (<20 g) and insectivorous species. Natural area size (ha) was related to higher species richness, lower evenness and higher percentages of insectivorous, forest interior, area-sensitive, upper canopy, bark feeding, and non-resident species. Higher number of habitat types within natural areas and percent natural habitat in surrounding landscapes were also associated with higher species richness. Common, resident bird species dominated small areas (<6.5 ha), while less common non-residents increased with area, indicative of a nested distribution. Areas at least 6.5 ha and more generally >20 ha start to support some area-sensitive species. Areas similar to rural forests had >25% insectivores, >25% forest interior species, >25% small species, and <5% alien species. Indicator species separated urban natural areas from rural habitats and ordination placed urban natural areas along a gradient between urban development and undisturbed, rural forests. More attention is needed on issues of winter bird conservation in urban landscapes.

Characteristics of Urban Natural Areas Influencing Winter Bird Use in Southern Ontario, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Paul G. R.

2007-03-01

Characteristics of urban natural areas and surrounding landscapes were identified that best explain winter bird use for 28 urban natural areas in southern Ontario, Canada. The research confirms for winter birds the importance of area (size) and natural vegetation, rather than managed, horticultural parkland, within urban natural areas as well as percent urban land use and natural habitat in surrounding landscapes. Alien bird density and percent ground feeding species increased with percent surrounding urban land use. Higher percent forest cover was associated with higher percentages of forest, bark feeding, small (<20 g) and insectivorous species. Natural area size (ha) was related to higher species richness, lower evenness and higher percentages of insectivorous, forest interior, area-sensitive, upper canopy, bark feeding, and non-resident species. Higher number of habitat types within natural areas and percent natural habitat in surrounding landscapes were also associated with higher species richness. Common, resident bird species dominated small areas (<6.5 ha), while less common non-residents increased with area, indicative of a nested distribution. Areas at least 6.5 ha and more generally >20 ha start to support some area-sensitive species. Areas similar to rural forests had >25% insectivores, >25% forest interior species, >25% small species, and <5% alien species. Indicator species separated urban natural areas from rural habitats and ordination placed urban natural areas along a gradient between urban development and undisturbed, rural forests. More attention is needed on issues of winter bird conservation in urban landscapes.

High-resolution spatial distribution of temperature over Berlin simulated by the mesoscale model METRAS and comparison with measured data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sodoudi, Sahar; Schäfer, Kerstin; Grawe, David; Petrik, Ronny; Heinke Schlünzen, K.

2014-05-01

The world's population is projected to increase in the next decades especially in urban areas. Additionally, the living conditions are affected largely by the local urban climate. The urban climate is a complex local system which might change differently than the regional climate. Studying the spatial distribution of air temperature and urban heat island intensity is one of the major concerns in the climate change scenarios. Due to the expected higher frequency of heat waves in the future and the related heat stress, high resolution distribution of air temperature is an important key for urban planning and development. In this study the non-hydrostatic Mesoscale Transport and Fluid Model (METRAS) developed at the University of Hamburg is used to simulate the air temperature for the urban area of Berlin. The forcing data have been derived from the ECMWF reanalysis data. We have used three nested domains (resolution of 4 km, 1 km, 200 m) to simulate the temperature in Berlin. Evaluation of these mesoscale model results is challenging for urban areas, due to the sparse and heterogeneous distribution of meteorological stations and the heterogeneous land cover in urban areas. The Meteorological Institute of the Free University of Berlin organized six measurement campaigns in 2012. Measurements were taken at 31 different routes through Berlin using mobile measurement systems. In comparison with data from permanent weather stations the mobile measurements show a general overestimation of temperature and underestimation of relative humidity values. This may be the result of the different land cover types and places, where the mobile measurements and the stationary measurements were taken. The highly resolved (200 m) simulated air temperature from METRAS has been verified for three different selected summer days in 2012 with different pressure patterns over Berlin. For the model evaluation, the data from the measuring campaign and 34 permanent stations have been used. The results show that METRAS overestimated the cloud water and rain water content on the first two selected days. The air temperature on the first two days has been underestimated by the model due to the reduced incoming radiation, and the strength of the urban heat island has not been reproduced. The mean absolute error is higher during the day time and especially in the city center. The last selected day is a sunny day with light wind from the Northwest. On this day the diurnal temperature variation is well reproduced by the model, although METRAS predicts short showers for several small areas during the afternoon. The showers do not lead to a temperature decrease over the whole city. The mean absolute error is much smaller in comparison with the other days. The temperature peak and the urban heat island are well consistent with observations. The mean absolute error is smaller in the city center and larger over the green areas. The spatial distribution of simulated temperature is in a good agreement with the measurements.

Organic Carbon Storage in China's Urban Areas

PubMed Central

Zhao, Shuqing; Zhu, Chao; Zhou, Decheng; Huang, Dian; Werner, Jeremy

2013-01-01

China has been experiencing rapid urbanization in parallel with its economic boom over the past three decades. To date, the organic carbon storage in China's urban areas has not been quantified. Here, using data compiled from literature review and statistical yearbooks, we estimated that total carbon storage in China's urban areas was 577±60 Tg C (1 Tg  = 1012 g) in 2006. Soil was the largest contributor to total carbon storage (56%), followed by buildings (36%), and vegetation (7%), while carbon storage in humans was relatively small (1%). The carbon density in China's urban areas was 17.1±1.8 kg C m−2, about two times the national average of all lands. The most sensitive variable in estimating urban carbon storage was urban area. Examining urban carbon storages over a wide range of spatial extents in China and in the United States, we found a strong linear relationship between total urban carbon storage and total urban area, with a specific urban carbon storage of 16 Tg C for every 1,000 km2 urban area. This value might be useful for estimating urban carbon storage at regional to global scales. Our results also showed that the fraction of carbon storage in urban green spaces was still much lower in China relative to western countries, suggesting a great potential to mitigate climate change through urban greening and green spaces management in China. PMID:23991014

A temperature and vegetation adjusted NTL urban index for urban area mapping and analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiya; Li, Peijun

2018-01-01

Accurate and timely information regarding the extent and spatial distribution of urban areas on regional and global scales is crucially important for both scientific and policy-making communities. Stable nighttime light (NTL) data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) provides a unique proxy of human settlement and activity, which has been used in the mapping and analysis of urban areas and urbanization dynamics. However, blooming and saturation effects of DMSP/OLS NTL data are two unresolved problems in regional urban area mapping and analysis. This study proposed a new urban index termed the Temperature and Vegetation Adjusted NTL Urban Index (TVANUI). It is intended to reduce blooming and saturation effects and to enhance urban features by combining DMSP/OLS NTL data with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer onboard the Terra satellite. The proposed index was evaluated in two study areas by comparison with established urban indices. The results demonstrated the proposed TVANUI was effective in enhancing the variation of DMSP/OLS light in urban areas and in reducing blooming and saturation effects, showing better performance than three established urban indices. The TVANUI also significantly outperformed the established urban indices in urban area mapping using both the global-fixed threshold and the local-optimal threshold methods. Thus, the proposed TVANUI provides a useful variable for urban area mapping and analysis on regional scale, as well as for urbanization dynamics using time-series DMSP/OLS and related satellite data.

Non-urban area ownership structure. Case study of Southern Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glowacka, Agnieszka; Janus, Jaroslaw; Bożek, Piotr

2016-12-01

The study shows a possible way of analyzing the diversity of ownership forms in non-urban areas, with particular focus on land co-ownership. The data in cadastral databases was processed with the use of the relational model which applied information on the geometry of areal spatial objects and descriptive attributes. The paper presents also the results of the analysis of Nowy Sącz District with the area of 1.550 sq.km and containing approximately 200.000 parcels. The area is representative for many countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where unfavorable land fragmentation indices and complex ownership structures complicate investing processes and development of rural areas what results in progressive degradation of agricultural and cultural landscape. The results indicate that the co-ownership phenomenon affects 13% of parcels in the study area. However, it varies greatly depending on the village and ranges from 3 to 67% of total parcels number. Suggested methods of analyzing the ownership structure are of universal character. In spite of this, when used during analyses conducted in other countries, certain modifications are required. It is mainly caused by the differences in cadastral data models used in those countries.

Consensus dietary guidelines for healthy living and prevention of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and related disorders in Asian Indians.

PubMed

Misra, Anoop; Sharma, Rekha; Gulati, Seema; Joshi, Shashank R; Sharma, Vinita; Ghafoorunissa; Ibrahim, Ahamed; Joshi, Shilpa; Laxmaiah, Avula; Kurpad, Anura; Raj, Rebecca K; Mohan, Viswanathan; Chandalia, Hemraj; Krishnaswamy, Kamala; Boindala, Sesikeran; Gopalan, Sarath; Bhattiprolu, Siva Kumar; Modi, Sonal; Vikram, Naval K; Makkar, Brij Mohan; Mathur, Manju; Dey, Sanjit; Vasudevan, Sudha; Gupta, Shashi Prabha; Puri, Seema; Joshi, Prashant; Khanna, Kumud; Mathur, Prashant; Krishnaswamy, Sheela; Madan, Jagmeet; Karmarkar, Madhukar; Seth, Veenu; Passi, Santosh Jain; Chadha, Davinder; Bhardwaj, Swati

2011-06-01

India is undergoing rapid nutritional transition, resulting in excess consumption of calories, saturated fats, trans fatty acids, simple sugars, salt and low intake of fiber. Such dietary transition and a sedentary lifestyle have led to an increase in obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM], cardiovascular disease [CVD], etc.) predominantly in urban, but also in rural areas. In comparison with the previous guidelines, these consensus dietary guidelines include reduction in the intake of carbohydrates, preferential intake of complex carbohydrates and low glycemic index foods, higher intake of fiber, lower intake of saturated fats, optimal ratio of essential fatty acids, reduction in trans fatty acids, slightly higher protein intake, lower intake of salt, and restricted intake of sugar. While these guidelines are applicable to Asian Indians in any geographical setting, they are particularly applicable to those residing in urban and in semi-urban areas. Proper application of these guidelines will help curb the rising "epidemics" of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, hypertension, T2DM, and CVD in Asian Indians.

Assessing sustainability in real urban systems: the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Mejía, Alejandra M; Eason, Tarsha N; Cabezas, Heriberto; Suidan, Makram T

2012-09-04

Urban systems have a number of factors (i.e., economic, social, and environmental) that can potentially impact growth, change, and transition. As such, assessing and managing these systems is a complex challenge. While, tracking trends of key variables may provide some insight, identifying the critical characteristics that truly impact the dynamic behavior of these systems is difficult. As an integrated approach to evaluate real urban systems, this work contributes to the research on scientific techniques for assessing sustainability. Specifically, it proposes a practical methodology based on the estimation of dynamic order, for identifying stable and unstable periods of sustainable or unsustainable trends with Fisher Information (FI) metric. As a test case, the dynamic behavior of the City, Suburbs, and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of Cincinnati was evaluated by using 29 social and 11 economic variables to characterize each system from 1970 to 2009. Air quality variables were also selected to describe the MSA's environmental component (1980-2009). Results indicate systems dynamic started to change from about 1995 for the social variables and about 2000 for the economic and environmental characteristics.

Collective space of high-rise housing complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakaeva, Tatyana

2018-03-01

The article considers the problems of support of citizens a comfortable living environment in the conditions of the limited territory of the megalopolis, the typological principles of formation of space-planning structure high-rise residence complexes with public space. The collective space for residents of high-rise housing estates on the example of international experience of design and construction is in detail considered. The collective space and the area of the standard apartment are analysed on comfort classes: a social - complex Pinnacle @ Duxton, a business - Monde Condos and an elite - Hamilton Scotts. Interdependence the area of the standard flat and the total area of housing collective space, in addiction on the comfort level, is revealed. In the conditions of high-density urban development, the collective space allows to form the comfortable environment for accommodation. The recommendations for achievement of integrity and improvement of quality of the city environment are made. The convenient collective space makes a contribution to civil policy, it creates the socializing sense of interaction of residents, coagulates social effect.

Promoting Productive Urban Green Open Space Towards Food Security: Case Study Taman Sari, Bandung

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ridwan, M.; Sinatra, Fran; Natalivan, Petrus

2017-10-01

The common trend of urban population has been growing significantly in Indonesia for decades, are affected by urban green space conversion. Generally, this area is utilized for urban infrastructures and residences. Furthermore, urban area has grown uncontrollably that could enhance the phenomenon of urban sprawl. The conversion of green urban area and agricultural area will significantly decrease urban food security and quality of urban environment. This problem becomes a serious issue for urban sustainability. Bandung is a city with dense population where there are many poor inhabitants. Families living in poverty are subjected to food insecurity caused by the rise of food prices. Based on the urgency of urban food security and urban environment quality the local government has to achieve comprehensive solutions. This research aims to formulate the policy of productive green open space towards food security for poor people in Bandung. This research not only examines the role played by productive green open space to supply food for the urban poor but also how to govern urban areas sustainably and ensure food security. This research uses descriptive explanatory methodology that describes and explains how to generate policy and strategic planning for edible landscape to promote urban food security. Taman Sari is the location of this research, this area is a populous area that has amount of poor people and has a quite worse quality of urban environment. This study shows that urban green open space has the potential to be utilized as an urban farming land, which poor inhabitants could be main actors to manage urban agriculture to provide their food. Meanwhile, local government could contribute to subsidize the financial of urban farming activities.

Differences in Age-Standardized Mortality Rates for Avoidable Deaths Based on Urbanization Levels in Taiwan, 1971–2008

PubMed Central

Chen, Brian K.; Yang, Chun-Yuh

2014-01-01

The World is undergoing rapid urbanization, with 70% of the World population expected to live in urban areas by 2050. Nevertheless, nationally representative analysis of the health differences in the leading causes of avoidable mortality disaggregated by urbanization level is lacking. We undertake a study of temporal trends in mortality rates for deaths considered avoidable by the Concerted Action of the European Community on Avoidable Mortality for four different levels of urbanization in Taiwan between 1971 and 2008. We find that for virtually all causes of death, age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) were lower in more urbanized than less urbanized areas, either throughout the study period, or by the end of the period despite higher rates in urbanized areas initially. Only breast cancer had consistently higher AMSRs in more urbanized areas throughout the 38-year period. Further, only breast cancer, lung cancer, and ischemic heart disease witnessed an increase in ASMRs in one or more urbanization categories. More urbanized areas in Taiwan appear to enjoy better indicators of health outcomes in terms of mortality rates than less urbanized areas. Access to and the availability of rich healthcare resources in urban areas may have contributed to this positive result. PMID:24503974

Socio-Environmental Resilience and Complex Urban Systems Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deal, Brian; Petri, Aaron; Pan, Haozhi; Goldenberg, Romain; Kalantari, Zahra; Cvetkovic, Vladimir

2017-04-01

The increasing pressure of climate change has inspired two normative agendas; socio-technical transitions and socio-ecological resilience, both sharing a complex-systems epistemology (Gillard et al. 2016). Socio-technical solutions include a continuous, massive data gathering exercise now underway in urban places under the guise of developing a 'smart'(er) city. This has led to the creation of data-rich environments where large data sets have become central to monitoring and forming a response to anomalies. Some have argued that these kinds of data sets can help in planning for resilient cities (Norberg and Cumming 2008; Batty 2013). In this paper, we focus on a more nuanced, ecologically based, socio-environmental perspective of resilience planning that is often given less consideration. Here, we broadly discuss (and model) the tightly linked, mutually influenced, social and biophysical subsystems that are critical for understanding urban resilience. We argue for the need to incorporate these sub system linkages into the resilience planning lexicon through the integration of systems models and planning support systems. We make our case by first providing a context for urban resilience from a socio-ecological and planning perspective. We highlight the data needs for this type of resilient planning and compare it to currently collected data streams in various smart city efforts. This helps to define an approach for operationalizing socio-environmental resilience planning using robust systems models and planning support systems. For this, we draw from our experiences in coupling a spatio-temporal land use model (the Landuse Evolution and impact Assessment Model (LEAM)) with water quality and quantity models in Stockholm Sweden. We describe the coupling of these systems models using a robust Planning Support System (PSS) structural framework. We use the coupled model simulations and PSS to analyze the connection between urban land use transformation (social) and water (environmental) systems within the context of planning for a more resilient Stockholm. This work shows that complex urban systems models can help bridge the divide between socio-technological and socio-environmental systems knowledge and achieving resilient urban areas.

Effect of Place of Residence and Treatment on Survival Outcomes in Patients With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in British Columbia

PubMed Central

Lee, Benny; Goktepe, Ozge; Hay, Kevin; Connors, Joseph M.; Sehn, Laurie H.; Savage, Kerry J.; Shenkier, Tamara; Klasa, Richard; Gerrie, Alina

2014-01-01

Background. We examined the relationship between location of residence at the time of diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and health outcomes in a geographically large Canadian province with publicly funded, universally available medical care. Patients and Methods. The British Columbia Cancer Registry was used to identify all patients 18–80 years of age diagnosed with DLBCL between January 2003 and December 2008. Home and treatment center postal codes were used to determine urban versus rural status and driving distance to access treatment. Results. We identified 1,357 patients. The median age was 64 years (range: 18–80 years), 59% were male, 50% were stage III/IV, 84% received chemotherapy with curative intent, and 32% received radiotherapy. There were 186 (14%) who resided in rural areas, 141 (10%) in small urban areas, 183 (14%) in medium urban areas, and 847 (62%) in large urban areas. Patient and treatment characteristics were similar regardless of location. Five-year overall survival (OS) was 62% for patients in rural areas, 44% in small urban areas, 53% in medium urban areas, and 60% in large urban areas (p = .018). In multivariate analysis, there was no difference in OS between rural and large urban area patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.7–1.4), although patients in small urban areas (HR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0–2.0) and medium urban areas (HR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0–1.9) had worse OS than those in large urban areas. Conclusion. Place of residence at diagnosis is associated with survival of patients with DLBCL in British Columbia, Canada. Rural patients have similar survival to those in large urban areas, whereas patients living in small and medium urban areas experience worse outcomes. PMID:24569946

The problems and perspectives for the introduction of high-rise construction in Russian cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pershina, Anna; Radzhabov, Mehman; Dormidontova, Tatyana

2018-03-01

The propose of academic affairs is discovery the principal areas of concern high-rise construction in Russia. Examples of modern Russian and foreign high-rise construction are considered in the work. The most important problems and their solutions for Russia are identified on their basis. The everyone area of concern is considered separately. Ecology problems and influence of high-rise construction for the healthy and psychological effect of people are considered special. High-rise constructions influence negative and positive for urban environment in Moscow and Samara cities. The experience lack, defects in requirements document, which don't include all high-rise constructions specific, system problem of construction and often non-availability of proper control at the existing requirements document result for complexity of designing, construction and operation. At this moment, high-rise constructions temp is increasing in Moscow. Feasibility of high-rise buildings come up in regions of Russia. The reasons include high material inputs, irregularities of requirements network and utility lines and maintenance problems. The researching follow up of conclusions and recommendations for high-rise constructions development in Russia. The reasons of high-rise buildings are urbanization of people and necessary of concentration labor supply. The important tasks for organization are creating compact urban environment, decrease urban area for development, using an innovative technology for construction and properly maintenance. The balance between the preference of high-rise construction, inputs for construction and influence for ecology are resolve for this task.

Exploring the Influence of Impervious Surface Density and Shape on Urban Heat Islands in the Northeast USA Using MODIS and Landsat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Ping; Imhoff, Marc L.; Bounoua, Lahouri; Wolfe, Robert E.

2011-01-01

Impervious surface area (ISA) from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2001 and land surface temperature (LST) from MODIS averaged over three annual cycles (2003-2005) are used in a spatial analysis to assess the urban heat island (UHI) signature and its relationship to settlement size and shape, development intensity distribution, and land cover composition for 42 urban settlements embedded in forest biomes in the Northeastern United States. Development intensity zones, based on percent ISA, are defined for each urban area emanating outward from the urban core to nearby rural areas and are used to stratify land surface temperature. The stratification is further constrained by biome type and elevation to insure objective intercomparisons between urban zones within an urban settlement and between settlements. Stratification based on ISA allows the definition of hierarchically ordered urban zones that are consistent across urban settlements and scales. In addition to the surrounding ecological context, we find that the settlement size and shape as well as the development intensity distribution significantly influence the amplitude of summer daytime UHI. Within the Northeastern US temperate broadleaf mixed forest, UHI magnitude is positively related to the logarithm of the urban area size. Our study indicates that for similar urban area sizes, the development intensity distribution is one of the major drivers of UHI. In addition to urban area size and development intensity distribution, this analysis shows that both the shape of the urban area and the land cover composition in the surrounding rural area play an important role in modulating the UHI magnitude in different urban settlements. Our results indicate that remotely sensed urban area size and shape as well as the development intensity distribution influence UHI amplitude across regional scales.

Community-Oriented Primary Care in Action: A Dallas Story

PubMed Central

Pickens, Sue; Boumbulian, Paul; Anderson, Ron J.; Ross, Samuel; Phillips, Sharon

2002-01-01

Dallas County, Texas, is the site of the largest urban application of the community-oriented primary care (COPC) model in the United States. We summarize the development and implementation of Dallas’s Parkland Health & Hospital System COPC program. The complexities of implementing and managing this comprehensive community-based program are delineated in terms of Dallas County’s political environment and the components of COPC (assessment, prioritization, community collaboration, health care system, evaluation, and financing). Steps to be taken to ensure the future growth and development of the Dallas program are also considered. The COPC model, as implemented by Parkland, is replicable in other urban areas. PMID:12406794

Health Care in Modern Cuba

PubMed Central

Campos-Outcalt, Douglas; Janoff, Edward

1980-01-01

An extensively organized, centrally controlled system, aimed at equalizing and improving the distribution and quality of medical services according to population and geography, characterizes the modern Cuban health care complex. Facilities of increasing sophistication are located in urban areas while an expanding series of ambulatory, multipotential polyclinics attempts to provide most health services in both urban and rural settings. Maternal and child care, immunization programs and other forms of preventive medicine represent major priorities for expenditures. Occupational health is increasingly understood as a valuable resource, and medical professionals on all levels are being trained in significant numbers for Cuba and its allies. ImagesFigure 1.Figure 2.Figure 3. PMID:7376666

Numerical investigation of road salt impact on an urban wellfield.

PubMed

Bester, M L; Frind, E O; Molson, J W; Rudolph, D L

2006-01-01

The impact of road salt on a wellfield in a complex glacial moraine aquifer system is studied by numerical simulation. The moraine underlies an extensive urban and industrial landscape, which draws its water supply from >20 wellfields, several of which are approaching or have exceeded the drinking water limit for chloride. The study investigates the mechanisms of road salt infiltration, storage, and transport in the subsurface and assesses the effectiveness of mitigation measures designed to reduce the impact. The three-dimensional transport model accounts for increases in salt loading, as well as growth of the urbanized area and road network over the past 50 years. The simulations, which focus on one impacted wellfield, show chloride plumes originating mainly at arterial roads and migrating through aquitard windows into the water supply aquifers. The results suggest that the aquifer system contains a large and heterogeneously distributed mass of chloride and that concentrations in the aquifer can be substantially higher than the concentrations in the well water. Future impact scenarios indicate that although the system responds rapidly to reductions in salt loading, the residual chloride mass may take decades to flush out, even if road salting were discontinued. The implications with respect to urban wellfields in typical snow-belt areas are discussed.

Quantifying sub-pixel urban impervious surface through fusion of optical and inSAR imagery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yang, L.; Jiang, L.; Lin, H.; Liao, M.

2009-01-01

In this study, we explored the potential to improve urban impervious surface modeling and mapping with the synergistic use of optical and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) imagery. We used a Classification and Regression Tree (CART)-based approach to test the feasibility and accuracy of quantifying Impervious Surface Percentage (ISP) using four spectral bands of SPOT 5 high-resolution geometric (HRG) imagery and three parameters derived from the European Remote Sensing (ERS)-2 Single Look Complex (SLC) SAR image pair. Validated by an independent ISP reference dataset derived from the 33 cm-resolution digital aerial photographs, results show that the addition of InSAR data reduced the ISP modeling error rate from 15.5% to 12.9% and increased the correlation coefficient from 0.71 to 0.77. Spatially, the improvement is especially noted in areas of vacant land and bare ground, which were incorrectly mapped as urban impervious surfaces when using the optical remote sensing data. In addition, the accuracy of ISP prediction using InSAR images alone is only marginally less than that obtained by using SPOT imagery. The finding indicates the potential of using InSAR data for frequent monitoring of urban settings located in cloud-prone areas.

Horizontal Advection and Mixing of Pollutants in the Urban Atmospheric Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magnusson, S. P.; Entekhabi, D.; Britter, R.; Norford, L.; Fernando, H. J.

2013-12-01

Although urban air quality and its impacts on the public health have long been studied, the increasing urbanization is raising concerns on how to better control and mitigate these health impacts. A necessary element in predicting exposure levels is fundamental understanding of flow and dispersion in urban canyons. The complex topology of building structures and roads requires the resolution of turbulence phenomena within urban canyons. The use of dense and low porosity construction material can lead to rapid heating in response to direct solar exposure due to large thermal mass. Hence thermal and buoyancy effects may be as important as mechanically-forced or shear-induced flows. In this study, the transport of pollutants within the urban environment, as well as the thermal and advection effects, are investigated. The focus is on the horizontal transport or the advection effects within the urban environment. With increased urbanization and larger and more spread cities, concern about how the upstream air quality situation can affect downstream areas. The study also examines the release and the dispersion of hazardous material. Due to the variety and complexity of urban areas around the world, the urban environment is simplified into adjacent two-dimensional urban street canyons. Pollutants are released inside each canyon. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are applied to evaluate and quantify the flow rate out of each canyon and also the exchange of pollutants between the canyons. Imagine a row of ten adjacent urban street canyons of aspect ratio 1 with horizontal flow perpendicular to it as shown in the attached figure. C is the concentration of pollutants. The first digit indicates in what canyon the pollutant is released and the second digit indicates the location of that pollutant. For example, C3,4 is the concentration of pollutant released inside canyon 3 measured in canyon 4. The same amount of pollution is released inside the ten street canyons. Some amount of the released material in each canyon is transported to its downstream canyons. For example if the most downstream canyon (number 10) is considered, pollutants released inside its upstream canyons are transported to it. For the neutral case (density of air and pollutants is the same), preliminary simulations show that the pollution concentration in the tenth canyon increases by 50% due to its nine upstream canyons. Also in the tenth canyon C9,10/C10,10 is equal to 10%. More simulations are being performed for canyons of various aspect ratios and density differences between the air and the pollutants. Accidental release of hazardous materials or chemical attacks can lead to necessary evacuation of people from cities. Knowing the spread of pollutants and particles within the urban environment can be crucial for engineers working on evacuation plans for cities. The ten adjacent canyons. Material is released inside each canyon.

A comparison between developed and developing countries in terms of urban land use change effects on nitrogen cycle: Paris and São Paulo metropolitan areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nardoto, Gabriela; Svirejeva-Hopkin, Anastasia; Martinelli, Luiz Antonio

2010-05-01

Urbanization is considered one of the most powerful and characteristic anthropogenic forces on Earth in the 21st century. Although, currently, cities occupy only about 2 percent of the Earth's land surface, they are home to over 50 percent of the world's population. While in cities of some developed countries, urban population might stabilize or even slightly decrease, its rate of growth in developing countries is faster than in the industrialized nations. Such increase is accompanied by growing energy production, increased food demand, expanding transportation and industrialization. Although agricultural production is by far the largest cause of the doubling in the amount of reactive nitrogen entering the biospheric cycle compared to pre-industrial conditions, nowadays more than half of the crops produced in rural areas are consumed in urban zones. Having in mind that there is a clear global trend towards urbanization and growing urban areas, the objective of this study was to compare major nitrogen fluxes between a mega city situated in a developing country (São Paulo Metropolitan Area - SPMA) in Brazil with one of the largest city of highly industrialized Europe (Paris Metropolitan Area - PMA). We make the first step in producing a detailed N mass balance for the SPMA and PMA in order to estimate the magnitude of major fluxes across the urban landscape and see how N cycling vary among urban system components. This effort may help to highlight differences between developing and developed areas and subsidize the formulation of public policies towards reduction of N related pollution of recipient systems. The N mass balance showed the SPMA as a net source of nitrogen, emitting in total about 93.5 Gg of N per year, or about 4750 g of N per capita. Most N inputs to the SPMA are directly related to food consumption, N in wastewater and landfills. These fluxes are quite amendable to management efforts to reduce N input to the receiver component of the urban ecosystem (rivers and soil). For example treated sewage effluent could be used as a source of N for some crops, especially vegetables. PMA is also a source of reactive nitrogen, emitting in total about 32 Gg of N per year, or about 3000 g of N per capita, being the major part attributed to the atmospheric emissions from transportation and energy. An important outcome of this study has been the identification of several key uncertainties regarding the N budget that require further research for either developed and developing regions studied. The following uncertainties of N cycling in an urban system need better understanding: the mechanisms of dry-deposition processes in urban systems with patchy vegetation; high NOx emissions and the increase in travel distance of smaller particles coming from modern engines; and complex patterns of air flow in the dense build-up areas. Urban soil N dynamics is very uncertain, while soil represents a major sink of N in natural ecosystems. Ultimately, the challenge is to integrate human choices and ecosystem dynamics into a multidisciplinary model of biogeochemical cycling in urban ecosystems, focusing as a first step on the quantitatively evaluating the mutual relationship between urban land-use changes and natural ecosystem from the standpoint of global N balance. To develop those schemes will require the construction of detailed ecosystem-level N balances, an in-depth understanding of the interplay of inputs, geographical and climatic factors, nonspecific management practices, and deliberate N management practices that control the fate of N in urban landscapes.

[Effect of air pollution on pregnancy outcome of women at reproductive age in Xi'an, 2010-2013].

PubMed

Wang, L L; Bai, R H; Zhang, Q; Yan, H

2016-11-10

Objective: To compare the differences in the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcome in different area, and confirm if the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes is closely associated with air pollution. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the central urban area and the rural-urban area of Xi'an through a questionnaire survey conducted among the local reproductive women selected through multistage stratified random sampling during 2010-2013, all the reproductive women surveyed were in pregnancy or had definite pregnancy outcomes. Results: The annual average of SO 2 concentration in the central urban area was 38-54 μg/m 3 , higher than that in the rural-urban area (29-43 μg/m 3 ). The annual average NO 2 concentration in the central urban area was 29-87 μg/m 3 , higher than that in the rural-urban area (22-42 μg/m 3 ). The incidence of birth defects was higher in the central urban area than in the rural-urban area (2.1% vs. 1.0%), the difference was significant ( P <0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, logistic regression analysis showed the incidence of birth defects in the central urban area was still significantly higher than that in the rural-urban area, the difference was significant ( P <0.05). Conclusion: The incidence of adverse pregnancy was closely associated with the level of air pollution.

A stable isotope approach for source apportionment of chlorinated ethene plumes at a complex multi-contamination events urban site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nijenhuis, Ivonne; Schmidt, Marie; Pellegatti, Eleonora; Paramatti, Enrico; Richnow, Hans Hermann; Gargini, Alessandro

2013-10-01

The stable carbon isotope composition of chlorinated aliphatic compounds such as chlorinated methanes, ethanes and ethenes was examined as an intrinsic fingerprint for apportionment of sources. A complex field site located in Ferrara (Italy), with more than 50 years history of use of chlorinated aliphatic compounds, was investigated in order to assess contamination sources. Several contamination plumes were found in a complex alluvial sandy multi-aquifer system close to the river Po; sources are represented by uncontained former industrial and municipal dump sites as well as by spills at industrial areas. The carbon stable isotope signature allowed distinguishing 2 major sources of contaminants. One source of chlorinated aliphatic contaminants was strongly depleted in 13C (<-60‰) suggesting production lines which have used depleted methane for synthesis. The other source had typical carbon isotope compositions of >-40‰ which is commonly observed in recent production of chlorinated solvents. The degradation processes in the plumes could be traced interpreting the isotope enrichment and depletion of parent and daughter compounds, respectively. We demonstrate that, under specific production conditions, namely when highly chlorinated ethenes are produced as by-product during chloromethanes production, 13C depleted fingerprinting of contaminants can be obtained and this can be used to track sources and address the responsible party of the pollution in urban areas.

A stable isotope approach for source apportionment of chlorinated ethene plumes at a complex multi-contamination events urban site.

PubMed

Nijenhuis, Ivonne; Schmidt, Marie; Pellegatti, Eleonora; Paramatti, Enrico; Richnow, Hans Hermann; Gargini, Alessandro

2013-10-01

The stable carbon isotope composition of chlorinated aliphatic compounds such as chlorinated methanes, ethanes and ethenes was examined as an intrinsic fingerprint for apportionment of sources. A complex field site located in Ferrara (Italy), with more than 50years history of use of chlorinated aliphatic compounds, was investigated in order to assess contamination sources. Several contamination plumes were found in a complex alluvial sandy multi-aquifer system close to the river Po; sources are represented by uncontained former industrial and municipal dump sites as well as by spills at industrial areas. The carbon stable isotope signature allowed distinguishing 2 major sources of contaminants. One source of chlorinated aliphatic contaminants was strongly depleted in ¹³C (<-60‰) suggesting production lines which have used depleted methane for synthesis. The other source had typical carbon isotope compositions of >-40‰ which is commonly observed in recent production of chlorinated solvents. The degradation processes in the plumes could be traced interpreting the isotope enrichment and depletion of parent and daughter compounds, respectively. We demonstrate that, under specific production conditions, namely when highly chlorinated ethenes are produced as by-product during chloromethanes production, ¹³C depleted fingerprinting of contaminants can be obtained and this can be used to track sources and address the responsible party of the pollution in urban areas. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Teleconferencing: Cost optimization of satellite and ground systems for continuing progressional education and medical services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, D.; Lusignan, B.

1972-01-01

A set of analytical capabilities that are needed to assess the role satellite communications technology will play in public and other services was developed. It is user oriented in that it starts from descriptions of user demand and develops the ability to estimate the cost of satisfying that demand with the lowest cost communications system. To ensure that the analysis could cope with the complexities of the real users, two services were chosen as examples, continuing professional education and medical services. Telecommunications costs are effected greatly by demographic factors, involving distribution of users in urban areas and distances between towns in rural regions. For this reason the analytical tools were exercised on sample locations. San Jose, California and Denver, Colorado were used to represent an urban area and the Rocky Mountain states were used to represent a rural region. In assessing the range of satellite system costs, two example coverage areas were considered, one appropriate to cover the contiguous forty-eight states, a second appropriate to cover about one-third that area.

Urban boundary-layer height determination from lidar measurements over the paris area.

PubMed

Menut, L; Flamant, C; Pelon, J; Flamant, P H

1999-02-20

The Paris area is strongly urbanized and is exposed to atmospheric pollution events. To understand the chemical and physical processes that are taking place in this area it is necessary to describe correctly the atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) dynamics and the ABL height evolution. During the winter of 1994-1995, within the framework of the Etude de la Couche Limite Atmosphérique en Agglomération Parisienne (ECLAP) experiment, the vertical structure of the ABL over Paris and its immediate suburbs was extensively documented by means of lidar measurements. We present methods suited for precise determination of the ABL structure's temporal evolution in a dynamic environment as complex as the Paris area. The purpose is to identify a method that can be used on a large set of lidar data. We compare commonly used methods that permit ABL height retrievals from backscatter lidar signals under different meteorological conditions. Incorrect tracking of the ABL depth's diurnal cycle caused by limitations in the methods is analyzed. The study uses four days of the ECLAP experiment characterized by different meteorological and synoptic conditions.

Daily simulations of urban heat load in Vienna for 2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hollosi, Brigitta; Zuvela-Aloise, Maja; Koch, Roland

2014-05-01

In this study, the dynamical urban climate model MUKLIMO3 (horizontal resolution of 100 m) is uni-directionally coupled with the operational weather forecast model ALARO-ALADIN of the ZAMG (horizontal resolution of 4.8 km) to simulate the development of the urban heat island in Vienna on a daily basis. The aim is to evaluate the performance of the urban climate model applied for climatological studies in a weather prediction mode. The focus of the investigation is on assessment of the urban heat load during day-time. We used the archived daily forecast data for the summer period in 2011 (April - October) as input data for the urban climate model. The high resolution simulations were initialized with vertical profiles of temperature and relative humidity and prevailing wind speed and direction in the rural area near the city in the early morning hours. The model output for hourly temperature and relative humidity has been evaluated against the monitoring data at 9 weather stations in the area of the city. Additionally, spatial gradients in temperature were evaluated by comparing the grid point values with the data collected during a mobile measuring campaign taken on a multi-vehicle bicycle tour on the 7th of July, 2011. The results show a good agreement with observations on a district scale. Particular challenge in the modeling approach is achieving robust and numerically stable model solutions for different weather situation. Therefore, we analyzed modeled wind patterns for different atmospheric conditions in the summer period. We found that during the calm hot days, due to the inhomogeneous surface and complex terrain, the local-scale temperature gradients can induce strong anomalies, which in turn could affect the circulation on a larger scale. However, these results could not be validated due to the lack of observations. In the following years extreme hot conditions are very likely to occur more frequently and with higher intensity. Combining urban climate simulations with the operational meso-scale forecasting model may identify hot spots in urban areas and bring added value in excessive heat warning systems in the future.

Prioritizing conservation areas for coastal plant diversity under increasing urbanization.

PubMed

Doxa, Aggeliki; Albert, Cécile Hélène; Leriche, Agathe; Saatkamp, Arne

2017-10-01

Coastal urban expansion will continue to drive further biodiversity losses, if conservation targets for coastal ecosystems are not defined and met. Prioritizing areas for future protected area networks is thus an urgent task in such urbanization-threatened ecosystems. Our aim is to quantify past and future losses of coastal vegetation priority areas due to urbanization and assess the effectiveness of the existing protected area network for conservation. We conduct a prioritization analysis, based on 82 coastal plants, including common and IUCN red list species, in a highly-urbanized but biotically diverse region, in South-Eastern France. We evaluate the role of protected areas, by taking into account both strict and multi-use areas. We assess the impact of past and future urbanization on high priority areas, by combining prioritization analyses and urbanization models. We show that half of the highly diverse areas have already been lost due to urbanization. Remaining top priority areas are also among the most exposed to future urban expansion. The effectiveness of the existing protected area (PA) network is only partial. While strict PAs coincide well with top priority areas, they only represent less than one third of priority areas. The effectiveness of multi-use PAs, such as the Natura 2000 network, also remains limited. Our approach highlights the impact of urbanization on plant conservation targets. By modelling urbanization, we manage to identify those areas where protection could be more efficient to limit further losses. We suggest to use our approach in the future to expand the PA network in order to achieve the 2020 Aichi biodiversity targets. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High spatial resolution spectral unmixing for mapping ash species across a complex urban environment

Treesearch

Jennifer Pontius; Ryan P. Hanavan; Richard A. Hallett; Bruce D. Cook; Lawrence A. Corp

2017-01-01

Ash (Fraxinus L.) species are currently threatened by the emerald ash borer (EAB; Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) across a growing area in the eastern US. Accurate mapping of ash species is required to monitor the host resource, predict EAB spread and better understand the short- and long-term effects of EAB on the ash resource...

Influence of Teacher-Student Interactions on Kindergarten Children's Developing Gender Identity within the Pakistani Urban Classroom Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pardhan, Almina

2011-01-01

In the current global push to explore the diverse and complex ways in which the school culture contributes to the shaping of young children's gender identity, early childhood teachers' role in this process is an area of concern which has received limited attention. Furthermore, the schooling experiences of early years children in developing world…

Effect of urbanization on population structure in U.A.R.

PubMed

Husein, H M; Sarhan, A E

1970-06-01

Census data from Egypt in 1927, 1937, 1947, and 1960 indicate slow urbanization through 1937 and more rapid urbanization thereafter. There is a higher proportion of working age (15-44) people in urban areas and a higher proportion of males. Both fertility and mortality rates are higher in rural than in urban areas, but the rate of overall population growth is greater in urban areas. Figures from 4 recently industrialized urban areas (El-Mahalla, Kafr el-Dawar, Helwan, and Aswan) bear out the conclusions drawn from the general census figures.

[Comparison of Patients and their Care in Urban and Rural Specialised Palliative Home Care - A Single Service Analysis].

PubMed

Heckel, M; Stiel, S; Frauendorf, T; Hanke, R M; Ostgathe, C

2016-07-01

Specialised outpatient palliative care teams (in Germany called SAPV) aim to ensure best possible end-of-life care for outpatients with complex needs. Information on the influence of living areas (rural vs. urban) on patient and care related aspects is rare. This study aims to explore differences between palliative care patients in urban and rural dwellings concerning their nursing and service characteristics. A retrospective data analysis of documentary data for 502 patients supplied by SAPV team from December 2009 to June 2012 was conducted. Patients and care characteristics were investigated by frequency analysis and were compared for both groups of urban and rural dwelling patients (T test, Chi², Fisher's exact test p < 0.05). 387 complete data sets could be included. Urban (n=197) and rural (n=190) dwelling patients were almost equally sized groups. The mean age of the whole sample was 74.5 years, 55.3% were female. Most patients were diagnosed with cancer (76.8%). No significant differences in urban and rural dwelling patients concerning most demographics, care, disease and service related aspects of palliative home care could be detected. An exception is that the rate of re-admittance to hospital is higher for rural dwelling patients (Fisher's exact test p=0.022). Although predominantly presumed, the single service analysis shows - except for the re-admittance rate to hospital - no considerable differences between palliative care patients regarding their living area. Our findings indicate that patients cared for in rural and urban settings have similar needs and impose similar requirements on palliative care teams. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Metal and Nutrient Distribution and Fractionation in Managed Urban Watersheds Across the US Southwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papelis, C.; Williams, A. C.; Boettcher, T. M.

2008-12-01

Metals, metalloids, and nutrients are common contaminants of concern in arid and semi-arid watersheds in the Southwestern U.S. Because of the dramatic population growth in this part of the U.S., the potential for contamination of urban watersheds has also increased over the last few decades. Streams in urban watersheds receive storm water, urban runoff, shallow groundwater, and treated wastewater, among other sources. In addition, urban watersheds are often heavily managed to mitigate flood events and sediment- related impacts. Sediment transport can have a profound effect on the water quality of affected bodies of water. However, differences in geology, hydrogeology, and land use may have dramatic effects on the distribution of nutrients and metals in different urban watersheds. To test these effects, aqueous and sediment samples were collected above and below erosion control and other structures along two heavily managed urban watersheds, namely the Las Vegas Wash in the Las Vegas Valley Watershed, Nevada, and the Rio Salado (Salt River) in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Arizona. The construction of such control structures has the potential to alter the distribution of metals and metalloids in bodies of water used by wildlife. In this study, all sediments were characterized by particle size distribution, specific surface area, mineralogical composition, and scanning electron microscopy. The results of total arsenic, boron, and phosphorus extractions will be discussed, as a function of sediment characteristics. Significant differences exist between the two U.S. Southwest watersheds studied, including land use, water sources, sediment characteristics, nutrient and metal distribution, and overall system complexity. These differences lead to significant variations in metalloid and nutrient distributions in the two watersheds. Differences and similarities in the two systems will be explained as a function of sediment characteristics and watershed properties.

An operational MODIS aerosol retrieval algorithm at high spatial resolution, and its application over a complex urban region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Man Sing; Nichol, Janet E.; Lee, Kwon Ho

2011-03-01

Aerosol retrieval algorithms for the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have been developed to estimate aerosol and microphysical properties of the atmosphere, which help to address aerosol climatic issues at global scale. However, higher spatial resolution aerosol products for urban areas have not been well-researched mainly due to the difficulty of differentiating aerosols from bright surfaces in urban areas. Here, an aerosol retrieval algorithm using the MODIS 500-m resolution bands is described, to retrieve aerosol properties over Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region. The rationale of our technique is to first estimate the aerosol reflectances by decomposing the top-of-atmosphere reflectances from surface reflectances and Rayleigh path reflectances. For the determination of surface reflectances, a Minimum Reflectance Technique (MRT) is used, and MRT images are computed for different seasons. For conversion of aerosol reflectance to aerosol optical thickness (AOT), comprehensive Look Up Tables specific to the local region are constructed, which consider aerosol properties and sun-viewing geometry in the radiative transfer calculations. Four local aerosol types, namely coastal urban, polluted urban, dust, and heavy pollution, were derived using cluster analysis on 3 years of AERONET measurements in Hong Kong. The resulting 500 m AOT images were found to be highly correlated with ground measurements from the AERONET (r2 = 0.767) and Microtops II sunphotometers (r2 = 0.760) in Hong Kong. This study further demonstrates the application of the fine resolution AOT images for monitoring inter-urban and intra-urban aerosol distributions and the influence of trans-boundary flows. These applications include characterization of spatial patterns of AOT within the city, and detection of regional biomass burning sources.

Multistate matrix population model to assess the contributions and impacts on population abundance of domestic cats in urban areas including owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in shelters

PubMed Central

Coe, Jason B.

2018-01-01

Concerns over cat homelessness, over-taxed animal shelters, public health risks, and environmental impacts has raised attention on urban-cat populations. To truly understand cat population dynamics, the collective population of owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in the shelter system must be considered simultaneously because each subpopulation contributes differently to the overall population of cats in a community (e.g., differences in neuter rates, differences in impacts on wildlife) and cats move among categories through human interventions (e.g., adoption, abandonment). To assess this complex socio-ecological system, we developed a multistate matrix model of cats in urban areas that include owned cats, unowned cats (free-roaming and feral), and cats that move through the shelter system. Our model requires three inputs—location, number of human dwellings, and urban area—to provide testable predictions of cat abundance for any city in North America. Model-predicted population size of unowned cats in seven Canadian cities were not significantly different than published estimates (p = 0.23). Model-predicted proportions of sterile feral cats did not match observed sterile cat proportions for six USA cities (p = 0.001). Using a case study from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, we compared model-predicted to empirical estimates of cat abundance in each subpopulation and used perturbation analysis to calculate relative sensitivity of vital rates to cat abundance to demonstrate how management or mismanagement in one portion of the population could have repercussions across all portions of the network. Our study provides a general framework to consider cat population abundance in urban areas and, with refinement that includes city-specific parameter estimates and modeling, could provide a better understanding of population dynamics of cats in our communities. PMID:29489854

Urban slum structure: integrating socioeconomic and land cover data to model slum evolution in Salvador, Brazil.

PubMed

Hacker, Kathryn P; Seto, Karen C; Costa, Federico; Corburn, Jason; Reis, Mitermayer G; Ko, Albert I; Diuk-Wasser, Maria A

2013-10-20

The expansion of urban slums is a key challenge for public and social policy in the 21st century. The heterogeneous and dynamic nature of slum communities limits the use of rigid slum definitions. A systematic and flexible approach to characterize, delineate and model urban slum structure at an operational resolution is essential to plan, deploy, and monitor interventions at the local and national level. We modeled the multi-dimensional structure of urban slums in the city of Salvador, a city of 3 million inhabitants in Brazil, by integrating census-derived socioeconomic variables and remotely-sensed land cover variables. We assessed the correlation between the two sets of variables using canonical correlation analysis, identified land cover proxies for the socioeconomic variables, and produced an integrated map of deprivation in Salvador at 30 m × 30 m resolution. The canonical analysis identified three significant ordination axes that described the structure of Salvador census tracts according to land cover and socioeconomic features. The first canonical axis captured a gradient from crowded, low-income communities with corrugated roof housing to higher-income communities. The second canonical axis discriminated among socioeconomic variables characterizing the most marginalized census tracts, those without access to sanitation or piped water. The third canonical axis accounted for the least amount of variation, but discriminated between high-income areas with white-painted or tiled roofs from lower-income areas. Our approach captures the socioeconomic and land cover heterogeneity within and between slum settlements and identifies the most marginalized communities in a large, complex urban setting. These findings indicate that changes in the canonical scores for slum areas can be used to track their evolution and to monitor the impact of development programs such as slum upgrading.

Urban slum structure: integrating socioeconomic and land cover data to model slum evolution in Salvador, Brazil

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The expansion of urban slums is a key challenge for public and social policy in the 21st century. The heterogeneous and dynamic nature of slum communities limits the use of rigid slum definitions. A systematic and flexible approach to characterize, delineate and model urban slum structure at an operational resolution is essential to plan, deploy, and monitor interventions at the local and national level. Methods We modeled the multi-dimensional structure of urban slums in the city of Salvador, a city of 3 million inhabitants in Brazil, by integrating census-derived socioeconomic variables and remotely-sensed land cover variables. We assessed the correlation between the two sets of variables using canonical correlation analysis, identified land cover proxies for the socioeconomic variables, and produced an integrated map of deprivation in Salvador at 30 m × 30 m resolution. Results The canonical analysis identified three significant ordination axes that described the structure of Salvador census tracts according to land cover and socioeconomic features. The first canonical axis captured a gradient from crowded, low-income communities with corrugated roof housing to higher-income communities. The second canonical axis discriminated among socioeconomic variables characterizing the most marginalized census tracts, those without access to sanitation or piped water. The third canonical axis accounted for the least amount of variation, but discriminated between high-income areas with white-painted or tiled roofs from lower-income areas. Conclusions Our approach captures the socioeconomic and land cover heterogeneity within and between slum settlements and identifies the most marginalized communities in a large, complex urban setting. These findings indicate that changes in the canonical scores for slum areas can be used to track their evolution and to monitor the impact of development programs such as slum upgrading. PMID:24138776

Sizing and serving Texas urban gaps.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-09-01

Federal and state funding is largely distributed based upon federally defined geographic areasurbanized : areas or rural areas (non-urbanized areas). For urban transit districts, the funding is based upon : characteristics of the entire urbanized ...

Examining Urban Expansion Using Multi-Temporal Landsat Imagery: a Case Study of the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area from 1975 TO 2015, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Lingfei; Zhao, He; Li, Jonathan

2016-06-01

Urban expansion, particularly the movement of residential and commercial land use to sub-urban areas in metropolitan areas, has been considered as a significant signal of regional economic development. In 1970s, the economic centre of Canada moved from Montreal to Toronto. Since some previous research have been focused on the urbanization process in Greater Toronto Area (GTA), it is significant to conduct research in its counterpart. This study evaluates urban expansion process in Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA), Canada, between 1975 and 2015 using satellite images and socio-economic data. Spatial and temporal dynamic information of urbanization process was quantified using Landsat imagery, supervised classification algorithms and the post-classification change detection technique. Accuracy of the Landsat-derived land use classification map ranged from 80% to 97%. The results indicated that continuous growth of built-up areas in the CMA over the study period resulted in a decrease in the area of cultivated land and vegetation. The results showed that urban areas expanded 442 km2 both along major river systems and lakeshores, as well as expanded from urban centres to surrounded areas. The analysis revealed that urban expansion has been largely driven by population growth and economic development. Consequently, the urban expansion maps produced in this research can assist decision-makers to promote sustainable urban development, and forecast potential changes in urbanization growth patterns.

Modeling and simulation of dense cloud dispersion in urban areas by means of computational fluid dynamics.

PubMed

Scargiali, F; Grisafi, F; Busciglio, A; Brucato, A

2011-12-15

The formation of toxic heavy clouds as a result of sudden accidental releases from mobile containers, such as road tankers or railway tank cars, may occur inside urban areas so the problem arises of their consequences evaluation. Due to the semi-confined nature of the dispersion site simplified models may often be inappropriate. As an alternative, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has the potential to provide realistic simulations even for geometrically complex scenarios since the heavy gas dispersion process is described by basic conservation equations with a reduced number of approximations. In the present work a commercial general purpose CFD code (CFX 4.4 by Ansys(®)) is employed for the simulation of dense cloud dispersion in urban areas. The simulation strategy proposed involves a stationary pre-release flow field simulation followed by a dynamic after-release flow and concentration field simulations. In order to try a generalization of results, the computational domain is modeled as a simple network of straight roads with regularly distributed blocks mimicking the buildings. Results show that the presence of buildings lower concentration maxima and enlarge the side spread of the cloud. Dispersion dynamics is also found to be strongly affected by the quantity of heavy-gas released. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Air quality assessment of Estarreja, an urban industrialized area, in a coastal region of Portugal.

PubMed

Figueiredo, M L; Monteiro, A; Lopes, M; Ferreira, J; Borrego, C

2013-07-01

Despite the increasing concern given to air quality in urban and industrial areas in recent years, particular emphasis on regulation, control, and reduction of air pollutant emissions is still necessary to fully characterize the chain emissions-air quality-exposure-dose-health effects, for specific sources. The Estarreja region was selected as a case study because it has one of the largest chemical industrial complexes in Portugal that has been recently expanded, together with a growing urban area with an interesting location in the Portuguese coastland and crossed by important road traffic and rail national networks. This work presents the first air quality assessment for the region concerning pollutant emissions and meteorological and air quality monitoring data analysis, over the period 2000-2009. This assessment also includes a detailed investigation and characterization of past air pollution episodes for the most problematic pollutants: ozone and PM10. The contribution of different emission sources and meteorological conditions to these episodes is investigated. The stagnant meteorological conditions associated with local emissions, namely industrial activity and road traffic, are the major contributors to the air quality degradation over the study region. A set of measures to improve air quality--regarding ozone and PM10 levels--is proposed as an air quality management strategy for the study region.

The Anthropogenic/Lightning Effects Around Houston: The Houston Environmental Aerosol Thunderstorm (HEAT) Project - 2005

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orville, R. E.

2004-12-01

A major field program will occur in summer 2005 to determine the sources and causes for the enhanced cloud-to-ground lightning over Houston, Texas. This program will be in association with simultaneous experiments supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), formally the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC). Recent studies covering the period 1989-2002 document a 60 percent increase of cloud-to-ground lightning in the Houston area as compared to surrounding background values, which is second in flash density only to the Tampa Bay, Florida area. We suggest that the elevated flash densities could result from several factors, including 1) the convergence due to the urban heat island effect and complex sea breeze (thermal hypothesis), and 2) the increasing levels of air pollution from anthropogenic sources producing numerous small cloud droplets and thereby suppressing mean droplet size (aerosol hypothesis). The latter effect would enable more cloud water to reach the mixed phase region where it is involved in the formation of precipitation and the separation of electric charge, leading to an enhancement of lightning. The primary goals of HEAT are to examine the effects of (1) pollution, (2) the urban heat island, and (3) the complex coastline on storms and lightning characteristics in the Houston area. The transport of air pollutants by Houston thunderstorms will be investigated. In particular, the relative amounts of lightning-produced and convectively transported NOx into the upper troposphere will be determined, and a comparison of the different NOx sources in the urban area of Houston will be developed. The HEAT project is based on the observation that there is an enhancement in cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. Total lightning (intracloud (IC) and CG) will be measured using a lightning mapping system (LDAR II) to observe if there is an enhancement in intracloud lightning as well.

Characterization of the hydrogeology of the sacred Gihon Spring, Jerusalem: a deteriorating urban karst spring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amiel, Ronit Benami; Grodek, Tamir; Frumkin, Amos

2010-09-01

The Gihon Spring, Jerusalem, is important for the major monotheistic religions. Its hydrogeology and hydrochemistry is studied here in order to understand urbanization effects on karst groundwater resources, and promote better water management. High-resolution monitoring of the spring discharge, temperature and electrical conductivity, was performed, together with chemical and bacterial analysis. All these demonstrate a rapid response of the spring to rainfall events and human impact. A complex karst system is inferred, including conduit flow, fissure flow and diffuse flow. Electrical conductivity, Na+ and K+ values (2.0 mS/cm, 130 and 50 mg/l respectively) are very high compared to other nearby springs located at the town margins (0.6 mS/cm, 15 and <1 mg/l respectively), indicating considerable urban pollution in the Gihon area. The previously cited pulsating nature of the spring was not detected during the present high-resolution monitoring. This phenomenon may have ceased due to additional water sources from urban leakage and irrigation feeding the spring. The urbanization of the recharge catchment thus affects the spring water dramatically, both chemically and hydrologically. Appropriate measures should therefore be undertaken to protect the Gihon Spring and other karst aquifers threatened by rapid urbanization.

Rapid urban malaria appraisal (RUMA) in sub-Saharan Africa

PubMed Central

Wang, Shr-Jie; Lengeler, Christian; Smith, Thomas A; Vounatsou, Penelope; Cissé, Guéladio; Diallo, Diadie A; Akogbeto, Martin; Mtasiwa, Deo; Teklehaimanot, Awash; Tanner, Marcel

2005-01-01

Background The rapid urban malaria appraisal (RUMA) methodology aims to provide a cost-effective tool to conduct rapid assessments of the malaria situation in urban sub-Saharan Africa and to improve the understanding of urban malaria epidemiology. Methods This work was done in Yopougon municipality (Abidjan), Cotonou, Dar es Salaam and Ouagadougou. The study design consists of six components: 1) a literature review, 2) the collection of available health statistics, 3) a risk mapping, 4) school parasitaemia surveys, 5) health facility-based surveys and 6) a brief description of the health care system. These formed the basis of a multi-country evaluation of RUMA's feasibility, consistency and usefulness. Results A substantial amount of literature (including unpublished theses and statistics) was found at each site, providing a good overview of the malaria situation. School and health facility-based surveys provided an overview of local endemicity and the overall malaria burden in different city areas. This helped to identify important problems for in-depth assessment, especially the extent to which malaria is over-diagnosed in health facilities. Mapping health facilities and breeding sites allowed the visualization of the complex interplay between population characteristics, health services and malaria risk. However, the latter task was very time-consuming and required special expertise. RUMA is inexpensive, costing around 8,500–13,000 USD for a six to ten-week period. Conclusion RUMA was successfully implemented in four urban areas with different endemicity and proved to be a cost-effective first approach to study the features of urban malaria and provide an evidence basis for planning control measures. PMID:16153298

[Urban ecosystem services: A review].

PubMed

Mao, Qi-zheng; Huang, Gan-lin; Wu, Jian-guo

2015-04-01

Maintaining and improving ecosystem services in urban areas and human well-being are essential for sustainable development and therefore constitute an important topic in urban ecology. Here we reviewed studies on ecosystem services in urban areas. Based on the concept and classification of urban ecosystem services, we summarized characteristics of urban ecosystem services, including the human domination, high demand of ecosystem services in urban areas, spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas, multi-services of urban green infrastructures, the socio-economic dimension of ecosystem services supply and ecosystem disservices in urban areas. Among different urban ecosystem services, the regulating service and cultural service are particularly indispensable to benefit human health. We pointed out that tradeoffs among different types of ecosystem services mostly occur between supportive service and cultural service, as well as regulating service and cultural service. In particular, we emphasized the relationship between landscape design (i.e. green infrastructure) and ecosystem services supply. Finally, we discussed current gaps to link urban ecosystem services studies to landscape design and management and pointed out several directions for future research in urban ecosystem services.

Urban forest ecosystem analysis using fused airborne hyperspectral and lidar data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alonzo, Mike Gerard

Urban trees are strategically important in a city's effort to mitigate their carbon footprint, heat island effects, air pollution, and stormwater runoff. Currently, the most common method for quantifying urban forest structure and ecosystem function is through field plot sampling. However, taking intensive structural measurements on private properties throughout a city is difficult, and the outputs from sample inventories are not spatially explicit. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to develop methods for mapping urban forest structure and function using fused hyperspectral imagery and waveform lidar data at the individual tree crown scale. Urban forest ecosystem services estimated using the USDA Forest Service's i-Tree Eco (formerly UFORE) model are based largely on tree species and leaf area index (LAI). Accordingly, tree species were mapped in my Santa Barbara, California study area for 29 species comprising >80% of canopy. Crown-scale discriminant analysis methods were introduced for fusing Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometry (AVIRIS) data with a suite of lidar structural metrics (e.g., tree height, crown porosity) to maximize classification accuracy in a complex environment. AVIRIS imagery was critical to achieving an overall species-level accuracy of 83.4% while lidar data was most useful for improving the discrimination of small and morphologically unique species. LAI was estimated at both the field-plot scale using laser penetration metrics and at the crown scale using allometry. Agreement of the former with photographic estimates of gap fraction and the latter with allometric estimates based on field measurements was examined. Results indicate that lidar may be used reasonably to measure LAI in an urban environment lacking in continuous canopy and characterized by high species diversity. Finally, urban ecosystem services such as carbon storage and building energy-use modification were analyzed through combination of aforementioned methods and the i-Tree Eco modeling framework. The remote sensing methods developed in this dissertation will allow researchers to more precisely constrain urban ecosystem spatial analyses and equip cities to better manage their urban forest resource.

Urban flood risk mitigation: from vulnerability assessment to resilient city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serre, D.; Barroca, B.

2009-04-01

Urban flood risk mitigation: from vulnerability assessment to resilient city Bruno Barroca1, Damien Serre2 1Laboratory of Urban Engineering, Environment and Building (L G U E H) - Université de Marne-la-Vallée - Pôle Ville, 5, Bd Descartes - Bâtiment Lavoisier - 77454 Marne la Vallée Cedex 2 - France 2City of Paris Engineering School, Construction - Environment Department, 15 rue Fénelon, 75010 Paris, France In France, as in Europe and more generally throughout the world, river floods have been increasing in frequency and severity over the last ten years, and there are more instances of rivers bursting their banks, aggravating the impact of the flooding of areas supposedly protected by flood defenses. Despite efforts made to well maintain the flood defense assets, we often observe flood defense failures leading to finally increase flood risk in protected area during major flood events. Furthermore, flood forecasting models, although they benefit continuous improvements, remain partly inaccurate due to uncertainties populated all along data calculation processes. These circumstances obliged stakeholders and the scientific communities to manage flood risk by integrating new concepts like stakes management, vulnerability assessments and more recently urban resilience development. Definitively, the goal is to reduce flood risk by managing of course flood defenses and improving flood forecasting models, but also stakes and vulnerability of flooded areas to achieve urban resilience face to flood events. Vulnerability to flood is essentially concentrated in urban areas. Assessing vulnerability of a city is very difficult. Indeed, urban area is a complex system composed by a sum of technical sub-systems as complex as the urban area itself. Assessing city vulnerability consists in talking into account each sub system vulnerability and integrating all direct and indirect impacts generally depending from city shape and city spatial organization. At this time, although some research activities have been undertaken, there are no specific methods and tools to assess flood vulnerability at the scale of the city. Indeed, by studying literature we can list some vulnerability indicators and a few Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. But generally indicators and GIS are not developed specifically at the city scale: often a regional scale is used. Analyzing vulnerability at this scale needs more accurate and formalized indicators and GIS tools. The second limit of existing GIS is temporal: even if vulnerability could be assessed and localized through GIS, such tools cannot assist city managers in their decision to efficiency recover after a severe flood event. Due to scale and temporal limits, methods and tools available to assess urban vulnerability need large improvements. Talking into account all these considerations and limits, our research is focusing on: • vulnerability indicators design; • recovery scenarios design; • GIS for city vulnerability assessment and recovery scenarios. Dealing with vulnerability indicators, the goal is to design a set of indicators of city sub systems. Sub systems are seen like assets of high value and complex and interdependent infrastructure networks (i.e. power supplies, communications, water, transport etc.). The infrastructure networks are critical for the continuity of economic activities as well as for the people's basic living needs. Their availability is also required for fast and effective recovery after flood disasters. The severity of flood damage therefore largely depends on the degree that both high value assets and critical urban infrastructure are affected, either directly or indirectly. To face the challenge of designing indicators, a functional model of the city system (and sub systems) has to be built to analyze the system response to flood solicitation. Then, a coherent and an efficient set of vulnerability of indicators could be built up. With such methods city stakeholders will be informed on how and how much their systems are vulnerable. It is a first level of information that has to be completed to become a real decision making tool. Indeed, we have seen that major floods cause almost always failures in the flood defense system. So potentially the city could face a flood event and managers recovery works. Knowing the vulnerability of the city, direct and indirect impacts, how can managers optimize recovery actions? Our research will focus first on proposing recovery scenarios based on the city system and second on vulnerability indicators to first limit damages during floods and to speed up recovery actions. At last, a GIS will be developed to assist stakeholders to take spatial measures to reduce city system weakness before a flood event and to help them to decide on how to optimize recovery actions after a flood event. Dealing with these two temporal scales will allow obtaining more flood resilient cities.

76 FR 30997 - National Transit Database: Amendments to Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-27

... Transit Database: Amendments to Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of Amendments to 2011 National Transit Database Urbanized Area Annual... Administration's (FTA) 2011 National Transit Database (NTD) Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual (Annual Manual...

Metal complexation properties of freshwater dissolved organic matter are explained by its aromaticity and by anthropogenic ligands.

PubMed

Baken, Stijn; Degryse, Fien; Verheyen, Liesbeth; Merckx, Roel; Smolders, Erik

2011-04-01

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters affects the fate and environmental effects of trace metals. We measured variability in the Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn affinity of 23 DOM samples isolated by reverse osmosis from freshwaters in natural, agricultural, and urban areas. Affinities at uniform pH and ionic composition were assayed at low, environmentally relevant free Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn activities. The C-normalized metal binding of DOM varied 4-fold (Cu) or about 10-fold (Cd, Ni, Zn) among samples. The dissolved organic carbon concentration ranged only 9-fold in the waters, illustrating that DOM quality is an equally important parameter for metal complexation as DOM quantity. The UV-absorbance of DOM explained metal affinity only for waters receiving few urban inputs, indicating that in those waters, aromatic humic substances are the dominant metal chelators. Larger metal affinities were found for DOM from waters with urban inputs. Aminopolycarboxylate ligands (mainly EDTA) were detected at concentrations up to 0.14 μM and partly explained the larger metal affinity. Nickel concentrations in these surface waters are strongly related to EDTA concentrations (R2=0.96) and this is underpinned by speciation calculations. It is concluded that metal complexation in waters with anthropogenic discharges is larger than that estimated with models that only take into account binding on humic substances.

Differential associations of urbanicity and income with physical activity in adults in urbanizing China: findings from the population-based China Health and Nutrition Survey 1991-2009.

PubMed

Attard, Samantha M; Howard, Annie-Green; Herring, Amy H; Zhang, Bing; Du, Shufa; Aiello, Allison E; Popkin, Barry M; Gordon-Larsen, Penny

2015-12-12

High urbanicity and income are risk factors for cardiovascular-related chronic diseases in low- and middle-income countries, perhaps due to low physical activity (PA) in urban, high income areas. Few studies have examined differences in PA over time according to income and urbanicity in a country experiencing rapid urbanization. We used data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, a population-based cohort of Chinese adults (n = 20,083; ages 18-75y) seen a maximum of 7 times from 1991-2009. We used sex-stratified, zero-inflated negative binomial regression models to examine occupational, domestic, leisure, travel, and total PA in Chinese adults according to year, urbanicity, income, and the interactions among urbanicity, income, and year, controlling for age and region of China. We showed larger mean temporal PA declines for individuals living in relatively low urbanicity areas (1991: 500 MET-hours/week; 2009: 300 MET-hours/week) compared to high urbanicity areas (1991: 200 MET-hours/week; 2009: 125 MET-hours/week). In low urbanicity areas, the association between income and total PA went from negative in 1991 (p < 0.05) to positive by 2000 (p < 0.05). In relatively high urbanicity areas, the income-PA relationship was positive at all time points and was statistically significant at most time points after 1997 (p < 0.05). Leisure PA was the only domain of PA that increased over time, but >95% of individuals in low urbanicity areas reported zero leisure PA at each time point. Our findings show changing associations for income and urbanicity with PA over 18 years of urbanization. Total PA was lower for individuals living in more versus less urban areas at all time points. However, these differences narrowed over time, which may relate to increases in individual-level income in less urban areas of China with urbanization. Low-income individuals in higher urbanicity areas are a particularly critical group to target to increase PA in China.

Remote estimation of the surface characteristics and energy balance over an urban-rural area and the effects of surface heat flux on plume spread and concentration. M.S. Thesis; [St. Louis, Missouri, the Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dicristofaro, D. C. (Principal Investigator)

1980-01-01

A one dimensional boundary layer model was used in conjunction with satellite derived infrared surface temperatures to deduce values of moisture availability, thermal inertia, heat and evaporative fluxes. The Penn State satellite image display system, a sophisticated image display facility, was used to remotely sense these various parameters for three cases: St. Louis, Missouri; the Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky; and Clarksville, Tennessee. The urban centers displayed the maximum daytime surface temperatures which correspond to the minimum values of moisture availability. The urban center of St. Louis and the bodies of water displayed the maximum nighttime surface temperatures which correspond to the maximum thermal inertia values. It is shown that moisture availability and thermal inertia are very much responsible for the formation of important temperature variations over the urban rural complex.

Dispersion and oviposition of Aedes albopictus in a Brazilian slum: Initial evidence of Asian tiger mosquito domiciliation in urban environments.

PubMed

Ayllón, Tania; Câmara, Daniel Cardoso Portela; Morone, Fernanda Cristina; Gonçalves, Larissa da Silva; Saito Monteiro de Barros, Fábio; Brasil, Patrícia; Carvalho, Marilia Sá; Honório, Nildimar Alves

2018-01-01

Aedes albopictus, originally considered as a secondary vector for arbovirus transmission, especially in areas where this species co-exist with Aedes aegypti, has been described in most regions of the world. Dispersion and domiciliation of Ae. albopictus in a complex of densely urbanized slums in Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil, was evidenced. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that 1) Ae. albopictus distribution in urban slums is negatively related to distance from vegetation, and 2) these vectors have taken on a domestic life style with a portion of the population feeding, ovipositing, and resting indoors. To do this, we developed an integrated surveillance proposal, aiming to detect the presence and abundance of Aedes mosquitoes. The study, based on a febrile syndrome surveillance system in a cohort of infants living in the slum complex, was performed on a weekly basis between February 2014 and April 2017. A total of 8,418 adult mosquitoes (3,052 Ae. aegypti, 44 Ae. albopictus, 16 Ae. scapularis, 4 Ae. fluviatilis and 5,302 Culex quinquefasciatus) were collected by direct aspiration and 46,047 Aedes spp. eggs were collected by oviposition traps. The Asian tiger mosquito, Ae. albopictus, was aspirated in its adult form (n = 44), and immature forms of this species (n = 12) were identified from the eggs collected by the ovitraps. In most collection sites, co-occurrence of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus was observed. Key-sites, such as junkyards, thrift stores, factories, tire repair shops and garages, had the higher abundance of Ae. albopictus, followed by schools and households. We collected Ae. albopictus at up to 400 meters to the nearest vegetation cover. The log transformed (n+1) number of females Ae. albopictus captured at each collection point was inversely related to the distance to the nearest vegetation border. These results show that Ae. albopictus, a competent vector for important arboviruses and more commonly found in areas with higher vegetation coverage, is present and spread in neglected and densely urbanized areas, being collected at a long distance from the typical encounter areas for this species. Besides, as Ae. albopictus can easily move between sylvatic and urban environment, the entomological monitoring of Ae. albopictus should be an integral part of mosquito surveillance and control. Finally, key-sites, characterized by high human influx and presence of potential Aedes breeding sites, should be included in entomological monitoring.

Dispersion and oviposition of Aedes albopictus in a Brazilian slum: Initial evidence of Asian tiger mosquito domiciliation in urban environments

PubMed Central

Câmara, Daniel Cardoso Portela; Morone, Fernanda Cristina; Gonçalves, Larissa da Silva; Saito Monteiro de Barros, Fábio; Brasil, Patrícia; Carvalho, Marilia Sá; Honório, Nildimar Alves

2018-01-01

Aedes albopictus, originally considered as a secondary vector for arbovirus transmission, especially in areas where this species co-exist with Aedes aegypti, has been described in most regions of the world. Dispersion and domiciliation of Ae. albopictus in a complex of densely urbanized slums in Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil, was evidenced. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that 1) Ae. albopictus distribution in urban slums is negatively related to distance from vegetation, and 2) these vectors have taken on a domestic life style with a portion of the population feeding, ovipositing, and resting indoors. To do this, we developed an integrated surveillance proposal, aiming to detect the presence and abundance of Aedes mosquitoes. The study, based on a febrile syndrome surveillance system in a cohort of infants living in the slum complex, was performed on a weekly basis between February 2014 and April 2017. A total of 8,418 adult mosquitoes (3,052 Ae. aegypti, 44 Ae. albopictus, 16 Ae. scapularis, 4 Ae. fluviatilis and 5,302 Culex quinquefasciatus) were collected by direct aspiration and 46,047 Aedes spp. eggs were collected by oviposition traps. The Asian tiger mosquito, Ae. albopictus, was aspirated in its adult form (n = 44), and immature forms of this species (n = 12) were identified from the eggs collected by the ovitraps. In most collection sites, co-occurrence of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus was observed. Key-sites, such as junkyards, thrift stores, factories, tire repair shops and garages, had the higher abundance of Ae. albopictus, followed by schools and households. We collected Ae. albopictus at up to 400 meters to the nearest vegetation cover. The log transformed (n+1) number of females Ae. albopictus captured at each collection point was inversely related to the distance to the nearest vegetation border. These results show that Ae. albopictus, a competent vector for important arboviruses and more commonly found in areas with higher vegetation coverage, is present and spread in neglected and densely urbanized areas, being collected at a long distance from the typical encounter areas for this species. Besides, as Ae. albopictus can easily move between sylvatic and urban environment, the entomological monitoring of Ae. albopictus should be an integral part of mosquito surveillance and control. Finally, key-sites, characterized by high human influx and presence of potential Aedes breeding sites, should be included in entomological monitoring. PMID:29684029

A Comparison of Natural and Urban Characteristics and the Development of Urban Intensity Indices Across Six Geographic Settings

USGS Publications Warehouse

Falcone, James A.; Stewart, Jana; Sobieszczyk, Steven; Dupree, Jean; McMahon, Gerard; Buell, Gary

2007-01-01

As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems have been intensively investigated in six metropolitan areas in the United States. Approximately 30 watersheds in each area, ranging in size from 4 to 560 square kilometers (median is 50 square kilometers), and spanning a development gradient from very low to very high urbanization, were examined near Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin. These six studies are a continuation of three previous studies in Boston, Massachusetts; Birmingham, Alabama; and Salt Lake City, Utah. In each study, geographic information system data for approximately 300 variables were assembled to (a) characterize the environmental settings of the areas and (b) establish a consistent multimetric urban intensity index based on locally important land-cover, infrastructure, and socioeconomic variables. This paper describes the key features of urbanization and the urban intensity index for the study watersheds within each area, how they differ across study areas, and the relation between the environmental setting and the characteristics of urbanization. A number of features of urbanization were identified that correlated very strongly to population density in every study area. Of these, road density had the least variability across diverse geographic settings and most closely matched the multimetric nature of the urban intensity index. A common urban intensity index was derived that ranks watersheds across all six study areas. Differences in local natural settings and urban geography were challenging in (a) identifying consistent urban gradients in individual study areas and (b) creating a common urban intensity index that matched the site scores of the local urban intensity index in all areas. It is intended that the descriptions of the similarities and differences in urbanization and environmental settings across these study areas will provide a foundation for understanding and interpreting the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems in the studies being conducted as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program.

Wind-tunnel Modelling of Dispersion from a Scalar Area Source in Urban-Like Roughness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascheke, Frauke; Barlow, Janet F.; Robins, Alan

2008-01-01

A wind-tunnel study was conducted to investigate ventilation of scalars from urban-like geometries at neighbourhood scale by exploring two different geometries a uniform height roughness and a non-uniform height roughness, both with an equal plan and frontal density of λ p = λ f = 25%. In both configurations a sub-unit of the idealized urban surface was coated with a thin layer of naphthalene to represent area sources. The naphthalene sublimation method was used to measure directly total area-averaged transport of scalars out of the complex geometries. At the same time, naphthalene vapour concentrations controlled by the turbulent fluxes were detected using a fast Flame Ionisation Detection (FID) technique. This paper describes the novel use of a naphthalene coated surface as an area source in dispersion studies. Particular emphasis was also given to testing whether the concentration measurements were independent of Reynolds number. For low wind speeds, transfer from the naphthalene surface is determined by a combination of forced and natural convection. Compared with a propane point source release, a 25% higher free stream velocity was needed for the naphthalene area source to yield Reynolds-number-independent concentration fields. Ventilation transfer coefficients w T / U derived from the naphthalene sublimation method showed that, whilst there was enhanced vertical momentum exchange due to obstacle height variability, advection was reduced and dispersion from the source area was not enhanced. Thus, the height variability of a canopy is an important parameter when generalising urban dispersion. Fine resolution concentration measurements in the canopy showed the effect of height variability on dispersion at street scale. Rapid vertical transport in the wake of individual high-rise obstacles was found to generate elevated point-like sources. A Gaussian plume model was used to analyse differences in the downstream plumes. Intensified lateral and vertical plume spread and plume dilution with height was found for the non-uniform height roughness.

Projected Impacts of Climate, Urbanization, Water Management, and Wetland Restoration on Waterbird Habitat in California’s Central Valley

PubMed Central

Fleskes, Joseph P.

2017-01-01

The Central Valley of California is one of the most important regions for wintering waterbirds in North America despite extensive anthropogenic landscape modification and decline of historical wetlands there. Like many other mediterranean-climate ecosystems across the globe, the Central Valley has been subject to a burgeoning human population and expansion and intensification of agricultural and urban development that have impacted wildlife habitats. Future effects of urban development, changes in water supply management, and precipitation and air temperature related to global climate change on area of waterbird habitat in the Central Valley are uncertain, yet potentially substantial. Therefore, we modeled area of waterbird habitats for 17 climate, urbanization, water supply management, and wetland restoration scenarios for years 2006–2099 using a water resources and scenario modeling framework. Planned wetland restoration largely compensated for adverse effects of climate, urbanization, and water supply management changes on habitat areas through 2065, but fell short thereafter for all except one scenario. Projected habitat reductions due to climate models were more frequent and greater than under the recent historical climate and their magnitude increased through time. After 2065, area of waterbird habitat in all scenarios that included severe warmer, drier climate was projected to be >15% less than in the “existing” landscape most years. The greatest reduction in waterbird habitat occurred in scenarios that combined warmer, drier climate and plausible water supply management options affecting priority and delivery of water available for waterbird habitats. This scenario modeling addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the Central Valley landscape, use and management of related water supplies, and climate to inform waterbird habitat conservation and other resource management planning. Results indicate that increased wetland restoration and additional conservation and climate change adaptation strategies may be warranted to maintain habitat adequate to support waterbirds in the Central Valley. PMID:28068411

Projected Impacts of Climate, Urbanization, Water Management, and Wetland Restoration on Waterbird Habitat in California's Central Valley.

PubMed

Matchett, Elliott L; Fleskes, Joseph P

2017-01-01

The Central Valley of California is one of the most important regions for wintering waterbirds in North America despite extensive anthropogenic landscape modification and decline of historical wetlands there. Like many other mediterranean-climate ecosystems across the globe, the Central Valley has been subject to a burgeoning human population and expansion and intensification of agricultural and urban development that have impacted wildlife habitats. Future effects of urban development, changes in water supply management, and precipitation and air temperature related to global climate change on area of waterbird habitat in the Central Valley are uncertain, yet potentially substantial. Therefore, we modeled area of waterbird habitats for 17 climate, urbanization, water supply management, and wetland restoration scenarios for years 2006-2099 using a water resources and scenario modeling framework. Planned wetland restoration largely compensated for adverse effects of climate, urbanization, and water supply management changes on habitat areas through 2065, but fell short thereafter for all except one scenario. Projected habitat reductions due to climate models were more frequent and greater than under the recent historical climate and their magnitude increased through time. After 2065, area of waterbird habitat in all scenarios that included severe warmer, drier climate was projected to be >15% less than in the "existing" landscape most years. The greatest reduction in waterbird habitat occurred in scenarios that combined warmer, drier climate and plausible water supply management options affecting priority and delivery of water available for waterbird habitats. This scenario modeling addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the Central Valley landscape, use and management of related water supplies, and climate to inform waterbird habitat conservation and other resource management planning. Results indicate that increased wetland restoration and additional conservation and climate change adaptation strategies may be warranted to maintain habitat adequate to support waterbirds in the Central Valley.

Projected impacts of climate, urbanization, water management, and wetland restoration on waterbird habitat in California’s Central Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

Matchett, Elliott L.; Fleskes, Joseph

2017-01-01

The Central Valley of California is one of the most important regions for wintering waterbirds in North America despite extensive anthropogenic landscape modification and decline of historical wetlands there. Like many other mediterranean-climate ecosystems across the globe, the Central Valley has been subject to a burgeoning human population and expansion and intensification of agricultural and urban development that have impacted wildlife habitats. Future effects of urban development, changes in water supply management, and precipitation and air temperature related to global climate change on area of waterbird habitat in the Central Valley are uncertain, yet potentially substantial. Therefore, we modeled area of waterbird habitats for 17 climate, urbanization, water supply management, and wetland restoration scenarios for years 2006–2099 using a water resources and scenario modeling framework. Planned wetland restoration largely compensated for adverse effects of climate, urbanization, and water supply management changes on habitat areas through 2065, but fell short thereafter for all except one scenario. Projected habitat reductions due to climate models were more frequent and greater than under the recent historical climate and their magnitude increased through time. After 2065, area of waterbird habitat in all scenarios that included severe warmer, drier climate was projected to be >15% less than in the “existing” landscape most years. The greatest reduction in waterbird habitat occurred in scenarios that combined warmer, drier climate and plausible water supply management options affecting priority and delivery of water available for waterbird habitats. This scenario modeling addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the Central Valley landscape, use and management of related water supplies, and climate to inform waterbird habitat conservation and other resource management planning. Results indicate that increased wetland restoration and additional conservation and climate change adaptation strategies may be warranted to maintain habitat adequate to support waterbirds in the Central Valley.

A Study on the Land Use Characteristics of Urban Medium and Small stream Depending on the Width of stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seok, Song Young; Ho, Song Yang; Ho, Lee Jung; Moo Jong, Park

2015-04-01

Due to the increase of impervious layers caused by increased rainfall and urbanization which were brought about by the climate change after the late 1990s, the flood damage in urban watersheds is rising. The recent flood damage is occurring in medium and small stream rather than in large stream. Particularly, in medium stream which pass the cities, sudden flood occurs due to the short concentration of rainfall and urban areas suffer large damage, even though the flood damage is small, since residential areas and social infrastructures are concentrated. In spite of the importance of medium and small stream to pass the cities, there is no certain standard for classification of natural or urban stream and existing studies are mostly focused on the impervious area among the land use characteristics of watersheds. Most of existing river studies are based on the watershed scale, but in most urban watersheds where stream pass, urban areas are concentrated in the confluence, so urban areas only occupy less than 10% of the whole watershed and there is a high uncertainty in the classification of urban areas, based the watershed of stream. This study aims to suggest a classification standard of medium and small stream between local stream and small stream where suffer flood damage. According to the classified medium and small stream, this study analyzed the stream area to the stream width and distance using Arcgis Buffer tool, based on the stream line, not the existing watershed scale. This study then chose urban watersheds by analyzing the river area at certain intervals from the center of the chosen medium and small stream, in different ways. Among the land use characteristics in urban areas, the impervious area was applied to the selection standard of urban watersheds and the characteristics of urban watersheds were presented by calculating the ratio of the stream area to the impervious area using the Buffer tool. Acknowledgement "This research was supported by a grant [NEMA-NH-2011-45] from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Research Group, National Emergency Management Agency of Korea." Keywords: land use, urban watershed, medium and smaill stream, impervious area

23 CFR 1.7 - Urban area boundaries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Urban area boundaries. 1.7 Section 1.7 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION GENERAL MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION GENERAL § 1.7 Urban area boundaries. Boundaries of an urban area shall be submitted by the State highway department...

23 CFR 1.7 - Urban area boundaries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Urban area boundaries. 1.7 Section 1.7 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION GENERAL MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION GENERAL § 1.7 Urban area boundaries. Boundaries of an urban area shall be submitted by the State highway department...

23 CFR 1.7 - Urban area boundaries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Urban area boundaries. 1.7 Section 1.7 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION GENERAL MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION GENERAL § 1.7 Urban area boundaries. Boundaries of an urban area shall be submitted by the State highway department...

23 CFR 1.7 - Urban area boundaries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Urban area boundaries. 1.7 Section 1.7 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION GENERAL MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION GENERAL § 1.7 Urban area boundaries. Boundaries of an urban area shall be submitted by the State highway department...

A blueprint for strategic urban research: the urban piazza

PubMed Central

Kourtit, Karima; Nijkamp, Peter; Franklin, Rachel S.; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés

2014-01-01

Urban research in many countries has failed to keep up with the pace of rapidly and constantly evolving urban change. The growth of cities, the increasing complexity of their functions and the complex intra- and inter-urban linkages in this ‘urban century’ demand new approaches to urban analysis, which, from a systemic perspective, supersede the existing fragmentation in urban studies. In this paper we propose the concept of the urban piazza as a framework in order to address some of the inefficiencies associated with current urban analysis. By combining wealth-creating potential with smart urban mobility, ecological resilience and social buzz in this integrated and systemic framework, the aim is to set the basis for a ‘New Urban World’ research blueprint, which lays the foundation for a broader and more integrated research programme for strategic urban issues. PMID:25339782

A blueprint for strategic urban research: the urban piazza.

PubMed

Kourtit, Karima; Nijkamp, Peter; Franklin, Rachel S; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés

2014-01-01

Urban research in many countries has failed to keep up with the pace of rapidly and constantly evolving urban change. The growth of cities, the increasing complexity of their functions and the complex intra- and inter-urban linkages in this 'urban century' demand new approaches to urban analysis, which, from a systemic perspective, supersede the existing fragmentation in urban studies. In this paper we propose the concept of the urban piazza as a framework in order to address some of the inefficiencies associated with current urban analysis. By combining wealth-creating potential with smart urban mobility, ecological resilience and social buzz in this integrated and systemic framework, the aim is to set the basis for a ' New Urban World ' research blueprint, which lays the foundation for a broader and more integrated research programme for strategic urban issues.

Assessment tools for urban catchments: developing biological indicators based on benthic macroinvertebrates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Purcell, A.H.; Bressler, D.W.; Paul, M.J.; Barbour, M.T.; Rankin, E.T.; Carter, J.L.; Resh, V.H.

2009-01-01

Biological indicators, particularly benthic macroinvertebrates, are widely used and effective measures of the impact of urbanization on stream ecosystems. A multimetric biological index of urbanization was developed using a large benthic macroinvertebrate dataset (n = 1,835) from the Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan area and then validated with datasets from Cleveland, Ohio (n = 79); San Jose, California (n = 85); and a different subset of the Baltimore data (n = 85). The biological metrics used to develop the multimetric index were selected using several criteria and were required to represent ecological attributes of macroinvertebrate assemblages including taxonomic composition and richness (number of taxa in the insect orders of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera), functional feeding group (number of taxa designated as filterers), and habit (percent of individuals which cling to the substrate). Quantile regression was used to select metrics and characterize the relationship between the final biological index and an urban gradient (composed of population density, road density, and urban land use). Although more complex biological indices exist, this simplified multimetric index showed a consistent relationship between biological indicators and urban conditions (as measured by quantile regression) in three climatic regions of the United States and can serve as an assessment tool for environmental managers to prioritize urban stream sites for restoration and protection.

Physical activity and the rejuvenation of Connswater (PARC study): protocol for a natural experiment investigating the impact of urban regeneration on public health

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background There is a dearth of evidence regarding the impact of urban regeneration projects on public health, particularly the nature and degree to which urban regeneration impacts upon health-related behaviour change. Natural experiment methodology enables comprehensive large-scale evaluations of such interventions. The Connswater Community Greenway in Belfast is a major urban regeneration project involving the development of a 9 km linear park, including the provision of new cycle paths and walkways. In addition to the environmental improvements, this complex intervention involves a number of programmes to promote physical activity in the regenerated area. The project affords a unique opportunity to investigate the public health impact of urban regeneration. Methods/Design The evaluation framework was informed by the socio-ecological model and guided by the RE-AIM Framework. Key components include: (1) a quasi-experimental before-and-after survey of the Greenway population (repeated cross-sectional design), in tandem with data from a parallel Northern Ireland-wide survey for comparison; (2) an assessment of changes in the local built environment and of walkability using geographic information systems; (3) semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of survey respondents, and a range of community stakeholders, before and after the regeneration project; and (4) a cost-effectiveness analysis. The primary outcome is change in proportion of individuals identified as being regularly physically active, according to the current UK recommendations. The RE-AIM Framework will be used to make an overall assessment of the impact of the Greenway on the physical activity behaviour of local residents. Discussion The Connswater Community Greenway provides a significant opportunity to achieve long-term, population level behaviour change. We argue that urban regeneration may be conceptualised meaningfully as a complex intervention comprising multiple components with the potential, individually and interactively, to affect the behaviour of a diverse population. The development and implementation of our comprehensive evaluation framework reflects this complexity and illuminates an approach to the empirical, rigorous evaluation of urban regeneration. More specifically, this study will add to the much needed evidence-base about the impact of urban regeneration on public health as well as having important implications for the development of natural experiment methodology. PMID:24103381

Angular difference feature extraction for urban scene classification using ZY-3 multi-angle high-resolution satellite imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Xin; Chen, Huijun; Gong, Jianya

2018-01-01

Spaceborne multi-angle images with a high-resolution are capable of simultaneously providing spatial details and three-dimensional (3D) information to support detailed and accurate classification of complex urban scenes. In recent years, satellite-derived digital surface models (DSMs) have been increasingly utilized to provide height information to complement spectral properties for urban classification. However, in such a way, the multi-angle information is not effectively exploited, which is mainly due to the errors and difficulties of the multi-view image matching and the inaccuracy of the generated DSM over complex and dense urban scenes. Therefore, it is still a challenging task to effectively exploit the available angular information from high-resolution multi-angle images. In this paper, we investigate the potential for classifying urban scenes based on local angular properties characterized from high-resolution ZY-3 multi-view images. Specifically, three categories of angular difference features (ADFs) are proposed to describe the angular information at three levels (i.e., pixel, feature, and label levels): (1) ADF-pixel: the angular information is directly extrapolated by pixel comparison between the multi-angle images; (2) ADF-feature: the angular differences are described in the feature domains by comparing the differences between the multi-angle spatial features (e.g., morphological attribute profiles (APs)). (3) ADF-label: label-level angular features are proposed based on a group of urban primitives (e.g., buildings and shadows), in order to describe the specific angular information related to the types of primitive classes. In addition, we utilize spatial-contextual information to refine the multi-level ADF features using superpixel segmentation, for the purpose of alleviating the effects of salt-and-pepper noise and representing the main angular characteristics within a local area. The experiments on ZY-3 multi-angle images confirm that the proposed ADF features can effectively improve the accuracy of urban scene classification, with a significant increase in overall accuracy (3.8-11.7%) compared to using the spectral bands alone. Furthermore, the results indicated the superiority of the proposed ADFs in distinguishing between the spectrally similar and complex man-made classes, including roads and various types of buildings (e.g., high buildings, urban villages, and residential apartments).

Physical activity and the rejuvenation of Connswater (PARC study): protocol for a natural experiment investigating the impact of urban regeneration on public health.

PubMed

Tully, Mark A; Hunter, Ruth F; McAneney, Helen; Cupples, Margaret E; Donnelly, Michael; Ellis, Geraint; Hutchinson, George; Prior, Lindsay; Stevenson, Michael; Kee, Frank

2013-08-23

There is a dearth of evidence regarding the impact of urban regeneration projects on public health, particularly the nature and degree to which urban regeneration impacts upon health-related behaviour change. Natural experiment methodology enables comprehensive large-scale evaluations of such interventions. The Connswater Community Greenway in Belfast is a major urban regeneration project involving the development of a 9 km linear park, including the provision of new cycle paths and walkways. In addition to the environmental improvements, this complex intervention involves a number of programmes to promote physical activity in the regenerated area. The project affords a unique opportunity to investigate the public health impact of urban regeneration. The evaluation framework was informed by the socio-ecological model and guided by the RE-AIM Framework. Key components include: (1) a quasi-experimental before-and-after survey of the Greenway population (repeated cross-sectional design), in tandem with data from a parallel Northern Ireland-wide survey for comparison; (2) an assessment of changes in the local built environment and of walkability using geographic information systems; (3) semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of survey respondents, and a range of community stakeholders, before and after the regeneration project; and (4) a cost-effectiveness analysis. The primary outcome is change in proportion of individuals identified as being regularly physically active, according to the current UK recommendations. The RE-AIM Framework will be used to make an overall assessment of the impact of the Greenway on the physical activity behaviour of local residents. The Connswater Community Greenway provides a significant opportunity to achieve long-term, population level behaviour change. We argue that urban regeneration may be conceptualised meaningfully as a complex intervention comprising multiple components with the potential, individually and interactively, to affect the behaviour of a diverse population. The development and implementation of our comprehensive evaluation framework reflects this complexity and illuminates an approach to the empirical, rigorous evaluation of urban regeneration. More specifically, this study will add to the much needed evidence-base about the impact of urban regeneration on public health as well as having important implications for the development of natural experiment methodology.

Energy and nutrient consumption in Mexican women 12-49 years of age: analysis of the National Nutrition Survey 1999.

PubMed

Barquera, Simón; Rivera, Juan A; Espinosa-Montero, Juan; Safdie, Margarita; Campirano, Fabricio; Monterrubio, Eric A

2003-01-01

To describe the reported energy and nutrient intake and adequacies in Mexican women. A 24-hour dietary recall was used to obtain nutrient intake in a representative sub-sample of 2,630 women from 12 to 49 years of age from the National Nutrition Survey 1999. Nutrient adequacies were estimated using the Dietary Reference Intakes and stratified according to region, area (urban or rural), socioeconomic status and obesity status (non-obese: BMI < 30 kg/m2, obese: > or = 30 kg/m2). Differences were analyzed using linear regression for complex surveys of log-transformed intake and adequacy, adjusting for multiple comparisons with the Bonferroni test. The median national energy intake was 1,471 kcal. The Risk of Inadequacy (RI) (prevalence of adequacy < 50%) was: vitamin A: 38.3%, vitamin C: 45.5%, and folate: 34.3%. Carbohydrates, folate, iron and calcium intake was significantly higher in rural than in urban areas. The RI was higher in women of the lowest socioeconomic status tertile for all nutrients with the exception of carbohydrates and calcium. Macro-nutrient adequacies were significantly higher in non-obese women. Differences within the country among regions, rural and urban areas, and socioeconomic status tertile reflect an increasing availability of inexpensive calorie-dense foods in marginal groups. However, total energy, cholesterol, saturated and total fat were consumed in greater quantities by women from the higher socioeconomic status tertile and from urban areas. These patterns could be a contributing factor to the rise of obesity and other non-communicable nutrition-related chronic diseases in Mexico. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.

Uncertainties in mapping forest carbon in urban ecosystems.

PubMed

Chen, Gang; Ozelkan, Emre; Singh, Kunwar K; Zhou, Jun; Brown, Marilyn R; Meentemeyer, Ross K

2017-02-01

Spatially explicit urban forest carbon estimation provides a baseline map for understanding the variation in forest vertical structure, informing sustainable forest management and urban planning. While high-resolution remote sensing has proven promising for carbon mapping in highly fragmented urban landscapes, data cost and availability are the major obstacle prohibiting accurate, consistent, and repeated measurement of forest carbon pools in cities. This study aims to evaluate the uncertainties of forest carbon estimation in response to the combined impacts of remote sensing data resolution and neighborhood spatial patterns in Charlotte, North Carolina. The remote sensing data for carbon mapping were resampled to a range of resolutions, i.e., LiDAR point cloud density - 5.8, 4.6, 2.3, and 1.2 pt s/m 2 , aerial optical NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) imagery - 1, 5, 10, and 20 m. Urban spatial patterns were extracted to represent area, shape complexity, dispersion/interspersion, diversity, and connectivity of landscape patches across the residential neighborhoods with built-up densities from low, medium-low, medium-high, to high. Through statistical analyses, we found that changing remote sensing data resolution introduced noticeable uncertainties (variation) in forest carbon estimation at the neighborhood level. Higher uncertainties were caused by the change of LiDAR point density (causing 8.7-11.0% of variation) than changing NAIP image resolution (causing 6.2-8.6% of variation). For both LiDAR and NAIP, urban neighborhoods with a higher degree of anthropogenic disturbance unveiled a higher level of uncertainty in carbon mapping. However, LiDAR-based results were more likely to be affected by landscape patch connectivity, and the NAIP-based estimation was found to be significantly influenced by the complexity of patch shape. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling Transport of Turbulent Fluxes in a Heterogeneous Urban Canopy Using a Spatially Explicit Energy Balance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moody, M.; Bailey, B.; Stoll, R., II

2017-12-01

Understanding how changes in the microclimate near individual plants affects the surface energy budget is integral to modeling land-atmosphere interactions and a wide range of near surface atmospheric boundary layer phenomena. In urban areas, the complex geometry of the urban canopy layer results in large spatial deviations of turbulent fluxes further complicating the development of models. Accurately accounting for this heterogeneity in order to model urban energy and water use requires a sub-plant level understanding of microclimate variables. We present analysis of new experimental field data taken in and around two Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) trees at the University of Utah in 2015. The test sites were chosen in order study the effects of heterogeneity in an urban environment. An array of sensors were placed in and around the conifers to quantify transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum: radiative fluxes, temperature, sap fluxes, etc. A spatial array of LEMS (Local Energy Measurement Systems) were deployed to obtain pressure, surrounding air temperature and relative humidity. These quantities are used to calculate the radiative and turbulent fluxes. Relying on measurements alone is insufficient to capture the complexity of microclimate distribution as one reaches sub-plant scales. A spatially-explicit radiation and energy balance model previously developed for deciduous trees was extended to include conifers. The model discretizes the tree into isothermal sub-volumes on which energy balances are performed and utilizes incoming radiation as the primary forcing input. The radiative transfer component of the model yields good agreement between measured and modeled upward longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes. Ultimately, the model was validated through an examination of the full energy budget including radiative and turbulent fluxes through isolated Picea pungens in an urban environment.

The Influence of Heating Mains on Yeast Communities in Urban Soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tepeeva, A. N.; Glushakova, A. M.; Kachalkin, A. V.

2018-04-01

The number and species diversity of yeasts in urban soils (urbanozems) affected by heating mains and in epiphytic yeast complexes of grasses growing above them were studied. The number of yeasts in the soil reached 103-104 CFU/g; on the plants, 107 CFU/g. Significant (by an order of magnitude) increase in the total number of soil yeasts in the zone of heating mains in comparison with the surrounding soil was found in winter period. Overall, 25 species of yeasts were isolated in our study. Yeast community of studied urbanozems was dominated by the Candida sake, an eurybiont of the temperate zone and other natural ecotopes with relatively low temperatures, but its share was minimal in the zone of heating mains. In general, the structure of soil and epiphytic yeast complexes in the zones of heating mains differed from that in the surrounding area by higher species diversity and a lower share of pigmented species among the epiphytic yeasts. The study demonstrated that the number and species structure of soil yeast communities in urban soils change significantly under the influence of the temperature factor and acquire a mosaic distribution pattern.

From multifunctionality to multiple ecosystem services? A conceptual framework for multifunctionality in green infrastructure planning for urban areas.

PubMed

Hansen, Rieke; Pauleit, Stephan

2014-05-01

Green infrastructure (GI) and ecosystem services (ES) are promoted as concepts that have potential to improve environmental planning in urban areas based on a more holistic understanding of the complex interrelations and dynamics of social-ecological systems. However, the scientific discourses around both concepts still lack application-oriented frameworks that consider such a holistic perspective and are suitable to mainstream GI and ES in planning practice. This literature review explores how multifunctionality as one important principle of GI planning can be operationalized by approaches developed and tested in ES research. Specifically, approaches developed in ES research can help to assess the integrity of GI networks, balance ES supply and demand, and consider trade-offs. A conceptual framework for the assessment of multifunctionality from a social-ecological perspective is proposed that can inform the design of planning processes and support stronger exchange between GI and ES research.

Meteorological and air pollution modeling for an urban airport

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swan, P. R.; Lee, I. Y.

1980-01-01

Results are presented of numerical experiments modeling meteorology, multiple pollutant sources, and nonlinear photochemical reactions for the case of an airport in a large urban area with complex terrain. A planetary boundary-layer model which predicts the mixing depth and generates wind, moisture, and temperature fields was used; it utilizes only surface and synoptic boundary conditions as input data. A version of the Hecht-Seinfeld-Dodge chemical kinetics model is integrated with a new, rapid numerical technique; both the San Francisco Bay Area Air Quality Management District source inventory and the San Jose Airport aircraft inventory are utilized. The air quality model results are presented in contour plots; the combined results illustrate that the highly nonlinear interactions which are present require that the chemistry and meteorology be considered simultaneously to make a valid assessment of the effects of individual sources on regional air quality.

Spatial Growth Modeling and High Resolution Remote Sensing Data Coupled with Air Quality Modeling to Assess the Impact of Atlanta, Georgia on the Local and Regional Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Estes, Maurice G., Jr.; Crosson, William; Johnson, Hoyt; Khan, Maudood

2006-01-01

The growth of cities, both in population and areal extent, appears as an inexorable process. Urbanization continues at a rapid rate, and it is estimated that by the year 2025, 60 percent of the world s population will live in cities. Urban expansion has profound impacts on a host of biophysical, environmental, and atmospheric processes within an urban ecosystems perspective. A reduction in air quality over cities is a major result of these impacts. Because of its complexity, the urban landscape is not adequately captured in air quality models such as the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model that is used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, primarily for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of the CMAQ model to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well the model predicts ozone levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban spatial growth modeling (SGM) projections as improved inputs to a meteorological/air quality modeling system focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. These growth projections include business as usual and smart growth scenarios out to 2030. The growth projections illustrate the effects of employing urban heat island mitigation strategies, such as increasing tree canopy and albedo across the Atlanta metro area, which in turn, are used to model how air temperature can potentially be moderated as impacts on elevating ground-level ozone, as opposed to not utilizing heat island mitigation strategies. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the CMAQ modeling schemes. Use of these data has been found to better characterize low density/suburban development as compared with USGS lkm land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for future scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the regional planning agency for the area. This allows the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect future air quality. The coupled SGM and air quality modeling approach provides insight on what the impacts of Atlanta s growth will be on the local and regional environment and exists as a mechanism that can be used by policy makers to make rational decisions on urban growth and sustainability for the metropolitan area in the future.

Remote Sensing and Spatial Growth Modeling Coupled With Air Quality Modeling to Assess the Impact of Atlanta, Georgia on the Local and Regional Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quattrochi, D. A.; Estes, M. G.; Crosson, W. L.; Johnson, H.; Khan, M.

2006-05-01

The growth of cities, both in population and areal extent, appears as an inexorable process. Urbanization continues at a rapid rate, and it is estimated that by the year 2025, 60 percent of the world's population will live in cities. Urban expansion has profound impacts on a host of biophysical, environmental, and atmospheric processes within an urban ecosystems perspective. A reduction in air quality over cities is a major result of these impacts. Because of its complexity, the urban landscape is not adequately captured in air quality models such as the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model that is used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, primarily for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of the CMAQ model to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well the model predicts ozone levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban spatial growth modeling (SGM) projections as improved inputs to a meteorological/air quality modeling system focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. These growth projections include "business as usual" and "smart growth" scenarios out to 2030. The growth projections illustrate the effects of employing urban heat island mitigation strategies, such as increasing tree canopy and albedo across the Atlanta metro area, which in turn, are used to model how air temperature can potentially be moderated as impacts on elevating ground-level ozone, as opposed to not utilizing heat island mitigation strategies. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the CMAQ modeling schemes. Use of these data has been found to better characterize low density/suburban development as compared with USGS 1km land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for future scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the regional planning agency for the area. This allows the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect future air quality. The coupled SGM and air quality modeling approach provides insight on what the impacts of Atlanta's growth will be on the local and regional environment and exists as a mechanism that can be used by policy makers to make rational decisions on urban growth and sustainability for the metropolitan area in the future.

Applying sustainable water management concepts in rural and urban areas: some thoughts about reasons, means and needs.

PubMed

Wilderer, P A

2004-01-01

Serving the world population with adequate drinking water and sanitation is an important prerequisite, not only to hygienic safety, but to prosperity and political stability as well, and will foster the adaptive capacity of the societies in the developing countries and beyond. To avoid hygienic and political disasters impacting the world economy, investment in water supply and sanitation must urgently be made. Whether the classical system of urban water supply and sanitation is appropriate to satisfy the needs of the developing world, however, and whether this system meets the general criteria of sustainability is questionable. The costs and the time needed for installation of sewers and wastewater treatment plants are tremendous. In water shortage areas, the amount of tap water required to transport pollutants to the treatment plant is hardly affordable. Recovery and re-introduction of valuable substances, including water, into the urban cycle of materials is impossible because of mixing and dilution effects inherent in the system. Decentralized water and wastewater management should be seriously taken into account as an alternative. Source separation of specific fractions of domestic and industrial wastewater, separate treatment of these fractions and recovery of water and raw materials including fertilizer and energy are the main characteristics of modern high-tech on-site treatment/reuse systems. Mass production of the key components of the system could reduce the costs of the treatment units to a reasonable level. On-site units could be installed independently of the development stage of the urban sewer system. In conjunction with building new housing complexes a stepwise improvement of the hygienic situation in urban and peri-urban areas could be achieved, therefore. Remote control of the satellite systems using modern telecommunication methods would allow reliable operation, and comfort for the users. Intensive research is required, however, to develop this system and bring it to a standard allowing efficient application worldwide.

Effects of pond management on biodiversity patterns and community structure of zooplankton in urban environments.

PubMed

Suski, Jamie G; Swan, Christopher M; Salice, Christopher J; Wahl, Charles F

2018-04-01

As urban areas continue expanding, major cities become connected forming megacities. Urban encroachment into natural areas transforms the landscape into a built environment with heterogeneously distributed patches of novel habitat. Community structure within novel habitats is influenced by anthropogenic factors including fragmentation and species interactions. Alterations in complex biodiversity patterns may be used to assess how urban stressors impact community assemblages which, ultimately, may inform sustainable management decisions. To manage algal blooms, Aquashade® is applied directly to ponds. We investigated the effects of Aquashade®, nutrient loading and dispersal on local species diversity and compositional turnover of zooplankton communities from suburban ponds in Columbia, MD, USA using a mesocosm approach. We found that Aquashade® acted as an environmental filter by increasing local species diversity and decreasing compositional turnover. This ultimately could have an overall homogenizing effect on the regional species pool (or γ-diversity). The same pattern was observed in mesocosms that received simulated dispersal events of zooplankton. Nutrients, overall, increased autotrophic biomass and while Aquashade® had no effect on autotrophic biomass, the interaction of nutrients and Aquashade® similarly caused a homogenization of the zooplankton community. Additionally, there was an overall increase in cladoceran ephippia in mesocosms receiving Aquashade® compared to those not, suggesting there is a 'trigger' switching cladocerans from parthenogenic to sexual reproduction. Taken together, our results show the application of Aquashade®, nutrient loading and dispersal shift biodiversity patterns in urban zooplankton communities. We hypothesize these shifts originate at the resource level through alterations in the phytoplankton community either through composition or nutritive value in ponds receiving Aquashade®. Our study illustrates the importance of investigating multiple-scales of community assemblages when assessing impacts of anthropogenic stressors. Consideration of how to best manage green spaces may include planned un-managed areas to maintain regional biodiversity and heterogenous communities within the urban environment. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

South African HIV/AIDS programming overlooks migration, urban livelihoods, and informal workplaces.

PubMed

Vearey, Jo; Richter, Marlise; Núñez, Lorena; Moyo, Khangelani

2011-01-01

South Africa has the largest population of people living with HIV globally and is associated with high population mobility. The majority of migrants move in search of improved livelihood opportunities, and many who migrate (both internally and across borders) move into urban areas, often through peripheral informal settlements where HIV prevalence is shown to be double that of urban formal areas. While the relationship between migration and the spread of HIV is acknowledged as complex, the context of migration may place individuals at increased risk for acquiring HIV. Studies have demonstrated the long-wave impact of HIV and AIDS on livelihood activities and, more recently, on patterns of migration. Many migrants engage in livelihood strategies situated within the urban 'informal economy'; these informal workplaces are often overlooked in global and national legislation governing workplace responses to health and HIV and AIDS. This study draws on existing research and limited primary data to explore the implications of HIV/AIDS programming for diverse migrant groups labouring in informal workplaces in Johannesburg, South Africa. We describe three case studies: waste-pickers at a dumpsite in a peripheral urban informal settlement; barmen and cleaners working in inner-city hotels where sex is also sold; and, migrants engaged in informal livelihood activities who are also members of burial societies. Given the importance of varied informal livelihood activities for diverse migrant groups, particularly in urban areas of South Africa, we propose that the national HIV/AIDS response can and should engage with internal and cross-border migrants in informal workplaces - which is in line with the principle of universal access and will strengthen the national response. Especially, we point out the potential for burial societies to provide an entry point for HIV/AIDS programming that targets migrant groups involved in the informal economy of South African cities.

Aerosol Seasonal Variations over Urban-Industrial Regions in Ukraine According to AERONET and POLDER Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Milinevsky, G.; Danylevsky, V.; Bovchaliuk, V.; Bovchaliuk, A.; Goloub, Ph.; Dubovik, O.; Kabashnikov, V.; Chaikovsky, A.; Miatselskaya, N.; Mishchenko, M.;

Modelling a suitable location for Urban Solid Waste Management using AHP method and GIS -A geospatial approach and MCDM Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iqbal, M.; Islam, A.; Hossain, A.; Mustaque, S.

2016-12-01

Multi-Criteria Decision Making(MCDM) is advanced analytical method to evaluate appropriate result or decision from multiple criterion environment. Present time in advanced research, MCDM technique is progressive analytical process to evaluate a logical decision from various conflict. In addition, Present day Geospatial approach (e.g. Remote sensing and GIS) also another advanced technical approach in a research to collect, process and analyze various spatial data at a time. GIS and Remote sensing together with the MCDM technique could be the best platform to solve a complex decision making process. These two latest process combined very effectively used in site selection for solid waste management in urban policy. The most popular MCDM technique is Weighted Linear Method (WLC) where Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is another popular and consistent techniques used in worldwide as dependable decision making. Consequently, the main objective of this study is improving a AHP model as MCDM technique with Geographic Information System (GIS) to select a suitable landfill site for urban solid waste management. Here AHP technique used as a MCDM tool to select the best suitable landfill location for urban solid waste management. To protect the urban environment in a sustainable way municipal waste needs an appropriate landfill site considering environmental, geological, social and technical aspect of the region. A MCDM model generate from five class related which related to environmental, geological, social and technical using AHP method and input the result set in GIS for final model location for urban solid waste management. The final suitable location comes out that 12.2% of the area corresponds to 22.89 km2 considering the total study area. In this study, Keraniganj sub-district of Dhaka district in Bangladesh is consider as study area which is densely populated city currently undergoes an unmanaged waste management system especially the suitable landfill sites for waste dumping site.

The influence of urban area opacity on biologically active UV-B irradiance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chubarova, Nataly; Rozental', Victor

2013-04-01

The study of UV irradiance changes in urban area is an essential problem due to the significant effect of UV irradiance on human health which can be positive (vitamin D synthesis) and negative (erythema, skin cancer, eye damage). According to the results of several experiments within the Moscow megacity we studied the effects of urban area opacity on the different types of biologically active UV-B irradiance on the base of a specially developed mobile photometric complex snd additional measurements of the urban opacity by Nikon Fisheye Converter FC-E8. We analyzed both the level of erythemally-active irradiance and the UV eye damaging radiation using the broadband UVB-1 YES pyranometer calibrated against ultraviolet spectroradiometer Bentham DTM-300 of the Medical University of Innsbruck (courtesy of Dr. M.Blumthaler). In order to estimate the effects of the urban opacity the measurements were normalized on similar measurements at the Meteorological Observatory of Moscow State University with zero opacity. This ratio is defined as an urban radiative transmittance (URT). Different atmospheric conditions were considered. In cloudy conditions the effect of opacity on URT is much less than that in conditions when the sun disk is open from clouds. We revealed some spectral features in transmittance of biologically active UV-B irradiance which is characterized by higher URT variations in overcast cloudy conditions due to more intensive scattering and smaller direct solar radiation component. In the absence of cloudiness the effect of opacity was studied for open and screening solar disk conditions. We obtained much higher URT in UVB spectral region compared with that for total solar irradiance for screening solar disk conditions with a significant URT dependence on the opacity only in UVB spectral region. No URT dependence was obtained for total solar irradiance in these conditions. Some model calculations were fulfilled to match the experimental results.

City rats: insight from rat spatial behavior into human cognition in urban environments.

PubMed

Yaski, Osnat; Portugali, Juval; Eilam, David

2011-09-01

The structure and shape of the urban environment influence our ability to find our way about in the city. Understanding how the physical properties of the environment affect spatial behavior and cognition is therefore a necessity. However, there are inherent difficulties in empirically studying complex and large-scale urban environments. These include the need to isolate the impact of specific urban features and to acquire data on the physical activity of individuals. In the present study, we attempted to overcome the above obstacles and examine the relation between urban environments and spatial cognition by testing the spatial behavior of rats. This idea originated from the resemblance in the operative brain functions and in the mechanisms and strategies employed by humans and other animals when acquiring spatial information and establishing an internal representation, as revealed in past studies. Accordingly, we tested rats in arenas that simulated a grid urban layout (e.g. Manhattan streets) and an irregular urban layout (e.g. Jerusalem streets). We found that in the grid layout, rat movement was more structured and extended over a greater area compared with their restricted movement in the irregular layout. These movement patterns recall those of humans in respective urban environments, illustrating that the structure and shape of the environment affect spatial behavior similarly in humans and rats. Overall, testing rats in environments that simulate facets of urban environments can provide new insights into human spatial cognition in urban environments.

Intelligent mobility research for robotic locomotion in complex terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trentini, Michael; Beckman, Blake; Digney, Bruce; Vincent, Isabelle; Ricard, Benoit

2006-05-01

The objective of the Autonomous Intelligent Systems Section of Defence R&D Canada - Suffield is best described by its mission statement, which is "to augment soldiers and combat systems by developing and demonstrating practical, cost effective, autonomous intelligent systems capable of completing military missions in complex operating environments." The mobility requirement for ground-based mobile systems operating in urban settings must increase significantly if robotic technology is to augment human efforts in these roles and environments. The intelligence required for autonomous systems to operate in complex environments demands advances in many fields of robotics. This has resulted in large bodies of research in areas of perception, world representation, and navigation, but the problem of locomotion in complex terrain has largely been ignored. In order to achieve its objective, the Autonomous Intelligent Systems Section is pursuing research that explores the use of intelligent mobility algorithms designed to improve robot mobility. Intelligent mobility uses sensing, control, and learning algorithms to extract measured variables from the world, control vehicle dynamics, and learn by experience. These algorithms seek to exploit available world representations of the environment and the inherent dexterity of the robot to allow the vehicle to interact with its surroundings and produce locomotion in complex terrain. The primary focus of the paper is to present the intelligent mobility research within the framework of the research methodology, plan and direction defined at Defence R&D Canada - Suffield. It discusses the progress and future direction of intelligent mobility research and presents the research tools, topics, and plans to address this critical research gap. This research will create effective intelligence to improve the mobility of ground-based mobile systems operating in urban settings to assist the Canadian Forces in their future urban operations.

A Century of the Evolution of the Urban Area in Shenyang, China

PubMed Central

Liu, Miao; Xu, Yanyan; Hu, Yuanman; Li, Chunlin; Sun, Fengyun; Chen, Tan

2014-01-01

Analyzing spatiotemporal characteristics of the historical urbanization process is essential in understanding the dynamics of urbanization and scientifically planned urban development. Based on historical urban area maps and remote sensing images, this study examined the urban expansion of Shenyang from 1910 to 2010 using area statistics, typology identification, and landscape metrics approaches. The population and gross domestic product were analyzed as driving factors. The results showed that the urban area of Shenyang increased 43.39-fold during the study period and that the growth rate has accelerated since the 1980s. Three urban growth types were distinguished: infilling, edge-expansion, and spontaneous growth. Edge-expansion was the primary growth type. Infilling growth became the main growth type in the periods 1946–70, 1988–97, and 2004–10. Spontaneous growth was concentrated in the period of 1997 to 2000. The results of landscape metrics indicate that the urban landscape of Shenyang originally was highly aggregated, but has become increasingly fragmented. The urban fringe area was the traditional hot zone of urbanization. Shenyang was mainly located north of the Hun River before 1980; however, the south side of the river has been the hot zone of urbanization since the 1980s. The increase of urban area strongly correlated with the growth of GDP and population. Over a long time scale, the urbanization process has been affected by major historical events. PMID:24893167

Bumble bees (Bombus spp) along a gradient of increasing urbanization.

PubMed

Ahrné, Karin; Bengtsson, Jan; Elmqvist, Thomas

2009-01-01

Bumble bees and other wild bees are important pollinators of wild flowers and several cultivated crop plants, and have declined in diversity and abundance during the last decades. The main cause of the decline is believed to be habitat destruction and fragmentation associated with urbanization and agricultural intensification. Urbanization is a process that involves dramatic and persistent changes of the landscape, increasing the amount of built-up areas while decreasing the amount of green areas. However, urban green areas can also provide suitable alternative habitats for wild bees. We studied bumble bees in allotment gardens, i.e. intensively managed flower rich green areas, along a gradient of urbanization from the inner city of Stockholm towards more rural (periurban) areas. Keeping habitat quality similar along the urbanization gradient allowed us to separate the effect of landscape change (e.g. proportion impervious surface) from variation in habitat quality. Bumble bee diversity (after rarefaction to 25 individuals) decreased with increasing urbanization, from around eight species on sites in more rural areas to between five and six species in urban allotment gardens. Bumble bee abundance and species composition were most affected by qualities related to the management of the allotment areas, such as local flower abundance. The variability in bumble bee visits between allotment gardens was higher in an urban than in a periurban context, particularly among small and long-tongued bumble bee species. Our results suggest that allotment gardens and other urban green areas can serve as important alternatives to natural habitats for many bumble bee species, but that the surrounding urban landscape influences how many species that will be present. The higher variability in abundance of certain species in the most urban areas may indicate a weaker reliability of the ecosystem service pollination in areas strongly influenced by human activity.

Understanding the behavior of carbon dioxide and surface energy fluxes in semiarid Salt Lake Valley, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramamurthy, Prathap

This dissertation reports the findings from the Salt Lake Valley flux study. The Salt Lake Valley flux study was designed to improve our understanding of the complex land-atmosphere interactions in urban areas. The flux study used the eddy covariance technique to quantify carbon dioxide and surface energy budget in the semiarid Salt Lake Valley. Apart from quantifying fluxes, the study has also added new insight into the nature of turbulent scalar transport in urban areas and has addressed some of the complications in using Eddy Covariance technique in urban areas. As part of this experiment, eddy fluxes of CO2 and surface energy fluxes were measured at two sites, with distinct urban landforms; One site was located in a suburban neighborhood with substantial vegetative cover, prototypical of many residential neighborhoods in the valley. The other CO2 site was in a preurban surrounding that resembled the Salt Lake Valley before it was urbanized. The two sites were intentionally chosen to illustrate the impact of urbanization on CO 2 and surface energy flux cycles. Results indicate that the suburban site acted as a sink of CO2 during the midday period due to photosynthesis and acted as a source of CO2 during the evening and nighttime periods. The vegetative cover around the suburban site also had a significant impact on the surface energy fluxes. Contribution from latent heat flux was substantially high at the suburban site during the summer months compared to sensible heat. The turbulence investigation found that the general behavior of turbulence was very much influenced by local factors and the statistics did not always obey Monin-Obukhov Similarity parameters. This investigation also found that the scalar (co)spectra observed at the suburban site were characterized by multiple peaks and were different compared to (co)spectra reported over forest and crop canopies. The study also observed multiscale CO2 transport at the suburban site during the convective period. While the suburban site acted as a net sink of CO2 during the midday periods, CO2 was transported positively at lower frequencies. Also, during the evening transition period, when the site switched from a sink of CO2 to a source, the net upward transport of CO2 was cancelled by the net downward transport of CO2. This balance caused the total net transport reduce to zero. Overall this research, apart from characterizing the behavior of scalar fluxes at a suburban site in a semiarid desert city has also added some valuable insight on the complex nature of urban scalar transport.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of sediment sources in a peri-urban Mediterranean catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Carla; Walsh, Rory; Blake, William; Kikuchi, Ryunosuke; Ferreira, António

2017-04-01

Sediment fluxes driven by hydrological processes lead to natural soil losses, but human activities, such as urbanization, influence hydrology and promote erosion, altering the landscape and sediment fluxes. In peri-urban areas, comprising a mixture of semi-natural and man-made land-uses, understanding sediment fluxes is still a research challenge. This study investigates spatial and temporal dynamics of fluvial sediments in a rapidly urbanizing catchment. Specific objectives are to understand the main sources of sediments relating to different types of urban land disturbance, and their variability driven by (i) weather, season and land-use changes through time, and (ii) sediment particle size. The study was carried out Ribeira dos Covões, a peri-urban catchment (6.2km2) in central Portugal. The climate is humid Mediterranean, with mean annual temperature and rainfall of 15˚ C and 892 mm, respectively. The geology comprises sandstone (56%), limestone (41%) and alluvial deposits (3%). The catchment has an average slope of 9˚ , but includes steep slopes of up to 46˚ . The land-use is a complex mosaic of woodland (56%), urban (40%) and agricultural (4%) land parcels, resulting from urbanization occurring progressively since 1973. Urbanization since 2010 has mainly comprised the building of a major road, covering 1% of the catchment area, and the ongoing construction of an enterprise park, occupying 5% of the catchment. This study uses a multi-proxy sediment fingerprinting approach, based on X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyses to characterize the elemental geochemistry of sediments collected within the stream network after three storm events in 2012 and 2015. A range of statistical techniques, including hierarchical cluster analysis, was used to identify discriminant sediment properties and similarities between fine bed-sediment samples of tributaries and downstream sites. Quantification of sediment supply from upstream sub-catchments was undertaken using a Bayesian unmixing model. Geochemical signatures of sub-catchment sediment varied significantly with lithology and type of urban influence, but a tendency for limestone sub-catchments to be more urbanized made it difficult to isolate the influence of each factor. Nevertheless, differences in sub-catchment geochemistry between the survey dates indicate significant changes through time in both the relative importance and character of urban impacts. In 2012 the sandstone sub-catchment provided 88%, 92% and 93% of the <63μm, 63μm-125μm and 125μm-2000μm sediment, respectively, with most sediment deriving from the enterprise park site undergoing deforestation and construction. Most of the remaining sediment derived from the construction of the major road in the limestone sub-catchment. In 2015, however, sediment losses within the catchment appear to have been significantly reduced by planned and accidental retention basins below the enterprise park and major road construction sites, respectively. Nevertheless, the landscape disturbance provided by these constructional sites was of much greater importance than sediment mobilization in urban areas with paved roads and other impervious surfaces. The greatest heavy metal concentrations, however, were recorded in sediments deriving from road runoff. Despite the positive impact of retention basins in reducing sediment delivery from human disturbed areas, sediment connectivity could be reduced further by dispersing and filtering upslope runoff from urban surfaces more systematically into woodland sink areas.

Urban encroachment brings deviant behavior to resource recreation area

Treesearch

Christopher J. Wynveen; Robert D. Bixler; William E. Hammitt

2007-01-01

The encroachment of urban areas on resource recreation areas has added several challenges to resource and recreation managers. Unfortunately, Chavez and Tynon (2000) indicated one of the impacts of urban encroachment on natural resource areas is an increase in crime. Given that with urban encroachment comes a heightened perception of crime (Chavez & Tynon 2000,...

A comparison of the influences of urbanization in contrasting environmental settings on stream benthic algal assemblages

USGS Publications Warehouse

Potapova, M.; Coles, J.F.; Giddings, E.M.P.; Zappia, H.

2005-01-01

Patterns of stream benthic algal assemblages along urbanization gradients were investigated in three metropolitan areas-Boston (BOS), Massachusetts; Birmingham (BIR), Alabama; and Salt Lake City (SLC), Utah. An index of urban intensity derived from socioeconomic, infrastructure, and land-use characteristics was used as a measure of urbanization. Of the various attributes of the algal assemblages, species composition changed along gradients of urban intensity in a more consistent manner than biomass or diversity. In urban streams, the relative abundance of pollution-tolerant species was often higher than in less affected streams. Shifts in assemblage composition were associated primarily with increased levels of conductivity, nutrients, and alterations in physical habitat. Water mineralization and nutrients were the most important determinants of assemblage composition in the BOS and SLC study areas; flow regime and grazers were key factors in the BIR study area. Species composition of algal assemblages differed significantly among geographic regions, and no particular algal taxa were found to be universal indicators of urbanization. Patterns in algal biomass and diversity along urban gradients varied among study areas, depending on local environmental conditions and habitat alteration. Biomass and diversity increased with urbanization in the BOS area, apparently because of increased nutrients, light, and flow stability in urban streams, which often are regulated by dams. Biomass and diversity decreased with urbanization in the BIR study area because of intensive fish grazing and less stable flow regime. In the SLC study area, correlations between algal biomass, diversity, and urban intensity were positive but weak. Thus, algal responses to urbanization differed considerably among the three study areas. We concluded that the wide range of responses of benthic algae to urbanization implied that tools for stream bioassessment must be region specific. ?? 2005 by the American Fisheries Society.

The impact of urbanization and population density on childhood Plasmodium falciparum parasite prevalence rates in Africa.

PubMed

Kabaria, Caroline W; Gilbert, Marius; Noor, Abdisalan M; Snow, Robert W; Linard, Catherine

2017-01-26

Although malaria has been traditionally regarded as less of a problem in urban areas compared to neighbouring rural areas, the risk of malaria infection continues to exist in densely populated, urban areas of Africa. Despite the recognition that urbanization influences the epidemiology of malaria, there is little consensus on urbanization relevant for malaria parasite mapping. Previous studies examining the relationship between urbanization and malaria transmission have used products defining urbanization at global/continental scales developed in the early 2000s, that overestimate actual urban extents while the population estimates are over 15 years old and estimated at administrative unit level. This study sought to discriminate an urbanization definition that is most relevant for malaria parasite mapping using individual level malaria infection data obtained from nationally representative household-based surveys. Boosted regression tree (BRT) modelling was used to determine the effect of urbanization on malaria transmission and if this effect varied with urbanization definition. In addition, the most recent high resolution population distribution data was used to determine whether population density had significant effect on malaria parasite prevalence and if so, could population density replace urban classifications in modelling malaria transmission patterns. The risk of malaria infection was shown to decline from rural areas through peri-urban settlements to urban central areas. Population density was found to be an important predictor of malaria risk. The final boosted regression trees (BRT) model with urbanization and population density gave the best model fit (Tukey test p value <0.05) compared to the models with urbanization only. Given the challenges in uniformly classifying urban areas across different countries, population density provides a reliable metric to adjust for the patterns of malaria risk in densely populated urban areas. Future malaria risk models can, therefore, be improved by including both population density and urbanization which have both been shown to have significant impact on malaria risk in this study.

Environmental Assessment for the Installation of New Urban Operation Complex Targets and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Targets for the Nevada Test and Training Range

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

NTTR. The proposed target areas were selected due to topographic requirements for the targets. A canyon area would provide narrow ravines and...south end of the canyon (rim level) exists through R-76. An access road would be developed that extends from the mouth of the canyon south 1.8 to...buildings to represent barracks would be placed off and along the roads. A simulated fence would cross the mouth of the canyon at the north end. The

Analysing the impact of urban areas patterns on the mean annual flow of 43 urbanized catchments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salavati, B.; Oudin, L.; Furusho, C.; Ribstein, P.

2015-06-01

It is often argued that urban areas play a significant role in catchment hydrology, but previous studies reported disparate results of urbanization impacts on stream flow. This might stem either from the difficulty to quantify the historical flow changes attributed to urbanization only (and not climate variability) or from the inability to decipher what type of urban planning is more critical for flows. In this study, we applied a hydrological model on 43 urban catchments in the United States to quantify the flow changes attributable to urbanization. Then, we tried to relate these flow changes to the changes of urban/impervious areas of the catchments. We argue that these spatial changes of urban areas can be more precisely characterized by landscape metrics, which enable analysing the patterns of historical urban growth. Landscape metrics combine the richness (the number) and evenness (the spatial distribution) of patch types represented on the landscape. Urbanization patterns within the framework of patch analysis have been widely studied but, to our knowledge, previous research works had not linked them to catchments hydrological behaviours. Our results showed that the catchments with larger impervious areas and larger mean patch areas are likely to have larger increase of runoff yield.

Barriers to dog rabies vaccination during an urban rabies outbreak: Qualitative findings from Arequipa, Peru

PubMed Central

Brown, Joanna; Borrini, Katty; Arevalo, Claudia; Levy, Michael Z.; Buttenheim, Alison; Hunter, Gabrielle C.; Becerra, Victor; Behrman, Jere; Paz-Soldan, Valerie A.

2017-01-01

Background Canine rabies was reintroduced to the city of Arequipa, Peru in March 2015. The Ministry of Health has conducted a series of mass dog vaccination campaigns to contain the outbreak, but canine rabies virus transmission continues in Arequipa’s complex urban environment, putting the city’s 1 million inhabitants at risk of infection. The proximate driver of canine rabies in Arequipa is low dog vaccination coverage. Our objectives were to qualitatively assess barriers to and facilitators of rabies vaccination during mass campaigns, and to explore strategies to increase participation in future efforts. Methodology/Principal findings We conducted 8 focus groups (FG) in urban and peri-urban communities of Mariano Melgar district; each FG included both sexes, and campaign participants and non-participants. All FG were transcribed and then coded independently by two coders. Results were summarized using the Social Ecological Model. At the individual level, participants described not knowing enough about rabies and vaccination campaigns, mistrusting the campaign, and being unable to handle their dogs, particularly in peri-urban vs. urban areas. At the interpersonal level, we detected some social pressure to vaccinate dogs, as well as some disparaging of those who invest time and money in pet dogs. At the organizational level, participants found the campaign information to be insufficient and ill-timed, and campaign locations and personnel inadequate. At the community level, the influence of landscape and topography on accessibility to vaccination points was reported differently between participants from the urban and peri-urban areas. Poor security and impermanent housing materials in the peri-urban areas also drives higher prevalence of guard dog ownership for home protection; these dogs usually roam freely on the streets and are more difficult to handle and bring to the vaccination points. Conclusions A well-designed communication campaign could improve knowledge about canine rabies. Timely messages on where and when vaccination is occurring could increase dog owners’ perception of their own ability to bring their dogs to the vaccination points and be part of the campaign. Small changes in the implementation of the campaign at the vaccination points could increase the public’s trust and motivation. Location of vaccination points should take into account landscape and community concerns. PMID:28306717

The inter-relationships between urban dynamics and water resource and supply based on multitemporal analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldea, Alexandru; Aldea, Mihaela

2016-08-01

The growth and concentration of population, housing and industry in urban and suburban areas in the continuous evolution of a city over time causes complex social, economic, and physical challenges. The population and its relationship with the use and development of the land and water is a critical issue of urban growth, and since ancient times land, water and man were directly involved in the human populations' survival. Nevertheless the current potential of study over this relationship between urban growth, water supply, drainage and water resources conditions becomes more and more attractive due to the possibility to make use of the broader variety of information sources and technologies readily available in recent years, with emphasis on the open data and on the big data as primary sources. In this regard we present some new possibilities of analyses over the demographics, land use/land cover and water supply and conservation based on a study over a Romanian region of development (Bucharest-Ilfov). As urban development usually outgrows the existing water supply systems, the resolution consists in drilling new and deeper wells, building new water distribution pipelines, building longer aqueducts and larger reservoirs, or finding new sources and constructing completely new water supply systems, water supplies may evolve this way from a result into a cause and driver of urban growth. The evolution trends of the studied area was estimated based on the open satellite time-series imagery and remote sensing techniques by land use/land cover extraction and the identification of the changes in urbanization. The survey is mainly focused on the expansion of the water network in terms of areal, total length and number of connections correlated with the amount of water produced, consumed and lost within a supply zone. Some urban human activities including the industrial ones alter water resource by pollution, over pumping of groundwater, construction of dams and reservoirs. In areas of rapid growth the worse problems came from the inadequate amount of potable water, the continuous deterioration of water quality and the slow progress in the water resources management and supply. The effects of urban dynamics over the water use and sustainability deserves an increasing study over the recent history in order to provide for an optimal management of the interrelationships between them.

A community survey of the pattern and determinants of household sources of energy for cooking in rural and urban south western, Nigeria.

PubMed

Desalu, Olufemi Olumuyiwa; Ojo, Ololade Olusola; Ariyibi, Ebenezer Kayode; Kolawole, Tolutope Fasanmi; Ogunleye, Ayodele Idowu

2012-01-01

The use of solid fuels for cooking is associated with indoor pollution and lung diseases. The objective of the study was to determine the pattern and determinants of household sources of energy for cooking in rural and urban South Western, Nigeria. We conducted a cross sectional study of households in urban (Ado-Ekiti) and rural (Ido-Ekiti) local council areas from April to July 2010. Female respondents in the households were interviewed by trained interviewers using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 670 households participated in the study. Majority of rural dwellers used single source of energy for cooking (55.6%) and urban dwellers used multiple source of energy (57.8%). Solid fuel use (SFU) was higher in rural (29.6%) than in urban areas (21.7%). Kerosene was the most common primary source of energy for cooking in both urban and rural areas (59.0% vs.66.6%) followed by gas (17.8%) and charcoal (6.6%) in the urban areas, and firewood (21.6%) and charcoal (7.1%) in the rural areas. The use of solid fuel was strongly associated with lack of ownership of dwellings and larger household size in urban areas, and lower level of education and lower level of wealth in the rural areas. Kerosene was associated with higher level of husband education and modern housing in urban areas and younger age and indoor cooking in rural areas. Gas was associated with high income and modern housing in the urban areas and high level of wealth in rural areas. Electricity was associated with high level of education, availability of electricity and old age in urban and rural areas respectively. The use of solid fuel is high in rural areas, there is a need to reduce poverty and improve the use of cleaner source of cooking energy particularly in rural areas and improve lung health.

A community survey of the pattern and determinants of household sources of energy for cooking in rural and urban south western, Nigeria

PubMed Central

Desalu, Olufemi Olumuyiwa; Ojo, Ololade Olusola; Ariyibi, Ebenezer Kayode; Kolawole, Tolutope Fasanmi; Ogunleye, Ayodele Idowu

2012-01-01

Introduction The use of solid fuels for cooking is associated with indoor pollution and lung diseases. The objective of the study was to determine the pattern and determinants of household sources of energy for cooking in rural and urban South Western, Nigeria. Methods We conducted a cross sectional study of households in urban (Ado-Ekiti) and rural (Ido-Ekiti) local council areas from April to July 2010. Female respondents in the households were interviewed by trained interviewers using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results A total of 670 households participated in the study. Majority of rural dwellers used single source of energy for cooking (55.6%) and urban dwellers used multiple source of energy (57.8%). Solid fuel use (SFU) was higher in rural (29.6%) than in urban areas (21.7%). Kerosene was the most common primary source of energy for cooking in both urban and rural areas (59.0% vs.66.6%) followed by gas (17.8%) and charcoal (6.6%) in the urban areas, and firewood (21.6%) and charcoal (7.1%) in the rural areas. The use of solid fuel was strongly associated with lack of ownership of dwellings and larger household size in urban areas, and lower level of education and lower level of wealth in the rural areas. Kerosene was associated with higher level of husband education and modern housing in urban areas and younger age and indoor cooking in rural areas. Gas was associated with high income and modern housing in the urban areas and high level of wealth in rural areas. Electricity was associated with high level of education, availability of electricity and old age in urban and rural areas respectively. Conclusion The use of solid fuel is high in rural areas, there is a need to reduce poverty and improve the use of cleaner source of cooking energy particularly in rural areas and improve lung health. PMID:22826727

Urban and peri-urban precipitation and air temperature trends in mega cities of the world using multiple trend analysis methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajaaj, Aws A.; Mishra, Ashok K.; Khan, Abdul A.

2018-04-01

Urbanization plays an important role in altering local to regional climate. In this study, the trends in precipitation and the air temperature were investigated for urban and peri-urban areas of 18 mega cities selected from six continents (representing a wide range of climatic patterns). Multiple statistical tests were used to examine long-term trends in annual and seasonal precipitation and air temperature for the selected cities. The urban and peri-urban areas were classified based on the percentage of land imperviousness. Through this study, it was evident that removal of the lag-k serial correlation caused a reduction of approximately 20 to 30% in significant trend observability for temperature and precipitation data. This observation suggests that appropriate trend analysis methodology for climate studies is necessary. Additionally, about 70% of the urban areas showed higher positive air temperature trends, compared with peri-urban areas. There were not clear trend signatures (i.e., mix of increase or decrease) when comparing urban vs peri-urban precipitation in each selected city. Overall, cities located in dry areas, for example, in Africa, southern parts of North America, and Eastern Asia, showed a decrease in annual and seasonal precipitation, while wetter conditions were favorable for cities located in wet regions such as, southeastern South America, eastern North America, and northern Europe. A positive relationship was observed between decadal trends of annual/seasonal air temperature and precipitation for all urban and peri-urban areas, with a higher rate being observed for urban areas.

Potential for use of environmental factors in urban planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teixeira da Silva, Ricardo; van der Ploeg, Martine; van Delden, Hedwig; Fleskens, Luuk

2016-04-01

Projections for population growth estimate, on top of the current 7.4 billion world population, an increase of 2 billion people for the next 40 years. It is also projected that 66 per cent of the world population in 2050 will live in urban areas. To accommodate the urban population growth cities are changing continuously land cover to urban areas. Such changes are a threat for natural resources and food production systems stability and capability to provide food and other functions. However, little has been done concerning a rational soil management for food production in urban and peri-urban areas. This study focuses on the assessment of soil lost due to urban expansion and discusses the potential loss regarding the quality of the soil for food production and environmental functions. It is relevant to increase the knowledge on the role of soils in peri-urban areas and in the interaction of physical, environmental and social factors. The methodology consists of assessing the soil quality in and around urban and peri-urban areas. It focuses particularly on the physical properties and the environmental factors, for two periods of time and account the potential losses due to urban expansion. This project is on-going, therefore current advances will be presented and will look for a discussion on the contribution of soil quality for decision-making and land management in urban and peri-urban areas.

[Prediction and simulation of urban area expansion in Pearl River Delta Region under the RCPs climate scenarios].

PubMed

Jiang, Oun-ou; Deng, Xiang-zheng; Ke, Xin-li; Zhao, Chun-hong; Zhang, Wei

2014-12-01

The sizes and number of cities in China are increasing rapidly and complicated changes of urban land use system have occurred as the social economy develops rapidly. This study took the urban agglomeration of Pearl River Delta Region as the study area to explore the driving mechanism of dynamic changes of urban area in the urbanization process under the joint influence of natural environment and social economic conditions. Then the CA (cellular automata) model was used to predict and simulate the urban area changes until 2030 under the designed scenarios of planning and RCPs (representative concentration pathways). The results indicated that urbanization was mainly driven by the non-agricultural population growth and social-economic development, and the transportation had played a fundamental role in the whole process, while the areas with high elevation or steep slope restricted the urbanization. Besides, the urban area would keep an expanding trend regardless of the scenarios, however, the expanding speed would slow down with different inflection points under different scenarios. The urban expansion speed increased in the sequence of the planning scenario, MESSAGE scenario and AIM scenario, and that under the MESSAGE climate scenario was more consistent with the current urban development trend. In addition, the urban expansion would mainly concentrate in regions with the relatively high urbanization level, e.g., Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Shenzhen, Zhanjiang and Chaoshan.

Influence of landscape mosaic on streamflow of a peri-urban catchment under Mediterranean climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Carla; Walsh, Rory; Ferreira, António

2017-04-01

Peri-urban areas tend to be characterized by patchy landscape mosaics of different land-uses. Although the impact of land-use changes on catchment hydrology have been widely investigated, the impact of mixed land-use patterns on the streamflow of peri-urban areas is still poorly understood. This study aims to (i) explore and quantify streamflow delivery from sub-catchments characterized by distinct landscape mosaics; (ii) assess the impact of different urbanization styles on hydrograph properties; and (iii) explore the influence of urbanization type on flow connectivity and stream discharge. The study was carried out in Ribeira dos Covões, a small (6.2km2) peri-urban catchment in central Portugal. The climate is Mediterranean, with a mean annual rainfall of 892mm. Catchment geology comprises sandstone (56%), limestone (41%) and alluvial deposits (3%). Soils developed on sandstone are generally deep (>3m) Fluvisols and Podsols, whereas on limestone the Leptic Cambisols are typically shallow (<0.4m). Forest is the dominant land-use (56%), but urban areas cover an extensive area (40%), whereas agricultural land has declined to a very small area (4%). The urban area comprises contrasting urban styles, notably older discontinuous urban areas with buildings separated by gardens of low population density (<25 inhabitants km-2), and recent well-defined continuous urban cores dominated by apartment blocks and of high population density (9900 inhabitants km-2). The study uses hydrological data recorded over three hydrological years, starting in November 2010, in a monitoring network comprising eight streamflow gauging stations (instrumented with water level recorders) and five rainfall gauges. The gauging stations provide information on the discharge response to rainstorms of the catchment outlet and upstream sub-catchments of different size, urban pattern (in terms of percentage urban land-use and impervious area, distance to the stream network, and storm water management), and lithology (either sandstone or limestone). Annual storm runoff coefficients were lowest (13.7%) in catchments dominated by forest (>80%) and greatest (17.3-17.6%) in the most urbanized sub-catchments (49-53% urban). Impervious area seems to control streamflow particularly during dry periods. Winter runoff (streamflow per unit area) was 2-4 times higher than summer runoff in highly urbanized areas, but was 21-fold higher in winter than in summer in the least urbanized sub-catchment, indicating greater flow connectivity in winter, enhanced by increased soil moisture. Lithology also played an important role on hydrology, with sandstone sub-catchments exhibiting greater annual baseflow index values (23-46%) than found in limestone ones (<5%). For sub-catchments underlain by both lithologies, linear relationships were found between storm runoff coefficients and percentage urban and percentage impervious area, but with greater runoff responses in the sandstone ones. Nevertheless, linear regression lines for both lithologies get close to each other when the extent of urban areas reached about 50%. The proximity of urban areas to the stream network and whether urban storm runoff is directly piped to the stream network were important parameters influencing peak flows and response time. Landscape mosaics that include land-use patches of high soil permeability tend to provide locations of surface water retention and enhanced infiltration, thereby breaking flow connectivity between hillslope urban surfaces and the stream network. This kind of spatial pattern should be considered for urban planning, in order to minimize flood hazards.

Racial Prejudice and Locational Equilibrium in an Urban Area.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yinger, John

Racial prejudice is said to influence strongly the locational decisions of households in urban areas. This paper introduces racial prejudice into a model of an urban area and derives several results about residential location. A previously developed long-run model of an urban area adds a locational dimension to a model of the housing market under…

[Background and characteristics of migration to urban areas in Java].

PubMed

Kawamoto, I

1985-06-01

A review of urbanization trends in Java, Indonesia, is presented, with the focus on the background and characteristics of migrants to urban areas. Comparisons are made between the characteristics of laborers in the informal sector (housemaids) and those of factory workers, and between migrants from rural areas and those from other urban areas. (summary in ENG)

Rural-urban migration and child survival in urban Bangladesh: are the urban migrants and poor disadvantaged?

PubMed

Islam, M Mazharul; Azad, Kazi Md Abul Kalam

2008-01-01

This paper analyses the levels and trends of childhood mortality in urban Bangladesh, and examines whether children's survival chances are poorer among the urban migrants and urban poor. It also examines the determinants of child survival in urban Bangladesh. Data come from the 1999-2000 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. The results indicate that, although the indices of infant and child mortality are consistently better in urban areas, the urban-rural differentials in childhood mortality have diminished in recent years. The study identifies two distinct child morality regimes in urban Bangladesh: one for urban natives and one for rural-urban migrants. Under-five mortality is higher among children born to urban migrants compared with children born to life-long urban natives (102 and 62 per 1000 live births, respectively). The migrant-native mortality differentials more-or-less correspond with the differences in socioeconomic status. Like childhood mortality rates, rural-urban migrants seem to be moderately disadvantaged by economic status compared with their urban native counterparts. Within the urban areas, the child survival status is even worse among the migrant poor than among the average urban poor, especially recent migrants. This poor-non-poor differential in childhood mortality is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. The study findings indicate that rapid growth of the urban population in recent years due to rural-to-urban migration, coupled with higher risk of mortality among migrant's children, may be considered as one of the major explanations for slower decline in under-five mortality in urban Bangladesh, thus diminishing urban-rural differentials in childhood mortality in Bangladesh. The study demonstrates that housing conditions and access to safe drinking water and hygienic toilet facilities are the most critical determinants of child survival in urban areas, even after controlling for migration status. The findings of the study may have important policy implications for urban planning, highlighting the need to target migrant groups and the urban poor within urban areas in the provision of health care services.

Global assessment of urban and peri-urban agriculture: irrigated and rainfed croplands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thebo, A. L.; Drechsel, P.; Lambin, E. F.

2014-11-01

The role of urban agriculture in global food security is a topic of increasing discussion. Existing research on urban and peri-urban agriculture consists largely of case studies that frequently use disparate definitions of urban and peri-urban agriculture depending on the local context and study objectives. This lack of consistency makes quantification of the extent of this practice at the global scale difficult. This study instead integrates global data on croplands and urban extents using spatial overlay analysis to estimate the global area of urban and peri-urban irrigated and rainfed croplands. The global area of urban irrigated croplands was estimated at about 24 Mha (11.0 percent of all irrigated croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.48. The global area of urban rainfed croplands found was approximately 44 Mha (4.7 percent of all rainfed croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.03. These values were derived from the MIRCA2000 Maximum Monthly Cropped Area Grids for irrigated and rainfed crops and therefore their sum does not necessarily represent the total urban cropland area when the maximum extent of irrigated and rainfed croplands occurs in different months. Further analysis of croplands within 20 km of urban extents show that 60 and 35 percent of, respectively, all irrigated and rainfed croplands fall within this distance range.

Futures of global urban expansion: uncertainties and implications for biodiversity conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Güneralp, B.; Seto, K. C.

2013-03-01

Urbanization will place significant pressures on biodiversity across the world. However, there are large uncertainties in the amount and location of future urbanization, particularly urban land expansion. Here, we present a global analysis of urban extent circa 2000 and probabilistic forecasts of urban expansion for 2030 near protected areas and in biodiversity hotspots. We estimate that the amount of urban land within 50 km of all protected area boundaries will increase from 450 000 km2 circa 2000 to 1440 000 ± 65 000 km2 in 2030. Our analysis shows that protected areas around the world will experience significant increases in urban land within 50 km of their boundaries. China will experience the largest increase in urban land near protected areas with 304 000 ± 33 000 km2 of new urban land to be developed within 50 km of protected area boundaries. The largest urban expansion in biodiversity hotspots, over 100 000 ± 25 000 km2, is forecasted to occur in South America. Uncertainties in the forecasts of the amount and location of urban land expansion reflect uncertainties in their underlying drivers including urban population and economic growth. The forecasts point to the need to reconcile urban development and biodiversity conservation strategies.

Screening hundreds of emerging organic pollutants (EOPs) in surface water from the Yangtze River Delta (YRD): Occurrence, distribution, ecological risk.

PubMed

Peng, Ying; Fang, Wendi; Krauss, Martin; Brack, Werner; Wang, Zhihao; Li, Feilong; Zhang, Xiaowei

2018-06-04

Increased synthetic chemical production and diversification in developing countries caused serious aquatic pollution worldwide with emerging organic pollutants (EOPs) detected in surface water rising health concerns to human and aquatic ecosystem even at low ng/L concentration with long-term exposure. The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) area serves agriculture and industry for people in eastern China. However, the current knowledge on the occurrence and ecological risk of diverse EOPs which are present in the aquatic environment is limited. This study was to investigate the complexity and diversity of EOPs in surface water from 28 sampling sites, which were selected to represent urban, industrial or agriculture areas in the YRD area. In total 484 chemicals were analyze by a target screening approach using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS). 181 out of 484 EOPs were detected at least one site in the YRD area, and 44 analytes, mostly industrial chemicals and pesticides, were ubiquitous at all sampling sites. Most EOPs were industrial chemicals with 1H-benzotriazole and organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) as the chemicals with highest concentrations. For 21 pesticides, mostly herbicides, maximum concentrations of atrazine and isoproturon were above the annual average environmental quality standards of Europe. Amantadine and DEET were the dominant pharmceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the YRD area. Compared to urban areas (mostly in Qinhuai River), chemical profiles from industrial areas were more complex. Industrial activities likely have a strong impact on the composition of chemical mixtures in surface water from the YRD area. ISO E Super, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and clotrimazole detected in this study are potentially persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals. Furthermore, results of risk assessment showed that hazard quotients of dimethyldioctadecylammonium, didecyldimethylammonium and octocrylene were higher than one and occur frequently, which indicates possibly adverse effects on fish species in the YRD area. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating green infrastructure in urban environments using a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach.

PubMed

Pinho, Pedro; Correia, Otília; Lecoq, Miguel; Munzi, Silvana; Vasconcelos, Sasha; Gonçalves, Paula; Rebelo, Rui; Antunes, Cristina; Silva, Patrícia; Freitas, Catarina; Lopes, Nuno; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Branquinho, Cristina

2016-05-01

Forested areas within cities host a large number of species, responsible for many ecosystem services in urban areas. The biodiversity in these areas is influenced by human disturbances such as atmospheric pollution and urban heat island effect. To ameliorate the effects of these factors, an increase in urban green areas is often considered sufficient. However, this approach assumes that all types of green cover have the same importance for species. Our aim was to show that not all forested green areas are equal in importance for species, but that based on a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach it is possible to value green infrastructure in urban environments. After evaluating the diversity of lichens, butterflies and other-arthropods, birds and mammals in 31 Mediterranean urban forests in south-west Europe (Almada, Portugal), bird and lichen functional groups responsive to urbanization were found. A community shift (tolerant species replacing sensitive ones) along the urbanization gradient was found, and this must be considered when using these groups as indicators of the effect of urbanization. Bird and lichen functional groups were then analyzed together with the characteristics of the forests and their surroundings. Our results showed that, contrary to previous assumptions, vegetation density and more importantly the amount of urban areas around the forest (matrix), are more important for biodiversity than forest quantity alone. This indicated that not all types of forested green areas have the same importance for biodiversity. An index of forest functional diversity was then calculated for all sampled forests of the area. This could help decision-makers to improve the management of urban green infrastructures with the goal of increasing functionality and ultimately ecosystem services in urban areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Live-birth rates by age of mother and total fertility rates by urban and rural areas].

PubMed

Kaneko, T; Shiraishi, N; Kasahara, R

1983-07-01

Live birth rates by age of mother and total fertility rates by urban and rural areas in Japan are generally decreasing. Japanese women ages 15-49 were studied. Graphs presenting fertility rates according to age in 1975 and 1980 in urban and rural areas show that fertility rates are considerably higher in rural areas than in urban centers (by as much as 20% for the 25-29 age group). In a table showing urban/rural total fertility rates and distributions among prefectures in 1975 and 1980, the prefecture with the highest total fertility rate (2.88495 in 1975 and 2.37804 in 1980) is Okinawa and the lowest total fertility rate is found in Tokyo (1.62287 in 1975 and 1.43693 in 1980). The average total fertility rate in 1980 was 1.82849; in urban centers it was 1.78919 and rural areas, 1.92105. Finally, a comparison of total fertility rates by urban and rural areas and by age shows that in 1975 the rural fertility rate was .16 higher than that of urban areas, and that in 1980 all fertility rates (total, urban, and rural) were lower, with the rural fertility rate decreasing at the same rate as did the urban fertility rate in 1975. It is interesting to note that between 1975-1980 birth rates have been decreasing in both urban and rural areas in all age groups except for the 30-34 year old group which in urban centers was higher in 1980 than in rural areas. This can be attributed to the recent trend among Japanese women of delaying childbirth.

Temporal trend and determinants of river water quality across urbanization gradients in a coastal city, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, W.; Zhu, X.

2015-12-01

Water contamination in rivers embedded in urbanizing areas is increasingly affected by anthropogenic factors. The impacts may vary with location, time and water variables particularly in rapidly growing areas with clear urbanization gradients. Therefore, characterizing the temporal trend and identifying responsible divers to water quality changes in areas with different urbanization intensity could greatly improve our knowledge about human-water interactions. We employed geographically weighted regression (GWR) to interpret the determinants of river water quality changes in four urban development zones, i.e. central urban, suburban, central county and rural areas. Monitoring data of 8 variables- permanganate (CODMn), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), ammonium (NH3-N), petroleum (oil), volatile phenol (VP), phosphorus (TP), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) from 33 stations were collected from 2004, 2008 and 2010. Five determinants were identified: urban land use intensity, environmental policies, industrial zone expansion, land use composition, and gross domestic product (GDP). Relationships between these identified determinants and water quality changes showed great variations due to their different nature and sensitivity. Typically, for zones with higher urbanization intensity located in central cities and central counties, urban land use had positive impacts on river water quality improvement. However, in less urbanized areas, rapid urban expansion indicated rapid river water degradation. Environmental policies had distinct influences on river pollution control in highly-urbanized areas, but led to unexpected negative impacts in areas beyond the management priorities. Industrial activities were the major contributor to heavy metal pollution in suburban areas while boosted N, P decrease in central cities. Our study highlighted the importance of "local" management instead of one-size-fits-all system in mitigating undesirable impacts of urbanization on water environment.

Seasonal associations with urban light pollution for nocturnally migrating bird populations.

PubMed

La Sorte, Frank A; Fink, Daniel; Buler, Jeffrey J; Farnsworth, Andrew; Cabrera-Cruz, Sergio A

2017-11-01

The spatial extent and intensity of artificial light at night (ALAN) has increased worldwide through the growth of urban environments. There is evidence that nocturnally migrating birds are attracted to ALAN, and there is evidence that nocturnally migrating bird populations are more likely to occur in urban areas during migration, especially in the autumn. Here, we test if urban sources of ALAN are responsible, at least in part, for these observed urban associations. We use weekly estimates of diurnal occurrence and relative abundance for 40 nocturnally migrating bird species that breed in forested environments in North America to assess how associations with distance to urban areas and ALAN are defined across the annual cycle. Migratory bird populations presented stronger than expected associations with shorter distances to urban areas during migration, and stronger than expected association with higher levels of ALAN outside and especially within urban areas during migration. These patterns were more pronounced during autumn migration, especially within urban areas. Outside of the two migration periods, migratory bird populations presented stronger than expected associations with longer distances to urban areas, especially during the nonbreeding season, and weaker than expected associations with the highest levels of ALAN outside and especially within urban areas. These findings suggest that ALAN is associated with higher levels of diurnal abundance along the boundaries and within the interior of urban areas during migration, especially in the autumn when juveniles are undertaking their first migration journey. These findings support the conclusion that urban sources of ALAN can broadly effect migratory behavior, emphasizing the need to better understand the implications of ALAN for migratory bird populations. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Urban land use in Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius Region, Lithuania.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, Paulo; Misiūnė, Ieva; Depellegrin, Daniel

2015-04-01

Urban development is one of the major causes of land degradation and pressure on protected areas. (Hansen and DeFries, 2007; Salvati and Sabbi, 2011). The urban areas in the fringe of the protected areas are a source of pollutants considered a negative disturbance to the ecosystems services and biodiversity within the protected areas. The distance between urban and protected areas is decreasing and in the future it is estimated that 88% of the world protected areas will be affected by urban growth (McDonald et al., 2008). The surrounding or buffer areas, are lands adjacent to the Natura 2000 territories, which aim to reduce the human influence within the protected areas. Presently there is no common definition of buffer area it is not clear among stakeholders (Van Dasselaar, 2013). The objective of this work is to identify the urban land use in the Natura 2000 areas in Vilnius region, Lithuania. Data from Natura 2000 areas and urban land use (Corine Land Cover 2006) in Vilnius region were collected in the European Environmental Agency website (http://www.eea.europa.eu/). In the surroundings of each Natura 2000 site, we identified the urban land use at the distances of 500, 1000 and 1500 m. The Natura 2000 sites and the urban areas occupied a total of 13.2% and 3.4% of Vilnius region, respectively. However, the urban areas are very dispersed in the territory, especially in the surroundings of Vilnius, which since the end of the XX century is growing (Pereira et al., 2014). This can represent a major threat to Natura 2000 areas ecosystem services quality and biodiversity. Overall, urban areas occupied approximately 50 km2, in the buffer area of 500 m, 95 km2 in buffer area of 1000 m and 131 km2 in the buffer area of 1500 km2. This shows that Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius region are subjected to a high urban pressure. This is especially evident in the Vilnius city and is a consequence of the uncontrolled urban development. The lack of a clear legislation regarding the land use of the Natura 2000 buffer areas is contributing to the degradation of the services provide by these areas. Acknowledgments RECARE (Preventing and Remediating Degradation of Soils in Europe Through Land Care, FP7-ENV-2013-TWO STAGE), funded by the European Commission, for the COST action ES1306 (Connecting European connectivity research) and COST Action IS1204 Tourism, Wellbeing and Ecosystem Services (TObeWELL) References Dasselaar, I.V. (2013) The impact of a buffer zone. The influence of the introduction of buffer zones surrounding Natura 2000 areas on local actors, the case of het Boetelerveld in the Netherlands. Master Thesis Forest and Nature Conservation, Forest and Nature Conservation Policy group, 69 p. Hansen, A.J. (2007) Ecological mechanisms linking protected areas to surrounding lands. Ecological Applications, 17, 974-978. McDonald, R.I., Kareiva, P., Forman, R.T.T. (2008) The implications of current and future urbanization for global protected areas and biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation, 141, 1695-1703. Pereira, P., Monkevicius, A., Siarova, A. (2014) Public perception of the Environmental, Social and Economic impacts of Urban Sprawl in Vilnius. Societal Studies, 6, 256-290. Salvati, L., Sabbi, A. (2011) Exploring long-term land cover changes in an urban region of southern of Europe. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 18, 273-282.

Blue and green infrastructures implementation to solve stormwater management issues in a new urban development project - a modelling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Versini, Pierre-Antoine; Tchiguirinskaia, Ioulia; Schertzer, Daniel

2016-04-01

Concentrating buildings and socio-economic activities, urban areas are particularly vulnerable to hydrological risks. Modification in climate may intensify already existing issues concerning stormwater management (due to impervious area) and water supply (due to the increase of the population). In this context, water use efficiency and best water management practices are key-issues in the urban environment already stressed. Blue and green infrastructures are nature-based solutions that provide synergy of the blue and green systems to provide multifunctional solutions and multiple benefits: increased amenity, urban heat island improvement, biodiversity, reduced energy requirements... They are particularly efficient to reduce the potential impact of new and existing developments with respect to stormwater and/or water supply issues. The Multi-Hydro distributed rainfall-runoff model represents an adapted tool to manage the impacts of such infrastructures at the urban basin scale. It is a numerical platform that makes several models interact, each of them representing a specific portion of the water cycle in an urban environment: surface runoff and infiltration depending on a land use classification, sub-surface processes and sewer network drainage. Multi-Hydro is still being developed at the Ecole des Ponts (open access from https://hmco.enpc.fr/Tools-Training/Tools/Multi-Hydro.php) to take into account the wide complexity of urban environments. The latest advancements have made possible the representation of several blue and green infrastructures (green roof, basin, swale). Applied in a new urban development project located in the Paris region, Multi-Hydro has been used to simulate the impact of blue and green infrastructures implementation. It was particularly focused on their ability to fulfil regulation rules established by local stormwater managers in order to connect the parcel to the sewer network. The results show that a combination of several blue and green infrastructures, if they are widely implemented, could represent an efficient tool to ensure regulation rules at the parcel scale.

Urban and Suburban Influences on Water Chemistry in Washington DC: Impervious Surfaces and Urban Stream Syndrome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacAvoy, S. E.; Petersen, E.

2015-12-01

Among the challenges facing urban rivers are water stormwater runoff problems and changing water chemistry, not only from air and water pollution sources, but also from altered geology with the development of "urban karst". Seventy five percent of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. is urban or impervious. The Anacostia River experiences environmental challenges similar to those of other urban industrial rivers (heavy metal, PCB and PAH contamination). It also has Ca/Sr ratios above 200, and Na concentrations higher than Ca, and elevated ionic strength, all associated with extended chemical interaction with concrete. While these chemical characteristics have been documented in the urban areas within DC, they have not been examined in the largely suburban/mixed development tributaries of the Anacostia. Here we examine the base-flow geochemistry of the Anacostia River and its suburban tributaries (6 locations) over a year (November 2014- August 2015), concentrating on the following water chemistry variables: pH, hardness, SAR, alkalinity, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe, Mn, Zn, Al, Ba, Ni, total P, S, Sr, NO3-, NH4+, PO43-. NO3- and NH4+ were generally lowest in at all sites in January, but rose to between 0.5 and 2.4 mg/L in June, with highest NO3- concentrations in suburban areas. Na and Cl concentrations were 5x higher in suburban areas than urban areas during the winter months. Ca/Sr concentration ratios, were between 120 and 200 for suburban sites but increased as the sites became more urban (to a high of 240 for the most urban site). These trends have been observed in other urban streams, and correlate with percent impervious area. The data follow patterns expected for "urban stream syndrome" and dissolution of concrete. Suburban areas, with their relatively small streams, show greater winter salting effects than more urban areas down stream. Suburban areas also show higher NO3- (and occasionally higher NH4+) than urban areas except in winter. The data presented here demonstrates that the geochemistry of highly urbanized systems may be significantly altered and should be better understood in order to assess urban impacts on water quality.

Evaluation of Urban Drainage Infrastructure: New York City Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamidi, A.; Grossberg, M.; Khanbilvardi, R.

2017-12-01

Flood response in an urban area is the product of interactions of spatially and temporally varying rainfall and infrastructures. In urban areas, however, the complex sub-surface networks of tunnels, waste and storm water drainage systems are often inaccessible, pose challenges for modeling and prediction of the drainage infrastructure performance. The increased availability of open data in cities is an emerging information asset for a better understanding of the dynamics of urban water drainage infrastructure. This includes crowd sourced data and community reporting. A well-known source of this type of data is the non-emergency hotline "311" which is available in many US cities, and may contain information pertaining to the performance of physical facilities, condition of the environment, or residents' experience, comfort and well-being. In this study, seven years of New York City 311 (NYC311) call during 2010-2016 is employed, as an alternative approach for identifying the areas of the city most prone to sewer back up flooding. These zones are compared with the hydrologic analysis of runoff flooding zones to provide a predictive model for the City. The proposed methodology is an example of urban system phenomenology using crowd sourced, open data. A novel algorithm for calculating the spatial distribution of flooding complaints across NYC's five boroughs is presented in this study. In this approach, the features that represent reporting bias are separated from those that relate to actual infrastructure system performance. The sewer backup results are assessed with the spatial distribution of runoff in NYC during 2010-2016. With advances in radar technologies, a high spatial-temporal resolution data set for precipitation is available for most of the United States that can be implemented in hydrologic analysis of dense urban environments. High resolution gridded Stage IV radar rainfall data along with the high resolution spatially distributed land cover data are employed to investigate the urban pluvial flooding. The monthly results of excess runoff are compared with the sewer backup in NYC to build a predictive model of flood zones according to the 311 phone calls.

Comparison of dietary habits in the urban and rural Croatian schoolchildren.

PubMed

Colić-Barić, Irena; Kajfez, Romana; Satalić, Zvonimir; Cvjetić, Selma

2004-06-01

Post-war socio-economic changes in Croatia probably affected dietary habits, and dietary data about schoolchildren after the war are missing. The aim of the study was to compare current nutrient intakes and dietary behavior between urban and rural schoolchildren in Croatia. A completely quantified Food Frequency Questionnaire was used. Subjects were 315 urban and 163 rural schoolchildren. Mean age was 12.5 and 12.6 years in the urban and rural area, respectively. Consumption of fast food, soft drinks and alcohol was more prevalent and more linked with dietary behavior in the urban than in the rural area. In both living areas protein intake was excessive (in the urban area 38.1% of subjects and in the rural 36.2% of subjects had protein intake higher than 200% RDA). Under 75% RDA/DRI in both living areas was observed for vitamin D, folate, calcium and selenium. Micronutrient intakes negatively correlated with age in both living areas, but were more pronounced in the urban area. The urban sample had more adequate energy and nutrient intakes which is consistent with prewar findings.

Sprawl in European urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prastacos, Poulicos; Lagarias, Apostolos

2016-08-01

In this paper the 2006 edition of the Urban Atlas database is used to tabulate areas of low development density, usually referred to as "sprawl", for many European cities. The Urban Atlas database contains information on the land use distribution in the 305 largest European cities. Twenty different land use types are recognized, with six of them representing urban fabric. Urban fabric classes are residential areas differentiated by the density of development, which is measured by the sealing degree parameter that ranges from 0% to 100% (non-developed, fully developed). Analysis is performed on the distribution of the middle to low density areas defined as those with sealing degree less than 50%. Seven different country groups in which urban areas have similar sprawl characteristics are identified and some key characteristics of sprawl are discussed. Population of an urban area is another parameter considered in the analysis. Two spatial metrics, average patch size and mean distance to the nearest neighboring patch of the same class, are used to describe proximity/separation characteristics of sprawl in the urban areas of the seven groups.

Does Core Area Theory Apply to STIs in Rural Environments?

PubMed Central

Gesink, Dionne C; Sullivan, Ashleigh B; Norwood, Todd; Serre, Marc L; Miller, William C

2012-01-01

Background Our objective was to determine the extent to which geographical core areas for gonorrhea and syphilis are located in rural areas, as compared to urban areas. Methods Incident gonorrhea (January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2010) and syphilis (January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2010) rates were estimated and mapped by census tract and quarter. Rurality was measured using percent rural and rural-urban commuting area (RUCA; rural, small town, micropolitan, or urban). SaTScan was used to identify spatiotemporal clusters of significantly elevated rates of infection. Clusters lasting five years or longer were considered core areas; clusters of shorter duration were considered outbreaks. Clusters were overlaid on maps of rurality and qualitatively assessed for correlation. Results Twenty gonorrhea core areas were identified; 65% in urban centers, 25% in micropolitan areas, and the remaining 10% were geographically large capturing combinations of urban, micropolitan, small town and rural environments. Ten syphilis core areas were identified with 80% in urban centers and 20% capturing two or more RUCAs. All ten of the syphilis core areas (100%) overlapped with gonorrhea core areas. Conclusions Gonorrhea and syphilis rates were high for rural parts of North Carolina; however, no core areas were identified exclusively for small towns or rural areas. The main pathway of rural STI transmission may be through the interconnectedness of urban, micropolitan, small town and rural areas. Directly addressing STIs in urban and micropolitan communities may also indirectly help address STI rates in rural and small town communities. PMID:23254115

Towards the systematic development of medical networking technology.

PubMed

Faust, Oliver; Shetty, Ravindra; Sree, S Vinitha; Acharya, Sripathi; Acharya U, Rajendra; Ng, E Y K; Poo, Chua Kok; Suri, Jasjit

2011-12-01

Currently, there is a disparity in the availability of doctors between urban and rural areas of developing countries. Most experienced doctors and specialists, as well as advanced diagnostic technologies, are available in urban areas. People living in rural areas have less or sometimes even no access to affordable healthcare facilities. Increasing the number of doctors and charitable medical hospitals or deploying advanced medical technologies in these areas might not be economically feasible, especially in developing countries. We need to mobilize science and technology to master this complex, large scale problem in an objective, logical, and professional way. This can only be achieved with a collaborative effort where a team of experts works on both technical and non-technical aspects of this health care divide. In this paper we use a systems engineering framework to discuss hospital networks which might be solution for the problem. We argue that with the advancement in communication and networking technologies, economically middle class people and even some rural poor have access to internet and mobile communication systems. Thus, Hospital Digital Networking Technologies (HDNT), such as telemedicine, can be developed to utilize internet, mobile and satellite communication systems to connect primitive rural healthcare centers to well advanced modern urban setups and thereby provide better consultation and diagnostic care to the needy people. This paper describes requirements and limitations of the HDNTs. It also presents the features of telemedicine, the implementation issues and the application of wireless technologies in the field of medical networking.

Anesthesia and the role of short-term service delivery in developing countries.

PubMed

Froese, Alison

2007-11-01

To clarify the ongoing need for involvement of anesthesiologists in short-term surgical projects in developing countries, and provide information to guide the selection of, application for, and preparation for these rewarding experiences. The lack of safe anesthesia services severely limits the performance of needed surgical procedures in developing countries around the world. Even in countries where well-trained anesthesiologists are available in major urban centres, resources are often absent or limited for large numbers of people in rural or remote areas. Anesthesiologists are highly sought members of surgical teams. Internet sites provide extensive project information. Projects occur in Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Projects can bring specialized surgical expertise to an otherwise well-serviced urban area, or work in remote areas that have surgical services only when a team comes. Available equipment, drugs, housing, food and transportation vary markedly with project site. Flexibility, adaptability and problem-solving skills are essential. Translators provide language assistance. Anesthesiologists who have experience providing anesthetics in settings with less technological support can assist other anesthesiologists in adapting to less sophisticated settings. Severe shortages of trained health professionals plague developing countries, reflecting complex economic and political problems that will require decades for resolution. Until such time as surgical services are widely available and affordable in remote as well as urban areas of developing countries, anesthesiologists will continue to provide a valuable and personally rewarding contribution through short-term assistance.

Surface water areas significantly impacted 2014 dengue outbreaks in Guangzhou, China

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tian, Huaiyu; Huang, Shanqian

Dengue transmission in urban areas is strongly influenced by a range of biological and environmental factors, yet the key drivers still need further exploration. To better understand mechanisms of environment–mosquito–urban dengue transmission, we propose an empirical model parameterized and cross-validated from a unique dataset including viral gene sequences, vector dynamics and human dengue cases in Guangzhou, China, together with a 36-year urban environmental change maps investigated by spatiotemporal satellite image fusion. The dengue epidemics in Guangzhou are highly episodic and were not associated with annual rainfall over time. Our results indicate that urban environmental changes, especially variations in surface areamore » covered by water in urban areas, can substantially alter the virus population and dengue transmission. The recent severe dengue outbreaks in Guangzhou may be due to the surge in an artificial lake construction, which could increase infection force between vector (mainly Aedes albopictus) and host when urban water area significantly increased. Impacts of urban environmental change on dengue dynamics may not have been thoroughly investigated in the past studies and more work needs to be done to better understand the consequences of urbanization processes in our changing world. - Highlights: • Urban dengue outbreak is associated with water area in Guangzhou, 1978–2014. • Surface water area can alter population size of dengue virus in urban area. • Urban dengue outbreak is not associated with annual rainfall in Guangzhou. • Spatiotemporal satellite image fusion can investigate urban environmental change. • Urban environmental change could induce virus, vector, and dengue epidemic change.« less

Methods of Evaluation of the State and Efficiency of the Urban Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patrakeyev, I.; Ziborov, V.; Lazorenko-Hevel, N.

2017-12-01

Today, humanity is experiencing an "urban age", and therefore issues of good management of energy consumption and energy spent on utilization of waste in cities are becoming particularly acute. In this regard, the working group of the World Energy Council proposed a concept of the "energy balance" of the urban environment. This concept was that the energy produced should cover the energy consumed. Metabolism of the urban environment is so hot and so rarely studied by urban planners. This condition is linked first with the fact that metabolism is nothing more than a network of exchange of physical, energy resources and information. This is the real point of meeting the natural, technological, social, economic processes and their transformation into one another. Metabolism is the most important tool for knowing the real mechanics of the movement of resources in such a complex system as the urban environment. The content of the article is an analysis of significant energy and material flows characterizing the metabolism of the urban environment. We considered in the article a new energy paradigm. This paradigm will help in carrying out research in such areas as reducing the burden on the state of the environment, reducing environmental problems and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Methods and models of metabolic processes in the urban environment will allow to implement in practice the concept of sustainable development of the urban environment, which is the development of the teaching V. Vernadsky about the noosphere.

Characteristics of the road and surrounding environment in metropolitan shopping strips: association with the frequency and severity of single-vehicle crashes.

PubMed

Stephan, Karen L; Newstead, Stuart V

2014-01-01

Modeling crash risk in urban areas is more complicated than in rural areas due to the complexity of the environment and the difficulty obtaining data to fully characterize the road and surrounding environment. Knowledge of factors that impact crash risk and severity in urban areas can be used for countermeasure development and the design of risk assessment tools for practitioners. This research aimed to identify the characteristics of the road and roadside, surrounding environment, and sociodemographic factors associated with single-vehicle crash (SVC) frequency and severity in complex urban environments, namely, strip shopping center road segments. A comprehensive evidence-based list of data required for measuring the influence of the road, roadside, and other factors on crash risk was developed. The data included a broader range of factors than those traditionally considered in accident prediction models. One hundred and forty-two strip shopping segments located on arterial roads in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, were identified. Police-reported casualty data were used to determine how many SVC occurred on the segments between 2005 and 2009. Data describing segment characteristics were collected from a diverse range of sources; for example, administrative government databases (traffic volume, speed limit, pavement condition, sociodemographic data, liquor licensing), detailed maps, on-line image sources, and digital images of arterial roads collected for the Victorian state road authority. Regression models for count data were used to identify factors associated with SVC frequency. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with serious and fatal outcomes. One hundred and seventy SVC occurred on the 142 selected road segments during the 5-year study period. A range of factors including traffic exposure, road cross section (curves, presence of median), road type, requirement for sharing the road with other vehicle types (trams and bicycles), roadside poles, and local amenities were associated with SVC frequency. A different set of risk factors was associated with the odds of a crash leading to a severe outcome: segment length, road cross section (curves, carriageway width), pavement condition, local amenities and vehicle, and driver factors. The presence of curves was the only factor associated with both SVC frequency and severity. A range of risk factors were associated with SVC frequency and severity in complex urban areas (metropolitan shopping strips), including traditionally studied characteristics such as traffic density and road design but also less commonly studied characteristics such as local amenities. Future behavioral research is needed to further investigate how and why these factors change the risk and severity of crashes before effective countermeasures can be developed.

Structural impact response for assessing railway vibration induced on buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kouroussis, Georges; Mouzakis, Harris P.; Vogiatzis, Konstantinos E.

2018-03-01

Over the syears, the rapid growth in railway infrastructure has led to numerous environmental challenges. One such significant issue, particularly in urban areas, is ground-borne vibration. A common source of ground-borne vibration is caused by local defects (e.g. rail joints, switches, turnouts, etc.) that generate large amplitude excitations at isolated locations. Modelling these excitation sources is particularly challenging and requires the use of complex and extensive computational efforts. For some situations, the use of experiments and measured data offers a rapid way to estimate the effect of such defects and to evaluate the railway vibration levels using a scoping approach. In this paper, the problem of railway-induced ground vibrations is presented along with experimental studies to assess the ground vibration and ground borne noise levels, with a particular focus on the structural response of sensitive buildings. The behaviour of particular building foundations is evaluated through experimental data collected in Brussels Region, by presenting the expected frequency responses for various types of buildings, taking into account both the soil-structure interaction and the tramway track response. A second study is dedicated to the Athens metro, where transmissibility functions are used to analyse the effect of various Athenian building face to metro network trough comprehensive measurement campaigns. This allows the verification of appropriate vibration mitigation measures. These benchmark applications based on experimental results have been proved to be efficient to treat a complex problem encountered in practice in urban areas, where the urban rail network interacts with important local defects and where the rise of railway ground vibration problems has clearly been identified.

Comparison between motorcyclist’ violation behavior and accidents in urban and rural area in Indonesia: A comparative study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmawati, N.; Widyanti, A.

2017-12-01

Some studies stated that the main factor related to the accident was driving behavior. This study aims to explore the differences between motorcyclist” behaviour and repetitive violation behaviour in two different area, urban and rural area in Indonesia. Respondents were selected based on convenience sampling method in Bandung as a representative of urban area and Kulon Progo as a representative of rural area. They were asked to fill in a questionnaire about driving behaviour, consists of 10 dimensions or 51 questions with Likert scales ranging from 1 (very often) to 6 (never). The results of this study shows that the motorcyclists’ behavior differ significantly between rural and urban area. Motorcyclists in the urban area (Bandung) are more committed to violations than in rural area (Kulon Progo). This result is not in line with previous studies in Australia and United States which stated that motorcyclists in rural area more frequently speeding than in urban area. Implications of the result are discussed.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Urban Heat Island and Urban Metabolism by Satellite Imagery over the Phoenix Metropolitan Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Q.; Zhan, S.; Kuai, X.; Zhan, Q.

2015-12-01

The goal of this research is to combine DMSP-OLS nighttime light data with Landsat imagery and use spatio-temporal analysis methods to evaluate the relationships between urbanization processes and temperature variation in Phoenix metropolitan area. The urbanization process is a combination of both land use change within the existing urban environment as well as urban sprawl that enlarges the urban area through the transformation of rural areas to urban structures. These transformations modify the overall urban climate environment, resulting in higher nighttime temperatures in urban areas compared to the surrounding rural environment. This is a well-known and well-studied phenomenon referred to as the urban heat island effect (UHI). What is unknown is the direct relationship between the urbanization process and the mechanisms of the UHI. To better understand this interaction, this research focuses on using nighttime light satellite imagery to delineate and detect urban extent changes and utilizing existing land use/land cover map or newly classified imagery from Landsat to analyze the internal urban land use variations. These data are combined with summer and winter land surface temperature data extracted from Landsat. We developed a time series of these combined data for Phoenix, AZ from 1992 to 2013 to analyze the relationships among land use change, land surface temperature and urban growth.

Winter Bird Assemblages in Rural and Urban Environments: A National Survey.

PubMed

Tryjanowski, Piotr; Sparks, Tim H; Biaduń, Waldemar; Brauze, Tomasz; Hetmański, Tomasz; Martyka, Rafał; Skórka, Piotr; Indykiewicz, Piotr; Myczko, Łukasz; Kunysz, Przemysław; Kawa, Piotr; Czyż, Stanisław; Czechowski, Paweł; Polakowski, Michał; Zduniak, Piotr; Jerzak, Leszek; Janiszewski, Tomasz; Goławski, Artur; Duduś, Leszek; Nowakowski, Jacek J; Wuczyński, Andrzej; Wysocki, Dariusz

2015-01-01

Urban development has a marked effect on the ecological and behavioural traits of many living organisms, including birds. In this paper, we analysed differences in the numbers of wintering birds between rural and urban areas in Poland. We also analysed species richness and abundance in relation to longitude, latitude, human population size, and landscape structure. All these parameters were analysed using modern statistical techniques incorporating species detectability. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km2 each) in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 urban areas across Poland (in each urban area we surveyed 3 squares and 3 squares in nearby rural areas). The influence of twelve potential environmental variables on species abundance and richness was assessed with Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Principal Components and Detrended Correspondence Analyses. Totals of 72 bird species and 89,710 individual birds were recorded in this study. On average (± SE) 13.3 ± 0.3 species and 288 ± 14 individuals were recorded in each square in each survey. A formal comparison of rural and urban areas revealed that 27 species had a significant preference; 17 to rural areas and 10 to urban areas. Moreover, overall abundance in urban areas was more than double that of rural areas. There was almost a complete separation of rural and urban bird communities. Significantly more birds and more bird species were recorded in January compared to December. We conclude that differences between rural and urban areas in terms of winter conditions and the availability of resources are reflected in different bird communities in the two environments.

The Complexities of Systems Change in Creating Equity for Students with Disabilities in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kozleski, Elizabeth B.; Smith, Anne

2009-01-01

This article explores the complexities of urban school improvement and systems change through the lens of educational equity policy initiatives. The authors situate urban schools within a critical context where contested identity politics, sociopolitical agendas, and economic stratification marginalize culturally and linguistically diverse…

An R Package for Open, Reproducible Analysis of Urban Water Systems, With Application to Chicago

EPA Science Inventory

Urban water systems consist of natural and engineered flows of water interacting in complex ways. System complexity can be understood via mass conservative models that account for the interrelationships among all major flows and storages. We have developed a generic urban water s...

Applications of Fractal Analytical Techniques in the Estimation of Operational Scale

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emerson, Charles W.; Quattrochi, Dale A.

2000-01-01

The observational scale and the resolution of remotely sensed imagery are essential considerations in the interpretation process. Many atmospheric, hydrologic, and other natural and human-influenced spatial phenomena are inherently scale dependent and are governed by different physical processes at different spatial domains. This spatial and operational heterogeneity constrains the ability to compare interpretations of phenomena and processes observed in higher spatial resolution imagery to similar interpretations obtained from lower resolution imagery. This is a particularly acute problem, since longterm global change investigations will require high spatial resolution Earth Observing System (EOS), Landsat 7, or commercial satellite data to be combined with lower resolution imagery from older sensors such as Landsat TM and MSS. Fractal analysis is a useful technique for identifying the effects of scale changes on remotely sensed imagery. The fractal dimension of an image is a non-integer value between two and three which indicates the degree of complexity in the texture and shapes depicted in the image. A true fractal surface exhibits self-similarity, a property of curves or surfaces where each part is indistinguishable from the whole, or where the form of the curve or surface is invariant with respect to scale. Theoretically, if the digital numbers of a remotely sensed image resemble an ideal fractal surface, then due to the self-similarity property, the fractal dimension of the image will not vary with scale and resolution, and the slope of the fractal dimension-resolution relationship would be zero. Most geographical phenomena, however, are not self-similar at all scales, but they can be modeled by a stochastic fractal in which the scaling properties of the image exhibit patterns that can be described by statistics such as area-perimeter ratios and autocovariances. Stochastic fractal sets relax the self-similarity assumption and measure many scales and resolutions to represent the varying form of a phenomenon as the pixel size is increased in a convolution process. We have observed that for images of homogeneous land covers, the fractal dimension varies linearly with changes in resolution or pixel size over the range of past, current, and planned space-borne sensors. This relationship differs significantly in images of agricultural, urban, and forest land covers, with urban areas retaining the same level of complexity, forested areas growing smoother, and agricultural areas growing more complex as small pixels are aggregated into larger, mixed pixels. Images of scenes having a mixture of land covers have fractal dimensions that exhibit a non-linear, complex relationship to pixel size. Measuring the fractal dimension of a difference image derived from two images of the same area obtained on different dates showed that the fractal dimension increased steadily, then exhibited a sharp decrease at increasing levels of pixel aggregation. This breakpoint of the fractal dimension/resolution plot is related to the spatial domain or operational scale of the phenomenon exhibiting the predominant visible difference between the two images (in this case, mountain snow cover). The degree to which an image departs from a theoretical ideal fractal surface provides clues as to how much information is altered or lost in the processes of rescaling and rectification. The measured fractal dimension of complex, composite land covers such as urban areas also provides a useful textural index that can assist image classification of complex scenes.

Urban Heat Island in the city of Bari (Italy) ant its relationship with morphological features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceppi, C.; Balena, P.; Loconte, P.; Mancini, F.

2012-04-01

The investigation of an Urban Heat Island (UHI) and its relationship with the wide range of factors able to explain its behavior is a very difficult task: the main trouble is represented by the spatial variability of the urban temperature due to the extreme heterogeneousness of the urban coverage and morphological features. In literature it is known that the local surface temperatures are influenced by the changing characteristics in urban surface and modification of land surface processes affecting the surface energy balance and the shape of boundary layer. The whole processes could lead to distinct urban climates. This work is mainly focused on the mechanisms which are actually connecting the urban morphology with the surface temperature as derived by satellite data provided from the ASTER sensor. Urban morphology could be described by several factors depending on the selected scale of analysis. At the macroscale the UHI is more related to the land-use, environmental context and boundary conditions. At the microscale the surface characteristics, urban density, ratio between green and built areas and, construction and built typology are more involved in addition to the composite indicators such as the Sky View factor and the elevation of the built texture. The case study of the city of Bari is faced. It is a medium sized city in the southern Italy, characterized by the presence of a pervasive waterfront and presence of "lame", a natural erosive furrows shallow that are typical of the Apulia country side. Such ephemeral streams convey the stormwater from the plateau of the hilly Murgia areas to the sea. Moreover, the urban complexity of the city exacerbates the spatial variability of the phenomenon. The first step aim at the investigating of the relationship between the thermal behavior and the above mentioned factors by the construction of a set of homogeneous morphological units. The classification is built both in the urban and rural zone. The second step focuses on the development of a spatial statistical analysis based on qualitative and quantitative indicators able to link the classes of urban morphology with the satellite-based surface temperature. The relationships highlighted by such a spatial analysis can be used to model the urban climate and, consequently, develop a new kind of planning more addressed towards the mitigation of the UHI phenomenon.

24 CFR 599.303 - Rating of applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... the area poverty rate, area unemployment rate, and for urban areas, the percentage of families below... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Rating of applications. 599.303 Section 599.303 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development...

Assessing the resilience of urban areas to traffic-related air pollution: Application in Greater Paris.

PubMed

Cariolet, Jean-Marie; Colombert, Morgane; Vuillet, Marc; Diab, Youssef

2018-02-15

Recent studies report that outdoor air pollution will become the main environmental cause of premature death over the next few decades (OECD, 2012; WHO, 2014; World Bank, 2016). Cities are considered hot spots and urban populations are particularly exposed. There is therefore an urgent need to adapt urban systems and urban design to tackle this issue. While most European cities have introduced measures to reduce emissions, action is still required to reduce concentrations and exposure, and a holistic approach to urban design is badly needed. The concept of urban resilience, defined by Holling (1987) as the ability of a city to absorb a disturbance while maintaining its functions and structures, may offer a new paradigm for tackling urban air pollution. We propose to adapt the concept of urban resilience to outdoor air pollution. A method has been developed to assess the resilience of an urban area to outdoor air pollution. Three "resilience capacities" have been identified: the capacity of an urban area to decrease air pollution emissions, the capacity to decrease concentrations and the capacity to decrease exposure. The calculation is based on the analysis of urban design, defined as the pattern of buildings as well as the structural elements that define an urban area (urban morphology; transport network, services and land use). For each resilience capacity, indicators are calculated using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and a grid-based approach. This method has been implemented in the Greater Paris area within a 500m grid-cell system. Greater Paris is one of the densest urban areas in Europe and experiences high air pollution levels. The proposed "quick scan" method helps to localize areas where specific action is needed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Is sprawl associated with a widening urban-suburban mortality gap?

PubMed

Fan, Yingling; Song, Yan

2009-09-01

This paper examines whether sprawl, featured by low development density, segregated land uses, lack of significant centers, and poor street connectivity, contributes to a widening mortality gap between urban and suburban residents. We employ two mortality datasets, including a national cross-sectional dataset examining the impact of metropolitan-level sprawl on urban-suburban mortality gaps and a longitudinal dataset from Portland examining changes in urban-suburban mortality gaps over time. The national and Portland studies provide the only evidence to date that (1) across metropolitan areas, the size of urban-suburban mortality gaps varies by the extent of sprawl: in sprawling metropolitan areas, urban residents have significant excess mortality risks than suburban residents, while in compact metropolitan areas, urbanicity-related excess mortality becomes insignificant; (2) the Portland metropolitan area not only experienced net decreases in mortality rates but also a narrowing urban-suburban mortality gap since its adoption of smart growth regime in the past decade; and (3) the existence of excess mortality among urban residents in US sprawling metropolitan areas, as well as the net mortality decreases and narrowing urban-suburban mortality gap in the Portland metropolitan area, is not attributable to sociodemographic variations. These findings suggest that health threats imposed by sprawl affect urban residents disproportionately compared to suburban residents and that efforts curbing sprawl may mitigate urban-suburban health disparities.

Cells, Agents, and Support Vectors in Interaction - Modeling Urban Sprawl based on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Techniques in a Post-Industrial Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rienow, A.; Menz, G.

2015-12-01

Since the beginning of the millennium, artificial intelligence techniques as cellular automata (CA) and multi-agent systems (MAS) have been incorporated into land-system simulations to address the complex challenges of transitions in urban areas as open, dynamic systems. The study presents a hybrid modeling approach for modeling the two antagonistic processes of urban sprawl and urban decline at once. The simulation power of support vector machines (SVM), cellular automata (CA) and multi-agent systems (MAS) are integrated into one modeling framework and applied to the largest agglomeration of Central Europe: the Ruhr. A modified version of SLEUTH (short for Slope, Land-use, Exclusion, Urban, Transport, and Hillshade) functions as the CA component. SLEUTH makes use of historic urban land-use data sets and growth coefficients for the purpose of modeling physical urban expansion. The machine learning algorithm of SVM is applied in order to enhance SLEUTH. Thus, the stochastic variability of the CA is reduced and information about the human and ecological forces driving the local suitability of urban sprawl is incorporated. Subsequently, the supported CA is coupled with the MAS ReHoSh (Residential Mobility and the Housing Market of Shrinking City Systems). The MAS models population patterns, housing prices, and housing demand in shrinking regions based on interactions between household and city agents. Semi-explicit urban weights are introduced as a possibility of modeling from and to the pixel simultaneously. Three scenarios of changing housing preferences reveal the urban development of the region in terms of quantity and location. They reflect the dissemination of sustainable thinking among stakeholders versus the steady dream of owning a house in sub- and exurban areas. Additionally, the outcomes are transferred into a digital petri dish reflecting a synthetic environment with perfect conditions of growth. Hence, the generic growth elements affecting the future face of post-industrial cities are revealed. Finally, the advantages and limitations of linking pixels and people by combining AI and machine learning techniques in a multi-scale geosimulation approach are to be discussed.

Helpful or harmful? The impact of strategic change on the performance of U.S. urban hospitals.

PubMed

Trinh, Hanh Q; O'Connor, Stephen J

2002-02-01

To contribute to the debate as to whether strategic change helps or harms organizations by empirically examining how strategic change influences performance change in urban hospitals. AHA Annual Survey (1994 and 1996), Health Care Financing Administration's Medicare Cost Reports (1994 and 1996) and Medicare HMO Files (1994), U.S. Bureau of the Census' County Business Patterns Files (1994), and Area Resources File (1994). This work employed a longitudinal approach using a panel design to study the effect of environmental and organizational characteristics on urban hospital strategic behavior and performance. A path analytic model was used to examine the simultaneous effects of environmental and organizational characteristics (1994) on strategic behavior (change in strategies to enhance HMO business and change in strategies to control costs 1994-96), as well as the effects of all of these variables on change in urban hospital performance (change in market share, change in operational efficiency, change in financial performance 1994-96). (1) Environmental context exerts a greater influence on urban hospitals' HMO business enhancement strategies, whereas organizational characteristics have more influence on cost-control strategies. (2) Between the two strategies, HMO business enhancement and cost control, strategic change to enhance business with HMOs is much more complex. (3) Strategic change observed across the 1994 to 1996 time period can be either helpful or harmful to urban hospitals. A strategic change that contributes positively to one type of performance can negatively impact the other. Although differences of opinion persist in the strategic change debate, results of this study indicate that strategic change can be helpful or harmful to urban hospitals, and its consequences are far more complex than previously thought. Strategic rationality has its own limitations and cannot always be relied on to yield expected results. Hospital strategic changes require coordination to achieve greater performance results.

A Pilot Study to Understand the Variation in Indoor Air Quality in Different Economic Zones of Delhi University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garg, Abhinav; Ghosh, Chirashree

Today, one of the most grave environmental health problems being faced by the urban population is the poor air quality one breathes in. To testify the above statement, the recent survey report, World health statistics (WHO, 2012) reflects the fact that childhood mortality ratio from acute respiratory infection is one of the top leading causes of death in developing countries like India. Urban areas have a complex social stratification which ultimately results in forming different urban economic zones. This research attempts to understand the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) by taking into consideration different lifestyle of occupants inhabiting these economic zones. The Study tries to evaluate the outdoor and indoor air quality by understanding the variation of selected pollutants (SPM, SOx, NOx) for the duration of four months - from October, 2012-January, 2013. For this, three economic zones (EZ) of Delhi University’s North Campus, were selected - Urban Slum (EZ I), Clerical (EZ II) and Faculty residence (EZ III). The statistical study indicates that Urban Slum (EZ I) was the most polluted site reporting maximum concentration of outdoor pollutants, whereas no significant difference in pollution load was observed in EZ II and EZ III. Further, the indoor air quality was evaluated by quantifying the indoor and outdoor pollution concentration ratios that shows EZ III have most inferior indoor air quality, followed by EZ I and EZ II. Moreover, it was also observed that ratio (phenomenon of infiltration) was dominant at the EZ II but was low for the EZ I and EZ III. With the evidence of high Indoor air pollution, the risk of pulmonary diseases and respiratory infections also increases, calling for an urgent requisite for making reforms to improve IAQ. Key words: Urban Area, Slum, IAQ, SOx, NOx, SPM

Factors limiting immunization coverage in urban Dili, Timor-Leste

PubMed Central

Amin, Ruhul; De Oliveira, Telma Joana Corte Real; Da Cunha, Mateus; Brown, Tanya Wells; Favin, Michael; Cappelier, Kelli

2013-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Timor-Leste's immunization coverage is among the poorest in Asia. The 2009/2010 Demographic and Health Survey found that complete vaccination coverage in urban areas, at 47.7%, was lower than in rural areas, at 54.1%. The city of Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, had even lower coverage (43.4%) than the national urban average. Objective: To better understand the service- and user-related factors that account for low vaccination coverage in urban Dili, despite high literacy rates and relatively good access to immunization services and communication media. Methods: A mixed-methods (mainly qualitative) study, conducted in 5 urban sub-districts of Dili, involved in-depth interviews with18 Ministry of Health staff and 6 community leaders, 83 observations of immunization encounters, 37 exit interviews with infants' caregivers at 11 vaccination sites, and 11 focus group discussions with 70 caregivers of vaccination-eligible children ages 6 to 23 months. Results: The main reasons for low vaccination rates in urban Dili included caregivers' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions as well as barriers at immunization service sites. Other important factors were access to services and information, particularly in the city periphery, health workers' attitudes and practices, caregivers' fears of side effects, conflicting priorities, large family size, lack of support from husbands and paternal grandmothers, and seasonal migration. Conclusion: Good access to health facilities or health services does not necessarily translate into uptake of immunization services. The reasons are complex and multifaceted but in general relate to the health services' insufficient understanding of and attention to their clients' needs. Almost all families in Dili would be motivated to have their children immunized if services were convenient, reliable, friendly, and informative. PMID:25276554

Screening of the state of urban ecosystem with the use of bioindication method (on the example of Kazan city)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minakova, E. A.; Shlychkov, A. P.; Arinina, A. V.

2018-01-01

The urban environment is a complex of natural, natural-anthropogenic and socioeconomic factors that exert a large and diverse impact on urban residents. In addition to traditional environmental monitoring, we propose to use a new bioindication method based on the evaluation of morphological changes in the leaves of Betula pendula Roth by fluctuating asymmetry (FA) to assess the quality of recreational areas. Such screening for the purpose of assessing of the environment state is very informative, since the bioindication assessment is an integral characteristic of the quality of the environment which is under the influence of all the abundance of chemical, physical and other factors. The two-sided symmetry of a leaf was calculated on the sites in the middle of the park zone, on the border of the park and on a roadside strip. The results of the study showed a connection between the FA values and the distance to the highway, and also revealed the absence of significant differences in FA indicators at the surveyed sites, which may indicate insufficient sizes of recreational areas and their insufficient potential to contribute to improving the quality of the environment.

Epidemiological predictors of metabolic syndrome in urban West Bengal, India.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Sasthi Narayan; Roy, Sunetra Kaviraj; Rahaman, Md Abdur

2015-01-01

Metabolic syndrome is one of the emerging health problems of the world. Its prevalence is high in urban areas. Though pathogenesis is complex, but the interaction of obesity, sedentary lifestyle, dietary, and genetic factors are known as contributing factors. Community-based studies were very few to find out the prevalence or predictors of the syndrome. To ascertain the prevalence and epidemiological predictors of metabolic syndrome. A total of 690 study subjects were chosen by 30 clusters random sampling method from 43 wards of Durgapur city. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 20 software and binary logistic regression was done to find out statistical significance of the predictors. Among 32.75% of the study population was diagnosed as metabolic syndrome according to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III definition with a modification for Asia Pacific cut-off of waist circumference. Odds were more among females (2.43), upper social class (14.89), sedentary lifestyle (17.00), and positive family history. The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was high in urban areas of Durgapur. Increased age, female gender, higher social status, sedentary lifestyle, positive family history, and higher education were the statistically significant predictors of metabolic syndrome.

Improved Carbon Flux Observations over Urban Areas Using Carbonyl Sulfide (COS) to Differentiate Contributions from Biosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whelan, M.; LaFranchi, B. W.; Bambha, R.; Michelsen, H. A.; Fischer, M. L.; Graven, H. D.; Baker, I. T.; Guilderson, T.; Campbell, J. E.

2016-12-01

Direct measurement and attribution of carbon exchange over urban areas is challenging because of the heterogeneity of the landscape and errors introduced by flux source partitioning. One important contribution to uncertainty is the influence of the urban biosphere on the regional carbon budget. Atmospheric observations of carbonyl sulfide (COS) are an emerging tool for estimating gross primary productivity: COS is consumed in plant leaves by parallel pathways to CO2 uptake, without the additional complexity of an analogous respiration term. This study makes use of COS measurements to better understand fluctuations in total CO2 concentrations over an urban region due to the balance of photosynthesis and respiration. In situ ground-based observations of trace gas concentrations were made from a tower in Livermore, CA, USA, and interpreted with WRF-STILT back trajectories and gridded data sets (e.g. VULCAN, a new anthropogenic COS inventory), supplemented with biosphere models (SiB, CASA-GFED3). CO2, 14CO2, and CO observations were used to first parse the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to total CO2. Changes in the remainder CO2 was differentiated as the sum of biosphere components with associated uncertainties. This approach could be used to better validate carbon emissions reduction measures and ecosytem-based carbon capture projects on the regional scale.

Air Quality in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Airshed in Mexico during April 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz Suarez, L. G.; Torres Jardón, R.; Torres Jaramillo, J. A.; Barrera, H.; Castro, T.; Mar Morales, B. E.; García Reynoso, J. A.; Molina, L. T.

2012-04-01

East of the Mexico Megacity, is the metropolitan area of Puebla-Tlaxcala which is reproducing the same patterns of urban sprawl as in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Is an area of high industrial density, the fragmented urban sprawl boost the use of particular cars in detrimental of public transport use. Emissions inventories reflect this fact; they also show a considerable use of biomass energy in households and small using a set of industries and service business. In April 2009 we carried out a preliminary field campaign in the basin, we deployed three mobile units, one in the north, in a site connecting with the valley of Mexico basin, one in the south where it may connect with the Cuautla-Cuernavaca Airshed and one in a receptor site to the Puebla Metropolitan Area. In addition to the available data from local air quality network within the City of Puebla. Analysis of the 2009 data show a complex flow pattern induced by the Popocateptl and Iztaccihuatl volcanoes to the west and La Malinche volcano to the east. Excess NOx emissions in the urban and industrial core lead to very low ozone levels within but high ozone concentrations are observed in the peri-urban and rural areas, exceeding the Mexican Air Quality Standards. In our presentation we will describe and explain these observations and will describe a field campaign to be carried out in March-April 2012 aiming to better document the air quality in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Airshed. Hybrid observation-model maps for ozone critical levels show the population exposed to exeedences to the official standards. AOT40 maps also show that crops and forests in the region are exposed to unhealthy ozone levels. These results add to those from MILAGRO and CARIEM field campaigns on the regional scale of the air quality issues in central Mexico. A point is made on the need to update the Mexicp Air Quality Standard for ozone.

Monitoring the transformation of Yogyakarta’s urban form using remote sensing and Geographic Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozano, B.; Yan, W.

2018-04-01

Urban form transformation can be seen as the results of urbanization spatially, where the land changed into an urbanized one. Monitoring its changes, however, require many human and financial resources. Accordingly, this research aims to identify urban form transformation using GIS/remote sensing and its spatial implications to the peri-urban area. In order to analyze the land cover changes, this research uses multispectral images from 1990-2016 for built-up extraction using New Built Up Index (NBUI) analysis and population data 1996-2015 combined with primary data from the respondents and key informants. Based on the analysis, it is seen that the compacted Yogyakarta Urban Area scattered predominantly to the Northern part of its periphery with the increase of urban area from 21.19% in 1990 to 50.91% in 2017. While this urbanization is an on-going process, the population of urban core showed a de-concentration phenomenon in 2015, spreading to its periphery causing some negative implications to the peri-urban area.

Comparative prevalence of otitis media in children living in urban slums, non-slum urban and rural areas of Delhi.

PubMed

Chadha, Shelly K; Gulati, Kriti; Garg, Suneela; Agarwal, Arun K

2014-12-01

The study aimed to determine the prevalence and profile of otitis media in different parts of a city, i.e. non-slum urban areas, urban slums and rural areas. A door to door survey was conducted in identified areas of Delhi. A total of 3000 children (0-15 years) were randomly selected and examined for presence of otitis media. These children were equally distributed in the three areas under consideration. Data was analyzed to establish the prevalence of different types of otitis media. Chi-square test was then applied to compare disease prevalence among the three areas. 7.1% of the study population was identified with otitis media, which includes CSOM (4.26%), OME (2.5%) and ASOM (0.4%). In the non-slum urban parts of the city, 4.6% children had otitis media. This was significantly lower compared to 7% children in rural parts of Delhi and 9.9% in urban slums of the city. The prevalence of CSOM was considerably higher in slum areas (7.2%) as compared with rural (3%) and non-slum urban areas (2.6%). Ear infections are significantly more common in urban slums as compared to non-slum city areas and rural parts of Delhi. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling and in situ measurements of biometeorological conditions in microenvironments within the Athens University Campus, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nastos, Panagiotis T.; Polychroni, Iliana D.

2016-10-01

The objective of this research is to assess and analyze the biometeorological perception in complex microenvironments in the Athens University Campus (AUC) using urban micromodels, such as RayMan. The human thermal sensation in such a place was considered of great significance due to the great gathering of student body and staff of the University. The quantification of the biometeorological conditions was succeeded by the estimation of the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET), which is a biometeorological index based on the human energy balance. We carried out, on one hand, field measurements of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and global solar irradiance for different sites (building atrium, open area, and green atrium) of the examined microurban environment in order to calculate PET during January-July 2013. Additionally, on the other hand, PET modeling was performed using different sky-view factors and was compared to a reference site (meteorological station of Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, University of Athens). The global radiation was transferred to the examined sites with the RayMan model, which considers the sky-view factors for the adaptation of the radiation fluxes to simple and complex environments. The results of this study reveal the crucial importance of the existence of trees and green cover in a complex environment, as a factor that could be the solution to the efforts of stake holders in order to mitigate strong heat stress and improve people's living quality in urban areas.

Modeling and in situ measurements of biometeorological conditions in microenvironments within the Athens University Campus, Greece.

PubMed

Nastos, Panagiotis T; Polychroni, Iliana D

2016-10-01

The objective of this research is to assess and analyze the biometeorological perception in complex microenvironments in the Athens University Campus (AUC) using urban micromodels, such as RayMan. The human thermal sensation in such a place was considered of great significance due to the great gathering of student body and staff of the University. The quantification of the biometeorological conditions was succeeded by the estimation of the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET), which is a biometeorological index based on the human energy balance. We carried out, on one hand, field measurements of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and global solar irradiance for different sites (building atrium, open area, and green atrium) of the examined microurban environment in order to calculate PET during January-July 2013. Additionally, on the other hand, PET modeling was performed using different sky-view factors and was compared to a reference site (meteorological station of Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, University of Athens). The global radiation was transferred to the examined sites with the RayMan model, which considers the sky-view factors for the adaptation of the radiation fluxes to simple and complex environments. The results of this study reveal the crucial importance of the existence of trees and green cover in a complex environment, as a factor that could be the solution to the efforts of stake holders in order to mitigate strong heat stress and improve people's living quality in urban areas.

Late 20th Century Deep-seated Vertical Motions in New Orleans and implications for Gulf Coast Subsidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dokka, R. K.

2010-12-01

Subsidence of the Mississippi River delta and adjoining coastal areas is widely thought to be dominated by compaction of Holocene sediments. Current public policies regarding hurricane protection and ecosystems restoration are founded on this interpretation. To test this hypothesis, monuments that penetrate the entire Holocene section were measured using geodetic leveling and water gauges attached to bridge foundations. Results show that the entire sampling area subsided between 1955 and 1995 in amounts unanticipated by previous models. Subsidence due to processes originating below the Holocene section locally exceeded 0.9 m between 1955 and 1995. The maxima of deep subsidence occurred in the urbanized and industrialized sections of eastern New Orleans. Subsidence decreased away from urbanized areas and north of the belt of active basin margin normal faults; this decrease in subsidence continued to the north and east along the Mississippi coast. These independent measurements provide insights into the complexity and causes of modern landscape change in the region. Modern subsidence is clearly not dominated solely by shallow processes such as natural compaction, Deep subsidence occurring east and north of the basin margin faults can be explained by regional tectonic loading of the lithosphere by the modern Mississippi River delta and local groundwater withdrawal. Sharp, local changes in subsidence coincide with strands of the basin margin normal fault system. Deep subsidence of the New Orleans area can be explained by a combination of groundwater withdrawal from shallow upper Pleistocene aquifers, the aforementioned lithospheric loading, and non-groundwater-related faulting. Subsidence due to groundwater extraction from aquifers ~160 to 200 m deep dominated the urbanized areas from ~1960 to the early 1990s and is likely responsible for lowering flood protection structures and bridges in the area by as much as ~0.8 m.

Multi-component determination of atmospheric semi-volatile organic compounds in soils and vegetation from Tarragona County, Catalonia, Spain.

PubMed

Domínguez-Morueco, Noelia; Carvalho, Mariana; Sierra, Jordi; Schuhmacher, Marta; Domingo, José Luis; Ratola, Nuno; Nadal, Martí

2018-08-01

Tarragona County (Spain) is home to the most important chemical/petrochemical industrial complex in Southern Europe, which raises concerns about the presence and effects of the numerous environmental contaminants. In order to assess the levels and patterns of five classes of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) - polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), synthetic musks (SMs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and one organochlorine pesticide, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 27 samples of soil and vegetation (Piptatherum L.) from different areas (petrochemical, chemical, urban/residential, and background) of Tarragona County were analysed. The results show that PAHs levels in soils ranged from 45.12 to 158.00ng/g and the urban areas presented the highest concentrations, mainly associated with the presence of a nearby highway and several roads with heavy traffic. PAHs levels in vegetation samples ranged from 42.13 to 80.08ng/g, where the greatest influence came from the urban and petrochemical areas. In the case of SMs, levels in soils and vegetation samples ranged from 5.42 to 10.04ng/g and from 4.08 to 17.94ng/g, respectively, and in both cases, background areas (at least 30km away from the main SVOCs emission sources) showed the highest levels, suggesting an influence of the personal care products derived from beach-related tourism in the coast. PCBs (from 6.62 to 14.07ng/g in soils; from 0.52 to 4.41ng/g in vegetation) prevailed in the chemical area in both matrices, probably associated with the presence of two sub-electrical stations located in the vicinities. In general terms, BFRs and HCB values recorded in soil and vegetation samples were quite similar between matrices and sampling areas. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Oviposition ecology and species composition of Aedes spp. and Aedes aegypti dynamics in variously urbanized settings in arbovirus foci in southeastern Côte d'Ivoire.

PubMed

Zahouli, Julien B Z; Utzinger, Jürg; Adja, Maurice A; Müller, Pie; Malone, David; Tano, Yao; Koudou, Benjamin G

2016-09-29

Aedes mosquito-transmitted outbreaks of dengue and yellow fever have been reported from rural and urban parts of Côte d'Ivoire. The present study aimed at assessing Aedes spp. oviposition ecology in variously urbanized settings within arbovirus foci in southeastern Côte d'Ivoire. Aedes spp. eggs were sampled using a standard ovitrap method from January 2013 to April 2014 in different ecosystems of rural, suburban and urban areas. Emerged larvae were reared until the adult stage for species identification. Aedes spp. oviposition ecology significantly varied from rural-to-urban areas and according to the ecozones and the seasons. Species richness of Aedes spp. gradually decreased from rural (eight species) to suburban (three species) and urban (one species) areas. Conversely, emerged adult Aedes spp. mean numbers were higher in the urban (1.97 Aedes/ovitrap/week), followed by the suburban (1.44 Aedes/ovitrap/week) and rural (0.89 Aedes/ovitrap/week) areas. Aedes aegypti was the only species in the urban setting (100 %), and was also the predominant species in suburban (85.5 %) and rural (63.3 %) areas. The highest Ae. aegypti mean number was observed in the urban (1.97 Ae. aegypti/ovitrap/week), followed by the suburban (1.20 Ae. aegypti/ovitrap/week) and rural (0.57 Ae. aegypti/ovitrap/week) areas. Aedes africanus (9.4 %), Ae. dendrophilus (8.0 %), Ae. metallicus (1.3 %) in the rural, and Ae. vittatus (6.5 %) and Ae. metallicus (1.2 %) in the suburban areas each represented more than 1 % of the total Aedes fauna. In all areas, Aedes species richness and abundance were higher in the peridomestic zones and during the rainy season, with stronger variations in species richness in the rural and in abundance in the urban areas. Besides, the highest Culex quinquefasciatus abundance was found in the urban areas, while Eretmapodites chrysogaster was restricted to the rural areas. Urbanization correlates with a substantially higher abundance in Aedes mosquitoes and a regression of the Aedes wild species towards a unique presence of Ae. aegypti in urban areas. Aedes wild species serve as bridge vectors of arboviruses in rural areas, while Ae. aegypti amplifies arbovirus transmission in urban areas. Our results have important ramifications for dengue and yellow fever vector control and surveillance strategies in arbovirus foci in southeastern Côte d'Ivoire.

A study on the relationship between carbon budget and ecosystem service in urban areas according to urbanization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S. J.; Lee, W. K.

2017-12-01

The study on the analysis of carbon storage capacity of urban green spaces with increasing urban forest. Modern cities have experienced rapid economic development since Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The rapid economic growth caused an exponential concentration of population to the cities and decrease of green spaces due to the conversion of forest and agricultural lands to build-up areas with rapid urbanization. As green areas including forests, grasslands, and wetlands provide diverse economic, environmental, and cultural benefits, the decrease of green areas might be a huge loss. Also, the process of urbanization caused pressure on the urban environment more than its natural capacity, which accelerates global climate change. This study tries to see the relations between carbon budget and ecosystem services according to the urbanization. For calculating carbon dynamics, this study used VISIT(Vegetation Integrated Simulator for trace gases) model. And the value that ecosystem provides is explained with the concept of ecosystem service and calculated by InVEST model. Study sites are urban and peri-urban areas in Northeast Asia. From the result of the study, the effect of the urbanization can be understood in regard to carbon storage and ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services response to urbanization in metropolitan areas: Thresholds identification.

PubMed

Peng, Jian; Tian, Lu; Liu, Yanxu; Zhao, Mingyue; Hu, Yi'na; Wu, Jiansheng

2017-12-31

Ecosystem service is the key comprehensive indicator for measuring the ecological effects of urbanization. Although various studies have found a causal relationship between urbanization and ecosystem services degradation, the linear or non-linear characteristics are still unclear, especially identifying the impact thresholds in this relationship. This study quantified four ecosystem services (i.e. soil conservation, carbon sequestration and oxygen production, water yield, and food production) and total ecosystem services (TES), and then identified multiple advantageous area of ecosystem services in the peri-urban area of Beijing City. Using piecewise linear regression, the response of TES to urbanization (i.e., population density, GDP density, and construction land proportion) and its thresholds were detected. The results showed that, the TES was high in the north and west and low in the southeast, and there were seven multiple advantageous areas (distributed in the new urban development zone and ecological conservation zone), one single advantageous area (distributed in the ecological conservation zone), and six disadvantageous areas (mainly distributed in the urban function extended zone). TES response to population and economic urbanization each had a threshold (229personkm -2 and 107.15millionyuankm -2 , respectively), above which TES decreased rapidly with intensifying urbanization. However, there was a negative linear relationship between land urbanization and TES, which indicated that the impact of land urbanization on ecosystem services was more direct and effective than that of population and economic urbanization. It was also found that the negative impact of urbanization on TES was highest in the urban function extended zone, followed in descending order by that in the new urban development zone and ecological conservation zone. According to the detected relationships between urbanization and TES, the economic and population urbanization should be strengthened accompanied by slowing or even reducing land urbanization, so as to achieve urban ecological sustainability with less ecosystem services degradation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effects of urbanization on population density, occupancy, and detection probability of wild felids.

PubMed

Lewis, Jesse S; Logan, Kenneth A; Alldredge, Mat W; Bailey, Larissa L; VandeWoude, Sue; Crooks, Kevin R

2015-10-01

Urbanization is a primary driver of landscape conversion, with far-reaching effects on landscape pattern and process, particularly related to the population characteristics of animals. Urbanization can alter animal movement and habitat quality, both of which can influence population abundance and persistence. We evaluated three important population characteristics (population density, site occupancy, and species detection probability) of a medium-sized and a large carnivore across varying levels of urbanization. Specifically, we studied bobcat and puma populations across wildland, exurban development, and wildland-urban interface (WUI) sampling grids to test hypotheses evaluating how urbanization affects wild felid populations and their prey. Exurban development appeared to have a greater impact on felid populations than did habitat adjacent to a major urban area (i.e., WUI); estimates of population density for both bobcats and pumas were lower in areas of exurban development compared to wildland areas, whereas population density was similar between WUI and wildland habitat. Bobcats and pumas were less likely to be detected in habitat as the amount of human disturbance associated with residential development increased at a site, which was potentially related to reduced habitat quality resulting from urbanization. However, occupancy of both felids was similar between grids in both study areas, indicating that this population metric was less sensitive than density. At the scale of the sampling grid, detection probability for bobcats in urbanized habitat was greater than in wildland areas, potentially due to restrictive movement corridors and funneling of animal movements in landscapes influenced by urbanization. Occupancy of important felid prey (cottontail rabbits and mule deer) was similar across levels of urbanization, although elk occupancy was lower in urbanized areas. Our study indicates that the conservation of medium- and large-sized felids associated with urbanization likely will be most successful if large areas of wildland habitat are maintained, even in close proximity to urban areas, and wildland habitat is not converted to low-density residential development.

[Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in urban and rural communities in the Wilaya of Tlemcen (Algeria): A comparative study].

PubMed

Boukli Hacène, L; Khelil, M-A; Chabane Sari, D; Meguenni, K; Meziane Tani, A

2017-08-01

In Algeria, few studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence of genetic and environmental risk factors of cardiovascular diseases as a function of residence. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors according to sex and age in urban and rural communities in the Wilaya of Tlemcen (Algeria). A population survey was conducted on a representative sample of 864 individuals aged 20years and over, among inhabitants in urban and rural communes in the Wilaya of Tlemcen. Each subject answered the questionnaire on cardiovascular risk factors, underwent a physical examination and had a blood sample drawn. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 6.6%, it was found to be higher in urban areas (8.4%) than in rural areas (4.6%). The prevalence of low HDL cholesterol levels was higher in urban (28.8%) than rural (23.9%) areas. The prevalence of family history of cardiovascular disease did not differ between the two sexes and between urban (15.7%) and rural (14.0%) areas. The prevalence of hypertension was higher in urban (28.0%) than in rural (16.8%) areas, and was highest among women aged 65 years or older in urban areas (67.3%) and in rural areas (66.6%). The prevalence of diabetes was higher among women living in urban areas (21.4%) compared with rural areas (15.4%). Obesity was much more frequent among women than among men in urban areas (24.7% in women and 9.5% in men) and in rural areas (28.3% in women and 8.3% in men). The prevalence of smoking was 45.8% for men and with no significant variations between urban areas and rural areas. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors according to sex and age in the two communes are high in two communes in the Wilaya of Tlemcen. However, the prevalence of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes were higher in women in urban than in rural areas. This finding focuses attention on the need for measures to reduce the prevalence of these cardiovascular risk factors in these communities. Factors such as sex age and area of residence are indicators to consider when targeting interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Urban wild boars prefer fragmented areas with food resources near natural corridors.

PubMed

Castillo-Contreras, Raquel; Carvalho, João; Serrano, Emmanuel; Mentaberre, Gregorio; Fernández-Aguilar, Xavier; Colom, Andreu; González-Crespo, Carlos; Lavín, Santiago; López-Olvera, Jorge R

2018-02-15

Wild boar populations are expanding throughout the world and intruding into periurban and urban areas. In the last years, wild boar has colonized several European cities, including our study area, the city of Barcelona. It is required to identify the main factors driving wild boar into urban areas prior to establish management measures. We built Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) using 3148 wild boar presences registered in the urban area of Barcelona from 2010 to 2014 to identify the variables correlated with these presences. The variables analysed included proxies for distance to source population, urban food resources, climate and urban habitat structure. Wild boars enter the urban area from close natural habitat using corridors such as streams, preferably in fragmented urban environment, looking for food such as urban green areas or dry pet food from cat colonies. Wild boar presence is higher in spring possibly due to the births of piglets and the dispersion of yearlings during that season, and also when natural resources in the Mediterranean habitat fail to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the wild boar population during the summer season. Management measures derived from this study are currently being applied in the city of Barcelona, including vegetation clearings in the wild boar entrance areas and an awareness campaign aimed at reducing the anthropogenic food availability for wild boars. The methodology used can be applied to other cities with wild boar or even other wildlife species issues. The comparison between the factors attracting wild boars into different urban areas would be helpful to understand the global phenomenon. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Monitoring Urban Greenness Dynamics Using Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis

PubMed Central

Gan, Muye; Deng, Jinsong; Zheng, Xinyu; Hong, Yang; Wang, Ke

2014-01-01

Urban greenness is increasingly recognized as an essential constituent of the urban environment and can provide a range of services and enhance residents’ quality of life. Understanding the pattern of urban greenness and exploring its spatiotemporal dynamics would contribute valuable information for urban planning. In this paper, we investigated the pattern of urban greenness in Hangzhou, China, over the past two decades using time series Landsat-5 TM data obtained in 1990, 2002, and 2010. Multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis was used to derive vegetation cover fractions at the subpixel level. An RGB-vegetation fraction model, change intensity analysis and the concentric technique were integrated to reveal the detailed, spatial characteristics and the overall pattern of change in the vegetation cover fraction. Our results demonstrated the ability of multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis to accurately model the vegetation cover fraction in pixels despite the complex spectral confusion of different land cover types. The integration of multiple techniques revealed various changing patterns in urban greenness in this region. The overall vegetation cover has exhibited a drastic decrease over the past two decades, while no significant change occurred in the scenic spots that were studied. Meanwhile, a remarkable recovery of greenness was observed in the existing urban area. The increasing coverage of small green patches has played a vital role in the recovery of urban greenness. These changing patterns were more obvious during the period from 2002 to 2010 than from 1990 to 2002, and they revealed the combined effects of rapid urbanization and greening policies. This work demonstrates the usefulness of time series of vegetation cover fractions for conducting accurate and in-depth studies of the long-term trajectories of urban greenness to obtain meaningful information for sustainable urban development. PMID:25375176

Uncovering archaeological landscapes at Angkor using lidar.

PubMed

Evans, Damian H; Fletcher, Roland J; Pottier, Christophe; Chevance, Jean-Baptiste; Soutif, Dominique; Tan, Boun Suy; Im, Sokrithy; Ea, Darith; Tin, Tina; Kim, Samnang; Cromarty, Christopher; De Greef, Stéphane; Hanus, Kasper; Bâty, Pierre; Kuszinger, Robert; Shimoda, Ichita; Boornazian, Glenn

2013-07-30

Previous archaeological mapping work on the successive medieval capitals of the Khmer Empire located at Angkor, in northwest Cambodia (∼9th to 15th centuries in the Common Era, C.E.), has identified it as the largest settlement complex of the preindustrial world, and yet crucial areas have remained unmapped, in particular the ceremonial centers and their surroundings, where dense forest obscures the traces of the civilization that typically remain in evidence in surface topography. Here we describe the use of airborne laser scanning (lidar) technology to create high-precision digital elevation models of the ground surface beneath the vegetation cover. We identify an entire, previously undocumented, formally planned urban landscape into which the major temples such as Angkor Wat were integrated. Beyond these newly identified urban landscapes, the lidar data reveal anthropogenic changes to the landscape on a vast scale and lend further weight to an emerging consensus that infrastructural complexity, unsustainable modes of subsistence, and climate variation were crucial factors in the decline of the classical Khmer civilization.

Uncovering archaeological landscapes at Angkor using lidar

PubMed Central

Evans, Damian H.; Fletcher, Roland J.; Pottier, Christophe; Chevance, Jean-Baptiste; Soutif, Dominique; Tan, Boun Suy; Im, Sokrithy; Ea, Darith; Tin, Tina; Kim, Samnang; Cromarty, Christopher; De Greef, Stéphane; Hanus, Kasper; Bâty, Pierre; Kuszinger, Robert; Shimoda, Ichita; Boornazian, Glenn

2013-01-01

Previous archaeological mapping work on the successive medieval capitals of the Khmer Empire located at Angkor, in northwest Cambodia (∼9th to 15th centuries in the Common Era, C.E.), has identified it as the largest settlement complex of the preindustrial world, and yet crucial areas have remained unmapped, in particular the ceremonial centers and their surroundings, where dense forest obscures the traces of the civilization that typically remain in evidence in surface topography. Here we describe the use of airborne laser scanning (lidar) technology to create high-precision digital elevation models of the ground surface beneath the vegetation cover. We identify an entire, previously undocumented, formally planned urban landscape into which the major temples such as Angkor Wat were integrated. Beyond these newly identified urban landscapes, the lidar data reveal anthropogenic changes to the landscape on a vast scale and lend further weight to an emerging consensus that infrastructural complexity, unsustainable modes of subsistence, and climate variation were crucial factors in the decline of the classical Khmer civilization. PMID:23847206

Urban biomass - not an urban legend

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Utilizing biomass from urban landscapes could significantly contribute to the nation’s renewable energy needs. There is an estimated 16.4 million hectares of land in urban areas cultivated with turfgrass and associated vegetation. Vegetation in urban areas is intensely managed which lead to regula...

Lead in urban soils - A real or perceived concern for urban agriculture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Urban agriculture is growing in cities across the U.S. and it has the potential to provide multiple benefits including increased food security. Concerns about soil contamination in urban areas can be an impediment to urban agriculture. Lead is the most common contaminant in urban areas. A review ...

Metal concentrations in urban riparian sediments along an urbanization gradient

Treesearch

Daniel J. Bain; Ian D. Yesilonis; Richard V. Pouyat

2012-01-01

Urbanization impacts fluvial systems via a combination of changes in sediment chemistry and basin hydrology. While chemical changes in urban soils have been well characterized, similar surveys of riparian sediments in urbanized areas are rare. Metal concentrations were measured in sediments collected from riparian areas across the urbanization gradient in Baltimore, MD...

WEF nexus indicators: A study on the development of indicators for urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, M. H.; Lo, S. L.

2017-12-01

Energy shortages and resources constraints have both emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing mankind this century.By 2030, humans will require 30% more water, 45% more energy and 50 % more food. The Food- Energy -Water (FEW) nexus is extensive and few areas are now untouched by it. Competition for energy and resources is increasing , especially in urban areas. To explore ways of meeting the challenges and seizing new opportunities, indicators could provide valuable information on complex issues in a relatively accessible way. In this paper, we develop a framework for selection of indicators, to assess the comprehensive sustainable status and trends to the FEW system .We identify indicators based on related ecosystem services to examine the status of FEW sustainability. We test the framework on two case studies in Taipei and Canberra. Several criteria were used to evaluate the usefulness of the selected indicators, including scalability and sensitivity . This paper identifies the need to establish indicators that entirely and largely reveal the potential of an ecosystem services support by FEW sustainability.

Urban Boundary Extraction and Urban Sprawl Measurement Using High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images: a Case Study of China's Provincial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, H.; Ning, X.; Zhang, H.; Liu, Y.; Yu, F.

2018-04-01

Urban boundary is an important indicator for urban sprawl analysis. However, methods of urban boundary extraction were inconsistent, and construction land or urban impervious surfaces was usually used to represent urban areas with coarse-resolution images, resulting in lower precision and incomparable urban boundary products. To solve above problems, a semi-automatic method of urban boundary extraction was proposed by using high-resolution image and geographic information data. Urban landscape and form characteristics, geographical knowledge were combined to generate a series of standardized rules for urban boundary extraction. Urban boundaries of China's 31 provincial capitals in year 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 were extracted with above-mentioned method. Compared with other two open urban boundary products, accuracy of urban boundary in this study was the highest. Urban boundary, together with other thematic data, were integrated to measure and analyse urban sprawl. Results showed that China's provincial capitals had undergone a rapid urbanization from year 2000 to 2015, with the area change from 6520 square kilometres to 12398 square kilometres. Urban area of provincial capital had a remarkable region difference and a high degree of concentration. Urban land became more intensive in general. Urban sprawl rate showed inharmonious with population growth rate. About sixty percent of the new urban areas came from cultivated land. The paper provided a consistent method of urban boundary extraction and urban sprawl measurement using high-resolution remote sensing images. The result of urban sprawl of China's provincial capital provided valuable urbanization information for government and public.

Lidar system for air-pollution monitoring over urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moskalenko, Irina V.; Shcheglov, Djolinard A.; Molodtsov, Nikolai A.

1997-05-01

The atmospheric environmental situation over the urban area of a large city is determined by a complex combination of anthropogenic pollution and meteorological factors. The efficient way to provide three-dimensional mapping of gaseous pollutants over wide areas is utilization of lidar systems employing tunable narrowband transmitters. The paper presented describes activity of RRC 'Kurchatov Institute' in the field of lidar atmospheric monitoring. The project 'mobile remote sensing system based on tunable laser transmitter for environmental monitoring' is developed under financial support of International Scientific and Technology Center (Moscow). The objective of the project is design, construction and field testing of a DIAL-technique system. The lidar transmitter consists of an excimer laser pumping dye laser, BBO crystal frequency doubler, and scanning flat mirror. Sulfur dioxide and atomic mercury have been selected as pollutants for field tests of the lidar system under development. A recent large increase in Moscow traffic stimulated taking into consideration also the remote sensing of lower troposphere ozone because of the photochemical smog problem. The status of the project is briefly discussed. The current activity includes also collecting of environmental data relevant to lidar remote sensing. Main attention is paid to pollutant concentration levels over Moscow city and Moscow district areas.

Retail Tobacco Exposure: Using Geographic Analysis to Identify Areas With Excessively High Retail Density

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction: There is great disparity in tobacco outlet density (TOD), with density highest in low-income areas and areas with greater proportions of minority residents, and this disparity may affect cancer incidence. We sought to better understand the nature of this disparity by assessing how these socio-demographic factors relate to TOD at the national level. Methods: Using mixture regression analysis and all of the nearly 65,000 census tracts in the contiguous United States, we aimed to determine the number of latent disparity classes by modeling the relations of proportions of Blacks, Hispanics, and families living in poverty with TOD, controlling for urban/rural status. Results: We identified six disparity classes. There was considerable heterogeneity in relation to TOD for Hispanics in rural settings. For Blacks, there was no relation to TOD in an urban moderate disparity class, and for rural census tracts, the relation was highest in a moderate disparity class. Conclusions: We demonstrated the utility of classifying census tracts on heterogeneity of tobacco risk exposure. This approach provides a better understanding of the complexity of socio-demographic influences of tobacco retailing and creates opportunities for policy makers to more efficiently target areas in greatest need. PMID:23999651

Retail tobacco exposure: using geographic analysis to identify areas with excessively high retail density.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Daniel; Carlos, Heather A; Adachi-Mejia, Anna M; Berke, Ethan M; Sargent, James

2014-02-01

There is great disparity in tobacco outlet density (TOD), with density highest in low-income areas and areas with greater proportions of minority residents, and this disparity may affect cancer incidence. We sought to better understand the nature of this disparity by assessing how these socio-demographic factors relate to TOD at the national level. Using mixture regression analysis and all of the nearly 65,000 census tracts in the contiguous United States, we aimed to determine the number of latent disparity classes by modeling the relations of proportions of Blacks, Hispanics, and families living in poverty with TOD, controlling for urban/rural status. We identified six disparity classes. There was considerable heterogeneity in relation to TOD for Hispanics in rural settings. For Blacks, there was no relation to TOD in an urban moderate disparity class, and for rural census tracts, the relation was highest in a moderate disparity class. We demonstrated the utility of classifying census tracts on heterogeneity of tobacco risk exposure. This approach provides a better understanding of the complexity of socio-demographic influences of tobacco retailing and creates opportunities for policy makers to more efficiently target areas in greatest need.

Mapping and Evaluating the Urbanization Process in Northeast China Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data

PubMed Central

Yi, Kunpeng; Tani, Hiroshi; Li, Qiang; Zhang, Jiquan; Guo, Meng; Bao, Yulong; Wang, Xiufeng; Li, Jing

2014-01-01

In this paper, an Urban Light Index (ULI) is constructed to facilitate analysis and quantitative evaluation of the process of urbanization and expansion rate by using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data during the years from 1992 to 2010. A unit circle urbanization evaluation model is established to perform a comprehensive analysis of the urbanization process of 34 prefecture-level cities in Northeast China. Furthermore, the concept of urban light space is put forward. In this study, urban light space is divided into four types: the core urban area, the transition zone between urban and suburban areas, suburban area and fluorescent space. Proceeding from the temporal and spatial variation of the four types of light space, the pattern of morphologic change and space-time evolution of the four principal cities in Northeast China (Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian) is analyzed and given particular attention. Through a correlation analysis between ULI and the traditional urbanization indexes (urban population, proportion of the secondary and tertiary industries in the regional GDP and the built-up area), the advantages and disadvantages as well as the feasibility of using the ULI in the study of urbanization are evaluated. The research results show that ULI has a strong correlation with urban built-up area (R2 = 0.8277). The morphologic change and history of the evolving urban light space can truly reflect the characteristics of urban sprawl. The results also indicate that DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data is applicable for extracting urban space information and has strong potential to urbanization research. PMID:24553086

Winter Bird Assemblages in Rural and Urban Environments: A National Survey

PubMed Central

Tryjanowski, Piotr; Sparks, Tim H.; Biaduń, Waldemar; Brauze, Tomasz; Hetmański, Tomasz; Martyka, Rafał; Skórka, Piotr; Indykiewicz, Piotr; Myczko, Łukasz; Kunysz, Przemysław; Kawa, Piotr; Czyż, Stanisław; Czechowski, Paweł; Polakowski, Michał; Zduniak, Piotr; Jerzak, Leszek; Janiszewski, Tomasz; Goławski, Artur; Duduś, Leszek; Nowakowski, Jacek J.; Wuczyński, Andrzej; Wysocki, Dariusz

2015-01-01

Urban development has a marked effect on the ecological and behavioural traits of many living organisms, including birds. In this paper, we analysed differences in the numbers of wintering birds between rural and urban areas in Poland. We also analysed species richness and abundance in relation to longitude, latitude, human population size, and landscape structure. All these parameters were analysed using modern statistical techniques incorporating species detectability. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km2 each) in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 urban areas across Poland (in each urban area we surveyed 3 squares and 3 squares in nearby rural areas). The influence of twelve potential environmental variables on species abundance and richness was assessed with Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Principal Components and Detrended Correspondence Analyses. Totals of 72 bird species and 89,710 individual birds were recorded in this study. On average (±SE) 13.3 ± 0.3 species and 288 ± 14 individuals were recorded in each square in each survey. A formal comparison of rural and urban areas revealed that 27 species had a significant preference; 17 to rural areas and 10 to urban areas. Moreover, overall abundance in urban areas was more than double that of rural areas. There was almost a complete separation of rural and urban bird communities. Significantly more birds and more bird species were recorded in January compared to December. We conclude that differences between rural and urban areas in terms of winter conditions and the availability of resources are reflected in different bird communities in the two environments. PMID:26086819

Campylobacter jejuni colonization and population structure in urban populations of ducks and starlings in New Zealand

PubMed Central

Mohan, Vathsala; Stevenson, Mark; Marshall, Jonathan; Fearnhead, Paul; Holland, Barbara R; Hotter, Grant; French, Nigel P

2013-01-01

Abstract A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. and the population structure of C. jejuni in European starlings and ducks cohabiting multiple public access sites in an urban area of New Zealand. The country's geographical isolation and relatively recent history of introduction of wild bird species, including the European starling and mallard duck, create an ideal setting to explore the impact of geographical separation on the population biology of C. jejuni, as well as potential public health implications. A total of 716 starling and 720 duck fecal samples were collected and screened for C. jejuni over a 12 month period. This study combined molecular genotyping, population genetics and epidemiological modeling and revealed: (i) higher Campylobacter spp. isolation in starlings (46%) compared with ducks (30%), but similar isolation of C. jejuni in ducks (23%) and starlings (21%), (ii) significant associations between the isolation of Campylobacter spp. and host species, sampling location and time of year using logistic regression, (iii) evidence of population differentiation, as indicated by FST, and host-genotype association with clonal complexes CC ST-177 and CC ST-682 associated with starlings, and clonal complexes CC ST-1034, CC ST-692, and CC ST-1332 associated with ducks, and (iv) greater genetic diversity and genotype richness in ducks compared with starlings. These findings provide evidence that host-associated genotypes, such as the starling-associated ST-177 and ST-682, represent lineages that were introduced with the host species in the 19th century. The isolation of sequence types associated with human disease in New Zealand indicate that wild ducks and starlings need to be considered as a potential public health risk, particularly in urban areas. We applied molecular epidemiology and population genetics to obtain insights in to the population structure, host-species relationships, gene flow and evolution of Campylobacter jejuni in urban ducks and starlings. PMID:23873654

Integrating complexity of social systems in natural hazards planning: An example from Caracas, Venezuela

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vranes, Kevin; Czuchlewski, Kristina R.

In December 1999, days of heavy rain on steep slopes north of Caracas, Venezuela triggered massive mud and debris flows, killing tens of thousands. Partly in response to this disaster, a multidisciplinary team of urban planners and Earth scientists from Columbia University recently developed a framework plan for building disaster resilience into the Venezuelan capital region. After assessing the complex intersection of urban geography with severe seismic and hydrologic hazards, substantial recommendations were made to local and regional authorities on future hazards mitigation.Areas found most at risk in the Caracas region include the transportation and utility infrastructure and the friable building stock of squatter settlements. Recognizing realistic economic and socio-political constraints on implementing change, a prioritized list of goals and activities was constructed, and recommendations made along various time scales. Immediate disaster-avoidance goals (to be completed within 1 to 5 years) include strengthening critical infrastructure nodes, housing stock, and emergency services. More intermediate goals (5 to 10 years) focus on upgrading fragile housing units, creating detailed hazard maps across the city, and incorporating disaster education into cultural activities. Recommended activities for the long term (beyond 10 years) include creating a fully redundant transportation and water delivery network, establishing legitimate land title for squatters, and re-locating critical facilities currently in high-risk areas.

Spatial assessment of landscape ecological connectivity in different urban gradient.

PubMed

Park, Sohyun

2015-07-01

Urbanization has resulted in remnant natural patches within cities that often have no connectivity among themselves and to natural reserves outside the urban area. Protecting ecological connectivity in fragmented urban areas is becoming crucial in maintaining urban biodiversity and securing critical habitat levels and configurations under continual development pressures. Nevertheless, few studies have been undertaken for urban landscapes. This study aims to assess ecological connectivity for a group of species that represent the urban desert landscape in the Phoenix metropolitan area and to compare the connectivity values along the different urban gradient. A GIS-based landscape connectivity model which relies upon ecological connectivity index (ECI) was developed and applied to this region. A GIS-based concentric buffering technique was employed to delineate conceptual boundaries for urban, suburban, and rural zones. The research findings demonstrated that urban habitats and potential habitat patches would be significantly influenced by future urban development. Particularly, the largest loss of higher connectivity would likely to be anticipated in the "in-between areas" where urban, suburban, and rural zones overlap one another. The connectivity maps would be useful to provide spatial identification regarding connectivity patterns and vulnerability for urban and suburban activities in this area. This study provides planners and landscape architects with a spatial guidance to minimize ecological fragmentation, which ultimately leads to urban landscape sustainability. This study suggests that conventional planning practices which disregard the ecological processes in urban landscapes need to integrate landscape ecology into planning and design strategies.

Generating Accurate Urban Area Maps from Nighttime Satellite (DMSP/OLS) Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Imhoff, Marc; Lawrence, William; Elvidge, Christopher

2000-01-01

There has been an increasing interest by the international research community to use the nighttime acquired "city-lights" data sets collected by the US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan system to study issues relative to urbanization. Many researchers are interested in using these data to estimate human demographic parameters over large areas and then characterize the interactions between urban development , natural ecosystems, and other aspects of the human enterprise. Many of these attempts rely on an ability to accurately identify urbanized area. However, beyond the simple determination of the loci of human activity, using these data to generate accurate estimates of urbanized area can be problematic. Sensor blooming and registration error can cause large overestimates of urban land based on a simple measure of lit area from the raw data. We discuss these issues, show results of an attempt to do a historical urban growth model in Egypt, and then describe a few basic processing techniques that use geo-spatial analysis to threshold the DMSP data to accurately estimate urbanized areas. Algorithm results are shown for the United States and an application to use the data to estimate the impact of urban sprawl on sustainable agriculture in the US and China is described.

"I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!" Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany.

PubMed

Völker, Sebastian; Kistemann, Thomas

2013-02-01

Water is one of the most important landscape elements. In settled areas, planners rediscovered urban blue in the form of rivers as a soft location factor in post-industrial times. Although the recognition of the need for recreational or 'healthy' places like urban green or urban blue in cities is increasing, current urban planning is mostly conducted without taking beneficial health issues into account. In this paper an extended concept of therapeutic landscapes is used to analyse two promenades on the river Rhine in the centres of two German cities (Cologne and Düsseldorf). A complex of qualitative and quantitative methods from diverse disciplines is applied to obtain a multi-dimensional image of salutogenic health processes. The results show that the promenades are favourite places to spend leisure time and to engage in recreational activities, in addition to providing restoration from everyday stresses. Water is a strong predictor of preference and positive perceptive experiences in urban environments. Users of the promenades also report strong emotional attachments to the place. Urban blue space may be interpreted as a therapeutic landscape in various ways. The study forms a contribution to planning issues, particularly considering benefits for human health, and enhances current research concerning therapeutic landscapes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reprint of: "I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!" Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany.

PubMed

Völker, Sebastian; Kistemann, Thomas

2013-08-01

Water is one of the most important landscape elements. In settled areas, planners rediscovered urban blue in the form of rivers as a soft location factor in post-industrial times. Although the recognition of the need for recreational or 'healthy' places like urban green or urban blue in cities is increasing, current urban planning is mostly conducted without taking beneficial health issues into account. In this paper an extended concept of therapeutic landscapes is used to analyse two promenades on the river Rhine in the centres of two German cities (Cologne and Düsseldorf). A complex of qualitative and quantitative methods from diverse disciplines is applied to obtain a multi-dimensional image of salutogenic health processes. The results show that the promenades are favourite places to spend leisure time and to engage in recreational activities, in addition to providing restoration from everyday stresses. Water is a strong predictor of preference and positive perceptive experiences in urban environments. Users of the promenades also report strong emotional attachments to the place. Urban blue space may be interpreted as a therapeutic landscape in various ways. The study forms a contribution to planning issues, particularly considering benefits for human health, and enhances current research concerning therapeutic landscapes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.